to heaven; they were not reinforced by a third companion, nor was Ḥabīb al-Najjār (the Carpenter) alive at that time. The people of Antioch believed in the Messiah—peace be upon him—and Antioch was the first city to accept faith in him, as has been explained elsewhere.

The point here is that Muhammad—may Allah bless him and grant him peace—did not attest to the Messiah’s divinity, nor to the Disciples being messengers of Allah, nor that they delivered the Torah and the Gospel in their own language, nor that they are infallible. Their citation of His, exalted is He, statement: “We sent no messenger except in the language of his people” (Ibrāhīm 14:4) applies only to the messengers of Allah themselves, not to the envoys of those messengers. The envoys of the messengers of Allah may convey the messages of the messengers in the messengers’ own tongue when someone is available to translate that language for them; but if no translator is present, then the envoys of the messengers