أحمد
Aḥmad
A name of the Prophet, “the most praised”, which the Quran gives in 61:6.
What it means
Jesus tells the Children of Israel that he is “a messenger of God to you, confirming the Torah before me and bringing good news of a messenger to come after me whose name is Aḥmad” (61:6). Muslims take Aḥmad to be Muhammad: both come from the root ḥ-m-d, “to praise”. The Prophet is reported to have said, “I am Muhammad and Ahmad” (Sahih al-Bukhari).
Often misunderstood as
That Muslims invented a prophecy by changing “Paraclete” to “Periclyte”.
What the sources say
Some Muslim writers, from Ibn Ishaq on, read the Paraclete promised in John 14–16 as Muhammad, and some propose a Greek reading periklytos, “praised”. Many scholars do not rely on that argument, which is not made in the Quran. The Quran’s own claim is simpler: that Jesus foretold a messenger coming after him.