Littafin Baibul ya ruwaito cewa Yesu Kristi ya bayar da waɗannan ma'auni na hankali don bambance annabawan gaskiya daga na ƙarya:

The Bible reports that Jesus Christ  offered the following logical criteria for distinguishing true prophets from false ones:

Ku yi hattara da annabawan ƙarya, waɗanda suke zuwa gare ku cikin tufafin tumaki, amma a ciki kyarketai ne masu cin naman mutane. Za ku gane su ta 'ya'yansu. Ko mutane sukan tsinci inabi daga ƙayayuwa, ko ɓaure daga sarƙaƙiya? Haka nan, kowace itace mai kyau takan ba da 'ya'ya masu kyau, amma itace marar kyau takan ba da 'ya'ya marasa kyau. Itace mai kyau ba zai iya ba da 'ya'ya marasa kyau ba, haka itace marar kyau ba zai iya ba da 'ya'ya masu kyau ba. Kowace itace da ba ta ba da 'ya'ya masu kyau ana sare ta a jefa ta cikin wuta. Saboda haka, ta 'ya'yansu za ku gane su.47

Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ravenous wolves. You will know them by their fruits. Do men gather grapes from thornbushes or figs from thistles? Even so, every good tree bears good fruit, but a bad tree bears bad fruit. A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, nor can a bad tree bear good fruit. Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. Therefore, by their fruits you will know them.47

Annabi Isa na iya nufin da waɗannan "’ya’yan itatuwa" cewa ayyuka sun fi magana bayyana halin mutum, saboda haka halayyar annabi na gaskiya dole ne ta kasance mai kyau. Haka kuma yana iya nufin cewa tasirin koyarwarsa a kan wasu zai zama mai kyau, ko kuma saƙon da kansa dole ne ya zama kira bayyananne zuwa ga tsarki da kyau. Abin ban sha'awa a nazarin aikin Annabi Muhammad ﷺ shi ne cewa dukkan fassarorin uku suna tabbata a gare shi. Surori uku masu zuwa za su nuna yadda halayensa, nasarorinsa, da saƙonsa duk suke gabatar da hujja mai ƙarfi ga annabcinsa, farawa da halayensa a wannan babi.

The Prophet Jesus  may have intended by these “fruits” that actions speak louder than words about a person’s character, and therefore the personal conduct of a true prophet must be good. He may have also intended that the positive impact of his teachings on others will be good, or that the message itself must be a clear call to purity and goodness. The beauty of analyzing the ministry of Muhammad صلى الله عليه وسلم is that all three interpretations would stand true for him. The following three chapters will illustrate how his character, his accomplishments, and his message all make a powerful case for his prophethood— beginning with his character in this chapter.

Allah ya haɗa a cikin Muhammadu ﷺ mafi girman halaye masu daraja, a matsayin shaida cewa lallai an ba shi izini daga Ubangiji. Halayensa sun haskaka ta kowane fanni, kuma wannan ya lura da shi duka waɗanda suka zauna da shi kai tsaye da waɗanda suka karanta tarihin rayuwarsa daga baya. Dukansu sun sami a cikin Muhammadu ﷺ salon rayuwa na gaskiya mai ban mamaki, da tabbaci, da kyawawan halaye, wanda ya zama babban ƙalubale ga duk wanda ya yi shakka game da annabcinsa. Kamar yadda Ibn Taymīyah (d. 1328), wani fitaccen malamin tauhidin Musulunci, ya ce: An sani cewa duk wanda ya yi iƙirarin annabci ko dai yana ɗaya daga cikin mafi kyau da mafi daraja a cikin halitta, ko kuma mafi muni da mafi mugunta daga cikinsu … to ta yaya za a taɓa rikita tsakanin mafi kyau da mafi daraja da tsakanin mafi muni da mafi mugunta? … Babu wani maƙaryaci da ya yi iƙirarin annabci sai dai jahilcinsa, rashin gaskiyarsa, muguntarsa, da hanyoyinsa na shaidan suka bayyana ga duk wanda ke da ƙaramin matakin fahimta.48

God combined in Muhammad صلى الله عليه وسلم the most illustrious qualities, as evidence that he was in fact authorized by the Divine. His character sparkled from every angle, and this was noticed both by those who experienced him firsthand and those who later read his biography. They all found in Muhammad صلى الله عليه وسلم a lifestyle of extraordinary sincerity, conviction, and virtue that posed a formidable challenge to any doubter in his prophethood. As Ibn Taymīyah (d. 1328), an eminent Muslim theologian, said, It is known that someone who claims to be a prophet is either one of the best and noblest of the creation, or the worst and most wicked of them … so how could there ever be any confusion between the best and noblest and between the worst and most wicked? … There has never been any liar who claimed prophethood except that his ignorance, dishonesty, wickedness, and devilish ways became clear to anyone who possessed the smallest degree of discernment.48

A person may wonder about the historical reliability of the reports in the following pages, and why trust that these are anything more than pious exaggerations by Muhammad ﷺ's admirers on the greatness of his character. This concern will be revisited in greater detail amidst the discussion on miracles, but let us cite here the testimony of two non-Muslim historiographers who specialized in the traceability of Islam's prophetic traditions. David S. Margoliouth (d. 1940), the famous English Orientalist, said regarding the isnād system in Islamic scholarship, which requires that reports only be transmitted through a rigorously scrutinized chain of narrators, …its value in making for accuracy cannot be questioned, and the Muslims are justified in taking pride in their science of tradition. In other ancient records, we have to take what is told on the author's assertion: it is rare that a Greek or Roman historian tell us the source of his information…49 Even a staunch Orientalist like Bernard Lewis (d. 2018), who was a sharp critic of Islam and Muslims in modern times, acknowledged the strength of the Hadith tradition. The British-American historiographer wrote, But their careful scrutiny of the chains of transmission and their meticulous collection and preservation of variants in the transmitted narratives give to medieval Arabic historiography a professionalism and sophistication without precedent in antiquity and without parallel in the contemporary medieval West. By comparison, the historiography of Latin Christendom seems poor and meagre, and even the more advanced and complex historiography of Greek Christendom still falls short of the historical literature of Islam in volume, variety and analytical depth.50

A person may wonder about the historical reliability of the reports in the following pages, and why trust that these are anything more than pious exaggerations by Muhammad’s صلى الله عليه وسلم admirers on the greatness of his character. This concern will be revisited in greater detail amidst the discussion on miracles, but let us cite here the testimony of two non-Muslim historiographers who specialized in the traceability of Islam’s prophetic traditions. David S. Margoliouth (d. 1940), the famous English Orientalist, said regarding the isnād system in Islamic scholarship, which requires that reports only be transmitted through a rigorously scrutinized chain of narrators, …its value in making for accuracy cannot be questioned, and the Muslims are justified in taking pride in their science of tradition. In other ancient records, we have to take what is told on the author’s assertion: it is rare that a Greek or Roman historian tell us the source of his information…49 Even a staunch Orientalist like Bernard Lewis (d. 2018), who was a sharp critic of Islam and Muslims in modern times, acknowledged the strength of the Hadith tradition. The British- American historiographer wrote, But their careful scrutiny of the chains of transmission and their meticulous collection and preservation of variants in the transmitted narratives give to medieval Arabic historiography a professionalism and sophistication without precedent in antiquity and without parallel in the contemporary medieval West. By comparison, the historiography of Latin Christendom seems poor and meagre, and even the more advanced and complex historiography of Greek Christendom still falls short of the historical literature of Islam in volume, variety and analytical depth.50

Shafuka masu zuwa za su nuna cewa ko da takaitaccen bayani game da halayen Muhammad ﷺ ba wai kawai yana karyata zarge-zargen da ake yawan maimaitawa a kansa ba—cewa shi annabi ne na karya ko kuma shugaban yaki maras tausayi—har ma yana tabbatar da gaskiyar da'awarsa cewa shi ne annabi na karshe da Allah ya aika wa duniya.

The following pages will demonstrate how even a brief overview of Muhammad’s صلى الله عليه وسلم character not only refutes the oft-recycled charges leveled against him—being an imposter prophet or a ruthless warlord—but also establishes the truth of his claim that he was God’s final prophet to the world.