from some of them; the present copies may have been produced after the excision, while other manuscripts—different from those we possess—still contained the prophecy. All of this is quite possible in the normal course of transmission and cannot be categorically denied.

Accordingly, even if we assume that nothing of this prophecy remains in the scriptures now in the hands of the People of the Book, that does not establish that the prophets never announced it. Just as the Jews cannot be certain that the prophets gave no glad tidings of the Messiah, so the People of the Book cannot be certain that the prophets gave no glad tidings of Muhammad. They have no real knowledge of its absence; at best, each of them entertains a conjecture because he searched for the text and did not find it.

The proofs of the prophethood of the Messiah and of Muhammad are decisive and indubitable; mere speculation cannot discredit them, for conjecture can never overturn certainty—especially in view of the numerous reports affirming that Muhammad was explicitly mentioned by name in what has come down from the prophets.

Thus, in the authentic collection of al-Bukhari it is related that someone said to ʿAbdullāh ibn ʿAmr:

“Tell us something of the description of the Messenger of Allah in the Torah.”

He replied, “He is indeed described in the Torah with some of the very attributes that appear in the Quran: ‘O Prophet, We have sent you as a witness, a bearer of glad tidings, and a warner, and as a safeguard for the unlettered. You are My servant and My messenger; I have named you al-Mutawakkil (the Reliant). You are neither harsh, nor hard-hearted, nor loud in the marketplaces. You do not repay evil with evil; rather, you repay evil with good, and you pardon and forgive. I shall not take you unto Me until, through you, I establish the religion.’”