Quran's correct prophecy of defeat of Romans

By
Abdul Haleem

Surah 30 contains a remarkable historical prophecy which was fulfilled.

"The Romans have been defeated

"In the nearer land, and they, after their defeat will be victorious

"Within ten years - Allah's is the command in the former case and in the latter - and in that day believers will rejoice .

"In Allah's help to victory. He helpeth to victory whom He will. He is the Mighty, the Merciful."  Quran (Pickthal translation), 30:2-5

The period of the revelation of this Surah is determined absolutely by the historical event that has been mentioned at the outset. It says: "The Romans have been vanquished in the neighboring land."  In those days the Byzantine occupied territories adjacent to Arabia were Jordan, Syria and Palestine, and in these territories the Romans were completely overpowered by the Iranians in 615 A. D. Therefore, it can be said with absolute certainty that this Surah was sent down in the same year, and this was the year in which the migration to Habash took place.

Syed Maudani commentary http://www.usc.edu/dept/MSA/quran/maududi/mau30.html, "This prophecy has two parts:

1. that the Roman [Byzantine] Christians, although they have been vanquished at this time, will predominate over Iran after nine years;

2. that the Muslims shall also rejoice on the day of the Romans' victory over Iran; for they, too, shall gain victory over shirk (associating partners with Allah), although the idolaters, at that time, prided exultantly over their huge numbers."

"Muhammad In World Scriptures," Volume I, Maulana Abdul Haq Vidyarthi (New USA Edition, 1999), p. 253.

Both prophecies were actually fulfilled within ten years in 624 C.E.

"[D]uring the fixed period of time, exactly after nine years, the Roman armies entered Iran triumphantly, and on the same day Muslims also scored their victory against the idolaters on the field of Badr. The event of the Roman victory took place in 624 C.E., and it is written in the Encyclopaedia Britannica, under the heading 'Chosroes II':

"'In 624 he [Heraclius] advanced into northern Media, where he destroyed the great fire-temple of Goudzak.'"

Ibid., emphasis added.

"[Byzantine Emperor] Heraclius started his counter attack in 623 A. D. from Armenia. Next year, in 624 A. D., he entered Azerbaijan and destroyed Clorumia, the birthplace of Zoroaster, and ravaged the principal fire temple of Iran. Great are the powers of Allah, this was the very year when the Muslims achieved a decisive victory at Badr for the first time against the mushriks. Thus both the predictions made in Surah Rum were fulfilled simultaneously within the stipulated period of ten years."

Syed Maudani, supra

What is remarkable is that, at the time the Prophet revealed Surah Rum its fulfillment would have seemed extremely unlikely to objective human observers:  These were the conditions when this Surah of the Quran was sent down, and in it a prediction was made, saying: "The Romans have been vanquished in the neighboring land and within a few years after their defeat, they shall be victorious.  And it will be the day when the believers will rejoice in the victory granted by Allah." It contained not one but two predictions: First, the Romans shall be Victorious; and second, the Muslims also shall win a victory at the same time.

Apparently, there was not a remote chance of the fulfillment of the either prediction in the next few years. On the one hand, there were a handful of the Muslims, who were being beaten and tortured in  Makkah, and even till eight years after this prediction there appeared no chance of their victory and domination. On the other, the Romans were losing more and more ground every next day. By 619 A. D. the whole of Egypt had passed into Sassanid hands and the Magian armies had reached as far as Tripoli. In Asia Minor they beat and pushed back the Romans to Bosporus, and in 617 A. D. they captured Chalcedon (modern, Kadikoy) just opposite Constantinople. The Emperor sent an envoy to Khusrau, praying that he was ready to have peace on any terms, but he replied, "I shall not give protection to the emperor until he is brought in chains before me and gives up obedience to his crucified god and adopts submission to the fire god." At last, the Emperor became so depressed by defeat that he decided to leave Constantinople and shift to Carthage (modern, Tunis). In short, as the British historian Gibbon says, even seven to eight years after this prediction of the Quran, the conditions were such that no one could even imagine that the Byzantine Empire would ever gain an upper hand over Iran. Not to speak of gaining domination, no one could hope that the Empire, under the circumstances, would even survive.

Syed Maudani, supra.

The correctness of this unlikely prophecy clearly points to Divine Revelation as the source of the Quran. This is what Arab polytheists at the time thought:

After this no one could have any doubt about the truth of the prophecy of the Quran, with the result that most of the Arab polytheists accepted Islam.

Syed Maudani, supra.

The prophecy is no less impressive today than it was 1475 years ago!