New Testament, and correctly, as we learn from Phil. ii. 9-11.

12. Rev. ii. 26-29. Some Muslims claim this also as a prediction of "the Prophet with the Sword". But if so, it would follow that Muhammad had received power from Christ, because he had kept Christ's works, i.e. obeyed His commands, unto the end. Muslims hold that Muhammad was a greater Prophet than Christ, and therefore they cannot really believe that these words refer to Muhammad. It must be noticed that the speaker in these verses is Christ, and that He speaks of God as His Father. The meaning of the verse is evident from a comparison with vers. 7, 11, 17; and ch. iii, vers. 5, 12, 21, in which the phrase "He that overcometh" is repeated again and again. The context shows that the promise is general, to everyone who gains the victory, and that the victory is not over men, but over one's own sins and the temptations of the world, the flesh, and the devil.

These are all the important passages which Muslims fancy contain prophecies concerning Muhammad. It is quite clear that not a single one of them all does constitute a prediction about him. Nor does the New Testament lead us to expect any other Dispensation after the Christian, before the return of Christ and the complete establishment of His everlasting Kingdom. This particular proof of Muhammad's Divine Commission therefore has completely broken down. It is true that certain people have been astounded at noticing the fact that in Rev. ix. 4, these words occur: "And it was said unto them that they should not hurt the grass of the earth, neither any green thing, neither any tree, but only such men as have not the seal of God on their foreheads." For they tell us that this prophecy was actually fulfilled when the Khalifah Abu Bakr sent out the armies of Islam to conquer Syria. It is certainly very remarkable to find in two Arabic historians, both of whom were probably unacquainted with this passage, statements which remind the reader

of it: Shaikh Jalalu'ddin Suyuti¹ quotes Al Baihaqi and others as affirming, on the authority of 'Imranu'l Juni, that Abu Bakr, when placing Yazid ibn Abi Sufyan in command of the army that was starting for Syria, said to him: "Ye shall not slay a woman or a child or a decrepit old man, nor shall ye cut down fruit-bearing trees, nor shall ye lay waste cultivated ground, nor shall ye slaughter sheep or beast of burden except for food, nor shall ye split a date-palm, nor burn it: nor shalt thou deal treacherously, nor shalt thou be cowardly." The Katibu'l Waqidi also² relates the same thing at greater length. He tells us that on that occasion Abu Bakr said to Yazid: "When ye shall have prevailed over your enemies, do not slay a lad or a very old man or a woman or a babe, nor approach a date-palm, nor burn a cornfield, nor cut down fruit-bearing trees, nor slaughter beasts, unless a beast for food, nor shall ye deceive when ye have made an agreement; nor shall ye break the compact when ye have made peace. And ye shall pass by communities in cells, monks who fancy that they are serving God, therefore let them alone, unto Him have they not secluded themselves, and they are satisfied for themselves with Him: and ye shall not pull down their cells, nor shall ye slay them. And ye shall find another community, the sect of Satan and worshippers of crosses, who have shaved the middle of their heads until they are, as it were, nests of the Qata-bird³ (القطا). Therefore with your swords strike through the middle of their heads, until they return to Islam or 'give the Fizyah-tax out of hand, and are humble'. And to God have I commended⁴ you." There is no doubt that