Who do jews and christians insist that muhammad is a false prophet?

Answer 1

First of all, the burden of proof in this question. Muslims have to prove that Mohammed is a true prophet and everyone else should be skeptical until that claim is proven true. However, there are issues with Mohammed's prophecy, from both Jewish and Christian perspectives. These come from four major objections to what he claimed and preached:

Prophecy Post-Malachi: Judaism believes that each generation has a weaker connection to God than the previous generation, a concept called Yeridat ha-Dorot. Judaism also holds that a person has to have a naturally strong connection to God to prophesy. Therefore, around the time of the Prophet Malachi, humanity was losing the strength to maintain prophesy. Jews therefore claim that since Malachi, no person is capable of prophesying successfully. As Mohammed lived over 900 years after Malachi died, Mohammed, therefore, could not be a Prophet.

In Christianity, the issue is Prophecy Post-Jesus. Jesus, as the living Christ, was supposed to be the final message of salvation for humanity. Since no prophet after Jesus could clarify his message, none can come.

Disagreements with the Torah: Mohammed claimed that he received Divine Revelations that explicitly contradicted the Torah such as the claim the Ishmael was taken to be sacrificed instead of Isaac. Mohammed claimed that any differences between what his revelations and the Torah was due to corruption from bad Jews. This infuriated Jews who maintained that their scripture was the same one that they had been using for centuries. He was disagreeing with the words of the Torah and according to Deuteronomy 13:1-4, anyone who openly disagrees with the words of the Torah is a false prophet at best.

These same contradictions cause issues for Christians.

Inclusion of Christian Tradition: Mohammed said that Jesus and John the Baptist were prophets when the Jews did not believe so. Jesus was seen in the Jewish community as not only a heretic, but the cause of much Jewish suffering in the Byzantine Empire because of its Christian orientation. They would not accept the religious leadership of someone that supported Jesus as a legitimate prophet. Of course, Jews also rejected Jesus for substantial religious reasons which Mohammed did not take the time to hear out. Muslims today often do not know what the Jewish perspective was on Jesus either that led to their rejection of him.

In Christianity, the corollary to this is that Islam picked up the vein of Christian heresies, such as those emphasizing Jesus' humanity and excising his divinity. The inclusion of this incorrect tradition belies Mohammed's claim to prophecy.

Different Rules: Islamic Law was not the same as Jewish Law. While there were certainly similarities, it was a different law and Jews were not going to give up their traditions and history to join a new religious group. To many Jews, it was a reflection of all of the previous religions that had tried to convert them away from their proper mission.

Islamic Law is also quite different, and much more restrictive, than Christian legal codices.