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 Qur’an 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 Qur’anic 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 Qur’an 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 Qur’an is about the events of the Last Day. The Qur’an describes how the world will be destroyed and rebuilt 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 Qur’an also gives a vivid description of Paradise and Hell and the life in them.
Does Muhammad have predictions to be found 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.’
( Sahih Muslim, Janna, 76, 77).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.
(Bukhari, Manaqib, 22; Abu Dawud, Jihad, 97.)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.”
(Bukhari, Salat, 63; Muslim, Fitan, 70, 72; I Hanbal, Musnad, 12.161, 164.) ‘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.6 Fatima joined her father, the pride of mankind, six months later. (
Ibn Maja, Jana’iz, 65; Muslim, Fada’il al-Sahaba, 15; I. Hanbal, 3.197).* 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. (
Bukhari, Jihad, 95, 96; Abu Dawud, Malahim, 10; I. Maja, Fitan, 36).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. (
Hakim, Mustadrak, 3.75. Also related by Tirmidhi, I. Hanbal and I. Maja).* 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. (
Hakim, 4.445; I. Hanbal, 4.303; also related by Muslim, Tirmidhi and I. Maja).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. (
Abu Dawud, Sunna, 8; Tirmidhi, Fitan, 48; I. Hanbal, 4.273).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 Qur’an. God will dress him in a shirt but they will desire to remove it from him. (
Hakim, 3.100; I. Hanbal, 6.114; I. Maja, 5.188; also related by Tirmidhi). 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 Qur’an. 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. (
Abu Nu‘aym, Hilyat al-Awliya’, 1.94; also related by Bukhari and Muslim). 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.” (
Suyuti, Jami‘ al-Saghir, 6.24; related by Bukhari, Muslim and Tirmidhi). 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. (
Hakim, 3.453; also related by Muslim, I. Hanbal and Tirmidhi). 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. (
Hakim, 4.422; Bukhari, Tarikh al-Saghir, 139; I. Hanbal, 4.335). 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.
The Prophet also mentioned that there would be signs forewarning the approach of the last day.- The barefooted bedouins competing in building tall buildings. Today we find in the Arabian Peninsula, the Arabs who used to be impoverished herders of camels and sheep, are competing in building the tallest tower blocks. Two of the latest examples are Kingdom Center in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia and Al Faisaliah Center in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia (see
http://skyscraperpage.com/new/kingdomcenter.htm,
http://skyscraperpage.com/new/alfaisaliahcenter.htm)
- The Mosques would be like palaces. This is clearly the case, even though the Prophet ordered simplicity in the houses of Allah, the mosques have become more and more fantastic, with golden domes, marbled floors, lavish carpets and chandeliers. (see
http://home.mweb.co.za/ka/kayef/images/masjinabi.jpg)
- Disappearance of trustworthiness, so much so that one would only be able to say: "I know a trustworthy person in such-and-such town."
- The increase in killing, so that the one who kills does not know why he killed, and the one killed does not know why he was killed. I was recently sent an article from the Washington Post about the rise of gang warfare. Part of the initiation ceremony was for a new gang member(some times as young as eleven) to shoot someone. The second highest cause of death from fifteen to thirty five in the US are gun related. The massacre of civilians in the Vietnam War by American troops who had little idea why they were there, and the increase of such conflicts, is further illustration of the fulfillment of this prophecy. As are the rise of insane mass murders, of children killing children, such as Jamie Bulger.
- The increase of the use of riba (usury/interest) so that no one will able to escape being tainted by it. This clearly the state of the world economy today.
- The enemies of the Muslims dividing the Muslim's wealth and lands between them, the Muslims abandoning jihad, and concerning themselves only with the worldly matters. We have already mentioned this.
- The increase of literacy.
- The decrease of religious knowledge due to the disappearance of scholars.
- The increase of musical instruments, and the Muslims making it lawful even though the Prophet has forbidden them.
- The increase of sexual promiscuity, and new diseases that people had not herd of before spreading amongst them as a consequence of that. This is clear, with the arrival of AIDS, and other previously unheard of viruses.
- Appearance of Dajjals (liars), each claiming to be a Messenger of Allah, while Muhammad is the last messenger. There are numerous examples of this, starting with Musailima, who arose in the time of the Prophet, just before his death, to more modern liars such as Elija Muhammad, founder of the Black American racist movement "The Nation of Islam", and India's pretender Gulam Ahmed of Qadian. And also the absolute Dajjal that christians called antichrist. Prophet Muhammad S.a.w was described how Dajjal looks like and so on.
- Nakedness of women while still being dressed and people copulating like donkeys in public. Obviously a direct reference to soft and hard-core pornography, which has become a dark stain on our society in recent times.
- The drinking of wine becoming common, and the Muslims making it lawful by calling it another name.
- Shouting in the mosques and lack of unity.
- The worst and most ignorant will become leaders and they will be oppressors.
- A man will obey his wife and disobey his mother, and treat his friends kindly and shun his father.
- Men will wear silk and gold, and the making of it lawful by the Muslims even though the Prophet had forbidden it for the men of his 'Ummah (nation).
- People will abandon the religion for a small worldly gain, and keeping to the religion will be like holding two hot coals.
- The Prophet (pbuh) is reported to have said as regards to one of the signs of the end of time: "People will hop between the clouds and the earth" Which is related to the whole concept of traversing long distances in short times, and to the whole idea of the use of airplanes for travelling or indeed "hopping between the clouds and the earth".
- In another narration the Prophet (pbuh) is reported to have said that people will dance with instruments on their heads (which some have interpreted as headphones) and that they would stay up all night dancing like that (which connotes the whole idea of people going to nightclubs and disco's, with blazing music above their heads while they dance the night through). He (pbuh) is also reported to have said that intoxicants would be widely used.
In fact, there are so many prophecies/signs of the end of time that Muslim scholars have identified three types of signs:
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