However, there is no reason to be unsympathetic to the Muslim desire to point to a place in the Bible that foretells the Prophet (PBUH) because their instincts in this are correct. There is a place, a very honorable place, where the Prophet (PBUH) is foretold. This is in the Book of Isaiah.
By way of background the Book of Isaiah recounts the activities and visions of the prophet Isaiah, who lived in the second half of the eighth century BC when the Northern Kingdom of Israel was under attack by Assyria and the army of Sennacherih drew up to the actual walls of Jerusalem. Isaiah received his call to prophetic office in the Temple of Jerusalem and he describes in his Book his divine summons by God in person. He is considered by Christians to be the greatest of the Old Testament prophets because he received directly from God the prophecies regarding the coming of the Messiah, Jesus Christ. Catholics read very frequently from the Book of Isaiah as part of the celebration of Mass services. He is one of my favorites for this reason and also because his great humility demonstrated that even the most holy of men must purify themselves before being in the presence of God. That passage of his Book I have written about before because it demonstrates the Biblical source for the concept of purgatory.
The 66 chapters of the Book of Isaiah are therefore filled with enormous theological and spiritual content. And it is in this Book that if one is observant one can spot the reference to the Prophet (PBUH). In this section of scripture Isaiah is receiving from God word and vision about the upcoming fall of Babylon. One needs to understand that the Old Testament prophets tended to receive from God direct factual information about current or pending events (such as the fall of Babylon), but mixed within these prophecies are references to great salvation events to come.
Chapter 21: 6-9
For thus says my Lord to me: Go, station a watchman, let him tell what he sees. If he sees a chariot, a pair of horses, someone riding an ass, someone riding a camel, then let him pay heed, very close heed. The the watchman cried, "On the watchtower, O my Lord, I stand constantly by day; and I stay at my post through all the watches of the night. Here he comes now: a single chariot, a pair of horses; he calls out and says, 'Fallen, fallen is Babylon, and all the images of her gods are smashed to the ground."
The rest of the chapter and the chapter after describe specific "current events" prophecies for the Jewish refugees in Arabia, Jerusalem, Sobna and Eliaciim, and Tyre and Sidon. After those sections Isaiah then receives general apocalyptic prophecy from God.
So the passage that I reference above is self contained. Therefore you have to notice that the Lord tells him that a "watchman" would need to watch for four arrivals to closely heed. The first two, the chariot and the pair of horses, occurs in the near term and represent the fall of Babylon, which indeed happened. We know that this is the historical Babylon that falls because it is the polytheistic pagan worshipping Babylon that falls because "all the images of her gods are smashed to the ground." God, however, gives no further information about the third and fourth arrivals "someone riding an ass, someone riding a camel."
All Christians with any knowledge of their faith immediately recognize who is foretold by "someone riding as ass," because that is one of the great prophecies that is fulfilled about Jesus Christ.
St. John 12: 12-15
Now the next day, the great crowd which had come to the feast, when they heard that Jesus was coming to Jerusalem, took the branches of palms and went forth to meet him. And they cried out, "Hosanna! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord, the king of Israel!" And Jesus found a young ass and sat upon it, as it is written, Fear not, daughter of Sion; behold, thy king comes, sitting upon the colt of an ass.
St. Luke 19: 29-34
And it came to pass, when he drew near to Bethphage and Bethany, at the mountain called Olivet, that he sent two of his disciples, saying "Go into the village opposite; on entering it you will find a colt of an ass tied, upon which no man ever yet sat; loosen it and bring it. And if anyone ask you, 'Why are you loosing it? you shall answer him thus, 'Because the Lord has need of it.'" And they who were sent went away and found the colt standing, even as he had told them. and as they were loosing the colt, its owners said to them, "Why are you loosing the colt?" And they replied, "Because the Lord has need of it."
So you can see very clearly that the third event, "someone riding an ass," is fulfilled in the entry of Jesus into Jerusalem for the final time. This event is celebrated in the Catholic liturgy as "Palm Sunday."
And so we are left with the fourth arrival to watch for, no further reference of which is made in the Bible, being "someone riding a camel." That is the Biblical foretelling by God to Isaiah of the Prophet Muhammad (PBUH).
Now, Christians do not need to overreact to this with worry that this has some implication for their Christian faith. It does not, and you can be assured of this because there are many events prophesied by Isaiah from God that are not representing changes in theology. That's what many Christians need to understand. The Bible is a history (both of events and of the "faith family") and not every word has to be milked to find some hidden meaning or advantage to act upon. This is why God says "a WATCHMAN." God is saying, watch for these events, for they are significant. Obviously each event must be interpreted in its own reality as it unfolds.For example, Babylon is the fall of a city, a pagan city. Jesus is the Messiah. Each event "stands on its own" as it unfolded; they are not part of a 1-2-3... set of steps where each event is dependent on the previous. A watchman observes many travelers come and go, but each one is not necessarily connected to the previous or following visitor. God is very precise when he presents prophesy to his prophets. He uses words and images that are precise and appropriate to their meaning.
(By the way, I'm being harassed on the computer. That's why this blog posting is going up in fits and starts, has different colors and so forth. When I want to correct errors suddenly my response time gets "hung" and I'm unable to get back in to do my spiritual direction work. This is typical of the s*** that I've had to put up with for years).
Now, to try to get back to decency and matters of faith.
God tells humans through his prophets when to take action and when to watch. I can't put it much simpler than that. No matter how complicated the prophecy, the Prophets were always told by God and understood when an action must be taken (to tell the people about the Law, such as Moses, or to remind people not to sin and warn of consequences) and when just to watch but know that something is important. This section is an example of that. Knowing about the fall of Babylon does not mean that Isaiah or anyone else could run out and do something about it. It's told in prophecy so that the faithful have courage and faith knowing that justice will be rendered at some point or another. It's not their business to run out and try to hasten the fall of Babylon on God's behalf, for example. Likewise they are told to watch for someone who arrives on an ass. That doesn't mean that the people should test every newcomer to see if he is the person that God foretold. It turns out that Jesus arrived about 700 years after this prophecy. Only when the significance of the event on its own standing unfolds are the people to go "Ah, that is the meaning of the prophecy." They are not to run around looking for someone important to ride an ass. They would have wasted 700 years and raised false prophets if they did so. This is why God says that they should be like a "watchman" for these events. God does not give instructions to act.
Therefore when Isaiah is told by God that the "watchman" should take note of "someone riding a camel" then this is an example of where the prophecy will be recognized only after the fact. The event must unfold and then those who are wise look back into the scriptures and now understand. This is the process that Jesus himself taught to the Apostles and disciples. He showed many examples and told them that he will prophesy to them, they won't understand or believe, and then after the event they will go "Ah" with understanding. Prophesy is to be watched for in its own fulfillment in its own time.
So why does God even bother to give people prophesy if they are not to "act" or "take advantage of it" after "interpreting" it? The first reason is to validate that it is indeed God who is giving a prophesy to one of his authentic chosen prophets. Many throughout salvation history have pretended to be prophets. God gives prophesy, sometimes very cryptically, in order that people will not be able to imitate him or his prophets and mislead the people. Who could think of the Messiah arriving in Jerusalem on an ass seven hundred years later? This is unarguable proof when God's prophets prophesy in such as cryptic and strange way and then behold, when that prophesy is long forgotten it is fulfilled unlooked for and unmanipulated. So the first reason that God gives people prophesy at all is so that they can know they are hearing and studying "the genuine article" of prophet when it is fulfilled, often centuries after the prophet has gone to his reward in heaven.
The second reason is to strengthen and increase faith. Prophesy allows people, especially those who are suffering, to put salvation history in context and have stronger belief. The truly faithful who suffered in Babylon, for example, would take comfort in knowing that God will allow Babylon to fall, and their God to triumph over the pagan idolatry, even if that is for their future generations of grandchildren to enjoy in life. Again, prophesy from God is not meant to be "decoded" and "manipulated" or artificially "fulfilled" by humans. It backfires like you cannot believe when that is attempted. God is not giving a formula, for example, saying "Oh, to move forward in the salvation game someone important must ride an ass somewhere and a watchman notices." Of course not! God is saying, "Watch and wait for someone who is riding an ass" and let them "pay heed," "very close heed." The people who cheered Jesus as he entered Jerusalem were not flipping pages of their handy dandy prophet guide and thus cheer Jesus because he arrived on an ass. It is years later that the Apostles and disciples fully comprehend the linkage between the prophesy and the event that unfolded. Jesus, of course, knew fully well because he is the one who requested an ass to arrive on to Jerusalem. Jesus fulfilled the prophecies by his actions with full knowledge of them and their implications.
So it is for authenticity and for faith that God provides prophesy. Therefore God was alerting people to heed "someone who rides a camel." God was making a statement of authenticity and membership in the salvation and faith family regarding this "someone." Camels are animals of the desert, and Arabia was well known in those times, obviously. So it is not the animal in particular but the fact that someone will be seen by the "watchman" and will be heeded. This is the Prophet Muhammad who would be "someone who rides a camel" around one thousand and four hundred years after Isaiah received this prophesy from God.
It is only well after the event that those who are the "watchman" (those who study and heed the scripture and the word of God) can understand how an event has unfolded that is the fulfillment of a prophesy by one of God's true prophets. So I am not surprised that few people understand that this "someone" in the Book of Isaiah is God's prophesy to legitimize that the "someone who rides a camel" is an authentic part of the faith history and God's plan for humanity and salvation. God makes this clear by showing Isaiah the fulfillment of the chariot and two horsemen as being part of the strengthening of faith over the long term, not the arrival of a literal person or persons who are "someones" in faith history. So Isaiah is able to see and record that the first two "arrivals" are "observed" as being representative of the fall of Babylon and of their pagan idols, even though the events have not taken place yet. In other words, God gives him "specifics" that the chariot and the two riders indicate the fall of Babylon. God does not give Isaiah the "specifics" about the "someone riding an ass" or the "someone riding a camel." Isaiah is, however, given plenty more specifics about the details of prophesy of the coming of the Messiah Jesus Christ. The "someone riding a camel" is to be heeded as being authentic in the Abrahamic family of salvation history, but is not part of the Jesus Christ set of events or a successor to Jesus Christ. God is mentioning the "someone riding a camel" so that once the events transpire around this person, people who doubt and wonder can look back and see, "Ah yes, this is God's will. This person is part of the fabric and substance of God's works."
I hope that you find this helpful. It is very important to validate that the Muslims are correct to seek a linkage of authenticity in the Bible, and that is where it is (along with, of course, the rest of the shared Adam to Abraham faith history and their knowledge of Jews and Christians). It is likewise important that in dialogue they understand the specifics of what Jesus promised regarding the helper and comforter, and that this is the Holy Spirit who continues the work of Jesus through the Apostles and disciples, and not a literal person. So validation of the Islamic part of the one true God's salvation history is important, but it is important that we all be pointing to the same correct prophesy. The other important lesson here is that God gives instructions, laws and rituals for people to act upon, not prophesies. Prophesies are to be awaited at God's all knowing will and pleasure and not to be decoded and manipulated like some inside trading commodity or, just as bad, underestimated by humans, who cannot begin to imagine what God's plans and will are in full. Like I said, no one could have envisioned either the time or the form of Jesus Christ as the Messiah, and no one could have envisioned either the time or the form of God's revelation to the Prophet (PBUH). When people try to "decode" prophecy they always come up with an incredibly simple, cheap and thin version of what their limited minds can imagine that "God would do." It is an insult to God as well as being misleading of the faithful to think that any human, no matter how "smart" or "imaginative" could think of what God means in advance of a prophecy's fulfillment. As a scientific example, just to help understand this, what human given a paper and pencil and asked to imagine how life works would ever have thought of DNA? It is the same with God's prophecy of what is to come. No humans can imagine it; they can only hinder achieving the fullness of its intended goodness by misattributed and manipulating mundane events "on God's behalf." That is really horrible and it must never be done, ever again. There has been far too much of it and it has had ruinous consequences. It's as moronic as if after this prophecy people immediately ran around breeding extra asses to be sure that the "someone" would arrive. Thank GOD that the prophets and fathers, the Apostles and the disciples were pure of heart and such thoughts would never have occurred to them or to the people of those times. They could mistake someone as the Messiah or a prophet, but they did not run around trying to manipulate words and events of the holy book. Not only would that never have occurred to them but they would be stricken with dread at the thought, since they never mixed themselves up as being divine "players." It is essential that all people stop with this mindset immediately.
