| I myself was influenced by my knowledge of the Bible to
accept the Prophethood of Muhammad, and have had two Jewish rabbis admitting to me in
Speaker's Corner that Muhammad was the Prophet spoken of in their books. It has long been
recognised that a sure sign of the truth of a claim to Prophethood is the ability of that
individual to accurately and consistently predict future events. This is especially true
of Christians who often demand "what did Muhammad prophecy?". This is
because the Bible lays down this as a means to distinguish a true Prophet from a false .
Everybody is able to predict the future sometimes, some are able to get it right a lot of
the time, but only someone who is receiving information from the One who has complete
knowledge of the future can get it right every time. There are many predictions both in
the Qur'an and the authenticated sayings of the Prophet Muhammed that have been fulfilled. 1. The Qur'an says: "Ye shall enter the Sacred
Mosque, if Allah wills, secure, heads shaved, hair curt short, and without fear"
(48:28). This passage was revealed after the Prophet had been stopped by the
Quraish from making 'Umrah (the Minor Pilgrimage) and a treaty was made between the
Muslims and pagans at Hudaybia, six years after the Prophet's emigration from Mecca. From
this position of weakness, in merely two years the verse was fulfilled, Mecca was
captured, and the Muslims performed the pilgrimage, shaving their heads, and some cutting
their hair.
2. The Qur'an says: "Allah has
promised to those of you who believe, and do good deeds, that He will surely grant them in
the land inheritance of power as He granted it to those before them; that He will
establish in authority their religion which He has chosen for them. And that He will
change their state after fear to one of security and peace. They will worship Me alone and
not associate aught with Me." (24:55) And also: "Say to those who deny faith,
soon you will be vanquished." (3:12) and "When
comes the help of Allah and Victory, and you see the people enter Allah's religion in
multitudes . . ." (110:1-2) The first verse was revealed at a time of the
Muslim's weakness, promising the righteous victory, and the second predicting the peoples
entering into Islam in crowds, and so it came to pass, after the capture of Mecca, and in
the time of the Caliphs Abu Bakr, 'Umar, 'Uthman and 'Ali, who were from the most pious
companions of the Prophet, were established by Allah in the land, defeating the Persian
and Roman empires, so that Islam was established from Spain to parts of China in a mere
twenty years. This, in part, fulfills another prophecy of the Qur'an: "It is He who has sent the Messenger with guidance, and the religion
of truth, to make it triumphant over all religions." (9:32) Christianity,
Judaism, paganism have never regained any lasting dominance, physically and intellectually
since the coming of Islam. The secular philosophies of communism and capitalism are in the
process of being dealt death blows. At the present rate of growth Islam will over take
Christianity by 2025 in terms of numbers. See also Qur'an 48:18-21 and 1:13, which promise
victory and the taking of booty - which were also fulfilled.
3. The Qur'an says: "The Roman
Empire has been defeated in a land close by; but they, even after this defeat, will gain
victory in a few years. Allah's is the command, in the past and in the future. On that day
shall the believers rejoice, with the help of Allah, He helps whom He wills. And He is the
mighty and the most Merciful. It is the promise of Allah. Allah never departs from His
promise: but most men understand not. They crave for the outer things of life, but of the
hereafter they are heedless." (30:1-7) The Eastern Roman (i.e. Byzantine)
Empire suffered a massive defeat at the hands of the Persians who captured Jerusalem in
614, and after that Egypt and Syria fell, and Constantinople was laid siege to - ("a
land close by"). The pagan Arabs delighted in this, as it seemed to signal to
them the success of idolatry over the followers of revelation. When this verse was
revealed it seemed impossible that Rome would recover. The word, translated "a
few", is bid'a, which actually means from three to nine years. Ubayy, a
pagan Arab, wagered Abu Bakr one hundred camels that this would never occur. By the year
623, Heraclius, the Byzantine Roman Emperor, took to the field and vanquished the Persians
in a series of battles, culminating in the battle of Niveveh in 627. Ubayy had been
killed, so his relatives paid the dept. At this same time the Muslims had been victorious
over the pagan Quraish and were rejoicing, as the Qur'an foretold. |