From Among Their Brethren

The similarity between this prophet and Moses, "like unto thee," has now been established. Other aspects of the prophecy follow. Since ʿĪsā, the son of Maryam, is not who this prophecy applies to, then who does it apply to? Could it be someone else from among the Jews? Since Mūsā is giving a prophecy, and he is speaking to the Jews, could it be someone other than Jesus? Well — he cannot be a Jew. The person this prophecy is talking about cannot be a Jew, because it says in Deuteronomy 34:10, "And there arose not a prophet since in Israel like unto Moses." So this statement makes it clear that there would be no one among Banū Isrāʾīl, the Children of Israel, who is similar to Moses. Again: "And there arose not a prophet since in Israel like unto Moses." So none of the prophets of Banū Isrāʾīl is comparable to Moses. So who is it, then? Well, the answer is right there in the prophecy — it says, "a prophet from among their brethren." So in the prophecy, it also excludes the Jews: it says from among their brethren, the brethren of the Jews. So here is a prophet from among the brethren of the Jews. And who are the brethren of the Jews? Actually, there is only one nation that fulfils this description, and that is the Arabs. Why? Because Ibrāhīm (peace be upon him) had two sons, and two sons only, Isḥāq and Ismāʿīl. Isḥāq is the father of the Jews; Ismāʿīl is the father of the Arabs. Isḥāq had Yaʿqūb, and Yaʿqūb is the father of the twelve tribes. So the Jews trace their ancestry to Isḥāq, while the Arabs trace their ancestry to Ismāʿīl. So this verse is very clear: here is a prophet like Moses — the similarities between Muhammad (peace be upon him) and Moses have already been shown — and he is not a Jew, but he is from among the brethren of the Jews, who are the Arabs.