Thirty-Fifth Aspect: In the prophecy of Jeremiah it is said, “Before I created you I exalted you; before I formed you in the womb I sent you forth and appointed you a prophet to all nations.” (1)

This is a prophecy on Jeremiah’s tongue concerning someone who would come after him, and that can only be the Messiah or Muhammad—may Allah’s blessings and peace be upon them both. Muhammad, however, is the one to whom it more fittingly applies, for the Messiah was sent only to the Children of Israel (2), as Allah says: “and [He will make him] a messenger to the Children of Israel” (Q 3:49). The Christians themselves concede this, and the Messiah never claimed to have been sent to every nation on earth. From the time of Moses until the Messiah, each prophet was sent solely to his own people. Their own Gospel even records the Messiah telling the disciples: “Do not take the road of the nations; rather, confine yourselves to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.”

By contrast, Muhammad son of ʿAbd Allah is the one whom Allah sent to all the peoples of the earth and every branch of Adam’s descendants. This prophecy accords with the divine words: “Say, O mankind, indeed I am the messenger of Allah to you all” (Q 7:158); with his statement, peace be upon him, “I have been sent to the black and the red” (3); and with his saying, “Every prophet was sent exclusively to his own people, whereas I have been sent to all humanity” (4).

The Christians have acknowledged this prophecy and not denied it, yet some of them have said