The first: they read the passage as if the interrogative particle had been omitted, so that its purport becomes, “Shall I raise up for the Children of Israel a prophet from among their brothers?!”—that is, I shall not do so. It is therefore a rhetorical question of denial, (1) with the particle itself omitted.

The second: they take it as a statement and a threat, but claim that the prophet intended is Samuel, who was from the Children of Israel. Yet the glad tidings speak of a prophet from their brothers, and a people’s brothers are the sons of their father—that is, the Children of Israel. (2)

The third: they say it refers to a prophet whom God will send at the end of time to restore the dominion of the Jews and exalt their status; they still await him to this very day (and call him “the Expected One”). (3)(4)

The Muslims, however, maintain that the prophecy is unequivocally about the Arab, unlettered Prophet, Muhammad son of ʿAbd Allah—may Allah’s blessings and peace be upon him—and can apply to no one else. The prophecy was given about a prophet from among the brothers of the Children of Israel, not from the Children of Israel themselves. The Messiah is from the Children of Israel; had he been meant, the wording would have been, “I will raise up for them a prophet from among themselves,” just as the Exalted said: “Allah has indeed shown favor to the believers when He raised up among them a messenger from among themselves” [Āl ʿImrān 3:164].

The brothers of the Children of Israel are the descendants of Ishmael, and it is inconceivable in the language of any nation that the Children of Israel themselves would be called the brothers of the Children of Israel, just as Zayd himself is not counted among the brothers of Zayd. (5)