In today’s modern and
secular society, we see many advances that demonstrate the advancement of
civilization. More efficient cars, faster airplanes, taller buildings, the
genetic engineering of everything from foods to babies … indeed one could legitimately
wonder what a man living in the desert fourteen hundred years ago could
contribute to such a society. Yet, beneath the advanced technology and neon lit
streets of today’s world teems a world which seems only to be going backwards
in regards to moral integrity, societal equality, environmental protection and
general kindness and respect to one another.
Our world today experiences
more and more corruption and vice, where the strong devour the weak.
Advancement was supposed to bring an end to racism, murder, theft, rape and all
such evils, yet sadly, the secular experiment hasn’t been able to do much of
that. This is not to say that many of our advances as a civilization are without
benefit. On the contrary, they are great tools by which we can serve one
another and by which we can make our world a better place to live. Yet, there
is one critical ingredient that continuously seems to be missing, and that is
the spiritual dimension. The world today is in dire need of mercy, love and
peace – all of which stem from God alone.
The Prophet Muhammad pbuh was,
is and will always be an embodiment of these excellent values, amongst many
others. When his mission began, the world around him was struggling with many
of the same vices of injustice, oppression, poverty, petty wars, infanticide,
and racism amongst others. In twenty-three years, the Prophet Muhammad pbuh sparked
a revolution that would alter world history and spread the message of peace, justice
and mercy throughout many nations.
The message of the God, as
delivered and lived by the Prophet Muhammad pbuh, continues today to guide millions
upon millions of people to improve not only their own lives, but the lives of
those around them. It encourages one to remember that this life is a life of
testing and not the ultimate goal which we should be seeking. That there will
be a day when true and complete justice will be meted out, and where one will
find the fruit of their labor.
There is a distinct
difference in the life of one who follows in the footsteps of the great men and
women of faith before them, as opposed to the one who denies any reason or
purpose to life. As you read through this book and see the impact of the teachings
of Muhammad pbuh on entire societies and nations, as well as his specific
instructions to individuals, you will gain the best appreciation for the true
relevance of this man in today’s world. Muslims already know this relevance
because they know that Muhammad pbuh is relevant to the human race, and so long as
we continue to be members of that race, his teachings will always be valid and
practical.
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 narratesthat 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 Khattabnarrated 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.
