# Is Muhammad the Paraclete or Ahmad? > Some Muslims hear Muhammad in Jesus' promise of the Comforter, and in the name Ahmad in Qur'an 61:6. John 14–16 says who that person is. - Canonical: https://apologetics.wiki/islam/is-muhammad-the-paraclete - Religions: Islam - Denominations: none - Beliefs: none - Tags: islam, muhammad, prophecy, jesus - Updated: 2026-10-07 - Author: [Paul Ambrose](https://apologetics.wiki/author/hi-its-paul) ([GitHub](https://github.com/hi-its-paul)) > John 14–16 is one conversation, on the night before the cross. The Comforter is named in that conversation. The question is whether the name fits a prophet who would be born centuries later. ## The question [Qur’an 61:6](https://quran.com/as-saf/6) says Jesus told Israel he was God’s messenger, confirming the Torah before him, and bringing good tidings of a messenger to come after him, “whose name is Aḥmad.” Muslims identify Ahmad with Muhammad. They often look for the good tidings in Jesus’ promise of “another Comforter” in John 14–16. The King James Version says Comforter. The Greek word behind it is the word from which “Paraclete” comes. This page asks whether that person, in those chapters, is Muhammad. Deuteronomy 18 is the other common candidate, on [Is Muhammad the prophet of Deuteronomy 18?](/islam/is-muhammad-the-prophet-of-deuteronomy-18). ## What Muslims say The argument has two steps, and both should be stated fairly. First, the Qur’an records Jesus announcing a messenger named Ahmad. Ahmad and Muhammad are built from the same Arabic root, the root of praise, and Muslims have long taken Ahmad as a name of Muhammad. Second, Jesus did promise someone who would come after he departed. That someone teaches, speaks what he hears, and guides into truth. A prophet fits a promise of a successor better, on this view, than a way of talking about God as spirit. The Gospel Christians read is then either silent where the Qur’an says Jesus spoke, or the title “Comforter” is the Gospel’s way of pointing at the praised messenger. Some writers have suggested that the Greek word in John was originally a different word, one that would mean “praised” and so match Ahmad. That suggestion is answered below from what John actually says the person is. It is not answered by mocking the desire to find Muhammad where Jesus speaks about the future. ## What the texts say [Qur’an 61:6](https://quran.com/as-saf/6) [(1)](#ref-1), Saheeh International: > And [mention] when Jesus, the son of Mary, said, "O Children of Israel, indeed I am the messenger of Allāh to you confirming what came before me of the Torah and bringing good tidings of a messenger to come after me, whose name is Aḥmad." But when he came to them with clear evidences, they said, "This is obvious magic." Jesus, in this verse, confirms the Torah that came before him, and he announces a messenger named Ahmad. The confirmation of the Torah is the same note as in the articles on [the Bible the Qur’an describes](/islam/does-the-quran-confirm-the-bible) and on [the Injil](/islam/what-is-the-injil). The new claim is the name. [John 14:16–17](/bible/john/14/16) [(2)](#ref-2), King James Version: “And I will pray the Father, and he shall give you another Comforter, that he may abide with you for ever;” and “Even the Spirit of truth; whom the world cannot receive, because it seeth him not, neither knoweth him: but ye know him; for he dwelleth with you, and shall be in you.” [John 14:26](/bible/john/14/26): “But the Comforter, which is the Holy Ghost, whom the Father will send in my name, he shall teach you all things, and bring all things to your remembrance, whatsoever I have said unto you.” [John 15:26](/bible/john/15/26): “But when the Comforter is come, whom I will send unto you from the Father, even the Spirit of truth, which proceedeth from the Father, he shall testify of me.” [John 16:7](/bible/john/16/7): “if I go not away, the Comforter will not come unto you; but if I depart, I will send him unto you.” [John 16:13–14](/bible/john/16/13): “Howbeit when he, the Spirit of truth, is come, he will guide you into all truth: for he shall not speak of himself; but whatsoever he shall hear, that shall he speak: and he will shew you things to come. He shall glorify me: for he shall receive of mine, and shall shew it unto you.” [Acts 1:5](/bible/acts/1/5) [(3)](#ref-3) has Jesus, after the resurrection, tell the same disciples they will be baptized with the Holy Ghost not many days hence. [Acts 1:8](/bible/acts/1/8): “But ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you:” [Acts 2:1–4](/bible/acts/2) places that coming at Pentecost: they were filled with the Holy Ghost. ## A Christian response The chapters identify the person. He is “the Spirit of truth.” He is “the Holy Ghost.” The world cannot receive him because it does not see him. He dwells with the disciples and will be in them. He abides for ever. He is sent in Jesus’ name, he testifies of Jesus, and he glorifies Jesus. He does not speak of himself. He comes because Jesus is going away, and Acts says the disciples received the Holy Ghost days later, not centuries later. Muhammad was a man people saw. He was not in the disciples on the night of John 14. He was not the Holy Ghost who came at Pentecost. He did not abide with those disciples for ever, unseen by the world, as a spirit in them. The Gospel’s sentences are not a riddle that waits for a later name. They are a description, and [John 14:26](/bible/john/14/26) includes the identification in the same breath as the title: “the Comforter, which is the Holy Ghost.” [Qur’an 61:6](https://quran.com/as-saf/6) says Jesus announced a messenger named Ahmad. The Gospel of John, in the conversation Muslims appeal to, does not use that name. It uses Comforter, Spirit of truth, and Holy Ghost, and it says what that one will do to Jesus: glorify him. A Christian who believes John is the Gospel the church has always read cannot move those sentences onto Muhammad without first setting the sentences aside. If the Qur’an is claiming Jesus said this, the claim is in the Qur’an. It is not a sentence in John 14–16. The suggestion that John originally used a Greek word meaning “praised,” closer to Ahmad, is a suggestion about a wording Christians do not have. What Christians have, in the King James Version and in the chapter it translates, is the Comforter identified as the Holy Ghost. A different original word would need manuscripts that read that word. The argument from John, as the church’s Gospel stands, does not wait on that proposal. The chapter already says who is meant. None of this requires a Christian to speak harshly about Muhammad’s name or about the hope of finding him foretold. It requires the paragraph to count. The Comforter glorifies Jesus. He is not a later messenger whom Jesus, on this reading, would be preparing people to follow instead. Christians confess that the Holy Spirit is God, not a force standing in until a prophet arrives, and not a creature. That confession belongs with [the Trinity](/article/the-trinity). This article only needs the narrower point John actually makes: the one Jesus promises in these chapters is the Spirit, and he comes to the apostles in the days after Jesus goes. ## Common objections **Jesus said “another” Comforter, so the next one is a man, as Jesus was a man.** [John 14:16](/bible/john/14/16) does say “another Comforter.” The next verse says that other one is the Spirit of truth, whom the world does not see, who will be in the disciples. “Another” distinguishes him from Jesus, who is about to leave. It does not change “Holy Ghost” into a human prophet. Jesus is leaving in the flesh. The Spirit is sent to those who stay. **The Spirit cannot be “he,” and cannot speak, so the grammar fits a man.** The King James Version uses “he” for the Comforter, and it also says the Comforter is the Holy Ghost. Christians do not treat the Spirit as a male human because the pronoun is masculine. They treat him as a person because he teaches, hears, speaks, and glorifies. [The Trinity](/article/the-trinity) is the longer account. A pronoun does not relocate Pentecost to Arabia. **The Gospel was changed, and Ahmad was removed.** Then the appeal to John 14–16 has to be withdrawn, or the chapter has to be produced in a form that says Ahmad. The Qur’an verse says Jesus gave good tidings of a messenger by that name. The Gospel Christians read does not contain it. The articles on [whether the Qur’an confirms that Gospel](/islam/does-the-quran-confirm-the-bible) and on [tahrif](/islam/was-the-bible-corrupted) are the place for the corruption claim. It cannot be assumed at the start and then also used to edit John until John agrees. **[Qur’an 61:6](https://quran.com/as-saf/6) only needs to be true in the Qur’an, not in John.** That is a consistent Islamic claim: the Qur’an tells Christians what Jesus said, and the Gospel is not the final word. It is not an argument that John 14–16 is about Muhammad. It is an argument that John is wrong or incomplete. Those are different arguments. This page answers the second one, the claim that the Comforter passage is the good tidings. The first one belongs with the pages on the Bible and the Injil. ## Keep reading - [Is Muhammad the prophet of Deuteronomy 18?](/islam/is-muhammad-the-prophet-of-deuteronomy-18) - [What is the Injil?](/islam/what-is-the-injil) - [The Trinity](/article/the-trinity) - [Does the Qur’an confirm the Bible Christians read today?](/islam/does-the-quran-confirm-the-bible) ## Sources Numbered to match the HTML References list. Item 1 is `#ref-1` under `#references`. Scripture links to the King James Version on this site. 1. [Qur'an, 61:6](https://quran.com/as-saf/6) (Saheeh International, as published on Quran.com.) 2. [Gospel of John, 14:16–17; 14:26; 15:26; 16:7–14](https://apologetics.wiki/bible/john/14). King James Version 3. [Acts of the Apostles, 1:5–8; 2:1–4](https://apologetics.wiki/bible/acts/1). King James Version ## See also - [Is Muhammad the Prophet of Deuteronomy 18?](https://apologetics.wiki/islam/is-muhammad-the-prophet-of-deuteronomy-18) — Qur'an 7:157 says the unlettered prophet is written in the Torah and the Gospel. Deuteronomy 18 is the passage most often offered. - [Can God Have a Son?](https://apologetics.wiki/islam/can-god-have-a-son) — The Qur'an condemns the claim that God has taken a son, especially a son by a consort. Christians deny that picture and still confess the eternal Son. - [Did Jesus Die on the Cross?](https://apologetics.wiki/islam/did-jesus-die-on-the-cross) — The Qur'an is widely read as saying Jesus was not crucified. The Gospels, Paul, and two Roman-era historians say he was. - [Does Jesus Do What Only God Does?](https://apologetics.wiki/islam/does-jesus-do-what-only-god-does) — The Qur'an says God gives life to the dead, is the First and the Last, and comes with the angels. The Gospel says Jesus does those things. - [If Jesus Is God, Why Did He Pray?](https://apologetics.wiki/islam/if-jesus-is-god-why-did-he-pray) — Jesus prayed, said the Father was greater, and said he did not know the hour. Christians still confess that he is God. This page says why those sentences sit in one Gospel. ## History [View history on GitHub](https://github.com/Apologetics-Wiki/apologetics-wiki/commits/main/src/content/articles/is-muhammad-the-paraclete.md)