knowledge that earlier prophets had foretold them. On the contrary, the paths that lead to certitude in prophethood are many. Therefore, once a person’s prophethood is established by any one of those paths, it stands proven for whoever has grasped that evidence, even if he is unaware that the prophets before him had announced his coming.

Nevertheless, one might object: if it is either obligatory, or in fact the case, that the preceding prophet must inform people of the new prophet’s advent, and that they must notify them of the abrogation of the former law, then such foretelling becomes a pre-condition of prophethood. Consequently, whoever affirms his prophethood must also know that this foretelling actually took place, even if no specific report has reached him.

Should an opponent argue: “The absence of any announcement by earlier prophets undermines his prophethood; for if, hypothetically, the earlier prophets did not foretell him, and such foretelling is a necessary condition of prophethood, that would invalidate his claim,”—we answer in two ways.

First: once his prophethood is verified by the unmistakable signs that attest to true prophethood, then either the foretelling by earlier prophets is a necessary and obligatory component—or something that has in fact occurred—or it is not. If it is not necessary, its occurrence is not required. But if it is necessary, one may be certain that it did occur, even though it has not reached us; for not everything the earlier prophets said has come down to us, and not every statement made by the Messiah and the prophets before him has reached our hands. This is self-evident.

And even if we suppose that no such foretelling is found in the scriptures presently in the hands of the People of the Book, it does not follow that the Messiah and the prophets before him never mentioned it. It is entirely possible that they did mention it but it was not transmitted, or that it was recorded in other writings, or that it existed in copies other than the ones now extant and was subsequently removed