The History of the Idea of a Literal Connection between the Words “Ahmad” and “Paraclete” in the Qur’an and the Gospel of John

Abstract

In recent years, some people, comparing the word “Ahmad" in a Quranic verse speaking of Jesus' prophecy about Prophet Muhammad (Qur'an 61:6) with the word “Paraclete" in the Gospel of John (14:26, etc.), have tried to make a connection between them. They have ascribed to Muslims (and even to the Prophet himself) the idea that the word “Paraclete" is a distorted form of the word “<em>periclete</em>," the meaning of which, in turn, is approximately equal to the Arabic word “Ahmad," to which the Quranic verse refers. In this article, we examine this idea and conclude that the claim has stemmed from a mistake in the writings of some western scholars during the eighteenth century, and does not have any actual basis in Christian or Islamic literature.