PREDICTIONS OF GOD'S
MESSENGER RELATED TO EVENTS THAT WOULD FOLLOW HIS DEPARTURE FROM THE WORLD
Recorded in
the reliable books of Tradition, there are as many as, or even more than, three hundred
predictions of this kind. Out of them, I will cite a few examples.
1. The Messenger foretold and
warned against the internal conflicts to appear in the Muslim community
Bukhari and
Muslim report from Usama, who was much loved by God’s Messenger, upon him be peace
and blessings. Usama says:
One day I was
with God’s Messenger, upon him be peace and blessings, on the roof of a tall building
in Madina. Looking around, God’s Messenger said: Now I see seditious events and
internal conflicts pouring down like drops of rain, among your houses.
‘Umar was
very afraid of the appearance of disorder and sedition in the Muslim community. One day
during his caliphate, he asked Hudhayfa about them. Hudhayfa responded: ‘They have
nothing to do with you, O ‘Umar. There is a gate between you and them’.
‘Umar asked again: ‘Will this gate be opened or broken down?’ Hudhayfa
answered: ‘It will be broken down’. This answer shook ‘Umar, who reacted:
‘ Then, this gate will never be closed again!’ ‘Umar was the gate between
the Muslim community and sedition.
After he was
stabbed by a treacherous Persian slave, Muslim unity received a fatal blow, and the
following centuries, till today, have unfortunately witnessed discord and sedition in
Muslim lands.
2. The Messenger foretold the
spread of Islam in the world
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 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 Hadramut fearing nothing but wild beasts. However, you show impatience.
Habbab concluded:
‘By God, what God’s Messenger predicted that day, has all come true. I have
personally witnessed it all.’
3. The Messenger predicted
who would die first from among his family after his own death
During his last
illness, God’s Messenger, upon him be peace and blessings, called his beloved
daughter, Fatima, to his bedside. He whispered something to her, which caused Fatima to
burst into tears. Afterwards, he called her again and this time too, he whispered
something to her. This made Fatima display great joy.
‘A’isha,
Mother of Believers, saw this and asked Fatima what he had said. ‘This is a secret
belonging to God’s Messenger,’ she replied. However, when ‘A’isha
asked again after the death of God’s Messenger, upon him be peace and blessings,
Fatima answered: ‘The first time he called me, he said that he would die of that
illness, which made me weep bitterly. When, however, he called me the second time, he gave
me the glad tiding that I would be the first among his family to join him after his death,
and this made me very joyful.’
Everything
happened just as God’s Messenger predicted. He died of that illness and, six months
later, Fatima, his beloved daughter and the mother of his blessed progeny, was reunited
with him.18
4. The Messenger predicted
the reconciliation of the Muslim armies by means of his grandson Hasan
As related in
most of the six authentic books of Tradition, one day on the pulpit, God’s Messenger,
upon him be peace and blessings, took Hasan, his grandson, into his arms and declared:
This son of mine
is a noble one; it is hoped that God will reconcile through him two large hosts of
Muslims.
Hasan was,
indeed, a noble person, the grandson of the noblest of humanity. About thirty-five years
after this prediction, he renounced the caliphate in favour of Mu‘awiya, thus
demonstrating the truthfulness of his noble grandfather.
5. The Messenger foretold
exactly how long Ibn Busr would live
One day, he put
his blessed hand on the head of ‘Abd Allah ibn Busr, declaring: This boy will live
a hundred years, and those warts on his face will disappear.
‘Abd Allah
lived, as predicted by God’s Messenger, a hundred years, and when he died, there were
no warts on his face.
Just as
God’s Messenger developed spiritually moment by moment and begged God’s
forgiveness seventy times a day for his former states, so too, his community have since
taken a new step every day in recognition and understanding of him through witnessing his
predictions being proven true one after another.
6. The Messenger foretold the
conquest of Iran, the Yemen and Byzantine lands
As recorded in
almost all books of Tradition and the Prophet’s biography, a ditch was dug around
Madina during the battle of Khandaq (the Ditch). The Prophet actually took part in
the work of digging and, in order to reinforce the morale of his Companions, occasionally
prayed for them, saying, O God, the true life is the life of the Hereafter, so forgive
the Helpers and the Emigrants. To this, his Companions responded in utmost zeal and
joy, saying.
O God, had it not
been for Your help and grace, we could not have found the Straight Path, we had not paid
alms, nor had we performed the prayer. And so, send down upon us serenity, and make our
steps firm if we encounter the enemy!
During the
digging of the ditch, a huge rock appeared. The Companions, unable to remove it, referred
the matter to God’s Messenger. He came with a lever and pickaxe, and set out to break
the rock. At each blow, a spark was produced and, through God’s inspiration, he gave
glad tidings of a future conquest, saying, I have been given the keys of Byzantium; I
have been given the keys of Persia; I have been given the keys of the Yemen, and so
on.
Less than two
decades later, all those predictions came true. The whole of Persia and many parts of
Byzantium were conquered by Muslim armies under the command of invincible generals such as
Khalid ibn Walid and Sa‘d ibn Abi Waqqas. The conquest of Byzantium, also predicted
by God’s Messenger, was achieved by the Ottoman ruler, Sultan Mehmed, the Conqueror.
7. The Messenger foretold the
future victories of Islam
‘Adiy
ibn Khatam reports:
One day people
complained, in the presence of God’s Messenger, about poverty, deprivation and the
insecurity of desert roads. To such complaints, God’s Messenger, upon him be peace
and blessings, responded with glad tidings of a happy future, saying:
A day will come
when a woman will travel alone on her camel from Hira to the Ka’ba with fear of
nothing but God alone. Again, a day will come and the treasures of Chosroes (the Persian
ruler) will be distributed amongst you. And again, another day will come and people will
travel around to find someone to pay the prescribed alms to but in vain.
When God’s
Messenger, upon him be peace and blessings, made these predictions, the robbers from the
tribe of Tayy used to attack travellers and the Persian Empire was living its most
splendid days. But I have personally witnessed the first two predictions come true, and I
am expecting the third will also prove to be true.
‘Adiy ibn
Khatam did not live long enough to see the third prediction come true. However, soon after
his death, during the caliphate of ‘Umar ibn ‘Abd al-‘Aziz, people became
so rich that no one could be found to give the prescribed alms to in the vast lands of the
Muslim state. Living standards were very high and there was not any discernible imbalance
in the distribution of wealth.
8. The Messenger foretold the
martyrdom of ‘Ammar
While the
Prophet’s Mosque was being built in Madina, everybody, including God’s
Messenger, tried their hardest to complete it as quickly as possible. Some cast sun-dried
bricks, and the others carried them to the place of construction. Meanwhile, ‘Ammar
ibn Yasir, who was among the first to embrace Islam, approached God’s Messenger and,
probably in order to attract his love and affection, said: ‘O God’s Messenger,
they loaded on me two sun-dried bricks.’
God’s
Messenger smiled and, while rubbing off the dust on ‘Ammar’s face with his
blessed hand, gave him the tiding of his martyrdom, saying, What a pity (Glad tidings
for you, according to another version), O ‘Ammar, a rebellious group will kill you!
‘Ammar was
martyred about forty years later by the followers of Mu‘awiya in the Battle of Siffin
to confirm the Messenger‘s prediction. This event, like the others, demonstrates that
the Prophet Muhammad, upon him be peace and blessings, did not speak on his own, but that
he was taught by God.
9. The Messenger predicted
the appearance of the Kharijites
God’s
Messenger, upon him be peace and blessings, was distributing the spoils of a war, when a
man with Mongolian features voiced an objection, saying, ‘Be just in
distribution!’ To this impertinence, God’s Messenger gave the response, Who
else will show justice if I am not just? If I do not show justice, then I have been lost
and brought to nought. According to another version, he said: If I am not just,
then, (by following me) you – the people – have been lost and brought to nought.
‘Umar became
furious with the impertinence of the man and told God’s Messenger, ‘Let me cut
off the head of this hypocrite!’ But the Messenger did not allow him to do so, and
said:
In the future
there will appear a group of people with chubby faces, slanting eyes and flat noses [of
the same type as that impertinent man]. They will recite so much of the Qur’an that,
when compared to their recitation, you will regard yours to be too little. Nevertheless,
what they recite will not have the slightest affect on them. They will leave the religion
in the manner of an arrow being shot from the bow. There will, moreover, be a large fatty
growth on the arm of one of them.
Years passed, and
the group, called the Kharijites, that bore the characteristics described by God’s
Messenger, upon him be peace and blessings, were put to the sword by the Caliph ‘Ali
in Nahrawan. Having based themselves on the misinterpretation of the Qur’an, they had
rebelled against him. The dead body of a man just as described by God’s Messenger,
upon him be peace and blessings, and who had a fatty growth on his arm was taken to
‘Ali. This event, besides proving the truthfulness and Messengership of the Prophet
Muhammad, upon him be peace and blessings, demonstrated the truth of another prediction of
God’s Messenger, namely,
O ‘Ali, I
have fought for the sending down of the Qur’an; you will fight against its
misinterpretation.
10. The Messenger foretold the conquest of Cyprus
One day
God’s Messenger, upon him be peace and blessings, slept in the house of Umm Haram,
his foster aunt. He woke up with a smile on his lips. When asked by Umm Haram about the
reason for his smile, he answered: I have dreamt about a group from my nation, who,
like kings seated on thrones, boarded ships and were going to war. Umm Haram requested
him to pray for her to be included among them. You will be among them, he declared.
Years passed.
During the caliphate of Mu‘awiya, Muslims waged war upon Cyprus. Umm Haram was in the
army accompanying her husband, ‘Ubada ibn Samit. She died there and her tomb has been
visited ever since.
As with all the
other predictions of God’s Messenger, upon him be peace and blessings, this one too,
leads us to confirm his Prophethood and say: ‘O God’s Messenger, surely you told
the truth!’ |