Examples of the Prophet’s Predictions which Exist in Books of Tradition
- ‘Umar reports in a narration recorded in Sahih al-Muslim:
‘Before the Battle of Badr started, God’s Messenger, upon him be peace and blessings, walked around the battlefield and pointed to some locations, saying, Abu Jahl will be killed here, ‘Utba here, Shayba here, Walid here, and so on. By God, we found, after the battle, the dead bodies of all those men in the exact places that God’s Messenger had pointed out.’1
While in Makka under great tortures, the Prophet predicted the future victories of Islam.
- 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 the 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 Hadramawt fearing nothing but wild beasts. However, you show impatience.”
Habbab concluded:
By God, what God’s Messenger predicted that day, have all come true. I have personally witnessed it all.2
The Messenger predicted ‘Ammar’s martyrdom in a civil war
- Bukhari, Muslim and Ahmad ibn Hanbal record:
During the construction of the Prophet’s Mosque in Madina, God’s Messenger, upon him be peace and blessings, told ‘Ammar: “What a pity O ‘Ammar, a rebellious group will kill you. 3
‘Ammar was killed in the Battle of Siffin by the supporters of Mu‘awiya, who rebelled against Caliph ‘Ali.
The Prophet foretold that Fatima would join him first of all after his death
- Before his death, the Messenger called his daughter Fatima to his bedside and informed her that she would be the first among his family to join him after his death.6 Fatima joined her father, the pride of mankind, six months later. 4
- The Prophet, upon him be peace and blessings, predicted the Mongol invasion, saying:
The Hour will not come before you fight against a people with red faces, small, slant eyes and flat noses. They wear hairy leather boots.5
The Messenger predicted the caliphate of Abu Bakr and ‘Umar
- As related by Hakim, Tirmidhi, Ibn Hanbal and Ibn Maja, by repeatedly declaring, You should, after my death, follow the way of Abu Bakr and ‘Umar,8 the Prophet, upon him be peace and blessings, meant that Abu Bakr and ‘Umar would succeed him as caliphs. He also predicted that Abu Bakr’s reign would be short, whereas ‘Umar would remain longer to be able to make many conquests.6
- The Prophet predicted the conquest of many important cities. According to authentic narrations, the Prophet, upon him be peace and blessings, gave his community the glad tidings that they would conquer Damascus, Jerusalem, Iraq, Persia, Istanbul (Constantinople) and Cyprus, and that the religion of Islam would reach as far as the remotest corners of the world in the east and west.7
The Prophet predicted the forms of government after him
- The Prophet declared:
This affair began with Prophethood and as a mercy; then it will be mercy and Caliphate; afterwards it will change into a cruel monarchy, and finally into an iniquity and tyranny. He also prophesied: Surely, the Caliphate after me will last thirty years; afterwards it will a cruel monarchy.8
Whatever the noble Prophet predicted came true.
The Prophet predicted the caliphate and martyrdom of ‘Uthman
- According to an authentic narration, the Prophet, upon him be peace and blessings, declared:
‘Uthman will be killed while reading the Qur’an. God will dress him in a shirt but they will desire to remove it from him.9
By this saying, he meant that ‘Uthman would become Caliph but his deposition would be sought, and finally he would be martyred while reading the Qur’an. This happened exactly as he predicted.
The Prophet foretold the future victories of Sa‘d
- As narrated in a authentic Tradition, the noble Prophet of God, upon him be peace and blessings, said to Sa‘d ibn Abi Waqqas when the latter was gravely ill:
It is hoped that you will be spared so that some people may benefit through you and some others be harmed through you.10
By this, he suggested that Sa‘d would be a great commander and make many conquests, and while many peoples would benefit from him by converting to Islam, many others would be harmed through him as a result of the collapse of their states.
Sa‘d, just as predicted by the holy Prophet, upon him be peace and blessings, took the command of the Muslim armies and destroyed the Persian Sassanid Empire, bringing many peoples within the guidance of Islam.
The Prophet predicted the conquest of Cyprus
- Once, when the Prophet woke up in the house of Umm Haram, the aunt of Anas ibn Malik, who served the Messenger for ten years in Madina, he smilingly said:
“I dreamt that my community would be waging war in the sea sitting on thrones like kings.” Umm Haram asked: ‘Pray that I too may be with them’. He said firmly: “You shall be.”11
All this came true forty years later when Umm Haram accompanied her husband ‘Ubada ibn Samit, on the conquest of Cyprus. She died there, and her tomb has since been a visited place.
The Prophet predicted the appearance of Mukhtar and Hajjaj
- According to an authentic narration, the Prophet, upon him be peace and blessings, declared:
From the tribe of Thaqif will appear a liar who claims Prophethood and a blood-thirsty tyrant.12
By this, he gave tidings of the notorious Mukhtar, who claimed Prophethood, and the criminal Hajjaj, who killed tens of thousands of people.
The Prophet predicted the conquest of Istanbul
- Again, according to an authentic narration, the Prophet, upon him be peace and blessings, declared:
Surely, Constantinople (Istanbul) will be conquered (by my community); how blessed the commander who will conquer it, and how blessed his army.13
He thus foretold the conquest of Istanbul by Muslims, and indicated the high spiritual rank of Sultan Mehmed, the Conqueror, and the virtuousness of his army. What he foretold took place centuries later.
1. Bukhari, Tib, 1.
2. Abu Dawud, Tib, 10; Muslim, Salam, 69.
3. Tirmidhi, Tib, 2; Ibn Ma’ja, Tib, 1; I. Hanbal, 4.278.
4. Bukhari, Tib, 30; Muslim, Salam, 98.
5. Bukhari, Tib, 19; I. Hanbal, 2.443.
6. Muslim, Tahara, 91.
7. Abu Dawud, Adahi, 21; Ibn Ma’ja, Sayd, 2; I. Hanbal, 4.85.
8. Abu Dawud, At‘ıma, 11; Tirmidhi, At‘ıma, 39; I. Hanbal, 5.441.
9. Muslim, Tahara, 87; Abu Dawud, Tahara, 49; Tirmidhi, Tahara, 19.
10. Bukhari, Jumu‘a, 8; Muslim, Tahara, 42; Abu Dawud, Tahara, 25; Tirmidhi, Tahara, 18; Nasa’i, Tahara, 6; I. Ma’ja, Tahara, 7; I. Hanbal, 1.80.
11. Tirmidhi, Zuhd, 47; I. Hanbal, 4.132.
12. Kanz al-‘Ummal, 3.460.
13. Muslim, Fitan, 110; Tirmidhi, Fitan, 59; I. Hanbal, 4.182.
This article has been adapted from Risale- i Nur Collection.