And We decreed to the Children of Israel in the Scripture, “You will surely cause corruption on the earth twice.”

 The previous prophecy is not the only good news about the time of the birth or coming of the awaited prophet. There is another prophecy that we find in another book of the "Pseudepigrapha" [1], which is the book "The Testament of Moses". This book tells about Moses giving his follower Joshua bin Nun a book before his death, which foretells what will happen to the Jews in the coming ages. It talks about the first destruction of the Jews as a result of corruption at the hands of a king from the East, who burns their great temple and takes them captive to his country. Then God returns them to the Promised Land at the hands of a king who will be merciful to them, and the temple is rebuilt and God provides them with sons and a mobilization. But the Israelites return to disobeying God, so He sends a king from the West to destroy the Holy House a second time and burns part of the Holy Temple. This second destruction is more severe than the first destruction. Then some events pass, and the awaited prophet and his divine kingdom (state) appear 250 weeks [2] after the death of Moses, peace be upon him.

This book was discovered in 1861 AD in the Italian city of Milan inside the Ambrosian Library. Its manuscript dates back to the sixth century AD - meaning that it remained unknown to its owners for more than thirteen centuries - and so far we have only found this manuscript of this book. It was written in Latin from a Hebrew or Aramaic original written in the first century AD. Scholars believe that it belonged to the Essenes Jewish sect. (Quoted from the introduction to this book in: "The Old Testament Pseudepigrapha"

It is understood from the history of this book that it is impossible for Muhammad (peace be upon him) to have seen this single manuscript that the people of its faith had missed for thirteen to eighteen centuries, and read it in its language or it was read to him, and he discovered this amazing coincidence and the terrible sign at the time of the emergence of this prophet according to the People of the Book and his time, so he claimed prophethood and informed the Jews and Christians that this was written with them!!!

This prophecy contains many discussions. The first of them, before delving into any good news details, is that it reminds us completely of the beginning of Surat Al-Isra:

(And We decreed to the Children of Israel in the Scripture, "You will surely cause corruption on the earth twice, and you will surely reach great haughtiness (4) So when the promise of the Book comes to pass...) The first of the two, We sent against you servants of Ours, possessed of great might, and they penetrated into the dwellings, and it was a promise fulfilled. (5) Then We gave you back the upper hand over them, and We reinforced you with wealth and children, and made you more numerous in manpower. (6) If you do good, you do good for yourselves, and if you do evil, it is to yourselves. But when the threat of the Hereafter comes, they may disfigure your faces and enter your houses. (7) Perhaps your Lord will have mercy upon you. But if you return [to sin], We will return [to sin], and We have made Hell, for the disbelievers, a prison. {Al-Isra’ 4-8}.

The commentators differed regarding these verses: A group interpreted them as a future interpretation, meaning that the Muslims are the servants of God who entered the mosque (Jerusalem) the first time and will enter it again near the Hereafter. Another group interpreted them as past events, but they differed regarding the victorious groups over the Jews.

Before delving into which of the two interpretations is closer to the truth, we must interpret the prophecy of the first book, “The Testament of Moses,” of the Torah itself. The first destruction that occurred at the hands of a king from the East would be no more than the destruction of the northern Israelite kingdom at the hands of the Assyrian king Shalmaneser (2 Kings 17: from the Torah) or the destruction of the southern kingdom of Judah at the hands of the Babylonian Nebuchadnezzar (2 Kings 21: from the Torah), both kings from the East (east of Palestine, but the most likely is the Babylonian king because that incident is greater and more famous and is the one in which the temple was destroyed as mentioned in the prophecy (we did not mention in our summary of the Book of the Testament of Moses that the captivity occurred to the tribe of Judah - and this supports that the Babylonian king is the one meant). As

for the second destruction, it can only be that which occurred at the hands of the Roman Caesars in 70 AD, Caesar Titus, and in 135 AD, Caesar Hadrian[3], who are kings from the West as mentioned in the prophecy, and they destroyed the temple again as mentioned in the prophecy, and they destroyed the temple again as mentioned as well. (See the “Historical Table” in the introduction to the Holy Book, Dar Al-Sharq edition).


We return once again to the interpretation of the previous Qur’anic verse. Male. We have seen that the Torah and history books say that the first destruction was caused by the Babylonians and the second was caused by the Romans. The strange thing is that the Torah gave the title of Abdullah [4] to the Babylonian conqueror, and this is consistent with the description of the Quran as the first victors over the Jews (servants of us, worthy of great strength). Indeed, the Prophet Jeremiah asked the Jews not to resist [5] the Babylonian conqueror because God is the one who sent him. Perhaps this responds to some Muslim commentators who saw in the use of the term “servants of us” = “servants of God” that the first victors over the Jews were the Muslims, since the term servants of God or servants of the Most Merciful [6] is only used for those who submit to the obedience of God. The Quran used this term for the unbelievers in the afterlife [7] since they would have no choice but to obey God at that time. So what prevents Nebuchadnezzar from having gone out to war against the Jews by God’s command, even though he was an unbeliever, in order to discipline the Jews? Then it is correct to give the title servants of God to the members of his army. This is about the use of the expression “servants of us” = “servants of God” for those who first defeated the Jews.

The strange thing in the Quranic passage is that it mentions that the Jews, after their first victory over their conquerors, became more mobilized, i.e. more helpful. The Torah mentions that the Jews returned from the Babylonian captivity with the help of the Persian king “Cyrus” [8]. This makes us fully support the interpretation that says that the two events have passed and that the first destroyer was the Babylonians and the second destroyer was the Romans in 70 AD [9]. This is also supported by the Almighty’s saying after narrating that story (Perhaps your Lord will have mercy on you. But if you return [to evil], We will return [to evil] and make Hell a prison for the disbelievers) meaning: God Almighty may return with a new destruction for them other than the two mentioned destructions. In that particular paragraph (Perhaps your Lord will have mercy on you)... perhaps he wants to tell them: If you do not believe in the awaited prophet written among you who will emerge after the destructions (as mentioned in the book "The Testament of Moses", we will return to torment you. It is strange that the Qur’an says: (And We decreed to the Children of Israel in the Book) and then we read in the Book of the Testament of Moses that this prophecy was left by Moses to Joshua written in a book.

So this Qur’anic paragraph, verses 4-8 of Surat Al-Isra, almost matches the book "The Testament of Moses" which we did not find until the nineteenth century.

As for mentioning the time of the emergence of the awaited prophet - and this is our topic - the Book of the Testament of Moses mentions first that the awaited prophet will not emerge before the second destruction, that is, after the year 135 AD, as we mentioned [10].

Rather, the Book of the Testament of Moses specified the “seven years in which that prophet will be born, as Moses says to Joshua that the prophet of the end of time will not appear before “250 weeks” have passed since his death - that is, the death of Moses - and a week in the books of Jewish prophecies means seven years [11], so the total is 1750 years.

The prophecy said that 250 weeks (of years) will pass after the death of Moses until the prophet of the end of time appears, that is, the prophet of the end of time will be born in the 251st week, that is, during the period 1750-1757 from the death of Moses, peace be upon him.

I tried to find the date of Moses’ death from the birth of Jesus Christ, but I did not find it calculated, but I found a key to calculating it, which is the date of the death of Pharaoh Ramses II, about whom Christian and Jewish historians hardly differ that he was the Pharaoh of Moses - see, for example: "Historical Table" in the introduction to the Holy Bible, Dar Al-Mashreq edition - as found in the Jewish Encyclopedia "Judaica" in the chapter on Ramses II "The date of the death of the Pharaoh is 1223 BC. Moses must have died at least forty years after that (the time of the wandering as mentioned in the Qur’an (Al-Ma’idah: 26) and the Book of Numbers in the Torah 14:33) so 1223 - 40 = 1183.

So Moses, peace be upon him, died in 1183 BC or a little after that, if we wanted to calculate the date of birth of the awaited prophet from the birth of Jesus Christ. We subtract the date of death of Moses (1183) from the date of birth of the awaited prophet in the prophecy 1750-1757, so the birth of that prophet would be:

1750-1183 = 567 AD

1757-1183 = 574 AD

Between the year 567 AD to 574 AD,

and it is known that the Prophet of Islam, peace and blessings be upon him, was born in 570 AD. That is, during that period.

The English text

“then Moses spoke to Joshua this word …, but (you) take this writing so that later you will remember how to preserve the books which I shall entrust to you… (ghapter 1:10, 16)… they will offer their some to foreign holy gods and they will set up idols in the temple… (chapter 2:8) … In those days a king against them from the east and (his) cavalry will over run their land. And with fire he will burn their city with the temple of the lord and he will carry off all the holy vessels. And he will exile all the people and will lead them to his own land, yea the two tribes he will take with him.

(Chapter 31 1-3) during the time of their Captivity

(chapter: 5-9) And when the times of exposure come near and punishment arises through kings who (though) sharing their crimes yet punish them … consequently the word was fulfilled that they will avoid justice and approach iniquity (chapter 5:1-3).. and a powerful king of the west shall come, who shall conquer them, and he shall take them captives, and a part of their temple he will burn with fire. He will crucify some of them around their calony. (chapter 6: 8,9) … And there shall come upon them a second visitation and warth.. He will stir up against them the king of the kings of the west..(ch.8:1,2) …behold a second punishment has befallen the people.. exceeding the former one. (ch. 9:2) then his kingdom will appear throughout his shole creation, then the evil will have an end …(ch.10:1)…for from my death and burial until his coming there will pass 250 times (c c I times) (i.e. 250 year weaks, or 1750 years) (ch. 10:11-page 422,423)[12]

 Then Moses spoke to Joshua... Take this book so that you may remember later how to keep the books that I have given you... (Chapter 1:10, 16)... They will sacrifice their children to strange gods and will set up idols in the temple... (Chapter 2:8)... In these days a king from the east will rise up against them and his armies will sweep over their land. He will burn their city with fire and the holy temple of the Lord. He will carry away the holy vessels. He will take all the people into exile and lead them to his own land... The two tribes he will take with him. (Chapter 3:1-3)... Then the Lord will remember them because of his covenant with their fathers... In these days the Lord will inspire a king to be kind to them and restore them to their land... But the ten tribes will grow and spread among the nations during the time of the captivity (Chapter 4:5-9) and an army will approach the time of abandonment and punishment will increase through kings who will share in their crimes... In turn the word will be fulfilled that they will shun justice and come to injustice (Chapter 5:1-3).

And a powerful king will come from the west, and will invade them and take them captive, and will burn part of their temple. Some of them will be crucified before their tribes (Chapter 6:8, 9)... Then a second visitation and divine wrath will come upon them... He will stir up against them the King of kings of the earth... (Chapter 8:1, 2)... Behold, a second punishment will befall the people... exceeding the first punishment (Chapter 9:2) Then his kingdom (the kingdom of God) will appear in every place of his creation. Then evil will come to an end... (Chapter 10:1)... For from my burial (the burial of Moses) until his coming (the coming of the prophet of the end of time) will pass two hundred and fifty times (i.e. 250 weeks of years, i.e. 1750 years: the commentary from the same book of "Charles") (Chapter 10:11- pp. 422-423) [13] (our translation).


A picture of some of the Dead Sea Scrolls on display at the Archaeological Museum in the Jordanian capital Amman
. In the Dead Sea Scrolls:

A copy of this book, “The Testament of Moses” or “The Testament of Moses,” was found in the Dead Sea Scrolls, which were released in 1992.

The text is not much different from the manuscript found in the Ambrosian Library in Milan, Italy, which we mentioned earlier. Including:

1, 2 – The Testament of Moses, which he wrote in the 120th year of his life… Now, by your grace, they will enter the land which he had decided and promised to give to their fathers. And you will establish a kingdom for them… (And within four) they will work against the covenant of the Lord and profane the oath which the Lord had made with them. They will sacrifice their children to foreign gods and set up idols in the tent and serve them.

3- And in these days a king from the East will come against them, and his horsemen will cover their country. And he will burn their colonies with the holy temple of the Lord, and he will plunder all the holy vessels.

5- And when the times of judgment will approach... they will be humiliated behind foreign gods.

6-... And their lands will be invaded by the battalions of a powerful king from the West who will hate them and anger them in captivity and will burn part of their temple and crucify some around their colony..

10-... And you, Joshua, son of Nephi, keep these phrases and this book: For from my death and reception, until his coming, two hundred and fifty times will pass, (The translator of the text, Musa Deeb Al-Khoury, says: 250 weeks of years, i.e. 1750 years: Quoted from the book "The Qumran - Dead Sea Scrolls" Part Two).

Written by Professor Hisham Talaba,

a researcher at the International Authority for Scientific Miracles in the Qur’an and Sunnah

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[1] The literal translation of the word means false writings. It refers to those books that were attributed to the Old Testament (the Torah) and were not recognized after the Council of "Jamenea" (in the late first century AD), although a large number of them before this date - and even after it - had a great impact and absolute sanctity among many sects. In the aforementioned council, disputed books were adopted with great difficulty, such as (Esther - Ezekiel - Song of Songs), as well as the Book of Daniel, whose authority was recognized by the Jewish Pharisees, while the Jewish Sadducees also did not recognize it without a doubt (previous source - first volume, p. 49). As for the books of the Torah among the Christians (the Old Testament), they did not accept the Council of "Jamenea" except the Protestants. As for the Westerners among them and North Africa, they waited until the fourth century and approved what was in the Council of Carthage mentioned above. As for the Easterners among them (the Greek-speaking Eastern churches), they did not have a legal organization throughout the ages until the present day. (previous source).

On the other hand, there are books of great importance that were attributed to the Torah and were deleted from the canon (the collection of approved books) (Pseudopigrapha), although it is acknowledged that they have great importance for the edification of the believer (the previous source). These books are such as: (The Book of Enoch - Jubilees - The Apocalypse of Baruch - The Covenants of the Tribes - The Testament of Abraham - The Testament of Moses - The Apocalypse of Abraham - The Book of Adam and Eve).

They are books that are relied upon, even if they are not permitted to be worshipped. No one has ever claimed that they were forged by the People of the Book from others [1].

[2] We also find this numerical prophecy in the Talmud (Sanhedrin 97) and in the book (11:12) (The assumptions of Moses)

[3]. The destruction of Hadrian is most likely because it was more severe and the Jews were taken captive in it. This is also the opinion of Dr. Ali Abdul Wahid Wafi in his book “Judaism and the Jews” sees that the first destruction that the Qur’an means is the destruction of Nebuchadnezzar and the second is the destruction of Hadrian, p. 11, p. 117

[4] “Therefore thus says the Lord Almighty: Because you have disobeyed My words, behold, I will mobilize all the tribes of the north under the leadership of Nebuchadnezzar My servant” (Jeremiah 9:25).

[5] Jeremiah 27.

[6] Surah Al-Furqan 63.

[7] And on the Day when He will gather them and what they worship besides God, He will say, “Did you lead these My servants astray, or did they go astray from the way?” ({Al-Furqan: 17}

[8] “The Torah – Second Chronicles (36:22-23)

[9] This is consistent with the opinion of Dr. Ali Abdel Wahid Wafi in his book.

[10] This is also understood from the Gospel of Matthew 24:15-35, where Jesus Christ foretells another destruction of the Jewish temple, then the placing of an abomination in the temple, which are the idols of the Romans (interpretation of John Wesley), then the appearance of the Son of Man (interpretation of the awaited prophet in the Torah), but Christians interpret it as the second coming of Jesus Christ (according to their belief), although this abomination of desolation was mentioned in the Torah (Daniel 9) in the context of speaking about the time of the coming of the awaited prophet,

[11] The Apocrypha and Pseudepigrapha of the old Testament, (Charles) p. 423 (interpretation of John Worsley).

[12] The Apocrypha and Pseudepigrapha of the old testament" (Charles)

[13] The Apocrypha and Pseudepigrapha of the old testament" (Charle