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PREDICTIONS
OF THE PROPHET MUHAMMAD
Examples
of the news the Quran gives
concerning the future
The
triumph of the Byzantines
over the Persians
The
Byzantine and Persian
Empires were the
super-powers of the time.
It was during the years
when the few believers
were severely persecuted
in Makka that the Persians
utterly defeated the
Byzantines. They had
sweeping victories, and
conquered Aleppo, Antioch,
and the chief Syrian
provinces, including
Damascus. Jerusalem fell
to their arms in 614-615.
The Christians were
massacred and their
churches burnt. The
Persian flood of conquest
went on to Egypt, and
reached as far as Tripoli
in North Africa. Another
Persian army ravaged Asia
Minor and reached right up
to the gates of
Constantinople. The Makkan
pagans rejoiced greatly,
and redoubled their taunts
and persecution against
the Prophet, upon him be
peace and blessings, whose
Message was a renewal of
the Message of Jesus
preached in Palestine. The
following Quranic verses,
which were revealed just
at that time, gave certain
tidings of a very near
victory of the Romans over
the Persians:
Alif
Lam Mim. The Romans
have been defeated in
a land close by, but
they, after their
defeat, will be
victorious, within
nine years. God’s is
the command in the
former case and in the
latter, and on that
day believers will
rejoice, with the help
of God. He helps to
victory whom He wills.
He is the All-Mighty,
the All-Compassionate.
(30:1-5)
No
one at that time could
make such a prediction.
But the Prophet, upon him
be peace and blessings,
conveyed these Divine
Revelations to his
followers. They confirmed
him without hesitation and
Abu Bakr bet the Makkan
polytheists that the
Romans would be victorious
in nine years. Heraclius,
the Roman Emperor attacked
the Persians initially by
sea in 622 (the year of
the Hijra), and after
decisive battles and three
successive campaigns, put
them to rout in a few
years. His victories
happened at the same time
as the believers won the
victory of Badr over the
Makkan polytheists. Thus
the verses above contained
two predictions, both of
which came true in nine
years.
The Quran gave the news
of the conquest of Makka
two years before
It
was only six years after
the Prophet, upon him be
peace and blessings, had
emigrated to Madina that
he left for Makka for a
minor pilgrimage. However,
the Makkans stopped him at
Hudaybiya and a peaceful
treaty was concluded after
negotiations. Some
articles of the Treaty
were objected to by the
believers but the Quranic
verses which were revealed
following the conclusion
of the Treaty described it
as a manifest victory and
gave the believers the
decisive glad tiding,
which is as follows:
In
truth, God fulfilled
the vision of His
Messenger: You will
surely enter the
Sacred Mosque, if God
wills, in full
security; you will
have your heads
shaved, your hair
shortened, and you
will have nothing to
fear. He knew what you
knew not, and He
granted, besides this,
a near victory. He it
is Who has sent His
Messenger with
guidance and the
religion of truth,
that He may cause it
to prevail over all
religion. God is
enough for a witness.
(al-Fath, 48.27-8)
One
year later the Muslims
performed the minor
pilgrimage and the year
after they conquered Makka.
Also, Islam has been
prevalent over all other
religions for centuries
and, if God wills, it will
have a world-wide
superiority in a near
future.
The Quran gave the news
that the dead body of
Pharaoh would one day be
discovered
In
ancient Egypt, Pharaoh
used to torture the
Children of Israel. God
sent Moses to him with the
mission of inviting him to
believe in One God and
allow the Israelites to
leave Egypt with Moses.
Pharaoh refused and the
struggle between them
continued for a long time.
However, one night Moses
succeeded in marching
towards the frontier with
his people but Pharaoh,
becoming aware of his
attempt, set out to follow
him. When Moses reached
the Red Sea, he touched it
with his staff, and a
furrow opened across the
sea. Pharaoh attempted to
follow him, but was
engulfed with his legions.
While narrating this
event, The Qur’an makes
a very interesting
prediction:
Today
We shall preserve your
body that you may be a
sign to those after you:
although most men give
no heed to Our signs. (Yunus,
10.92)
The
dead body of Pharaoh was
later found floating on
the Western shores of the
Sinai peninsula. The
native residents can still
show you to this land,
which is now known as
Jabal Firawn (Hill of
Pharaoh). A few miles from
this hill is a hot spring
called Hammam Firawn (the
Bath of Pharaoh).
Tidings of the Last Day
A
considerable part of the
Quran is about the
events of the Last Day.
The Quran describes how
the world will be
destroyed and re-built
again and how the dead
will be raised, assembled
in the Place of Mustering,
and, after being judged,
will go to either Paradise
or Hell. The Quran also
gives a vivid description
of Paradise and Hell and
the life in them.
Examples
of the Prophet’s predictions
which exist in books of
Tradition
‘Umar reports in a
narration recorded in
Sahih al-Muslim:
‘Before
the Battle of Badr
started, God’s
Messenger, upon him be
peace and blessings,
walked around the
battlefield and pointed
to some locations,
saying, Abu Jahl will be
killed here, ‘Utba
here, Shayba here, Walid
here, and so on. By God,
we found, after the
battle, the dead bodies
of all those men in the
exact places that God’s
Messenger had pointed
out.’1
While
in Makka under great
tortures, the Prophet
predicted the future
victories of Islam.
Bukhari and Abu Dawud
quote Habbab ibn Arat,
who said:
Once,
during the days of
trouble and torture in
Makka, I went to God’s
Messenger, who was
sitting in the shade
of the Ka‘ba. I was
still a slave in the
hands of the Makkans
then. They inflicted
on me severe tortures.
Unable to endure those
tortures any more, I
requested God’s
Messenger to pray to
God for help and
salvation. But he
turned towards me and
said: “By God,
previous communities
had to endure more
pitiless tortures.
Some of them were made
to lie in ditches and
cut in two with saws
but this did not make
them forsake their
faith. They were
skinned alive but they
never became weak
against the enemy.
Surely God will
perfect this religion,
but you display undue
haste. A day will come
when a woman will
travel alone by
herself from San’a
to Hadramawt fearing
nothing but wild
beasts. However, you
show impatience.”
Habbab
concluded:
By
God, what God’s
Messenger predicted
that day, have all
come true. I have
personally witnessed
it all.2
The
Messenger predicted ‘Ammar’s
martyrdom in a civil war
Bukhari, Muslim and
Ahmad ibn Hanbal record:
During
the construction of
the Prophet’s Mosque
in Madina, God’s
Messenger, upon him be
peace and blessings,
told ‘Ammar: “What
a pity O ‘Ammar, a
rebellious group will
kill you. 3
Ammar
was killed in the Battle
of Siffin by the
supporters of Mu‘awiya,
who rebelled against
Caliph ‘Ali.
The
Prophet foretold that
Fatima would join him
first of all after his
death
Before his death, the
Messenger called his
daughter Fatima to his
bedside and informed her
that she would be the
first among his family
to join him after his
death. Fatima joined
her father, the pride of
mankind, six months
later.4
The Prophet, upon him be
peace and blessings,
predicted the Mongol
invasion, saying:
The
Hour will not come
before you fight
against a people with
red faces, small,
slant eyes and flat
noses. They wear hairy
leather boots.5
The
Messenger predicted the
caliphate of Abu Bakr and
‘Umar
As related by Hakim,
Tirmidhi, Ibn Hanbal and
Ibn Maja, by repeatedly
declaring, You should,
after my death, follow
the way of Abu Bakr and
‘Umar,8 the Prophet,
upon him be peace and
blessings, meant that
Abu Bakr and ‘Umar
would succeed him as
caliphs. He also
predicted that Abu Bakr’s
reign would be short,
whereas ‘Umar would
remain longer to be able
to make many conquests.6
The Prophet predicted
the conquest of many
important cities.
According to authentic
narrations, the Prophet,
upon him be peace and
blessings, gave his
community the glad
tidings that they would
conquer Damascus,
Jerusalem, Iraq, Persia,
Istanbul
(Constantinople) and
Cyprus, and that the
religion of Islam would
reach as far as the
remotest corners of the
world in the east and
west.7
The
Prophet predicted the forms of
government after him
The Prophet declared:
This
affair began with
Prophethood and as a
mercy; then it will be
mercy and Caliphate;
afterwards it will
change into a cruel
monarchy, and finally
into an iniquity and
tyranny. He also
prophesied: Surely,
the Caliphate after me
will last thirty
years; afterwards it
will a cruel monarchy.8
Whatever
the noble Prophet predicted
came true.
The
Prophet predicted the
caliphate and martyrdom of
‘Uthman
According to an
authentic narration, the
Prophet, upon him be
peace and blessings,
declared:
‘Uthman
will be killed while
reading the Quran.
God will dress him in
a shirt but they will
desire to remove it
from him.9
By
this saying, he meant that
‘Uthman would become
Caliph but his deposition
would be sought, and
finally he would be
martyred while reading the
Quran. This happened
exactly as he predicted.
The
Prophet foretold the future
victories of Sa‘d
As narrated in a
authentic Tradition, the
noble Prophet of God,
upon him be peace and
blessings, said to Sa‘d
ibn Abi Waqqas when the
latter was gravely ill:
It
is hoped that you will
be spared so that some
people may benefit
through you and some
others be harmed
through you.10
By
this, he suggested that Sa‘d
would be a great commander
and make many conquests,
and while many peoples
would benefit from him by
converting to Islam, many
others would be harmed
through him as a result of
the collapse of their
states.
Sa‘d,
just as predicted by the
holy Prophet, upon him be
peace and blessings, took
the command of the Muslim
armies and destroyed the
Persian Sassanid Empire,
bringing many peoples
within the guidance of
Islam.
The
Prophet predicted the conquest
of Cyprus
Once, when the Prophet
woke up in the house of
Umm Haram, the aunt of
Anas ibn Malik, who
served the Messenger for
ten years in Madina, he
smilingly said:
“I
dreamt that my
community would be
waging war in the sea
sitting on thrones
like kings.” Umm
Haram asked: ‘Pray
that I too may be with
them’. He said
firmly: “You shall
be.”11
All
this came true forty years
later when Umm Haram
accompanied her husband
‘Ubada ibn Samit, on the
conquest of Cyprus. She
died there, and her tomb
has since been a visited
place.
The
Prophet predicted the
appearance of Mukhtar and
Hajjaj
According to an
authentic narration, the
Prophet, upon him be
peace and blessings,
declared:
From
the tribe of Thaqif
will appear a liar who
claims Prophethood and
a blood-thirsty
tyrant.12
By
this, he gave tidings of
the notorious Mukhtar, who
claimed Prophethood, and
the criminal Hajjaj, who
killed tens of thousands
of people.
The
Prophet predicted the conquest
of Istanbul
Again, according to an
authentic narration, the
Prophet, upon him be
peace and blessings,
declared:
Surely,
Constantinople
(Istanbul) will be
conquered (by my
community); how
blessed the commander
who will conquer it,
and how blessed his
army.13
He
thus foretold the conquest
of Istanbul by Muslims,
and indicated the high
spiritual rank of Sultan
Mehmed, the Conqueror, and
the virtuousness of his
army. What he foretold
took place centuries
later.
1.
Bukhari, Tib, 1.
2.
Abu Dawud, Tib, 10;
Muslim, Salam, 69.
3.
Tirmidhi, Tib, 2; Ibn Ma’ja,
Tib, 1; I. Hanbal, 4.278.
4.
Bukhari, Tib, 30; Muslim,
Salam, 98.
5.
Bukhari, Tib, 19; I.
Hanbal, 2.443.
6.
Muslim, Tahara, 91.
7.
Abu Dawud, Adahi, 21; Ibn
Ma’ja, Sayd, 2; I.
Hanbal, 4.85.
8.
Abu Dawud, At‘ıma,
11; Tirmidhi, At‘ıma,
39; I. Hanbal, 5.441.
9.
Muslim, Tahara, 87; Abu
Dawud, Tahara, 49;
Tirmidhi, Tahara, 19.
10.
Bukhari, Jumu‘a,
8; Muslim, Tahara,
42; Abu Dawud,
Tahara, 25; Tirmidhi,
Tahara, 18; Nasa’i,
Tahara, 6; I. Ma’ja,
Tahara, 7; I. Hanbal,
1.80.
11.
Tirmidhi, Zuhd, 47; I.
Hanbal, 4.132.
12.
Kanz al-‘Ummal, 3.460.
13.
Muslim, Fitan, 110;
Tirmidhi, Fitan, 59;
I. Hanbal, 4.182.
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