by Dr. Ali Shehata
Prophecies from the Hadith of Muhammad
Keeping in line with the “litmus test” from the Bible which states that a true Prophet is one whose prophecies would come true without ever being wrong, the Sunnah is rich with prophecies. There are so many predictions that it would literally be impossible to mention them here as they are the subject of entire books and even encyclopedias. But an effort will herein be made to give the reader a good understanding of the detailed nature of the Prophet Muhammad’s prophecies whereupon more information can later be sought. In all cases below, the hadith will be written and then followed by a brief commentary to aid in understanding.
1. Nafi' ibn Utbah narrates that the Messenger of God said: “You will attack Arabia and God will enable you to conquer it, then you will attack Persia and He will cause you to conquer it. Then you will attack Rome and God will enable you to conquer it, then you will attack the Anti-Christ and God will enable you to conquer him.” [Muslim]
And in a supporting hadith, Abu Qabeel narrates that once they were sitting with Abdullah ibn ‘Amr ibnal ‘Aas, and they inquired of him as to which of the two cities, Constantinople or Rome, would be conquered first by the Muslims. He then ordered that a container be brought out and from it he took out a book in which had written some of the narrations (hadith) that he had recorded directly from the Prophet. He then narrated to us the following:
Once while we were sitting around the Messenger of God, someone asked him, “Which city will be conquered for Islam first, Constantinople or Rome?” The Messenger of God then replied, “You shall first conquer the city of Heraclius.” [Ahmad, Daarimi and many others]
The Prophet Muhammad’s statement, “the city of Heraclius,” means Constantinople, which was the capitol of the Eastern or Byzantine Roman Empire where Heraclius was enthroned as Caesar. This prophecy indeed came to pass in the fifteenth century, eight hundred years after the Prophet made this prediction, when Muhammad al-Fatih, the Turkish Caliph, conquered Constantinople (the city is now known as Istanbul).
Both of these prophecies, of course, came true as history can easily attest, and furthermore, they came true in the exact order in which they were prophesied. The second hadith also provides evidence that the hadith of the Prophet were, in fact, written during his lifetime.
The Prophet also predicted the conquering of Egypt, and told his companions to treat its people well. Furthermore, during one of the sieges of his city of Madinah by a coalition of disbelievers from different parts of the Arabian peninsula, the Prophet predicted that the Muslims would be given the lands of Yemen and the white palaces of Persia with all the treasures of the Persian Emperor (Chosroes). Some of the hypocrites laughed when they heard this and said, “Here we are afraid to even go out to answer the call of nature (due to the severity of the siege), and he deludes us with promises of conquering Rome, Persia and Yemen.” Yet, all of these prophecies were soon accomplished within a few decades of the Messenger’s noble words.
2. ‘Auf bin Malik narrates that the Prophet said, “Expect six incidents before the coming of the final Hour: The first, my death; the second, the conquest of Jerusalem; third, a plague among the Muslims that will kill them in large numbers; fourth, the abundance of wealth such that a man would not be impressed if he was given one hundred gold coins (because it wouldn’t have as much value); fifth, a trial that would involve all Arab families without exception; sixth, a peace treaty with the Romans, which the Romans would violate and come to attack you (the Muslims) under eighty flags, with twelve thousand soldiers behind every flag.” [Bukhari and others]
Another instance of where the Prophet gave, not only exact details of incidents, but where they also occurred, and in what exact order. Jerusalem was captured in the first decade after the death of the Prophet, and only a few years later there occurred the epidemic plague outbreak in the ‘Umwas region of Greater Syria resulting in the death of approximately seventy thousand Muslims. Also, wealth soon became plentiful with the conquering of Persia and several of the Byzantine Roman territories. Wealth, in fact, continued to increase amongst the traditionally impoverished Muslims to the extent that, in the time of the righteous ruler 'Umar ibn Abdul Azziz, the government could find no poor people to distribute charity to because everyone was so well-off. As regards the trial that will affect the Arabs, and the violation of the peace treaty with the Romans, neither have yet occurred, and they are understood to be the precursor for some of the greater signs that will come immediately before the Day of Judgment.
3. Abu Hurairah narrates: The Prophet said, "The Hour will not be established till you fight with the Khudh and the Kirman from among the non-Arabs. They will be of reddish faces, flat noses and small eyes; their faces will look like flat shields, and their shoes will be made from hair." [Bukhari]
In this hadith, the Prophet describes to the Companions how the Muslims of the future would fight the Mongol invaders (Ghenghis Khan, etc.) who can be described in a similar manner as how he described them above. In another hadith, he also advises his followers to “leave them where they leave you,” in reference to their great ferocity and the horror they would later visit upon the Muslims when they would meet them in battle. The Muslims first encountered these epic warriors about seven hundred years after the time of the Prophet, and they were on the brink of annihilation in Greater Syria before these very invaders were won over to the religion of Islam themselves.
Moreover, the Prophet mentioned that there would be signs forewarning the approach of the last day (Day of Judgment). Among those that have clearly come to pass are:
4. ‘Umar ibnul Khattab narrated that the Prophet Muhammad said, “… and from its signs (those of the Day of Judgment) you shall see the barefooted and nearly naked shepherds competing with one another in the building of tall buildings ….” [Muslim]
Today, we find the Arabs of the Arabian Peninsula, who less than fifty years ago (just before the discovery of oil in many parts of the Arabian Peninsula) used to be impoverished herders of camels and sheep, are now competing in building the tallest and most lavish skyscrapers on the planet. I myself was shown a video by a friend from UAE showing how that country has gone from open deserts with scattered tents and roaming nomadic shepherds to a veritable garden of luxury and technology with the advent of the discovery of oil in their land!
What is also unusual about this hadith is the fact that these tall buildings are being built in the desert. Usually, sky scrapers are built because there is not enough land to build outwards, and so the only direction that you can build is up. Yet in the desert, there is plenty of land in all directions, but they compete in building skyscrapers out of extravagance and a desire to show-off, other characteristics that would become common before the last day.
5. Anas ibn Malik narrated that the Prophet said, “The Last Hour will not come until people show-off and boast in regard to the mosques.” [Abu Dawud]
In the past few hundred years, mosques have become more and more lavish, with tiled domes inscribed with ornate calligraphy, marble floors, and thick carpets overhung by expensive chandeliers; even though the Prophet ordered simplicity in the houses of worship and warned against extravagance.
6. Narrated Ma’qal ibn Yasaar that the Messenger of God said, “By God, this world will not pass away until there comes a time of random killing in which the one who kills does not know why he is killing, and the one who is killed does not know why he was killed ….” [Bukhari and Muslim]
Only in the last fifty years has this prediction come to pass in certain ways with an eerie kind of accuracy. In America today (a phenomenon which is sadly spreading into many other countries), gangs frequently require that new members kill a person randomly as part of their “initiation”. As such the killer has no idea why he is killing his victim, nor does the victim know why he is being targeted for death.
Furthermore, this has also spread into the arena of warfare where, all too often, soldiers are openly asking why they are being sent to distant lands and remaining there for no clear reason. The people who they are killing in the meantime are asking the same question as they are being killed in the thousands by “smart bombs” and the automatic assault rifles of terrified teenage soldiers.
7. 'Abdullah ibn 'Umar said, "The Prophet came to us and said, '0 Emigrants, you may be afflicted by five things, God forbid that you should live to see them.
If fornication should become widespread, you should realize that this has never happened without new diseases befalling the people which their ancestors never suffered.
If people should begin to cheat in business, you should realize that this has never happened without drought and famine befalling the people, and their rulers oppressing them.
If people should withhold the required alms (zakat), you should realize that this has never happened without the rain being withheld, and were it not for the sake of the animals, it would never rain again.
If people should break their covenant with God and His Messenger, you should realize that this has never happened without God sending an enemy against them to take some of their possessions by force.
If the leaders do not govern according to the Book of God, you should realize that this has never happened without God causing them to divide into groups and then to fight one another."' [Ibn Majah]
This tremendous prophecy from the Prophet Muhammad pbuh contains a great wealth of predictions, many (if not all) of which we see around us today. The first cause and effect relationship that is mentioned is tied to the increase in sexual promiscuity, and that new diseases that people had never heard of before would then spread amongst them as a consequence of that. This has clearly been fulfilled with the introduction of AIDS in our times.
Also, Muslims today are living for the first time in an era without a unified Muslim leader (Caliph). In the past, there were times where no Caliph was agreed upon, but never have the Muslims lived for so many decades without any central Islamic leadership. This problem can be traced back to the early twentieth century, when, for the first time, Muslim nations began using man-made laws and constitutions instead of the laws of the Quran and Sunnah. Shortly thereafter, they begin to have wars amongst themselves and then divided up into the many nations that are seen today, when before they used to be one large empire without borders. Once again, exactly as the Prophet predicted would happen.
8. Abdullah ibn Mas’ud narrated from the Prophet: “Before the Hour comes, there will be a special greeting for the people of distinction, trade will become so widespread that a woman will help her husband in business, family ties will be cut, the giving of false witness will be common, while truthful witness will be rare, and writing will be widespread.” [Ahmad]
Many predictions are found in this hadith of traditions that were not commonly found in the societies of the past. Women going out into the workplace, the increase in literacy, the increase in dysfunctional families or families that are separated; all these occurrences are recent, yet were predicted by the Prophet Muhammad pbuh over a thousand years before.
9. Abu Hurayrah said, “The Prophet said, ‘There are two types of people among the people of Hell whom I have not yet seen. The first are people who have whips like the tails of oxen, with which they beat people, and the second are women who are naked, in spite of being dressed. They will be led astray and will lead others astray, and their heads will look like camels' humps. These women will not enter Paradise. They will not even experience the faintest scent of it, even though the fragrance of Paradise can be perceived from such a great distance.’” [Muslim]
This interesting prophecy is another which has only recently been fulfilled with the introduction of new clothing materials and styles. Some of these new, synthetic materials are absolutely transparent such that the skin of a woman wearing these clothes can totally be seen through the clothes. This is in addition to the spandex and lycra stretch materials that essentially appear “painted-on” to a woman’s body, such that all the details of her body can be seen, even though she is covering her body. The description of the camel’s humps on the head can also be noticed from the different hairstyles seen today.
10. Abu Nadrah reported: “We were sitting in the company of Jabir ibn Abdullah when he said, ‘Soon the people of Iraq will neither receive any food, nor any money.’ We asked, ‘Why would such a thing happen?’ He replied, ‘Because of the non-Arabs.’ He then said, ‘Soon the people of Shaam (Syria) will neither receive any money, nor grain.’ We asked as to why this would happen. He replied, ‘Because of the Romans ….’” [Muslim]
In this very interesting prophecy, the narrator (Jabir) tells the people about future details which he learned from the Prophet Muhammad pbuh. In this prophecy, he mentions that the people of Iraq will be effectively sanctioned to the extent that they cannot import food to feed their population, nor be able to bring money into the country, through the sale of their goods, like oil as it happened. Furthermore, their currency was so devalued as to become virtually useless in trade. Those responsible for these sanctions would be the non-Arabs in general.
The reader here is encouraged to closely examine the UN Sanctions against the then government of Saddam Hussein which have been described by even UN administrators as “choking” in regards to their mercilessness against the Iraqi people. A majority of UN nations participated in these sanctions from Europe, Asia and even the Middle East, though the only nations to allow violations to any degree were some neighboring Arab countries, like Jordan, which allowed people to go into Iraq, in order to help the impoverished Iraqis in violation of the stated sanctions.
As regards to the sanctions placed on Syria which are next described, these have also come to pass in the past few years, but have been driven mainly by the United States, in association with a number of European nations and their extensions, without participation from as many other countries in the manner that happened before with Iraq. The term “Romans” mentioned in the translation of this hadith is a reference to what is now known as the European nations and those countries that developed through European expansion, like the United States, for example. The literal translation of the Arabic term is “blonde haired people,” again making it clear that it refers to the European nations.
What is noteworthy about these statements of the Prophet is that they were made at a time when no one could imagine that a small city state, permanently under siege by the pagan Arabs, would reach such heights of power and strength that it would not only be victorious against the pagan Arab tribes surrounding it, but that it would also conquer the two superpowers of the time – the Empires of Byzantine Rome and Persia. Furthermore, these prophecies are not couched in some vague terminology open to various interpretations often seen in other books which describe monsters and other fantastic elements that are later interpreted however they are wished by their followers, or even the hazy and elusive statements of those like Nostradamus. In sharp contrast, the prophecies of the Prophet Muhammad pbuh use clear language, provide direct assertions, and even sometimes specify names and times.
So these are just some of the numerous prophecies of Muhammad pbuh, that have clearly come true, and some of which have been fulfilled only in this present era, all adding weight to the evidence in favor of his claim of prophecy.
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