Editing Jesus in Islam (section)

=== Precursor to Muhammad ===
{{Six Islamic Prophets}}

In Islam, Jesus is believed to have been the precursor to the Islamic prophet [[Muhammad in Islam|Muhammad]]. According to the Quran, the coming of [[Muhammad in Islam|Muhammad]] was predicted by [[Jesus]] in {{qref|61|6|pl=y}}. Through this verse, early Arab Muslims claimed legitimacy for their new faith in the existing religious traditions and the alleged predictions of Jesus.<ref>{{Cite journal|last= Virani|first= Shafique N.|year= 2011|title= Taqiyya and Identity in a South Asian Community|url= https://www.academia.edu/36996009|journal= The Journal of Asian Studies|volume= 70|issue= 1|pages= 99–139|doi= 10.1017/S0021911810002974|issn= 0021-9118|s2cid= 143431047}} p. 128.</ref> Muslims believe that Jesus was a precursor to Muhammad, and that he prophesied the latter's coming.<ref>{{cite book|last= Klauck|first= Hans-Josef Klauck|author-link = Hans-Josef Klauck|url= https://books.google.com/books?id=WoqXMHPY5EgC&pg=PA18|title= The Apocryphal Gospels: An Introduction|date= 2003|publisher= Bloomsbury T&T Clark|isbn= 978-0567083906|location= London|page= 18}}</ref><ref name="Leirvik 2010, p. 59-60" /> This perspective is based on a verse of the Quran wherein Jesus speaks of a messenger to appear after him named "Ahmad".<ref>Quran 61:06</ref> Islam associates [[Ahmad#Interpretations and meaning of Ahmad|Ahmad]] with Muhammad, both words deriving from the ''[[Ḥ-M-D|h-m-d]]'' [[Semitic root|triconsonantal root]] which refers to praiseworthiness. Muslims assert that evidence of Jesus' pronouncement is present in the [[New Testament]], citing the mention of the [[Paraclete]] whose coming is foretold in the [[Gospel of John]].<ref>{{Cite web|title= Jesus' Omen about the Paraclete {{!}} Supporting Prophet Muhammad website|url= https://rasoulallah.net/en/articles/article/222/|access-date= 28 July 2021|website= rasoulallah.net}}</ref>

Muslim commentators claim that the original Greek word used was {{transliteration|grc|periklutos}}, meaning 'famed', 'illustrious', or 'praiseworthy'—rendered in Arabic as {{transliteration|ar|Ahmad}}; and that this was replaced by Christians with {{transliteration|grc|parakletos}}.<ref name="EoI-Isa"/>{{sfn|Watt|2013|p=[https://books.google.com/books?id=_qxlAgAAQBAJ&pg=PA33 33]}} This idea is debated, asking if the traditional understanding is supported by the text of the Quran.

Islamic theology claims Jesus had foretold another prophet succeeding him according to [[Sura 61]]:6, with the mention of the name 'Ahmad'. ([[Ahmad]] is an Arabic name from the same [[triconsonantal]] root [[Ḥ-M-D]] = [ح – م – د].) In responding to [[Ibn Ishaq]]'s biography of Muhammad, the [[Prophetic biography|Sirat Rasul Allah]], Islamic scholar [[Alfred Guillaume]] wrote:

{{blockquote|Coming back to the term "Ahmad", Muslims have suggested that Ahmad is the translation of periklutos, celebrated or the Praised One, which is a corruption of parakletos, the Paraclete of John XIV, XV and XVI.<ref>Liddell and Scott's celebrated Greek-English Lexicon gives this definition for periklutos: "heard of all round, famous, renowned, Latin inclytus: of things, excellent, noble, glorious".  Rev. [[James Morris Whiton]], ed. ''A Lexicon abridged from Liddell and Scott's Greek-English Lexicon''. New York: American Book Company, N.D. c.1940s, p.549. {{lang | grc | Periklutos}} occurs in ''The Iliad'' and in ''The Odyssey'', and in Hesiod's ''Theogony''.</ref>}}