The Prophet Who Wasn’t: Exposing Muhammad’s False Claims

☠️🕌 The Prophet Who Wasn’t: The Rise of Muhammad and the Birth of Islam

The Crescent Against the Cross Article 2

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1. Setting the Frame: The Messenger of a Different Gospel

In our last article, we saw that Islam presents itself as “another gospel.” If that is true, then we must ask: what of its messenger? For no kingdom rises apart from its herald. Islam claims that Muhammad was the final and greatest prophet, the “seal” of all who came before him. But God’s Word tells us that prophets must be tested.

Deuteronomy 18:20–22 lays down the standard: the true prophet speaks only in God’s name and his word comes to pass. And Jesus Himself warned: “Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing but inwardly are ravenous wolves. You will recognize them by their fruits” (Matthew 7:15–16).

By both tests—truth and fruit—Muhammad fails. He is not the prophet of God, but the architect of a counterfeit kingdom.

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2. Muhammad Fails the Test of a Prophet

No fulfilled prophecy.

The Qur’an does not contain verifiable predictive prophecy. Islamic scholars often admit this, claiming instead that the Qur’an’s literary style itself is the miracle (i‘jaz al-Qur’an, cf. Qur’an 17:88). In contrast, biblical prophets gave detailed predictions that were fulfilled in history and climaxed in Christ (Luke 24:25–27).

Convenient revelations.

Whenever Muhammad faced criticism, a new “revelation” arrived. When accused of inconsistency, he announced that God had abrogated earlier verses: “We do not abrogate a verse or cause it to be forgotten except that We bring forth one better than it or similar to it” (Qur’an 2:106). When he desired more wives, another revelation granted him special privileges: “O Prophet, We have made lawful to you your wives to whom you have given their dowries and those your right hand possesses … and any believing woman who gives herself to the Prophet … this is only for you, excluding the rest of the believers” (Qur’an 33:50).

Fruits of violence and coercion.

Far from the holiness of Isaiah or the sacrificial meekness of Christ, Muhammad’s record is marked by raids, assassinations, and warfare. Ibn Ishaq’s Sirat Rasul Allah (the earliest surviving biography of Muhammad, 8th century) records his sanctioning of assassinations, such as that of the poetess Asma bint Marwan who opposed him. Later, his followers were commanded: “Fight those who do not believe in Allah or the Last Day … until they pay the jizya with willing submission and feel themselves subdued” (Qur’an 9:29). Apostates were not persuaded but executed, as recorded in Abu Dawud 38:4348: “Whoever changes his religion, kill him.”

By God’s own test, Muhammad’s words and deeds reveal him as a wolf in sheep’s clothing.

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3. The Context of 7th-Century Arabia

Muhammad arose in a world ripe for manipulation. Arabia was steeped in idolatry; Mecca’s Ka‘bah housed 360 idols, according to Ibn Ishaq. Tribal warfare, blood feuds, and superstition dominated daily life.

Yet, fragments of truth circulated. Jewish tribes lived in Medina, preserving the Torah. Heterodox Christian sects—such as Nestorians and Ebionites—carried distorted versions of the gospel. Muhammad was exposed to these influences but reshaped them for his own ends. As F.E. Peters observes in Muhammad and the Origins of Islam, Islam is best understood as a “fusion of pagan Arab custom, Jewish legend, and Christian heresy.”

Instead of receiving the covenant promises, Muhammad denied them. Where Jews awaited Messiah, Muhammad erased Him. Where Christians proclaimed Christ crucified and risen, Muhammad declared: “They did not kill him, nor crucify him, but it was made to appear so” (Qur’an 4:157).

His “prophethood” was not born of heaven, but of cultural borrowing in a time of instability.

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4. A Fusion of Heresy and Opportunism

Borrowed tales.

The Qur’an is filled with echoes of apocryphal and extra-biblical sources. The account of the infant Jesus speaking from the cradle (Qur’an 19:29–30) parallels the Infancy Gospel of Thomas, not the New Testament. The story of Abraham smashing idols (Qur’an 21:51–71) appears not in Genesis but in later Jewish midrash. These are fingerprints of dependency, not divine originality.

Shifting message.

In Mecca, where Muhammad lacked power, he preached tolerance: “To you your religion, and to me my religion” (Qur’an 109:6). But in Medina, with political authority in hand, the revelations shifted: “Slay the idolaters wherever you find them” (Qur’an 9:5). Peaceful verses gave way to militant commands, explained through the doctrine of abrogation.

Religion by coercion.

Muhammad’s “Constitution of Medina” made allegiance to him both political and religious. Islam became not merely a faith but a system of enforced submission. As Patricia Crone demonstrates in Meccan Trade and the Rise of Islam, Muhammad consolidated religion and statecraft into one project of dominance.

This was not a prophet laying down his life for truth. It was a ruler clothing ambition in the garb of revelation.

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5. Applications for the Church

Undermine the Myth of Divine Calling. By biblical standards (Deut. 18; Matt. 7), Muhammad cannot be considered a prophet of God. Christians should speak this with clarity.

Call to Confidence. Hebrews 1:1–2 declares that God has spoken finally in His Son. Christ is the true Prophet; no new revelation is needed.

Equip Evangelism. Believers can lovingly but firmly expose Muhammad’s contradictions, pointing Muslims to the spotless life, sacrificial death, and victorious resurrection of Christ.

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6. Conclusion: Christ, the True Prophet

The authority of Muhammad collapses under the weight of Scripture and history. He was not God’s final prophet, but a wolf who gathered followers with borrowed words and the edge of the sword.

Christ alone is the true Prophet who reveals the Father, the final Priest who intercedes for His people, and the reigning King whose kingdom will never end. His Word stands forever.

Having exposed the messenger, we must now weigh his message. If the prophet is false, what of his scripture? That is where we turn next: The Book of Contradictions: The Qur’an, Hadith, and Their Problems.

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✍️ Reflection & Application

Personal: How does testing Muhammad against God’s standards strengthen your assurance that Christ is the true and final Prophet?

Church: What practical steps can your congregation take to train believers to discern false prophecy?

Mission: Are you prepared to engage Muslims with both truth and compassion, exposing deception while offering Christ?

For Families:

Teach your children that God has already spoken fully and finally in Jesus.

Pray together that Muslims might be freed from the deception of a false prophet and come to know the Shepherd who lays down His life for the sheep.

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⚔️ Key Sources Consulted:

The Qur’an: 2:106, 4:157, 9:5, 9:29, 17:88, 19:29–30, 21:51–71, 33:50, 109:6.

Hadith: Abu Dawud 38:4348.

Ibn Ishaq, Sirat Rasul Allah (trans. Guillaume).

F.E. Peters, Muhammad and the Origins of Islam (SUNY Press, 1994).

W. Montgomery Watt, Muhammad: Prophet and Statesman (Oxford, 1961).

Patricia Crone, Meccan Trade and the Rise of Islam (Princeton, 1987).

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