Does the Qur'an contain any prophecies about the future? Have any of these
proved true?
Yes, the Qur'an contains many prophecies
about the future. Many of these have already proved true, and we
confidently expect that the others will also come to pass in due time. In
addition, no statement in the Qur'an has ever proved to be false.
Let us see some examples of Qur'anic prophecies that has already been
fulfilled. One example is a prophecy that occurs in Surah 30 of the Qur'an.
In the first six verses Allah promised that the Romans who had just been
defeated in the year 615 C.E. would turn around and win a decisive victory
within nine years. At the time this statement was made, no human could
envision how it could come to pass. The Romans had been so soundly
defeated that no hope was left that they could make a comeback within such
a short period of time. The disbelievers mocked at the Muslims over this
passage in the Qur'an because they thought the prophecy would surely fail.
One man, Ummayah bin Khalaf by name, even placed a bet of a hundred camels
that the prophecy would fail. Abu Bakr, the closest follower of the
prophet, on whom be peace, took up that challenge because he was sure that
the word of God could never fail. True enough, within the specified
period, in the year 624 CE, the Romans confronted the Persians in battle
at a place called Issus. The Romans won their decisive victory exactly as
prophecised in the Qur'an, and Abu Bakr, may Allah be pleased with him,
won the bet of one hundred camels. In the meantime, however, revelation
from Allah had prohibited gambling, so the prophet directed Abu Bakr to
give away the camels to the poor and needy.
So the prophecy was fulfilled. But there is more to this. The same verses
contain yet another prophecy. It says that while the Romans are winning
their victory, the believers in the Qur'an will rejoice in the victory
granted by Allah. We know from history that in that very year the Muslims
were threatened with total annihilation, but Allah rescued them. The
Muslims had been driven out of Mecca, their hometown. Now they found safe
haven in Medina. But the unbelievers could not rest knowing that the
Muslims were free to practice their faith somewhere else. So they marched
against the Muslims with an army of one thousand men fully equipped for
battle. The Muslims mustered the best defense they could, a mere 313 men
lacking suitable equipment for battle. From a human point of view, the
greater force would win, but the help of Allah was with the small group of
believers. Miraculously, the believers won, and the Qur'anic prophecy was
fulfilled despite all odds. The unfolding of this double prophecy proves
beyond doubt that the Qur'an could not have been authored by any human
being.
Another prophecy occurs in Surah 111 of the Qur'an. That Surah states that
a certain man and his wife will perish as unbelievers. This was uttered at
a time when no one but God could say who will or will not become believers
later on. Many of the most severe opponents in the early days became
devoted followers in later days. But not this couple. They tried
everything to oppose, ridicule, and disprove the Qur'an. One would expect
that they would also pretend to become believers just to throw doubt on
the accuracy of the Qur'an. But they did not apply this obvious strategy.
What prevented them, if not the power of God and the truth of His word?
In this way many prophecies were fulfilled, and not one has ever failed.
This gives us every reason to place our full confidence in the book of
God. |