Prophecies About Prophet Muhammad ﷺ By Prophet Haggai

(Cite: Khan, Dr. (Mufti) Imran & Hamdani, Mufti Shah Rafi Uddin. (2018), Prophecies About Prophet Muhammad By Prophet Haggai , Encyclopedia of Muhammad , Seerat Research Center, Karachi, Pakistan, Vol. 1, Pg. 317-320.)

Haggai prophesied after returning to Jerusalem:

First Prophecy

لِأَنَّهُ هَكَذَا قَالَ رَبُّ ٱلْجُنُودِ: هِيَ مَرَّةٌ، بَعْدَ قَلِيلٍ، فَأُزَلْزِلُ ٱلسَّمَاوَاتِ وَٱلْأَرْضَ وَٱلْبَحْرَ وَٱلْيَابِسَةَ، وَأُزَلْزِلُ كُلَّ ٱلْأُمَمِ. وَيَأْتِي مُشْتَهَى كُلِّ ٱلْأُمَمِ، فَأَمْلَأُ هَذَا ٱلْبَيْتَ مَجْدًا، قَالَ رَبُّ ٱلْجُنُودِ. لِي ٱلْفِضَّةُ وَلِي ٱلذَّهَبُ، يَقُولُ رَبُّ ٱلْجُنُودِ. مَجْدُ هَذَا ٱلْبَيْتِ ٱلْأَخِيرِ يَكُونُ أَعْظَمَ مِنْ مَجْدِ ٱلْأَوَّلِ، قَالَ رَبُّ ٱلْجُنُودِ. وَفِي هَذَا ٱلْمَكَانِ أُعْطِي ٱلسَّلَامَ، يَقُولُ رَبُّ ٱلْجُنُودِ. ¹

“Before long I will shake heaven and earth, land and sea. I will overthrow all the nations, and their treasures will be brought here, and the Temple will be filled with wealth. All the silver and gold of the world is mine. The new Temple will be more splendid than the old one, and there I will give my people prosperity and peace.” The Lord Almighty has spoken.

The Utmost Wish Of All Nations To Be Apprehended After Boundless Social, Political And Religious Revolutions

Bible commentators interpret these words that God, the Lord will shake the heavens and the earth, and the sea and the dry land. It is the one universal shaking of this world and the heavens over it. That is, there will happen great political and religious revolutions which will affect the entire world. Some states or empires will collapse while new ones appear. The precious things or desire of all nations will be realised. The central longing of all nations is longing for their deliverer. The human heart, formed in the ‘image of God’ could not but ache to be reformed by and for Him, the One True God, Who is the only One to reform it.

Christian Bible commentators apply this prophecy, as always, to Jesus . Even though the signs it contains were not fulfilled during the time of him, they assert that they will fully be realised during his second coming. It is true that these signs were not recognised either during the life of Jesus or after his departure from the world. For Haggai quotes from God - the Lord, “The new Temple will be more splendid than the old one, and there I will give my people prosperity and peace.” Some of the Bible commentators assert that the second glory will be a heavenly glory, while some others argue that the first Temple had a glory in its magnificent structure, precious ornaments, and costly sacrifices, and the second Temple will be greater in glory in both worldly and spiritual terms.

However, the Jews were able to rebuild the Temple after they returned from the Babylonian exile. But it is said in Keil and Delitzsch Biblical Commentary on the Old Testament that although the Lord still raised up prophets for those who had returned and furthered the build¬ing of His house, His glory did not enter the newly erected Temple. Also, the people never attained to independence again, that is to say, not to permanent independence, but continued in subjection to the imperial power of the heathen. And even if, according to Ezra, many more of the exiles may have returned to their native land, by whom, for example; Galilee was repopulated and brought into cultivation again; the greater portion of the nation remained dispersed among the heathen. ²

In short, neither the second Temple had greater glory than the first one nor did peace come there. The Temple was once more destroyed, and the Jews were dispersed throughout the world.

The House To Be Greater In Glory Than The (First) Temple

It is evident from these facts that the second house which Haggai foresees will be higher in glory than the first Temple and where God will make peace prevail is the Ka'ba. The Ka'ba, which has every year been welcoming millions of visitors coming for worship for cen¬turies has always been more glorious than the first Temple in Jerusalem and has also been the centre of peace and safety. Also, when Islam came, the great revolutions took place in the world, and while centuries-old empires such as the Persian Sassanid and the Byzantine Roman ones were either destroyed or paralysed, Islam prevailed over all other religions and philosophies. Also, while the lost ten tribes of Israel became Muslim and gained great glory, the other Jews have lived happily in Muslim lands.

The ‘Himda’ (Ahmad) Of All Nations

Another point worthy of most significant consideration in the prophecy of Haggai under discussion which David Benjamin Kildam (1867-1940), a Roman Catholic bishop who converted to Islam, explains that the original Hebrew text of the clause "and their treasures will be brought here" is "ve yavu himdath col haggoyim." It means, "and will come the Himda of all nations." The final hi in Hebrew, as in Arabic, is changed into the, or t when in the genitive case. The word is derived from an archa¬ic Hebrew, or rather Aramaic, root hmd (consonants pronounced hemed). In Hebrew, hemed is used in the sense of great desire, covet, appetite and lust. In Arabic, the verb hamida, from the same consonants hmd, means ‘to praise’, and so on. What is more admired and illustrious than that which is most craved for, coveted and desired? Whichever of the two meanings is adopted, the fact that Ahmad is the Arabic form of Himda remains indisputable and decisive. ³ Here we should remember that Jesus gave the glad tidings of the coming of the Holy Prophet with his name, Ahmad:

وَإِذْ قَالَ عِيسَى ابْنُ مَرْيَمَ يَابَنِي إِسْرَائِيلَ إِنِّي رَسُولُ اللَّهِ إِلَيْكُمْ مُصَدِّقًا لِمَا بَيْنَ يَدَيَّ مِنَ التَّوْرَاةِ وَمُبَشِّرًا بِرَسُولٍ يَأْتِي مِنْ بَعْدِي اسْمُهُ أَحْمَدُ فَلَمَّا جَاءَهُمْ بِالْبَيِّنَاتِ قَالُوا هَذَا سِحْرٌ مُبِينٌ 6⁴

And remember when Eisa the son of Maryam said, “O Descendants of Israel! Indeed I am Allah’s Noble Messenger towards you, confirming the Book Torah which was before me, and heralding glad tidings of the Noble Messenger who will come after me – his name is Ahmed (the Praised One)”; so when Ahmed came to them with clear proofs, they said, “This is an obvious magic.”

Former Father Abdul Ahad Dawood is the expert of ancient languages; he translated the above stated original Hebrew sentence as:

“All nations (محماد) will come. Although the word (محماد) came in the Hebrew Bible or word (حمدات) has written in some new versions. (محماد) word in the Hebrew language is used for “the greatest love/wish” or “the more the person desirous”.

Its translation in the present Hebrew is:

ھاجوییم كول احمدات فباو. ⁵

Hebrew (محماد) Is Muhammad In Arabic

If we don’t translate the name and leave it in its original form so (محماد) is Muhammad in Hebrew but translators translated it in their customise meaning. In a Bible dictionary of Hebrew words (محماد) (m+h+m+d) means delightful, beloved, the object of affection or desire, goodly, lovely. Its primary root is (حمد) (h+m+d). ⁶

In English translated Bible by Abdul Sattar Ghouri, it is mentioned that (m+h+m+d) can be pronounced either as (1) Mahmad or (2) Muhammad. The primary root of (m+h+m+d) is (h+m+d) and "מחמד" (m+h+m+d) can be pronounced as (محماد) or Muhammad (حمد) both. ⁷

“Peace” (Or Islam)

The final part of the prophecy, "And there I will give my people prosperity and peace." becomes more meaningful when considered together with himda. That is, it is a known fact that the name of the religion which the Lord gave is “peace” (or Islam), meaning submission to God and the ensuing peace. This also proves that Haggai's prophecy is about Muhammad and Islam and he mentions his personality like many other Prophets of Allah.

• ¹  The Bible, Haggai 2: 6-9
• ² http://bible.cc/ezekiel/31-Lhtm: Retrieved: 12-11-2016
• ³  David Benjamin Kildani, Articles on Muhammad in the Bible, Quoted by Ali Aunal Harun Gultekin (2013), The Prophet Promised in World Scriptures, Tughra Books, New Jersey, USA, Pg. 280.
• ⁴  Holy Quran, Al Saff (The Row) 61: 6
• ⁵  Munqaz bin Mehmood Al-Siqaar (2004), Hal Basharal Kitab-ul-Muqaddas bi-Muhammad?, Al-Bisharatu Bi-AyLiya, Pub: Makkat-ul-Mukarrama, Saudia, Pg. 111.
• ⁶  Strong’s Dictionary of Heb. Bible, entry 4261: https://www.blueletterbible.org/lang/lexi con/lexicon.cfm?t=kjv&strongs=h4261: Retrieved: 14-11-2016
• ⁷  Abdus Sattar Ghauri (2009), Muhammad Foretold in the Bible by Name, Al-Mawrid, Lahore, Pakistan, Pg. 122.