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New Testament, and correctly, as we learn from Phil. ii. 9-11.
12. Rev. ii. 26-29. Some Muslims claim this also as a prediction of "the Prophet with the
Sword". But if so, it would follow that Muhammad had received power from Christ, because
he had kept Christ's works, i.e. obeyed His commands, unto the end. Muslims hold that
Muhammad was a greater Prophet than Christ, and therefore they cannot really believe that these
words refer to Muhammad. It must be noticed that the speaker in these verses is Christ, and that He
speaks of God as His Father. The meaning of the verse is evident from a comparison with vers. 7, 11,
17; and ch. iii, vers. 5, 12, 21, in which the phrase "He that overcometh" is repeated
again and again. The context shows that the promise is general, to everyone who gains the victory,
and that the victory is not over men, but over one's own sins and the temptations of the world, the
flesh, and the devil.
These are all the important passages which Muslims fancy contain prophecies concerning Muhammad.
It is quite clear that not a single one of them all does constitute a prediction about him. Nor does
the New Testament lead us to expect any other Dispensation after the Christian, before the return of
Christ and the complete establishment of His everlasting Kingdom. This particular proof of
Muhammad's Divine Commission therefore has completely broken down. It is true that certain people
have been astounded at noticing the fact that in Rev. ix. 4, these words occur: "And it was
said unto them that they should not hurt the grass of the earth, neither any green thing, neither
any tree, but only such men as have not the seal of God on their foreheads." For they tell us
that this prophecy was actually fulfilled when the Khalifah Abu Bakr sent out the armies of Islam to
conquer Syria. It is certainly very remarkable to find in two Arabic historians, both of whom were
probably unacquainted with this passage, statements which remind the reader
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of it: Shaikh Jalalu'ddin Suyuti1 quotes Al Baihaqi and others as affirming, on the
authority of ‘Imranu'l Juni, that Abu Bakr, when placing Yazid ibn Abi Sufyan in command of the
army that was starting for Syria, said to him: "Ye shall not slay a woman or a child or a
decrepit old man, nor shall ye cut down fruit-bearing trees, nor shall ye lay waste cultivated
ground, nor shall ye slaughter sheep or beast of burden except for food, nor shall ye split a
date-palm, nor burn it: nor shalt thou deal treacherously, nor shalt thou be cowardly." The
Katibu'l Waqidi also2 relates the same thing at greater length. He tells us that on that
occasion Abu Bakr said to Yazid: "When ye shall have prevailed over your enemies, do not slay a
lad or a very old man or a woman or a babe, nor approach a date-palm, nor burn a cornfield, nor cut
down fruit-bearing trees, nor slaughter beasts, unless a beast for food, nor shall ye deceive when
ye have made an agreement; nor shall ye break the compact when ye have made peace. And ye shall pass
by communities in cells, monks who fancy that they are serving God, therefore let them alone, unto
Him have they not secluded themselves, and they are satisfied for themselves with Him: and ye shall
not pull down their cells, nor shall ye slay them. And ye shall find another community, the sect of
Satan and worshippers of crosses, who have shaved the middle of their heads until they are, as it
were, nests of the Qata-bird3
(القطا). Therefore with your swords strike through the
middle of their heads, until they return to Islam or 'give the Fizyah-tax out of hand, and
are humble'. And to God have I commended4 you." There is no doubt that
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