Prophecies About Prophet Muhammad ﷺ Prophet By Zechariah

(Cite: Khan, Dr. (Mufti) Imran & Hamdani, Mufti Shah Rafi Uddin. (2018), Prophecies About Prophet Muhammad By Prophet Zechariah , Encyclopedia of Muhammad , Seerat Research Center, Karachi, Pakistan, Vol. 1, Pg. 325-331.)

Six different prophecies which are interconnected with each other but scattered at different parts of the Bible are being presented in upcoming lines which are going to be discussed altogether in detail. Zechariah said:

وَكَلِّمْهُ قَائِلًا: هَكَذَا قَالَ رَبُّ ٱلْجُنُودِ قَائِلًا: هُوَذَا ٱلرَّجُلُ «ٱلْغُصْنُ» ٱسْمُهُ. وَمِنْ مَكَانِهِ يَنْبُتُ وَيَبْنِي هَيْكَلَ ٱلرَّبِّ. فَهُوَ يَبْنِي هَيْكَلَ ٱلرَّبِّ، وَهُوَ يَحْمِلُ ٱلْجَلَالَ وَيَجْلِسُ وَيَتَسَلَّطُ عَلَى كُرْسِيِّهِ، وَيَكُونُ كَاهِنًا عَلَى كُرْسِيِّهِ، وَتَكُونُ مَشُورَةُ ٱلسَّلَامِ بَيْنَهُمَا كِلَيْهِمَا. ¹

Tell him that the Lord Almighty says, ‘The man who is called The Branch will flourish where he is and rebuild the Lord's Temple. He is the one who will build it and receive the honour due to a king, and he will rule his people. A priest will stand by his throne, and they will work together in peace and harmony.’

اِبْتَهِجِي جِدًّا يَا ٱبْنَةَ صِهْيَوْنَ، ٱهْتِفِي يَا بِنْتَ أُورُشَلِيمَ. هُوَذَا مَلِكُكِ يَأْتِي إِلَيْكِ. هُوَ عَادِلٌ وَمَنْصُورٌ وَدِيعٌ، وَرَاكِبٌ عَلَى حِمَارٍ وَعَلَى جَحْشٍ ٱبْنِ أَتَانٍ. وَأَقْطَعُ ٱلْمَرْكَبَةَ مِنْ أَفْرَايِمَ وَٱلْفَرَسَ مِنْ أُورُشَلِيمَ وَتُقْطَعُ قَوْسُ ٱلْحَرْبِ. وَيَتَكَلَّمُ بِٱلسَّلَامِ لِلْأُمَمِ، وَسُلْطَانُهُ مِنَ ٱلْبَحْرِ إِلَى ٱلْبَحْرِ، وَمِنَ ٱلنَّهْرِ إِلَى أَقَاصِي ٱلْأَرْضِ. ²

Rejoice, rejoice, people of Zion! Shout for joy, you people of Jerusalem! Look, your king is coming to you! He comes triumphant and victorious, but humble and riding on a donkey— on a colt, the foal of a donkey. The Lord says, “I will remove the war chariots from Israel and take the horses from Jerusalem; the bows used in battle will be destroyed. Your king will make peace among the nations; he will rule from sea to sea, from the Euphrates River to the ends of the earth.”

فِي ذَلِكَ ٱلْيَوْمِ أَجْعَلُ أُمَرَاءَ يَهُوذَا كَمِصْبَاحِ نَارٍ بَيْنَ ٱلْحَطَبِ، وَكَمِشْعَلِ نَارٍ بَيْنَ ٱلْحُزَمِ. فَيَأْكُلُونَ كُلَّ ٱلشُّعُوبِ حَوْلَهُمْ عَنِ ٱلْيَمِينِ وَعَنِ ٱلْيَسَارِ، فَتَثْبُتُ أُورُشَلِيمُ أَيْضًا فِي مَكَانِهَا بِأُورُشَلِيمَ. وَيُخَلِّصُ ٱلرَّبُّ خِيَامَ يَهُوذَا أَوَّلًا لِكَيْلَا يَتَعَاظَمَ ٱفْتِخَارُ بَيْتِ دَاوُدَ وَٱفْتِخَارُ سُكَّانِ أُورُشَلِيمَ عَلَى يَهُوذَا. فِي ذَلِكَ ٱلْيَوْمِ يَسْتُرُ ٱلرَّبُّ سُكَّانَ أُورُشَلِيمَ، فَيَكُونُ ٱلْعَاثِرُ مِنْهُمْ فِي ذَلِكَ ٱلْيَوْمِ مِثْلَ دَاوُدَ، وَبَيْتُ دَاوُدَ مِثْلَ ٱللهِ، مِثْلَ مَلَاكِ ٱلرَّبِّ أَمَامَهُمْ. ³

“At that time I will make the clans of Judah like a fire in a forest or in a field of ripe grain—they will destroy all the surrounding nations. The people of Jerusalem will remain safe in the city. “I, the Lord, will give victory to the armies of Judah first, so that the honour which the descendants of David and the people of Jerusalem will receive will be no greater than that of the rest of Judah. At that time the Lord will protect those who live in Jerusalem, and even the weakest among them will become as strong as David was. The descendants of David will lead them like the angel of the Lord, like God himself.

فِي ذَلِكَ ٱلْيَوْمِ يَكُونُ يَنْبُوعٌ مَفْتُوحًا لِبَيْتِ دَاوُدَ وَلِسُكَّانِ أُورُشَلِيمَ لِلْخَطِيَّةِ وَلِلْنَجَاسَةِ. وَيَكُونُ فِي ذَلِكَ ٱلْيَوْمِ، يَقُولُ رَبُّ ٱلْجُنُودِ، أَنِّي أَقْطَعُ أَسْمَاءَ ٱلْأَصْنَامِ مِنَ ٱلْأَرْضِ فَلَا تُذْكَرُ بَعْدُ، وَأُزِيلُ ٱلْأَنْبِيَاءَ أَيْضًا وَٱلرُّوحَ ٱلنَّجِسَ مِنَ ٱلْأَرْضِ. وَيَكُونُ إِذَا تَنَبَّأَ أَحَدٌ بَعْدُ أَنَّ أَبَاهُ وَأُمَّهُ، وَالِدَيْهِ، يَقُولَانِ لَهُ: لَا تَعِيشُ لِأَنَّكَ تَكَلَّمْتَ بِٱلْكَذِبِ بِٱسْمِ ٱلرَّبِّ. فَيَطْعَنُهُ أَبُوهُ وَأُمُّهُ، وَالِدَاهُ، عِنْدَمَا يَتَنَبَّأُ. وَيَكُونُ فِي ذَلِكَ ٱلْيَوْمِ أَنَّ ٱلْأَنْبِيَاءَ يَخْزَوْنَ كُلُّ وَاحِدٍ مِنْ رُؤْيَاهُ إِذَا تَنَبَّأَ، وَلَا يَلْبَسُونَ ثَوْبَ شَعْرٍ لِأَجْلِ ٱلْغِشِّ. بَلْ يَقُولُ: لَسْتُ أَنَا نَبِيًّا. أَنَا إِنْسَانٌ فَالِحُ ٱلْأَرْضِ، لِأَنَّ إِنْسَانًا ٱقْتَنَانِي مِنْ صِبَايَ. ⁴

When that time comes,” says the Lord Almighty, “a fountain will be opened to purify the descendants of David and the people of Jerusalem from their sin and idolatry. At that time I will remove the names of the idols from the land, and no one will remember them anymore. I will get rid of anyone who claims to be a prophet and will take away the desire to worship idols. Then, if anyone still insists on prophesying, his own father and mother will tell him that he must be put to death, because he claimed to speak the Lord's word, but spoke lies instead. When he prophesies, his own father and mother will stab him to death. When that time comes, no prophet will be proud of his visions or act like a prophet or wear a prophet's coarse garment in order to deceive people. Instead, he will say, ‘I am not a prophet. I am a farmer—I have farmed the land all my life.’

وَيَكُونُ فِي كُلِّ ٱلْأَرْضِ، يَقُولُ ٱلرَّبُّ، أَنَّ ثُلْثَيْنِ مِنْهَا يُقْطَعَانِ وَيَمُوتَانِ، وَٱلثُّلْثَ يَبْقَى فِيهَا. وَأُدْخِلُ ٱلثُّلْثَ فِي ٱلنَّارِ، وَأَمْحَصُهُمْ كَمَحْصِ ٱلْفِضَّةِ، وَأَمْتَحِنُهُمُ ٱمْتِحَانَ ٱلذَّهَبِ. هُوَ يَدْعُو بِٱسْمِي وَأَنَا أُجِيبُهُ. أَقُولُ: هُوَ شَعْبِي، وَهُوَ يَقُولُ: ٱلرَّبُّ إِلَهِي. ⁵

and throughout the land two-thirds of the people will die. And I will test the third that survives and will purify them as silver is purified by fire. I will test them as gold is tested. Then they will pray to me, and I will answer them. I will tell them that they are my people, and they will confess that I am their God.”

وَيَكُونُ ٱلرَّبُّ مَلِكًا عَلَى كُلِّ ٱلْأَرْضِ. فِي ذَلِكَ ٱلْيَوْمِ يَكُونُ ٱلرَّبُّ وَحْدَهُ وَٱسْمُهُ وَحْدَهُ. وَتَتَحَوَّلُ ٱلْأَرْضُ كُلُّهَا كَٱلْعَرَبَةِ مِنْ جَبْعَ إِلَى رِمُّونَ جَنُوبَ أُورُشَلِيمَ. وَتَرْتَفِعُ وَتُعْمَرُ فِي مَكَانِهَا، مِنْ بَابِ بَنْيَامِينَ إِلَى مَكَانِ ٱلْبَابِ ٱلْأَوَّلِ، إِلَى بَابِ ٱلزَّوَايَا، وَمِنْ بُرْجِ حَنَنْئِيلَ إِلَى مَعَاصِرِ ٱلْمَلِكِ. فَيَسْكُنُونَ فِيهَا وَلَا يَكُونُ بَعْدُ لَعْنٌ. فَتُعْمَرُ أُورُشَلِيمُ بِٱلْأَمْنِ. ⁶

Then the Lord will be king over all the earth; everyone will worship him as God and know him by the same name. The whole region, from Geba in the north to Rimmon in the south, will be made level. Jerusalem will tower above the land around it; the city will reach from the Benjamin Gate to the Corner Gate, where there had been an earlier gate, and from the Tower of Hananel to the royal winepresses. The people will live there in safety, no longer threatened by destruction.

Christians' Interpretation of the Prophecies

According to Christian commentators, the Branch is the Messiah; he descends from David's lineage. Considering other aspects of the Branch mentioned in Jeremiah (23: 5) and the above-quoted prophecies of Zech¬ariah, this Branch will be both a king and a priest. That is, he will be a righ¬teous person, a servant, reign as a king, exercise wisdom, and execute jus¬tice and righteousness. The two offices, kingdom and priesthood, will be joined with him. As a king, he will ride upon an ass, even upon a colt. During the reign of this king, the Lord will cut off the chariot from Ephraim, and the horse from Jerusalem. That is, no wars shall be employed to spread the kingdom of the Messiah; for it shall be founded and established, "not by might, nor by power, but by the Spirit of the Lord of hosts."

Ephraim represents the ten tribes, and Jerusalem, the two tribes of Judah and Benjamin; and the sense is that these shall be one in the days of the Messiah. All instruments of war shall be removed from them, and there shall be a complete peace between them.

The dominion of the Messianic kingdom shall be from sea to sea, and from the river to the ends of the earth; according to Aben Ezra, from the Red Sea to the sea of the Philistines, and from the river Euphrates to the ends of the earth.

The expansion of the Church, which by persecutions shall not be diminished, but shall be marvellously increased. The preachers of the Church shall rise all the peoples round about, shall destroy all unbelief, and shall kindle the hearts of hearers with the fire of the divine word. Jerusalem shall be inhabited again, that is, the Jews will convert under the Gospel and return to their land. God will weaken the courage of the enemies of the Church. God will call the poor and despised, and as a result, even the feeblest will resemble David , and be as eminent in cour¬age and everything good.

In the land of Israel, or rather in the entire world, the days of tribu¬lation for the Jews and troubles throughout Christendom will be short¬ened at the time of the destruction of the antichrist. All hypocrites, formalists, and outward court worshippers; who seem as if they would be at this time two-thirds of the professors of true religion; who will not be able to stand the hour of temptation that will come upon all the earth, shall be cut off and die. The third part will be tested and those who prove to be like the gold call on the Lord's name; they are the Lord's people. When the kingdom of God, the kingdom of the Messiah, is thus established, all the land the whole land of Judea, a type of the whole earth, shall be filled with the knowledge of God. As a plain all high, uneven places, all rocky and barren grounds, shall be changed into fruitful vineyards. So, the Church of Messiah shall be useful, humble and lovely.

Zechariah’s Prophecies are Fulfilled

As is apparently seen, all these interpretations mentioned are of a futurist nature and refer to the end of time. Therefore, they have no objective foundation and completely ignore the Holy Prophet and Islam. Whereas all the prophets were sent with the same fundamental truths by God and corroborated each other and Islam recognises all of them, regarding believing in all of them without any discrimination as one of the pillars of faith. Despite this, the Jews approach the Old Testament disregarding Jesus and Muhammad , and the Christians reject and close their eyes to Muhammad and Islam. This is why they apply all such prophecies to the alleged second coming of Jesus and ignore a long history of Islam in particular and humanity in general.

The Branch Who Shall be a Priest upon His Throne

Back to the prophecies of Zechariah , it is not possible for Jesus to physically come from David’s lin¬eage, only because he was born without a father. Secondly, the term Branch signifies a separate shoot growing from a root or trunk. Therefore, it is clear that what is meant by the Branch is, of course, a separate lineage from the same source as the family of David was. It is just as stated in Deuteronomy 18: 15 and 18:

يُقِيمُ لَكَ ٱلرَّبُّ إِلَهُكَ نَبِيًّا مِنْ وَسَطِكَ مِنْ إِخْوَتِكَ مِثْلِي. لَهُ تَسْمَعُونَ. . . أُقِيمُ لَهُمْ نَبِيًّا مِنْ وَسَطِ إِخْوَتِهِمْ مِثْلَكَ، وَأَجْعَلُ كَلَامِي فِي فَمِهِ، فَيُكَلِّمُهُمْ بِكُلِّ مَا أُوصِيهِ بِهِ. ⁷

Instead, he will send you a prophet like me from among your own people, and you are to obey him. . . I will send them a prophet like you (Moses ) from among their own people; I will tell him what to say, and he will tell the people everything I command.

The prophet like Moses among the brethren of the Israelites is of course a prophet who will come from the line of Ishmael . Since Ishmael is the brother of Isaac , who is the forefather of Moses’s people, the Children of Israel. This prophet was obviously Prophet Muhammad .

Every prophet has three primary duties or missions, as stated in the fol¬lowing verse of the Holy Quran:

كَمَا أَرْسَلْنَا فِيكُمْ رَسُولًا مِنْكُمْ يَتْلُو عَلَيْكُمْ آيَاتِنَا وَيُزَكِّيكُمْ وَيُعَلِّمُكُمُ الْكِتَابَ وَالْحِكْمَةَ وَيُعَلِّمُكُمْ مَا لَمْ تَكُونُوا تَعْلَمُونَ 151⁸

The way We have sent to you a Noble Messenger from among you, who recites to you Our verses and purifies you, and teaches you the Book and sound wisdom*, and teaches you what you did not know. (The traditions/sayings of the Holy Prophet – peace and blessings be upon him).

That is, both Jesus and Muhammad had the Divine knowledge, imparted this knowledge to people, puri¬fied them, and instructed them in the book and wisdom, and in whatever they had to but did not know. However, Jesus never reigned as a king and never judged people. One of the reasons why the Jews did not believe in Jesus was that they had been expecting a Mes¬siah who would have both temporal and spiritual authority. But Muhammad besides doing the primary three duties mentioned, executed justice and righteousness as the head of state. That is, 'king¬dom' and ‘priesthood’ were joined with him to the greatest degree. Here we may once more remember the words of Lamartine about the Holy Prophet :

“The most famous have only moved weapons, laws, empires; they founded, when they founded anything, only material powers, often crumbling before them. This man not only moved armies, legislation, empires, peoples, dynasties, millions of men over a third of the inhabited globe; but he also moved ideas, beliefs, souls. He founded upon a book, of which each letter has become a law, a spiritual nationality embracing people of all languages and races; and made an indelible imprint upon this Muslim nation, for the hatred of false gods and the passion for the God, One and Immaterial. Philosopher, orator, apostle, legislator, warrior, conqueror of ideas, restorer of a rational dogma for a cult without imagery, founder of twenty earthly empires and of one spiritual empire, this is Muhammad. Of all the scales by which one measures human grandeur, which man has been greater…” ⁹

The Humblest Servant in His Kingdom Riding Camels or Colts, and Whose Kingdom, Spreading From Sea to Sea, Brought Peace to the Nations, Including the Jews

Although a ‘king’, Prophet Muhammad , was the humblest servant of God. As he rode camels, he also rode Colts. He also had a mule and used to ride on it ¹⁰ which the Christian king of Egypt presented him. He united not only the Arab tribes, which had been fighting with each other for centuries, but also many other nations in a single community, under one banner. No wars have been employed both during his reign and the reign of his successors between the Jewish tribes, and the ten lost tribes of Israel became Muslim. Also, as the old Jerusalem has remained a safe, peace¬ful land for centuries under the government of Islam, the New Jerusalem, Makkah has been the centre of peace and security. Also, even though Islam used a sword when necessary, it has spread far and wide by conquering minds and hearts with the force of its principles of faith, worship, and conduct. Islam has also conquered ancient reli¬gions and philosophies in the places where it has spread. The fact that, almost no apostasy has taken place among Muslims even in the last weakest centuries of the Muslim world, and that Islam has con¬tinued to have converts in large numbers during this period, is another absolute proof of this reality.

Despite such and many other concrete realities, a Messian¬ic kingdom which shall extend from sea to sea, from the river to the ends of the earth, means to expect all Muslims and followers of other religions to be Christian. However, there is another historical fact before us. Islam appeared in the middle of a vast desert. However, it has spread to overseas countries in a very short time, thus conquering many seas and lands where many famous rivers such as the Nile, the Euphrates, the Tigris, the Amu Darya (the Oxus River), and the Syr Darya (The Jaxartes) flow.

Annihilation of Idolization and Sheer Denunciation of Deceitful Prophets

Another point to note is that in his prophecies, Zechariah draws attention to two other significant developments. The names of the idols will disappear from this land, and some false prophets will appear but no one, even their parents, will heed them. It is a clear his¬torical fact that Islam has eradicated idolatry and every form of poly¬theism in the places where it had spread. After the Holy Prophet , some imposters also claimed prophethood, but they all were condemned as the false prophets. Even if we take Jesus’s return to the world, since he will not return as a prophet, it is unthinkable that new false prophets will appear any longer.

The Poor, the Detested, Even the Feeblest Will Resemble David

Another point stressed in the prophecies of Zechariah is that God will call the poor and despised. Consequently, even the feeblest will resemble David . It is a fact that just as Islam first embraced the poor, the weak, the despised and slaves; it is the only religion which has instituted helping the poor and the weak and social solidarity as a religious prescribed worship under the name of Zakah. Numerous verses in the Holy Quran and many hadiths order and encourage helping and protecting the weak, the needy, and the poor, in return for which God promis¬es high reward.

As for names such as Jerusalem, even Christian Bible commentators state that Jerusalem, for example, represents the central point of the kingdom of God. It is natural that an Israelite prophet who addressed his people should use Israelite names and terms.

In conclusion, history decisively proves that the prophecies of Zechariah under discussion have been fulfilled in the personality of the Holy Prophet and Islam. Through Islam "Then the Lord will be (has become) king over all the earth; everyone will worship him as God and know him by the same name." (14: 9) is accomplished.

• ¹  The Bible, Zechariah 6: 12-13
• ²  The Bible, Zechariah 9: 9-10
• ³  The Bible, Zechariah 12: 6-8
• ⁴  The Bible, Zechariah 13: 1-5
• ⁵  The Bible, Zechariah 13: 8-9
• ⁶  The Bible, Zechariah 14: 9-11
• ⁷  The Bible, Deuteronomy 18: 15 & 18
• ⁸  Holy Quran, Al-Baqarah (The Cow) 2: 151
• ⁹  Alphonse de Lamartine (1854), Histoire de la Turquie, Paris, France, Vol. 2, Pg. 276-277.
• ¹⁰  Ali bin Abrahambin Ahmad Al-Halabi (1963), Insan Al-`Uyun, Dar-ul-Kutub ‘Ilmiah, Beirut, Lebanon, Vol. 3, Pg. 112 & 113.