A Prophet Like Unto Moses

Number one: Mūsā had parents, and Muhammad (peace be upon him) had parents, while ʿĪsā had only a mother. So that is the first similarity between Mūsā and Muhammad, one that is not shared by ʿĪsā (peace be upon him).

Number two: both Mūsā and Muhammad (peace be upon him) had children, while ʿĪsā never had any children.

Number three: Mūsā was born in a natural way, and Muhammad (peace be upon him) was born in a natural way, while ʿĪsā (peace be upon him) was born in a miraculous fashion — he was born without a father.

Number four: Mūsā was accepted by his nation, and Muhammad (peace be upon him) was accepted by his nation, while Jesus was rejected by his nation. So that is another resemblance. It says in the Bible, "He" — Jesus — "came unto his own, and his own received him not." He was sent to the Jews, and the Jews rejected him. Mūsā was sent to the Jews, and overall they accepted him. And Muhammad (peace be upon him) was sent to his people, and they accepted him.

Number five: Mūsā and Muhammad (peace be upon him) were kings, or rulers — they were rulers on earth, while ʿĪsā was not. Rulers, in this sense, had the power to inflict capital punishment. We know in our Sharīʿah that only the sulṭān can enforce ḥudūd — right? The ḥudūd, which are the capital punishment and the other prescribed punishments, cannot be carried out by a scholar, or by any Muslim; they have to be carried out by the sulṭān, by the leader, by the ruler. Both Muhammad (peace be upon him) and Mūsā had that power. With Mūsā, for example, there is an incident when the Jews brought before him an Israelite who had been caught collecting firewood on the Sabbath, and Mūsā had him stoned to death — that is in Numbers 15:36. So Mūsā did stone a person to death, and Muhammad (peace be upon him) did apply punishment when a woman came to him confessing to adultery. But with ʿĪsā, when they brought him a case of a crime, he refused to inflict punishment, and said, "My kingdom is not of this world. My kingdom is not of this world. I am not a ruler here." And this is in John 18:36.