Wa Jaa al-Nabi al-Muntazar
- Author died
- 1441 AH
- Editions
- al-Jāmi‘ah al-Islāmīyah
Wa Jaa al-Nabi al-Muntazar (وجاء النبي المنتظر, lit. 'And the Awaited Prophet Has Come') is a work on Islamic apologetics and biblical prophecies regarding Prophet Muhammad written by Abd al-Wahhab bin Tuwaila (Abd al-Wahhab Abd al-Salam Tuwaila, d. 1441 AH / 2020 CE) .
Background and Composition
The author began compiling material for the book in the early 1970s while working as a secondary school teacher in a city neighborhood with a Christian population . Observing proselytization efforts aimed at young students and the public distribution of Bibles published by al-Matbaʿah al-Bulusiyyah in Lebanon, he engaged in extensive reading of polemical and comparative religion literature . His primary references included Ibn Taymiyyah’s al-Jawab al-Sahih li-man Baddala Din al-Masih, Ibn al-Qayyim’s Hidayat al-Hayara fi Ajwibat al-Yahud wa-l-Nasara, Rahmatullah al-Hindi’s Izhar al-Haqq, Abd al-Wahhab al-Najjar’s Qisas al-Anbiya', and Muhammad Abu Zahrah’s Muhadarat fi al-Nasraniyyah, alongside acquiring and examining a copy of the Gospel of Barnabas .
In 1404 AH (1984 CE), after encountering recurring questions from students at the Islamic University of Medina regarding biblical predictions, Tuwaila revised his earlier summaries, augmented them with illustrative textual proofs, and completed the book in Medina on 25 Dhu al-Qiʿdah 1404 AH . He noted that while Muhammad’s prophethood does not depend on prior scriptures for its validation, presenting these heralds serves to refute polemical arguments and reinforce the certainty of believers .
Content and Method
The book examines the divine covenant taken from earlier prophets to believe in and support the final Prophet . Tuwaila evaluates the textual reliability of Jewish and Christian scriptures by contrasting them with the Islamic methodology of transmission . Applying criteria outlined by Rahmatullah al-Hindi—which require proving an unbroken chain of transmission (isnad) back to the designated prophet without textual corruption—he analyzes the classification of hadith traditions (sahih, hasan, da'if, and mutawatir) and the rigorous oral and written preservation of the Quran since the prophetic era .
Tuwaila reviews the composition of the Old and New Testaments, noting discrepancies between Jewish, Christian, and Samaritan recensions and highlighting the absence of continuous transmission chains for biblical texts . He details biblical passages concerning the anticipated prophet, citing chapters from the Gospel of John (such as John 1 and John 7) to demonstrate that contemporaries of John the Baptist and Jesus differentiated between the Messiah, Elijah, and a distinct awaited prophet promised through Moses .
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