Likewise, every one of the earlier glad tidings—which, taken together, yield certain knowledge (1) that they were meant for Muhammad ibn ʿAbd Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, and for his community—would have been rendered void had their fulfilment not come with his appearance.

For this reason, when the unbelievers among the People of the Book realized that one cannot truly believe in the former prophets (2) without also believing in the prophet they foretold, they said, “We are waiting for him; he has not yet arrived.” And when some of their most extreme deniers perceived that this prophet would arise from the line of Ishmael, they brazenly denied that Abraham had ever fathered a son named Ishmael, claiming that such a person had never been created by God at all.

Such audacity is hardly surprising from the nation of slander—the brothers of apes and the slayers of the prophets—just as it is no wonder that the Trinitarians, worshippers of the cross, who have hurled the gravest insult at the Lord of all worlds, should attack our religion and belittle our Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him.

Section

We shall now show that they cannot establish for the Messiah any virtue, prophethood, sign, or miracle unless they first acknowledge that Muhammad is the Messenger of God; if they deny him, nothing of the sort can be affirmed for the Messiah at all (3).

So we say: If you, O Trinitarian worshippers of the cross, reject the Quran and Muhammad—peace and blessings be upon him—how can you prove a single merit or miracle for Jesus? Who has transmitted to you any sign or wonder from him? Indeed, you only followed those who came after him by slightly more than two hundred-odd years