Surah As-Saff (61) — Ayah 6

(Ayah 6) ➊ {وَ اِذْ قَالَ عِيْسَى ابْنُ مَرْيَمَ يٰبَنِيْۤ اِسْرَآءِيْلَ …:’’ مُصَدِّقًا لِّمَا بَيْنَ يَدَيَّ مِنَ التَّوْرٰىةِ ‘‘} has two meanings and both are correct. One is that I am not refuting the previously revealed book, the Torah, but rather confirming it. See the commentary of Surah Al-Ma'idah (46). The second is that my existence proves true the glad tidings given about me in the Torah; I am the fulfillment of those prophecies, therefore it is obligatory upon you to believe in me.

➋ {وَ مُبَشِّرًۢا بِرَسُوْلٍ يَّاْتِيْ مِنْۢ بَعْدِي اسْمُهٗۤ اَحْمَدُ:} From this, it is understood that 'Isa (peace be upon him) gave the glad tidings of the coming of the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) with explicit mention of his blessed name {’’ اَحْمَدُ ‘‘}. Jubayr bin Mut'im (may Allah be pleased with him) said: I heard the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) saying: [ إِنَّ لِيْ أَسْمَاءً ، أَنَا مُحَمَّدٌ وَأَنَا أَحْمَدُ وَأَنَا الْمَاحِي الَّذِيْ يَمْحُو اللّٰهُ بِيَ الْكُفْرَ، وَأَنَا الْحَاشِرُ الَّذِيْ يُحْشَرُ النَّاسُ عَلٰی قَدَمِيْ، وَ أَنَا الْعَاقِبُ ] [ بخاري، التفسیر، باب قولہ تعالٰی : «یأتی من بعدي اسمہ أحمد » : ۴۸۹۶ ] "I have several names: I am Muhammad, and I am Ahmad, and I am al-Mahi (the one who erases) by whom Allah will erase disbelief, and I am al-Hashir (the gatherer) behind whom people will be gathered, and I am al-'Aqib (the last, after whom there is no prophet)."

{’’ اَحْمَدُ ‘‘} ({أَفْعَلُ}) is an elative (comparative/superlative) noun which comes in the meaning of both the active and passive participle. If in the meaning of the active participle, it means "one who praises much," and in reality, the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) was one who praised Allah greatly, and the people of his ummah are {’’حَمَّادُوْنَ‘‘} (those who praise much). If in the meaning of the passive participle, it means "one who is much praised." In this case, this blessed name is synonymous with "Muhammad." An example of the elative noun coming in the passive participle meaning is found in the Qur'an, where it is said: « اَلَمْ تَرَ اِلَى الَّذِيْنَ اُوْتُوْا نَصِيْبًا مِّنَ الْكِتٰبِ يُؤْمِنُوْنَ بِالْجِبْتِ وَ الطَّاغُوْتِ وَ يَقُوْلُوْنَ لِلَّذِيْنَ كَفَرُوْا هٰۤؤُلَآءِ اَهْدٰى مِنَ الَّذِيْنَ اٰمَنُوْا سَبِيْلًا » [ النساء : ۵۱ ] "Have you not seen those who were given a portion of the Book? They believe in idols and false gods and say about the disbelievers that they are more guided than the believers." In this verse, {’’ اَهْدٰى ‘‘} is not in the meaning of the active participle (more guiding), but in the meaning of the passive participle, i.e., "more guided." Similarly, in Surah Fatir (42), {’’ اَهْدٰى ‘‘} is in the meaning of the passive participle. In the glad tidings of 'Isa (peace be upon him), two things are especially noteworthy: one, the specification of the time of the coming of the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him), that he will come after the Messiah (peace be upon him); the second, the explicit mention of the blessed name {’’ اَحْمَدُ ‘‘}, so that there remains no ambiguity or obscurity regarding him. As for the name, according to the statement of the Qur'an, it is certain that this name was present in the Gospel. The greatest proof of this is that if the statement of the Qur'an were false, the Christians of the time of the Qur'an's revelation would certainly have refuted it. The absence of this name in the present Gospels cannot be considered proof of its negation, because the original Gospel does not exist in the world today. The Gospels before us in Arabic, English, or Urdu are all translations upon translations. The differences among these translations are as great as those among the Gospels themselves. The translators translate every word, even if it is a proper noun, whereas names should not be changed or translated. Then, when there is also a habit of concealing the truth and altering it, the matter goes far astray. Despite this, with the specification of the time and the attributes of the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him), the glad tidings are present in several places in the Gospel, which do not apply to anyone other than him. Here are some references from the Gospel of John in which the coming of the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) is foretold. The Messiah (peace be upon him) said: "And I will pray to the Father, and He will give you another Helper, that he may abide with you forever, even the Spirit of truth." [ یوحنا، باب ۱۴، فقرہ : 17،16 ] "But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My name, He will teach you all things, and bring to your remembrance all things that I said to you." [ یوحنا، باب ۱۴، فقرہ : ۲۶ ] "After this I will not talk much with you, for the ruler of this world is coming, and he has nothing in me." [ یوحنا، باب ۱۴، فقرہ : ۳۰ ] "But when the Helper comes, whom I shall send to you from the Father, the Spirit of truth who proceeds from the Father, He will testify of Me." [ یوحنا، باب ۱۵، فقرہ : ۲۶ ] "I still have many things to say to you, but you cannot bear them now. However, when He, the Spirit of truth, has come, He will guide you into all truth; for He will not speak on His own authority, but whatever He hears He will speak; and He will tell you things to come." [ یوحنا، باب ۱۶، فقرہ : 13،12]

These references are taken from the Gospel of John, which is accepted by all Christian sects. In the Gospel of Barnabas, the name "Muhammad" is mentioned repeatedly, but the present Christians, who are followers of Paul, do not accept it, so references from the Gospel of John have been cited. In these, the glad tidings of the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) are given with such attributes that do not apply to anyone other than him. For example, "He will give you another Helper, that he may abide with you forever," and "He will teach you all things," and "the ruler of this world is coming, and he has nothing in me." Reflect! After the Messiah (peace be upon him), who other than the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) fits these attributes?

➌ { فَلَمَّا جَآءَهُمْ بِالْبَيِّنٰتِ:} Some have said that this refers to the Messiah (peace be upon him), because at the beginning of the verse his address is mentioned, but the preferred opinion is that it refers to the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him), i.e., when that "Ahmad" whose glad tidings 'Isa (peace be upon him) gave came to them with clear signs, they denied him, calling him manifest magic, even though they recognized him, as it is said: « فَلَمَّا جَآءَهُمْ مَّا عَرَفُوْا كَفَرُوْا بِهٖ فَلَعْنَةُ اللّٰهِ عَلَى الْكٰفِرِيْنَ» [ البقرۃ : ۸۹ ] "Then when there came to them that which they recognized, they disbelieved in it; so the curse of Allah is upon the disbelievers." Ibn Jarir al-Tabari has given this meaning, and Ibn Kathir and many other commentators have sufficed with this meaning. This is also supported by the words {’’ وَ هُوَ يُدْعٰۤى اِلَى الْاِسْلَامِ ‘‘} in the following verse, because at the time of the revelation of this Surah, the one inviting to Islam was Ahmad (peace and blessings be upon him), not the Messiah (peace be upon him).

➍ { قَالُوْا هٰذَا سِحْرٌ مُّبِيْنٌ:} That is, they said about the signs and miracles he brought that this is manifest magic, or for emphasis, instead of calling the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) a magician, they called him magic itself, just as instead of {’’ زَيْدٌ عَادِلٌ‘‘} they say {’’ زَيْدٌ عَدْلٌ‘‘}.

6. 1 The story of Isa (peace be upon him) is mentioned here because just as Bani Israel disobeyed Musa (peace be upon him), in the same way, they also denied Isa (peace be upon him). In this, the Prophet ﷺ is being comforted that these Jews are not behaving this way only with you ﷺ, rather, their entire history is filled with the rejection of the Prophets (peace be upon them). The meaning of confirming the Torah is that the message I am giving is the same as the message of the Torah. This is proof that the Prophet who came before me with the Torah and now I have come with the Injil, our original source is the same. Therefore, just as you believed in Musa, Harun, Dawud, and Sulaiman (peace be upon them), believe in me as well, because I am confirming the Torah, not rejecting or denying it.

6. 2 This is the glad tidings given by Isa (peace be upon him) about the last Prophet to come after him, Muhammad, the Messenger of Allah ﷺ. Thus, the Prophet ﷺ said: "Ana da‘watu abi Ibrahima wa bushra ‘Isa" — I am the answer to my father Ibrahim’s (peace be upon him) prayer and the glad tidings of Isa (peace be upon him). If "Ahmad" is the superlative form from the active voice, then it means the one who praises Allah more than all others. And if it is the superlative form from the passive voice, then it means that due to your ﷺ virtues and perfections, as much praise has been done for you ﷺ, it has not been done for anyone else. (Fath al-Qadeer)

6. 2 That is, the miracles presented by Isa (peace be upon him) were described as magic, just as previous nations also used to say the same about their Prophets. Some have taken this to refer to the Prophet ﷺ, as the disbelievers of Makkah used to say about you ﷺ.

6. And when Isa son of Maryam said: "O Children of Israel! I am indeed Allah's Messenger to you, confirming the Torah that came before me [6], and giving glad tidings of a Messenger to come after me whose name will be Ahmad [7]." But when he came to them with clear proofs [8], they said: "This is clear magic."

[6] One meaning of ﴿مُّصَدِّقًا لِّمَا بَيْنَ يَدَيَّ مِنَ التَّوْرٰيةِ﴾ is that Sayyiduna Isa ibn Maryam was a confirmer of the Book revealed before him; he followed the Mosaic law, that is, the teachings of the Torah. The second meaning is that Sayyiduna Isaؑ said that his existence confirms the statements of the Torah because he came as the fulfillment of those things which were foretold about him in the Torah.

[7]
Only Translations of Both the Torah and the Gospel Are Available; The Original Manuscripts Do Not Exist Anywhere:

Ahmad has two meanings: one who praises his Lord very much, and second, the one who is praised the most among the servants. Both these qualities are found in your blessed personality. In addition, youﷺ yourself said that you have many names: I am Muhammad, I am Ahmad, I am Maahi—Allah will erase disbelief because of me, I am Haashir—that is, people will be gathered on my following, and I am Aaqib (the one who comes after all the prophets) as well. [بخاري۔ كتاب التفسير۔ تفسير سورة الصف]
As for whether this name exists in the present Bible or not, the answer is that despite the distortions in both the Torah and the Gospel, such clear attributes of you are still mentioned, by which you could be recognized. The Jews of Madinah were awaiting the Last Prophetﷺ, and some fair-minded people among them, based on these mentioned attributes, even brought faith.

The Gospel Was Compiled Long After Sayyiduna Isa:

As for the present Gospel, it is not a divinely revealed book. They are versions compiled by different people, which were written a long time after his life. The four Gospels found in the Bible today—none of their authors was a companion or disciple of Sayyiduna Isa. However, the author of the Gospel of Barnabas claims to be his companion. But the publication and printing of this Gospel was banned by the Church, because the Gospel of Barnabas clearly stated the Oneness of Allah, whereas by the fourth century CE, the doctrine of the Trinity had become officially established among Christians. Therefore, the Church considered it safer to ban this Gospel. Rare copies of this Gospel can still be found in various libraries today. Despite the distortions, such signs of you are present in these books that, on their basis, Abdullah bin Salam and Najashi affirmed the truth: Apart from distortion, the second difficulty is that whether it is the Torah or the Gospel, no revealed book is preserved in its original language. Only translations in various languages are available. Their original language was Syriac, and the translations are in Greek, Latin, English, Urdu, etc. Therefore, conducting complete research is a very difficult task. Despite all these things, when Najashi, the king of Abyssinia, called the emigrants of Abyssinia to his court and heard your teachings from Sayyiduna Ja'farؓ ibn Abi Talib, he said: "Welcome to you and to the one from whom you have come. I bear witness that he is the Messenger of Allah, and he is the one whose mention we find in the Gospel, and he is the one whose glad tidings Sayyiduna Isa ibn Maryam gave." Musnad Ahmad, narrated by Abdullah ibn Mas'udؓ. From this, it is clear that even at that time, such clear signs of you were present in the Gospel that Najashi did not hesitate at all in forming this opinion.

[8] In ﴿جَاءَ هُمْ﴾, the pronoun in ﴿جاءَ﴾ can refer to Isaؑ or to Ahmad. In the first case, it would mean that when Isaؑ came to the Children of Israel, who, by Allah's command, would bring the dead to life, make birds out of clay and blow into them so they would fly, or would pass his hand over a leper or one with leukoderma and he would be cured—seeing such things, the Children of Israel called these miracles clear magic. In the second case, it would mean that when, according to the glad tidings and described attributes of Sayyiduna Isaؑ, you were sent, the Children of Israel considered your teachings to be deception and trickery, and in order not to believe, began to level all sorts of accusations.