The Byzantine and Persian Empire were two leading super powers in
the seventh century. In the year 602 CE, the world watched on as they
went to all-out war. From the beginning, the Persian war machine
overwhelmed the Byzantines who were facing internal rebellion and
thus were at a disadvantage. After a series of devastating losses, the
Byzantines couldn't stop the Persian onslaught. Then the unthinkable
happened, the city of Jerusalem, which was the heart of Christianity,
was captured and desecrated by the Persians. The True Cross, a relic
which Christians believe was the actual cross that Jesus was crucified
on, was stolen and taken back to Persia. The Byzantines were Christian
and the loss of Jerusalem was a major psychological blow for them.
The war between the two empires was not just purely a political or
economically motivated one, there was a religious element to it. The
world was one in which Christianity and Zoroastrianism were opposed to one another.
This great loss of the Byzantine Christians to the Persians made the
idol worshippers of Arabia happy and they used this incident to mock
the Muslims. Muhammad's close companion Ibn Abbas noted at the
time: "The idolaters wanted the Persians to prevail over the Byzantines, because they were idol worshippers, and the Muslims wanted
the Byzantines to prevail over the Persians, because they were people
of the Book (Christians)" [129].
In response to these losses, Muhammad received some new revelation. The Qur'an made the following
bold prediction:
The Byzantines have been defeated in a nearby land. They will
reverse their defeat with a victory, within three to nine years. The
whole matter rests with God before and after victory. [30:2-4]
The Qur'an prophesied that within 9 years the whole situation would
be completely reversed with a Byzantine victory over the Persians.
This prophecy was revealed in the year 615 CE when the Persians had
completed their conquest of Syria [130]. This prediction of a Byzantine
victory is the exact opposite of what political commentators would have
predicted at the time, because the Byzantine Empire was badly losing
and on the verge collapse. The Historian Edward Gibbon highlights the
unlikelihood of the prophecy coming true:
Placed on the verge of the two great empires of the East, Mahomet
[Muhammad] observed with secret joy the progress of their mutual
destruction; and in the midst of the Persian triumphs, he ventured to
foretell, that before many years should elapse, victory should again
return to the banners of the Romans. At the time when this prediction is said to have been delivered, no prophecy could be more distant
from its accomplishment, since the first twelve years of Heraclius
announced the approaching dissolution of the empire. [131]
Even after Muhammad received revelation about a Byzantine victory,
the situation for the Byzantines remained precarious. At one point, the
Byzantine emperor Heraclius considered moving the Government that
was based in the capital Constantinople to Carthage in Africa [132].
However, Persian conquests continued and they went on to defeat the
Byzantines in Egypt and take over that province. As the Byzantines
conceded territory they lost much needed tax revenues, and to add to
their misery a plague broke out in 619 CE, which further damaged their
tax revenues. After conquering Egypt, the Persian emperor Khosrow
sent Heraclius the following letter:
Khosrow, greatest of Gods, and master of the earth, to Heraclius,
his vile and insensate slave. Why do you still refuse to submit to
our rule, and call yourself a king? Have I not destroyed the Greeks?
You say that you trust in your God. Why has he not delivered out
of my hand Caesarea, Jerusalem, and Alexandria? And shall I not
also destroy Constantinople? But I will pardon your faults if you
submit to me, and come hither with your wife and children; and
I will give you lands, vineyards, and olive groves, and look upon
you with a kindly aspect. Do not deceive yourself with vain hope
in that Christ, who was not able to save himself from the Jews, who
killed him by nailing him to a cross. Even if you take refuge in the
depths of the sea, I will stretch out my hand and take you, whether
you will or no. [133]
The situation for the Byzantines got so bad that according to the seventh century Armenian historian Sebeos, when the Persians reached
Chalcedon, a city close to Constantinople which was the very heart of
the Byzantine Empire, Heraclius had agreed to stand down and was
ready to become a client of the Persian emperor [134].
Even though the Byzantine Empire was very far from a victory, in the
year 622 CE, just 7 years after the Qur'an made its bold prediction,
they started a counter attack. The Persians had set up an ambush in
Cappadocia in modern day Turkey. This backfired when it was preemptively discovered by Heraclius, so he lured the Persians into a trap
and crushed them. This unexpected turn of events caught the Persians
off guard and thus began of a series of attacks by the Byzantines in
which they recovered their prestige and their lands. In 624 CE, exactly 9 years after the Qur'an made its prophecy, the Byzantines had
managed to avenge Jerusalem. They invaded the Persian heartland,
defeated their army and then destroyed the famous Persian fire temple
of Takht-i-Suleiman. Just as the desecration of Jerusalem and the
theft of the True Cross was a psychological blow to the Christians,
the destruction of the fire temple sent shock waves through Persia.
Theophanes, a ninth century Byzantine historian, expressed his astonishment at this reversal of fortunes:
The Romans captured their (Persians') camp and all their gear.
They raised their hands on high and thanked God; they also
eagerly prayed for the Emperor, who led them well. For before
they had never thought to see Persian dust; now they had found
and plundered their still pitch tents. Who could have expected the
invincible Persian race ever to show its back to the Romans? [135]
The prophecy came true in exactly the time frame that the Qur'an
stipulated. There are so many ways in which this prophecy could have
gone wrong if Muhammad was guessing. For example, if the Byzantines
started their counter attack in year 625 rather than 622 then the fulfilment of the prophecy would have been outside of the 3 to 9 year time
frame. If Muhammad was guessing then he would have said that the
Persians will win as that was the trend at the time. Why would he risk
the Qur'an's reputation by claiming that a Byzantine battlefield victory
would happen in such a short time?