THE SCEPTER
Yaqoob, the Prophet of Allah, before his death, said to his sons:
“Gather yourselves together that I may tell you what shall befall you in days to come.” (Gen. 49:1 RSV)
After the foregoing, Jacob made predictions about his descendants which contain a very important news for Israel which we reproduce as under:
“The sceptre shall not depart from Judah, nor a lawgiver from between his feet, until Shiloh come; and unto him shall the gathering of the people be.” (Gen. 49:10)
The above prophecy and also the God’s promise (as per Deu. 18:15-18), as well as, Moses departing blessings (Deu. 33:2) have always proved a bottleneck to the Christian scholars. They have been trying either to obliterate the prophecy or to confuse the same through revised translations or commentary hiding the facts and misleading the innocent readers. To clarify the point, we reproduce hereunder another version of the aforesaid verse of the Bible from GNB, as under:
“Judah will hold the royal sceptre,
And his descendants will always rule.
Nations will bring him tribute
And bow in obedience before him” (Gen. 49:10, GNB 1980)
On comparison of the two versions of the same verse of the Genesis, as above, no one can say that they pertain to the same verse or they have been translated from the same source. The KJV belongs to year 1611 AD, while the GNB is a recent version and the latter has distorted the translation to such an extent that it does not seem to be an alternate version of Gen. 49:10. Obviously, it is one of the recent pious forgeries made by the authors of GNB to conceal the real meanings of the most important prophecy of Prophet Jacob (Israel). To dispel the obscurity, we need to re-examine the aforesaid verse as follows.
The KJV version clearly tells us that the scepter or the rod of authority as well as a lawgiver which means a great prophet imposing the law of God shall not depart from Judah, unless and until Shiloh comes. The ‘Easton’s Bible Dictionary’ defines Shiloh as the Messiah “the peaceful one”. The Vulgate version translates the word “he who is to be sent”. The New Bible Dictionary (Inter Versity Fellowship) defines Shiloh as a messianic title. By emending Siloh to Selloh, means “until that which is his shall come” i.e. the things reserved for him, a vaguely messianic hope. It also has been rendered as “until he comes whose it is whatever may be”. Shiloh has also been defined “the peace giver.”
With the aforementioned meanings, it is clear that the Judaists will continue to enjoy power as well as God’s blessings in the shape of His law and the prophets and they will not be deprived of the same unless and until Shiloh comes. Shiloh is obviously a messiah, the peace giver, or perhaps the comforter, or the paracletus, the advent of whom has been prophesied where after the Judaists will stand deprived of their kingdom as well as the prophethood. The Shiloh, the peace giver, or the paracletus will receive obedience and the gathering of people towards him. The RSV (1952 version) of the verse under discussion is given below:
“The scepter shall not depart from Judah,
Nor the ruler’s staff from between his feet,
Until he comes to whom it belongs;
And to him shall be the obedience of the people.” (Gen. 49:10)
The above prophecy was fulfilled in history with the advent of Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) at Makka, whereafter there had never been another prophet in Israel. The worldly kingdom also stood shifted to Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) and his successors forever. The Christian scholars have also tried to conceal the most important prophecy of Jesus about the advent of Prophet Muhamamd صلی اللہ علیہ وسلم, the Paracletus or the spirit of truth as referred herein below:
After Ishmael and Isaac, Jacob was chosen by God to be His prophet and as such the Israelites became a nation chosen for trial by the Lord. Thousands of prophets came to them in between Moses and Jesus, but those stubborn people never mended their ways. They rebelled against the God, refused to obey the prophets, killed and murdered many of them and have continually been worshiping the idols save only a minority on the straight path. Instead of changing their own behavior, the Israelites have been making unauthorized changes in the scripture to such an extent that it is no longer possible to differentiate the Word of God from the word of Israel. Continuous admonitions from the Lord did not change them. The test and trial of Israel culminated during the prophethood of Yahya (John, the Baptist) and Issa (Jesus). The former was executed by Herod Antipas, and the latter was allegedly deserted by his followers and crucified by the Romans. The test and trial of the Israelites as trusties of the God’s covenant reached finality after the aforesaid events with no hope of revival of righteousness in them. This was high time to depart the scepter and the ruler’s staff as well as the lawgiver from among the descendants of Judah. Prophet Muhammad صلی اللہ علیہ وسلم to whom it all belonged, as per the prophecy of Jacob (Gen. 49:10) shown on Mt. Paran i.e. Makkah, with full brightness to illuminate the entire world, and all the people of Arabian Peninsula turned obediently towards him. Subsequently, his successors held the largest empires in the world for about 1300 years. As such, the scepter stood transferred from Israelites and Judah to the Arabian Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) which means ‘the most praised one’ and Habakkuk, perhaps, has hinted the same as follows:
“God came from Teman,
And the Holy One from mount Paran Selah.
His glory covered the heavens,
And the earth was full of his praise.
And his brightness was as the light;
He had horns coming out of his hand:
And there was the hiding of his power.
Before him went the pestilence,
And burning coals went forth at his feet
He stood, and measured the earth:
He beheld, and drove asunder the nations;
And the everlasting mountains were scattered,
The perpetual hills did bow:
His ways are everlasting.
I saw the tents of cushan in affliction:
And the curtains of the land of Midian did tremble.” (Hab. 3:3)
In our opinion, there was no one except Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) described in the aforesaid vision.
Before arriving at a conclusion, we recount the Bible statements that Ishmael lived in the wilderness of Paran and his mother found an Egyptian wife for him. And also that Hagar and Ishmael went to the Wilderness of Paran and lived there (Gen. 21:20-21). If the said Paran was in Sinai Peninsula, then the Biblical narration stands disproved due to the fact that no Ishmaelite could ever be found living in the said Wilderness of Paran as they have always been living in Arabia for the last 3,800 years. To make the scripture true, there is no alternative except to admit that by Paran is meant the area of Hijaz and its surroundings in Arabia, the central point of which is city of Mecca, the Mt. Paran of the Biblical predictions. Anyone attempting to wriggle out of the above situation will find himself facing another impasse to prove or falsify the prophecies of Moses in Deu. 32:2 and Deu. 18:15-18. The said prophecies clearly foretold the advent of the prophet like Moses to be raised from among the brethren of Israel (i.e. Ishmaelites) who would shine forth on Mt. Paran along with 10 thousand saints, and from whose right hand will go forth a fiery law for them. In the circumstances, we should either admit that the aforementioned prophecies of Moses were incorrect as the same were never fulfilled, or alternatively, we must pinpoint the Mt. Paran in Sinai and produce a historical evidence of the fulfillment of the prophecies stated above.
Our Christian brothers will, perhaps, try to apply the aforementioned prophecies to Jesus, but the said prophecies are self explanatory and they cannot be proved just by imaginary descriptions. We will, however, appreciate if concrete and exact references are quoted from history to prove that the aforesaid prophecies pertain to someone else than Prophet Muhammad صلی اللہ علیہ وسلم. Comments and criticism, if any, will be welcome if the same is just, without prejudice and based on knowledge.
As stated earlier, Ishmael being the first born son of Abraham belonged to the Lord and as such, he could not claim any inheritance from his father. Being dedicated to the Lord, he was taken to Mecca, to stand before the house of the Lord for his entire life. He belonged to God and God was with him, as also confirmed by the Bible. This shows that Ishmael was neither an outcast, nor perhaps, sent away merely on the desire of Sarah, as claimed by the Israelites. Ishmael was, in fact, the first born son of Abraham dedicated to the Lord and he stood before the house of Lord at Mecca continuously from his childhood till his death, and on his death he was burried in Hateem i.e. in Kaaba. We, therefore, conclude that the dwelling place of Hagar, Ishmael, and their descendents was actually the valley of Mecca (Paran of the Bible) and they never lived in the so-called wilderness of Paran in Sinai.
The last blessing of Moses to Israel containing prophecy about the Lord shining forth from Mount Paran is given hereunder again for ready reference:
“This is the blessing wherewith Moses, the man of God, blessed the children of Israel before his death and he said:
The Lord came from Sinai and rose up from Seir unto them.
He shined forth from Mount Paran and he came with ten thousands of saints: From his right hand went a fiery law for them” (Deu. 33:2)
It is clear from the above that after coming from Sinai (i.e. the place of law giving to Moses) God rose up from Seir (i.e. the mountain range where Jesus preached). He shone forth from Mount Paran (i.e. Mecca, where Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) shone forth with full brightness in 8th hijrah) and he entered the aforesaid city triumphantly along with ten thousand saints and a fiery and eternal law for the world. The truth stands established without any doubt for all the righteous people in the world seeking their salvation with the God. To us, it makes no difference whether the Israelites accept the same or deny the clear cut final prophecy of Prophet Moses as referred to above. If they have any proof against our findings mentioned here in above, they are welcome to produce historical facts in support of their contention that the Ishmaelites lived in Sinai. Similarly, they are also required to comment whether the final prophecy of Moses in Deuteronomy 33:2 was true or false one. If they declare aforesaid prophecy as true, then they must mention the fulfillment thereof showing the promised one shining forth from Mount Paran with 10 thousand saints and a fiery law going forth from his right hand. If they fail to find anyone else than Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) actually fulfilling the final prophecy of Moses in toto and even thereafter they continue denying him that they will have to account for the same before the Lord God (Jehovah, Elohin, or Allah by whatever good name one may address Him) on the day of the Judgment.
