Hidāyat al-Ḥayārā - Ibn al-Qayyim - (المقدمة/46)

Hidāyat al-ḤayārāIbn al-Qayyim

remain scattered within the folds of those books, indications that bear prophecies and glad tidings of the prophethood of Muhammad—may Allah bless him and grant him peace. It is as though Allah preserved them to disgrace their custodians, expose the falsehood they uphold, and establish the proof against them from the very texts they revere. When these prophecies grew so numerous that they could not hide them all, they began tampering with them and foisting upon them feeble interpretations so as to divert them from their true meaning, which points unmistakably to the prophethood of Muhammad—may Allah bless him and grant him peace—and so as to claim that some of them refer exclusively to Jesus, peace be upon him!

These prophecies fall into two categories:

The first category consists—most of the time—of general indications. They do not mention his name—may Allah bless him and grant him peace—or the name of his homeland, for example; instead, they describe his qualities, his attributes, the traits of his community, the land from which he will emerge, and certain features of his call, his message, and their fruits. This provides an even clearer proof of the intended figure than citing him by name, for names can be shared and therefore fail to identify or distinguish. Anyone who happens to bear that name could claim to be the one foretold, since the reference would hinge on the name alone.

Although such information, being general, is not obvious to the masses, it becomes clear to the specialists through the contextual clues that surround it. It may still remain hidden from them, however, until a later prophet asserts that a former prophet had foretold him and the truthfulness of that claim is confirmed by the appearance of prophetic signs and miracles at his hands.

The second category consists of explicit prophecies that state the prophet’s very name in full.

…while you know. (Al Imran 3:71) O People of the Scripture, Our Messenger has come to you making clear to you much of what you used to conceal of the Book. (Al Maida 5:15) They distort words from their proper places. (An Nisa 4:46; Al Maida 5:13) And indeed, among them is a faction who twist their tongues while reciting the Book so that you might think it comes from the Book, yet it is not from the Book. They say, “It is from Allah,” but it is not from Allah, and they deliberately tell lies about Allah while they know. (Al Imran 3:78)

تحمل النبوءات والبشارات بنبوة محمد ﷺ وكأن الله تعالى أبقاها ليخزيهم ويظهر ما هم عليه من باطل، ولتقوم عليهم الحجة من كتبهم التي يقدسونها، ولما كثرت هذه البشارات وما استطاعوا كتمانها كلها أخذوا يحرفون فيها ويؤولونها تأويلات باردة ليصرفوها عن معناها الحقيقي الدالّ على نبوة محمد ﷺ وليجعلوا بعضها خاصًا بعيسى ﵇! ٢ - هذه البشارات على نوعين: منها ما يكون إشارات مجملة -غالبًا- ولا تنطق باسمه ﷺ واسم بلده مثلًا، بل تذكر صفته ونعته ونعت أمته ومخرجه، وشيئًا من صفات دعوته ورسالته وثمراتها، ويكون في هذا أبلغ دلالة على المطلوب من ذكره باسمه الصريح، فإن الاشتراك قد يقع في الاسم فلا يحصل به التعريف والتمييز، ولا يشاء أحد، يسمى بهذا الاسم، أن يدعي أنه هو إلا فعل، إذ الحوالة إنما وقعت على مجرد الاسم، وإن كان هذا الإخبار مجملًا غير واضح عند العوام من الناس فإنه يصير عند الخواص جليًا بواسطة القرائن التي تحف به وقد يبقى خفيًا عليهم أيضًا لا يعرفون صدقه إلا بعد ادعاء النبي اللاحق أن النبي المتقدم أخبر عنه وظهر صدق ادعائه بظهور علامات النبوة والمعجزات على يديه. ومن هذه البشارات ما يكون تفصيلًا تامًا بالاسم الصريح للنبي

= وَأَنْتُمْ تَعْلَمُونَ﴾ [آل عمران/ ٧١]، ﴿يَاأَهْلَ الْكِتَابِ قَدْ جَاءَكُمْ رَسُولُنَا يُبَيِّنُ لَكُمْ كَثِيرًا مِمَّا كُنْتُمْ تُخْفُونَ مِنَ الْكِتَابِ﴾ [المائدة/ ١٥]، ﴿يُحَرِّفُونَ الْكَلِمَ عَنْ مَوَاضِعِهِ﴾ [النساء/ ٤٦، المائدة/ ١٣]، ﴿وَإِنَّ مِنْهُمْ لَفَرِيقًا يَلْوُونَ أَلْسِنَتَهُمْ بِالْكِتَابِ لِتَحْسَبُوهُ مِنَ الْكِتَابِ وَمَا هُوَ مِنَ الْكِتَابِ وَيَقُولُونَ هُوَ مِنْ عِنْدِ اللَّهِ وَمَا هُوَ مِنْ عِنْدِ اللَّهِ وَيَقُولُونَ عَلَى اللَّهِ الْكَذِبَ وَهُمْ يَعْلَمُونَ﴾ [آل عمران/ ٧٨].