Prophet Muhammed in Bible Song of Songs? (sallallahu alaihi wa sallam)

So I asked Ali Ataie about the mentioned of the word Prophet Muhammed (sallallahu alaihi 

wa sallam) in the Bible,  Song of Songs (sometimes called "Song of Solomon") and his rebuttal to the popular Christian arguments, and he said:

"The Song of Songs is a lyrical poem, and prophecy in embedded in poetry is quite often elliptical - in other words, there are strong indications or "echoes," to use Imam Shabbir Aly's word in lyrical poetry or prose. 

The text is not going to explicitly say, "The name of my beloved in Muhammad." Just like Psalm 20:6 - which gives an indication about the name of the Messiah "hoshiy'a Adonai Mashikho" (The Lord saves his Messiah); "hoshiy'a" is related the Yeshu'a (the saved one). 

With this in mind, Roger Alysworth identified Jesus as the object of Song 5:16 in his book, "He is altogether lovely: Discovering Jesus in the Song of Solomon." Alysworth (Pres. of Illinois Baptist Assoc) - knows how prophecy works. Unfortunately, he has misapplied it. Prophecy according to Origen contains MULTIPLE levels of meaning (exoteric and esoteric). Isaiah 7:14, for example, is claimed by Matthew to be about Jesus - but Immanuel was born in Isaiah 8? - BUT the esoteric meaning is the coming Messiah (as Matthew would say). So it "echoes" the Prophet's name -the rest of the passage describes him quite succinctly (Song 5:10-15). -"v'kollo machamadim" (All of him is praiseworthy). - All of him is Muhammad - b/c that's his name!

By the way, Song of Songs 5:16 is the ONLY occurrence of MACHAMADIM in the Hebrew Bible - the other passages that contain the word have different forms in Hebrew (pronominal suffixes, etc)."

To see how the word "Machamad" (that's how the letters are spelt in English. its not how its pronounced) is pronounced like "Muhammed", see the Rabbi read it here:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wm3sZfPwv1g

Seal of Prophethood in Bible

We know that Salman al Farsi (RA) and other people, looked for the seal/symbol of the Prophet on his back, before accepting Islam. Now the question is, how did they know to look for it? Let’s see the Shama’il, about an account of Salman’s story, mentioned by Buraydah:

“He had seen the signs of Sayyidina Rasullullah (Muhammed Sallalahu alaihi wa sallam) in the books of previous Prophets that he will not accept sadaqah, but shall accept presents and gifts, and the seal of Prophethood will be between his two shoulders after witnessing the first two signs). He then saw the ‘Seal of Prophethood’ on the back of Sayyidina Rasullullah (Muhammad Sallallahu alaihi wa sallam) and embraced Islam.”

So I asked Ali Ataie about a verse in the Bible which talks about a person to be born (as it talks about “will be”) with a symbol on his shoulder/back, and he said:

“Isaiah 9:6...the Hebrew "vat-hi ham-misrah 'al-shikhmo" literally, "the symbol of dominion will be upon his shoulder." The seal of the Prophet (s) was directly behind his heart which means that it was more oriented towards the left. This could refer to the extreme right portion of his left shoulder blade- which is also his back. The hadith of Imam Ali says "bayna katifayhi," between his shoulders - but I don't think that this negates the blade of the shoulder. Allahu 'Alim. 

I just checked the Lexicon Strongs' Concordance and the Hebrew word shekhem can be translated as "back" as well. In Psalm 21:12, it is translated as "back" in the King James.”

So there you go, Alhamdulillah for the blessings of Islam. We find another proof for the Prophet Muhammed (Sallallahu alaihi wa sallam) in the Bible. Here’s some more on the topic by Ali Ataie http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lzYzBuh7aCk

Prophetic Cloak and Experts- Turkey

 
Sheikh Hamza Yusuf in the 2012 Rihla spoke about miracle of burda/cloak (which was worn by the Prophet in his isra wa l-miraj -heavenly journey) of Prophet in Turkey. He mentioned where some cloth experts studied the burda/cloak of the Prophet (Sallallahu alaihi wa sallam) and were shocked and concluded that it must be from heaven and that they've never seen anything like it.

See al Jazeera's video:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hJea_q2l25A&feature=player_embedded
 
The video is displaying a miracle, listen to it near the end. The Burda al-Nabi  was in a box alongside the Turban of Sayyiduna Uways al-Qarani, however the scientists and experts examining the two pieces found that the Burda al-Nabi  was free from any Bacteria, whilst the Turban did have some. This shocked the experts as both pieces were in the same box. 

This burdah is held in Hirka-e-Serif Camii. It is available for viewing in the month of Ramadaan only - and only after Zuhr for men (the times i went), thereafter for women. Google this name and you will see images of the Burdah (or hirka in Farsi) in a square-ish glass box.

Over the years, more and more immoral attire was being worn in front of these Holy Relics. The Curator and Director of the Topkapi Palace Museum decided that it was best only to show a few - so they re-did the whole section and put things in glass reliquaries to the side of the walls, whilst previously the area was bustling and bulging with artifacts. 

Isra and Mi'raj Sheikh Said Nursi

Following is an excerpt from The Rays by Bediüzzaman Said Nursi (1878-1960), from The Risale-e-Nur collection:

The blessed phrases of the tashahhud were in fact a conversation between God Almighty and His Messenger on the night of the Messenger's Ascension (al-Mi'raj). What, then, is the reason for their inclusion in the canonical Prayer?

 THE ANSWER: The five daily Prayers are a sort of "ascension" for every believer who performs them. Therefore, the words to be uttered in the tashahhudmust be those spoken during the supreme Ascension of Muhammad, upon him be peace and blessings. Reciting them allows us to bring into mind this sacred conversation between God and His Messenger. Through this remembrance or recollection, the meanings of those blessed words gain universality and, as such, are no longer restricted to the intellectual or spiritual level of a believer. Their sacred, comprehensive meanings may thus be conceived, and through this conception their value and light are enhanced and expanded.

For example, in order to greet Almighty God on that blessed night, the noblest Messenger, upon him be peace and blessings, said: at-Tahiyyatu li'llah. This means: "O my Lord! All the glorifications made by the living beings, and all the gifts they present to their Maker, through their lives are Yours alone. By visualizing them and though my belief, I too offer them to You."

With the word at-tahiyyat, God's noblest Messenger, upon him be peace and blessings, was referring to all the worship that living creatures perform through their lives; he then offered this to God. Similarly, by the word al-mubarakat, which is the summation of at-tahiyyat, he meant the blessedness, abundance and worship of the creatures, and in particular those of seeds, grains, and eggs, which are the means of blessings and abundance and which cause one to exclaim: "How great are God's blessings!" And through the word as-salawat he visualized all the particular forms of worship performed by beings endowed with spirit and who are the summation of living beings, and offered them to the Divine Court with that comprehensive meaning. Finally, through the word at-tayyibat, he meant the luminous, elevated worship of perfected human beings and the angels closest in proximity to God, who are the summaries of the beings endowed with spirit; he offered this to the One he worshipped.

On that night, God Almighty said: "Peace be upon you, O (most illustrious) Prophet!" This was an indirect command and an indication that in the future, hundreds of millions of people would say at least ten times a day: "Peace be upon you, O (most illustrious) Prophet!" This Divine greeting gave these words of salutation an extensive light and a most elevated meaning.

The noblest Messenger, upon him be peace and blessings, responded to this greeting by saying: "Peace be upon us and upon all righteous servants of God!" This meant that the Messenger was hopefully and imploringly asking his Creator that in the future his vast Community and its righteous members would be favored with Islam in a way to represent Divine peace and blessings, and that those in his Community would greet one another with the words: "Peace be upon you!" "And upon you be peace!," which is a universal mark of Islam among the believers.

The Archangel Gabriel, upon him be peace, who was party to the conversation, at God's command said on that night: "I bear witness that there is no deity but God and I bear witness that Muhammad is God's Messenger." This gave the glad tidings that all of the Community of Muhammad, upon him be peace and blessings, would testify in the same way until the Last Day.

Through recalling this sacred conversation during the seated sections of every canonical Prayer, the meanings of its words become filled with light and gain comprehensiveness.

Name Muhammed

An excellent talk on the name Muhammed, by Sheikh Ya'qoubi:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pzr2s36KySU&feature=youtu.be

Gems from Prophet: Master of Change part 2 – Habib Ali al-Jifri

Part 2

Some people think negatively of surrender. This isn’t surrendering. This is the result of losing surrender.

Whoever soundly surrenders will have removed from the heart the minutest bit of surrendering to other than God.

How can you ascend degrees from surrender of being freed? Beware, every one of us have to be at a point of surrendering to something. No-one is exempt.

1) Someone who is selfish
2) Someone who shows off

There are people who surrender to themselves and others to other people.

3) Being freed of both. These have really surrendered to God.

To surrender to God is to acknowledge the truth. This truth is that we were created from nothing. He let us be His representatives. He gave us authority over the earth so we can hike mountains, dive into oceans and fly into the sky. We have some kind of authority. We have the remit to interact with it in a way that is disharmonious to the rest of creation.

We have enough importance where two angels write down everything from us, this is their sole occupation.
No celebrity/politician has this kind of attention. Who has a human being who writes for their entire life? Do you realise your value? You have two angels writing, ten protecting you and angels as representatives whose concern is your provision, lifespan and your place in Paradise. You’ve got all these angels occupied with you. Even angels of the highest rank are occupied with you.

Do you think having the entire cosmos occupied with you is just a jest?

He created you and deposited your soul in your body. He created you upon 3 announcements:
1) He entrusted you with a trust
2) He told the  angels that He would place a vicegerent on the earth
3) It was an address, a direct one without intermediary from Allah to you. You heard God. You were spoken to by God. You spoke to God with nothing between you. The world of spirits were created before bodies which are nothing but a cover.

And He made us bear witness, “Am I not your Lord?” Each one of us responded, “Yes, you are.” This is the bayah. The connection. Our spirits witnessed Allah’s Lordship and dominions prior to being in bodies.

We have three responsibilities:
1) Ibadah - worship in the universal meaning of slavehood not just by time
2) Tazkiya - purification of self – “Successful is he who purifies it, lost is he who loses it.”
3) Imarat’l ‘ard – Be his khalifa, cultivate the earth. Not in the way we do today by polluting the environment and destructing the earth’s resources.

How can these realities be realised? Wait for moments where veils are pierced and understanding comes.
The goal of going up in surrendering to God is to overcome the selfishness and whims of the soul which will do anything to achieve whims and to harmonise with God’s address.

Some people struggle with the obligations and prohibitions as they haven’t seen the real picture.
“God has not made incumbent more than what the soul can bear.” So you can carry this.

A decision: I’ll carry on in obligations and leave that which is prohibited and if I miss this I’ll continue travelling to the mustahab (recommended)/makruh (disliked) as when I do that which is liked, I’ll draw closer to God.

You need to discipline yourself, program yourself like a horse needs to be disciplined before it can provide.

The Sunnah will become beloved to you as you realise that you’re attached to RasulAllah (peace and blessings be upon him) as you’re doing every action in its highest form.

Now come to the vast banquet table. Don’t go with your ego, you wouldn’t love with your ego. You’ll be illumined as the permissible is a bounty and a trust which has been placed so you’ll  only take what you need and you’ll look after it.

The one who has total surrendering will not allow to transgress and will always be the victorious as he has ascended by reigning himself in to a state where he resonates in harmony with the entire cosmos that Allah has entrusted him.

Go out and seek out the character of those who have reached surrendering of Allah.
He walks in the state of being pleased with God. He looks with the eye of compassion. His tongue is occupied with dhikr (remembrance of God). He looks at the Creator and creation with opinion. He has made peace.

More to follow, in sha Allah.

From:
http://zaranargis.wordpress.com/2012/05/15/gems-from-muhammad-master-of-change-habib-ali-al-jifri-part-2/

Gems from Prophet: Master of Change – by Habib Ali al-Jifri

Excellent notes from the course:

The Companions said that our Prophet Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him) was more modest than a virgin in her quarters.

Our Lady, Fatima Zahra (May Allah be pleased with her) was fasting with Sayyidina Ali (May Allah ennoble his face) for three days and they only had one loaf of bread and some water. Each day, someone would knock. “Who’s there?” A response came, A pauper, O people of the Prophetic House.” Sayyidina Ali would turn to his wife, may Allah be pleased with them both. She replied, “Give him the loaf as I will feel ashamed in front of God if I turn away a poor person empty-handed.”
On the second day, an orphan came. On the third day, a prisoner of war came and the same happened.
On the surface, sense of shame was there even in hardships.

Modesty is not just to feel ashamed. It’s deeper than this. It’s a feeling in the heart of the believer. It’s the heart that makes him leave and do certain things. It’s adab, courtesy. In the believer, it’s to have adab as the believer has vigilance with Allah. That’s why it’s real. Very real!

Thinking what others think isn’t real modesty as he’ll do other things when people leave. Only good from this is that at least society isn’t openly promoting this so it can’t be a norm and it will be a preventative of promoting. This can turn to calamity if it’s the only reason. You know why? It makes these bad things to be done underground. It’s like a state of hypocrisy. It’s like a cancer which spreads unnoticeably.

This sense of modesty is loftier, better, purer and more majestic as one is vigilant of the Divine Presence and they don’t do something when God is watching them as it’s displeasing to Him. This grows in the heart and when it is cultivated can take you to Sidiqeen. This can take you to the degree of ascent. The degree of one who does good deeds out of fear of hell to one who does good deeds out of modesty before God.

He knows that which is manifest and that which is hidden. This is modesty. How will I approach Him when He knows?
A person who’s like this, they will experience life with a different pleasure.

Our Lady Aisha (may Allah be pleased with her) wanted to see Abyssinians dancing with spears on the Day of Eid. Our Prophet Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him) looked at her and noticed this. He said, “O Aisha, would you like to see them play?”
She replied, “Yes.” Our Prophet Muhammad stood and she stood behind him, looking over his shoulders. Her hayah was such that she wanted to look but not be looked at door. He stood at the door and said, “Are you bored yet?” She replied, “not yet.” When she got bored, she rested her cheek on his shoulder. This is the shoulder that left the earth and transcended heavens, it went to the Lote tree and went beyond where Gabriel stopped. We need to understand this reality.

Men need to understand that we enjoy that which is permissible. Who’ll be more modest than Our Lady Aisha, may Allah be pleased with her, and more protective than our Prophet Muhammad, peace and blessings be upon him?

Those with modesty enjoy life to its intensity.

Wasn’t Our Prophet Muhammad’s life enjoyable? For sure. It was sanctified and beautiful. They enjoyed life. No-one experienced pleasures of life like they did. They didn’t need to take off the vestment of beauty to enjoy that.

I can enjoy life with modesty as long as it’s not based for others.

Young men and women have the same rules. Hayah should be present for both. Neither men nor women had such modesty like our Prophet Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him).

Protect yourself with the Shariah (Sacred Law). It’ll protect you inwardly and outwardly. Tie it with love and compassion. This is the foundation of any relation.

More to follow, in sha Allah.

Taken from:
http://zaranargis.wordpress.com/2012/05/14/gems-from-muhammad-master-of-change-habib-ali-al-jifri-part-1/

Poem about Prophet, by Ibn Juzayy

Beautiful, shared by Sheikh Hamza Yusuf:

I desired to praise the Chosen One and was hindered

By my own inability to grasp the extent of his glory.

How can one such as I measure an ocean, when the ocean is vast?

And how can one such as I count the stones and the stars?

If all of my limbs were to become tongues, even then –

Even then I could not begin to praise him as I desired.

And if all of creation gathered together in an attempt

To praise him, even then they would stint in his due.

I have altogether ceased trying – awestruck, clinging to courtesy,

Tempered by timidity, glorifying his most exalted rank.

Indeed, sometimes silence holds within it the essence of eloquence,

And often speech merely fodder for the faultfinder.

http://sandala.org/blog/2012/02/05/if-you-don%E2%80%99t-like-the-mawlid-watch-out/