Mel now moves to the question often asked concerning when the word MHMD changed from being just a title, and became "Muhammad", the name for a man, or better, for prophet from Arabia?

The German scholar Karl-Heinz Ohlig, helps us here, citing Ibn Sa’d, who refers to 6 names which were used by the later Muslims for Muhammad:

-Muhammad (the Blessed/Praised One)
-Ahmad (the highly Praised One)
-Hatim (the Seal)
-Hasir (the Awakener of the dead)
-Aqib (the last prophet; concluder)
-Mahi (the Redeemer of sins)

While Muslims will quickly suggest that these are all legitimate names for their prophet, when you look at each of the definitions, they fit Jesus better than Muhammad, especially the names Hasir (the Awakener of the dead), and Mahi (the Redeemer of sins), neither of which would be said of the prophet of Islam.

Aloys Sprenger (d.1893) another German scholar noted the the letters MHMD were an epithet (i.e. a descriptive adjective) used for Jesus in the 7th century.

Yet another modern German scholar, Dr Robert Kerr suggests that that the 4 letters MHMD were all used by different language groups to refer to the "Praised One", such as 'Mehmet' (used by the Turks and the Lachmids), 'Machometus' (used in Latin), 'Mahomet' (used in French), and 'Muhammad' (commonly employed in Arabic).

Ohlig in his book "Early Islam" notes that the word MHMD is included in reference to the Messiah in the 7th century by Christians, who refer to Jesus as "The Son of Mary ('Isa ibn Maryam'); Muhammad (the praised one), the Servant of God ('Abdallah'), the prophet, the Messenger, the word, and the Spirit of God".

This clearly suggests that the Christians used this title for Jesus quite often in the 7th century, and continued to use it, according to Ohlig, up until 750 AD when the Abbasids came to power.

This supports the evidence that exists still in the 7th - 8th centuries.

Take for instance the coins of Muawiya from 663 - 680 AD, with his image holding a cross and another cross sitting on his head on the front side, while on the reverse side we see the letter M with a cross above it; yet, the word MHMD is printed below the letter M.

How can that MHMD be a Muslim, yet represented by a cross? Obviously the letters MHMD here are referring to "The praised one, Jesus Christ".

In 692 AD and again in 693 and 696 AD the caliph Abd al-Malik mints 3 separate coins with the 'Shahada' written clearly on them. Yet the rest of the inscriptions on those coins all attack Jesus' divinity, the trinity and his sonship. This suggests that the MHMD in the Shahada is yet again referring to Jesus Christ as "The Praised One".

In 730 AD John of Damascus writes his famous book entitled 'The Heresies of the Ishmaelites" where he also refers to MHMD, but by this time the title for Jesus is now changing into a reference of a prophet named 'Muhammad'.

But his Muhammad of 730 AD doesn't have just ONE book, but FOUR books, which are entitled the names of 3 Surahs of today's Qur'an (The Cow = Surah 2, the women = Surah 4, the Table = Surah 5, and the Camel, which is no Surah at all).

In conclusion Mel suggests that the term “Mhmd” functioned both as a reference to God and to Jesus.

It seemed to apply to God in the 6th century Jewish inscription. (Or to perhaps to a contemporary Jewish figure).

It then applied to Jesus in the 7th century coins, as well as on the Dome of the Rock.

It applied to Jesus in the Qur’an.

It was used as a Messianic epithet by the Christians.

This then later got re-interpreted and applied to an “Arabian Prophet”. Vestiges of the earlier meaning are still evident in the Islamic traditions that refer to Adam being created from the “light of Muhammad.”

So, when did the word MHMD get changed from a title for Jesus Christ and become the name of the prophet of Islam?

We can't know for certain, because the Abbasids, who came to power in 749 AD pretty much destroyed all the records of the "hated" Umayyads, and with it any references to an evolving prophet named Muhammad.

What we can say is that the Muhammad we know today is not the MHMD of the 7th century Jesus Christ, nor the MHMD of History, nor the Muhammad of the Umayyads, but was a creation of the Abbasids, post 750 AD.

It was that Muhammad whom they then placed in a city called Mecca, who they say received a book called the Qur'an, and who then became the model and paradigm for every Muslim everywhere and for every place and time.

© Pfander Centre for Apologetics & Polemics - US, March 1, 2024
(103,340) Music: 'Country Girl' by aleksound, from filmmusic-io