Christian and Muslim concepts of prophethood differ fundamentally in meaning

Evidence

Peter attempts to prove that Muhammad is not a prophet, for a prophet by definition foresees the future, whereas Muhammad did not. Here Peter is unaware that the Muslim concept of rasûl is quite different from the Christian notion of propheta: the latter by definition predicts future events, while in Islam a rasûl is a messenger of God, bringing the message that man must submit to God’s will. In showing that Muhammad does not correspond to Peter’s notion of prophethood, he is scoring a point that would carry little weight with a Muslim audience. — John V. Tolan, Saracens, 864

Categorization

• DEFINE: Explains the distinct semantic content of rasûl vs propheta — a useful distinction for understanding medieval polemic.
• XREF: Connects to the broader pattern of cross-cultural misunderstanding in polemics — comparable to the Milgrom materials on institutional friction. — connects to: Christianity and Islam differ fundamentally over how revelation unfolds; Christian-Muslim controversy necessarily centers on their fixed points of doctrinal disagreement