Deuteronomy 18:18 can be read as supporting a Muslim identification of Muhammad (PBUH), but it does not prove that identification by itself. Nor does Deuteronomy 18:20 condemn Muhammad: the alleged "Satanic Verses" episode neither establishes that he knowingly preached another god nor fits the passage's description of a false prophet.
Why the objection is serious
The strongest Jewish and Christian reading begins with the immediate context. Moses says that God will raise up a prophet "from among their brothers," and verse 15 says "from among you, from your brothers." Deuteronomy 17:15 uses similar language for appointing a king, plainly meaning an Israelite rather than a foreigner. On this reading, Deuteronomy 18 concerns a succession of Israelite prophets, not an Arab prophet centuries later.
The objection then appeals to verse 20: a prophet who speaks in the name of other gods must die. Some polemical arguments connect this with reports that Muhammad (PBUH) briefly recited words honoring pre-Islamic goddesses, later known as the Satanic Verses.
"I will raise up for them a prophet like you from among their brothers. I will put my words in his mouth, and he will tell them everything I command him."
Deuteronomy 18:18
What "their brothers" can and cannot establish
The Israelite reading is linguistically and contextually respectable. The passage clearly addresses Israel, and "brothers" often means fellow Israelites. Muslims should not pretend that the Hebrew wording forces a reference to Ishmael's descendants.
But neither does Deuteronomy 17:15 settle the matter. In that verse, "brothers" describes the eligible source of an Israelite king within Israel's political community. Deuteronomy 18:18 uses "their brothers," not simply "one of you," and the wider biblical use of "brother" can refer to related peoples as well as members of the same nation. Thus, the wording permits a Muslim argument, especially when combined with the description "like Moses": a prophet who receives revelation, establishes law, leads a community, and faces opposition. It remains an inference from the text, not an explicit naming of Muhammad.
The alleged Satanic Verses do not meet the test
The Quran does acknowledge that Satan may cast something into a prophet's recitation, but it immediately says that God removes it and makes His revelations clear:
"We did not send before you any messenger or prophet except that when he recited, Satan suggested into his recitation; but Allah abolishes what Satan suggests, then Allah makes precise His verses."
Quran 22:52
Reports about the alleged incident are found in some early historical and exegetical works, but no soundly established hadith proves that Muhammad (PBUH) knowingly delivered worship to other gods. The Quran consistently condemns those deities and never presents their praise as revelation. Even on the interpretation that a satanic suggestion was momentarily heard, the verse says it was exposed and removed - precisely the divine protection described in Quran 22:52.
Therefore, Deuteronomy 18:20 does not plainly apply. The passage may be read by Christians and Jews as referring to Israelite prophets, while Muslims see its features as fitting Muhammad (PBUH) unusually well. It is a meaningful cumulative indication, not a standalone proof, and the Satanic Verses argument does not overturn it.