سُوْرَةُ الصَّفِّ

Surah As-Saff (61) — Ayah 6

The Ranks · Medinan · Juz 28 · Page 552

وَإِذْ قَالَ عِيسَى ٱبْنُ مَرْيَمَ يَـٰبَنِىٓ إِسْرَٰٓءِيلَ إِنِّى رَسُولُ ٱللَّهِ إِلَيْكُم مُّصَدِّقًا لِّمَا بَيْنَ يَدَىَّ مِنَ ٱلتَّوْرَىٰةِ وَمُبَشِّرًۢا بِرَسُولٍ يَأْتِى مِنۢ بَعْدِى ٱسْمُهُۥٓ أَحْمَدُ ۖ فَلَمَّا جَآءَهُم بِٱلْبَيِّنَـٰتِ قَالُوا۟ هَـٰذَا سِحْرٌ مُّبِينٌ ﴿6﴾
And (remember) when ‘Îsâ (Jesus), son of Maryam (Mary), said: "O Children of Israel! I am the Messenger of Allâh unto you, confirming the Taurât [(Torah) which came] before me, and giving glad tidings of a Messenger to come after me, whose name shall be Ahmad. But when he (Ahmad i.e. Muhammad صلى الله عليه وسلم) came to them with clear proofs, they said: "This is plain magic."
وَإِذْ wa-idh And when
قَالَ qāla said
عِيسَى ʿīsā Isa
ٱبْنُ ub'nu son
مَرْيَمَ maryama (of) Maryam
يَـٰبَنِىٓ yābanī O Children
إِسْرَٰٓءِيلَ is'rāīla (of) Israel
إِنِّى innī Indeed, I am
رَسُولُ rasūlu (the) Messenger
ٱللَّهِ l-lahi (of) Allah
إِلَيْكُم ilaykum to you
مُّصَدِّقًۭا muṣaddiqan confirming
لِّمَا limā that which
بَيْنَ bayna (was) between
يَدَىَّ yadayya my hands
مِنَ mina of
ٱلتَّوْرَىٰةِ l-tawrāti the Taurat
وَمُبَشِّرًۢا wamubashiran and bringing glad tidings
بِرَسُولٍۢ birasūlin (of) a Messenger
يَأْتِى yatī to come
مِنۢ min from
بَعْدِى baʿdī after me
ٱسْمُهُۥٓ us'muhu whose name (will be)
أَحْمَدُ ۖ aḥmadu Ahmad
فَلَمَّا falammā But when
جَآءَهُم jāahum he came to them
بِٱلْبَيِّنَـٰتِ bil-bayināti with clear proofs
قَالُوا۟ qālū they said
هَـٰذَا hādhā This
سِحْرٌۭ siḥ'run (is) a magic
مُّبِينٌۭ mubīnun clear

Tafsir Taiseer ul-Quran (Facilitation of the Quran) is a comprehensive Quran commentary by Maulana Abdul Rahman Kilani, a renowned Salafi (Ahl al-Hadith) scholar from Pakistan. Known for his eloquent and accessible writing style, Kilani authored this tafsir with a focus on clarity — making Quranic meanings understandable to the common reader. The tafsir provides detailed historical context for verses related to battles and expeditions, and firmly refutes modernist ideologies using strong scriptural evidence. It is widely regarded as an invaluable resource for understanding the Quran and countering deviant interpretations. The tafsir is originally written in Urdu, translated to English by tohed.com.

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.