INTRODUCTION

Another miraculous aspect of the Qur'an is

INTRODUCTION

Another miraculous aspect of the Qur'an is its prediction of future
events, all of which have so far been fulfilled. This is one of the
proofs that the Qur'an is the Word of Allah. In the following pages, we
will dwell on some of these events.

THE VICTORY OF BYZANTIUM

An astonishing prediction is found in the first verses of Surat ar-Rum
(Chapter The Romans), which refers to the Byzantine Empire, the eastern
part of the later Roman Empire: The Byzantine Empire, which had met with
a great defeat, would soon gain victory.

Alif, Lam, Mim. The Romans
have been defeated in the lowest
land, but after their defeat they
will be victorious within three to
nine years. The affair is Allah's
from beginning to end.

(Qur'an, 30:1-4)

These verses were revealed around 620, almost 7 years after the
idolatrous Persians had severely defeated Christian Byzantium in 613-14.
In fact, Byzantium had suffered such heavy losses that it seemed
impossible for it even to survive, let alone be victorious again.
Following their defeat of the Byzantines at Antioch in 613, the Persians
seized control of Damascus, Cilicia, Tarsus, Armenia, and Jerusalem. The
loss of Jerusalem in 614 was particularly traumatic for the Byzantines,
for the Church of the Holy Sepulchre was destroyed and the Persians
seized the "True Cross," the symbol of Christianity.174

In addition, the Avars, Slavs, and Lombards also were posing serious
threats to the Byzantine Empire. The Avars had reached as far as the
walls of Constantinople. Emperor Heraclius ordered the gold and silver
in churches to be melted and turned into money in order to meet the
army's expenses. When this proved insufficient, bronze statues were
melted down in order to mint more money. Many governors had revolted
against Heraclius, and Byzantium was on the point of collapse.175

Mesopotamia, Cilicia, Syria, Palestine, Egypt and Armenia, which had
earlier belonged to Byzantium, were invaded by the idolatrous Persians.176

In short, everyone was expecting Byzantium to be destroyed. But during
this time, the first verses of Surat ar-Rum were revealed, announcing
that Byzantium would triumph in 3 to 9 years. This predicted victory
seemed so impossible that the Arab polytheists thought it would never
come true.

Like all the other predictions in the Qur'an, however, this one also
came true. In 622, Heraclius gained a number of victories over the
Persians and conquered Armenia.177

In December 627, the two empires fought a decisive battle at Nineveh,
some 50 kilometres east of the Tigris river, near Baghdad. This time
too, the Byzantine army defeated the Persians. A few months later, the
Persians had to sue for peace with Byzantium, which obliged them to
return the territories they had taken from it.178

The Byzantine victory was completed when Emperor Heraclius defeated the
Persian ruler Khosrow II in 630, recaptured Jerusalem, and regained the
"True Cross" for the Church of the Holy Sepulchre.179
In the end, "the victory of the Romans" proclaimed by Allah in the
Qur'an miraculously came true within the verses' stated "three to nine
years" time frame.

ANOTHER MIRACLE revealed in these verses is the announcement of a
GEOGRAPHICAL FACT that could not have been known by anyone at that time:
that the Romans had been defeated in the lowest region of Earth. This
Arabic expression adna al-Ard is interpreted as "a nearby place" in many
translations. However, this is not the LITERAL MEANING, but rather a
figurative interpretation. The word adna, derived from the word dani
(low), means "the lowest". The word ard means "the world." Therefore,
adna al-ard means "the lowest place on Earth."

Some interpreters of the Qur'an, considering the closeness of the region
in question to the Arabs, prefer the "closest" meaning of the word.
However, the actual meaning indicates a very important geological fact:
The Dead Sea, one of the regions in which the Byzantines were defeated
in 613-14, is the lowest region on Earth.180

As stated earlier, for Christian Byzantium, the loss of the True Cross
was the heaviest blow in that defeat in Jerusalem, located near the
shores of the Dead Sea.

The Byzantines and the Persians actually fought at the Dead Sea basin,
which is situated at the intersection point of the lands belonging to
Syria, Palestine, and Jordan. At 399 meters below sea level, the Dead
Sea is the "lowest" place on Earth's surface.181

However, as only modern measuring methods and equipment can prove this
fact, it would have been impossible for anyone living at that time to
realise this truth. Yet, the Qur'an states clearly that this region was
the "lowest land" on Earth and thereby provides further evidence that it
is the Word of Allah.

174.http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heraclius.
175. Warren Treadgold, A History of the Byzantine State and Society
(Palo Alto, CA: Stanford University Press: 1997), 287-99.
176. Ibid.
177.http://fstav.freeservers.com/emperors/heraclius.html.
178. Treadgold, A History, 287-99.
179.http://web.genie.it/utenti/i/inanna/livello2-i/mediterraneo-1-i.htm;http://impearls.blogspot.com/2003_12_07_impearls_archive.html;andhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heraclius.
180. "The Lowest Part on the Face of the
Earth,"www.beconvinced.com/science/QURANLOWEST.htm.
181. "Dead Sea," World Book Encyclopedia, 2003, Contributor: Bernard
Reich, Ph.D., Professor of Political Science and International Affairs,
George Washington University

INTRODUCTION

Another miraculous aspect of the Qur'an is its...

INTRODUCTION

Another miraculous aspect of the Qur'an is its prediction of future
events, all of which have so far been fulfilled. This is one of the
proofs that the Qur'an is the Word of Allah. In the following pages, we
will dwell on some of these events.