Foretelling the Advent of Holy Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) (Part 2)
Some More Historical Evidence
Before the rise of Islam, two circles or groups of people had grown up in Medina. The first were Jews who had left their original lands desiring to witness the advent of the Prophet of Islam (PBUH).
The second were the tribes of Aws and Khazraj, who were disconcerts of Tubba', the king of Yemen. When Tubba' came to Medina and learnt that that place would be the place of migration of the Prophet and the place where Islamic govern to remain in that place until such time as the Prophet of Islam appeared and then to support him.
So they stayed there and gradually increased in numbers and became powerful to the point that they seized the houses and property of the unconcerned Jews, and committed aggression; and gradually they forgot the cause of their ancestors' staying in that town and became ignorant of why their ancestors had come there and made their settlement there.
However, the Jews, who were unequal with them in power, continued to tell each other of the advent of the Prophet of Islam (PBUH) and of safety from the aggression. The Qur’an says about the jews: And from before they had been praying for victory over the unbelievers, (but) when there came to them that they recogise4 they disbelieved in it... (Th89)
Ibn Hawash (or Ibn'l-Hayyaban), a Jewish scholar, left Syria seeking to meet the Prophet of Islam (PBUH) and came to Medina, but while he was alive, Muhammad (PBUH) was not yet called to his prophet hood. For this reason, when he was dying, Ibn Hawash said to the Jews: "I left my extensive, comfortable life in Syria out of love to see the Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) came here. Alas! I did not achieve my wish. But know that he will rise up in Mecca and will migrate here. In eating he will be content with morsels of bread and dates; he will be so humble that he will ride on unsaddled mount. His rule will spread to an amazing extent, he will be afraid of none, and those who are an obstacle to the straight path and truth will be cast aside.
Zayd ibn 'Amr of the Hijaz came in search of the true religion of Ibrahim. On his way he had crossed from Mecca to Syria and to Mosul, but the more he searched, the less he found. In the end a Christian scholar said to him that there remained no trace of the original religion of Ibrahim, but that in those very days a prophet was to blossom forth in his own homeland from whose message and sayings he could obtain that original religion.
Zayd returned towards Mecca, but on the way he was killed. The Prophet instructed to goodness through his example, saying: "Zayd was someone who left this world in seeking the way to Allah.
Bahira, a Christian scholar, saw Muhammad (PBUH) in the latter's childhood. He recognized him from the signs he had read in the revealed Book. He said to Abu Talib who was accompanying Muhammad (PBUH): "He will be a prophet. Look alter him, and take him to his country quickly."
Another Christian scholar, Nistur, also when he saw Muhammad (PBUH) in the latter's youth, gave the news that he would become a prophet in a clear way: "He is the prophet of the last days.
On the basis of these predictions of the holy books, a number of people became Muslims at the very beginning of the rise and appearance of Islam without any coercion.
Author: Dar Rahe Haq Institute
Other links:
27th Rajab,The Beginning of the Prophetic Mission
Holy Prophet Muhammad (PBUH), Mercy unto the Creation
The Declaration of Prophethood
The Last and Final Messenger of God
