Predictions in the Quran

The Holy Quran predicted and foretold several events with total confidence and categorical details. Can we ascribe this precise knowledge of the future to the knowledge of Muhammad as a person living in the dark ages of Arabia? It is totally unrealistic to attempt to analyse these predictions from a purely materialistic point of view. The only justified answer to the cause of the precise accuracy of the predictions is that it was revealed to Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him and his household) from the All-Knowledgeable Lord and the Master of the Universe, the past, present and future, Allah (swt).

Please ponder over the following splendid moments of the Quranic predictions:

a- The Descendants of the Prophet

In Surah Kawthar, the Quran informs people that the descendants of Prophet will ultimately be numerous, this despite the fact that in his lifetime his enemies were hopeful that he would die without issue, since all the sons of the Prophet had died in infancy, and only one of his daughters survived.

﴾To you We have granted abundance. Therefore to Your Lord turn in prayers and sacrifice. For he who hated you, will be cut-off﴿¹.

Today, the descendants of the Prophet (Saadat and Ashraf) can be found everywhere, while the progeny of Abu Jahal and Abu Sufyan, the enemies of Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him and his household) have become extinct. Given this, was it possible for any other than God, that eternal reality and fixed pivot of truth, to predict that matters would unfold in a sense completely opposed to existing circumstances.

b- Defeat of Persian Empire

In 615 AD, Khusru Parviz of Persia attacked Byzantium (Roman) empire and gained control of Syria, Palestine and North Africa. He ransacked Jerusalem, set fire to the Holy Sepulcher and destroyed numerous cities. The war ended in clear victory for fire-worshippers of Persia.

News of the defeat of Byzantine worshippers of God was received with satisfaction by the idolaters of Mecca. This was grievous to the Muslims and caused them much anxiety about the future course of the events. It was then that a revelation came foretelling the renewed triumph of the Byzantine over the Persians within few years.

These are the relevant verses of Surat Ruum in the Quran: ﴾The Romans have been defeated in a land nearby. But in the future they will triumph over their enemies, within a period of few years. All affairs, both earlier and later, are in the hands of God. And on the day when the Romans triumph, the believers and the followers of Islam will rejoice. God assists to whomsoever He wills, and He is Powerful and Compassionate. This is the promise of God, a promise which can not be violated, but most of the people know not﴿².

Within less than 10 years, this Prophecy of the Quran was fulfilled in the year 624 A.D. corresponding to year 2 A.H. How can we explain the confident and categorical prediction of the victory of a defeated people over a victorious people, in the absence of any factors pointing to the likelihood of such an event? A realistic approach to the state of society and the course of events would definitely have contradicted this prophesy. The Prophet of Islam foretold a definite military victory at a certain point in the future. How did he know it was going to occur?

c- Conquest of Khaybar and Mecca

The Quran has also foretold the conquest of Mecca and the triumph of the Muslims over the polytheists as follows: ﴾That which God inspired in his prophet by means of a dream is true and veracious: Without any doubt you will enter the sacred mosque (in Mecca) in safety and security. You will shave your heads and shorten your hairs without any fear or anxiety. God knows what you do not know. And you will win a victory near at hand﴿³.

These predictions were made at a time when no military expert or adviser could have predicted the occurrence, given the difficult circumstances of the Muslims and the unfavorable situation in which they found themselves.

In the same verse (48:27), the Quran also mentions the future occurrence of another historical event, namely the triumph of the Muslim warriors at Khaybar, and their conquest of its formidable fortresses. Hard blows had been inflicted upon the Muslims from Khaybar, but in the end the army of Islam triumphed over the Jews, and the predictions of the Quran was completely fulfilled. Can we ascribe this precise knowledge of the future to the knowledge and speculation of the Prophet?

d- The Final Outcome of Abulahab

The Quran also predicts with clarity the final outcome of the life of a given individual, Abu Lahab, the obstinate enemy of Islam. It proclaims categorically that he will refuse the religion of monotheism until the very end of his life, and that for this reason his painful destiny will be to enter the fire of God’s wrath.

These are the verses of the Quran: ﴾May Abulahab perish, and may his two hands be cut off. The wealth he accumulated to destroy Islam has not availed him or saved him from destruction; he will soon fall into the flaming fire of Hell﴿⁴.

All historians agree that Abu Lahab closed his eyes on this world as an unbeliever, and that he persisted in his obstinate hostility to the prophet of Islam until the final moments of his life. The verses revealed concerning the events mentioned above constitute a further proof that the sacred book of Islam is from God.

e- The Return of Prophet to Mecca

Likewise, the prediction that the Prophet would return to Mecca, his home, made at a time when he abandoned it for Medina because of the pressures of the polytheists, is also an indication of a higher consciousness: ﴾God Who made incumbent on you the recitation of the Quran will return you to your birthplace﴿⁵.

All the afore-mentioned predictions of future events are inexplicable unless they be ascribed to the source of revelation, to the infinite knowledge of Allah (swt).

* Authenticity of the Quran by Shaikh Muslim Bhanji. Chapter 7: "Predictions in the Quran". Published by: Tabligh Centre of KSI Jamat – Daressalaam. Reproduced with permission by the Ahlul Bayt Digital Islamic Library Project team.  

^{1- Sura no. 108
2- 30:1-6.
3- 48:27.
4- 111:1-3.
5- 28:85.}