The Victory of the Byzantine
It is impossible for a person who cannot read and write to inform about the Ghayb (unseen, unknown) and the information given by him to turn out to be right all the time. When we divide the Ghayb into two as future and past, it is not possible for someone to inform about the future at all. In order to give information about the past, that person must be literate and have to study works about the past if the given news is not well known and not something that people talk about in their daily lives. However, you see someone who informs about the future though he is illiterate and cannot read a single sentence, he informs about the past and what he informs always proves to be right. So, can anyone be skeptical about the person who gives this information to be the apostle of Allah and the book in which this information is contained to be the word of Allah? No, never… For, none can know the Ghayb except Allah and the person whom He teaches.
In the second part of our work, which is about the Qur’an as being the word of Allah, we will show the trueness of the information that the Qur’an gives about the Ghayb and prove that the Qur’an is the word of Allah.
We starting this work with the verses of the surah of ar-Room which informs about the victory of armies of the Byzantine.
Alif Lam Mim. The Roman Empire has been defeated― In a land close by; but they, (even) after (this) defeat of theirs, will soon be victorious. Within a few years. With Allah is the Decision, in the Past and in the Future: on that Day shall the Believers rejoice― (Surah ar-Room, 1-4)
Now let us analyze the proof that this glorious verse indicates:
During the years of 613-614, Zoroastrian and Persian armies beat the armies of the Christians and Byzantine by an overwhelming defeat. The Meccan polytheists were very happy about the defeat of Christians who were the people of the book and they said to the Muslims: “If Allah were to be the only dominant power, He would let the Byzantine be victorious and make them triumph over the Persians.” So as a miracle, the Qur’an gave the news of a result about the future which seemed impossible at that moment: The Byzantine was going to be triumph over Persians and Muslims were going to be happy with this…
As a matter of fact, Hazrat Abu Bakr said the following to the polytheists who were happy about victory of Persians: Allah will not let your happiness last so long because He informed that the Byzantine would be victorious again within a few years”. Upon this, Ubay B. Khalaf offered Hz. Abu Bakr to make a bet on this subject. They made a bet on ten camels whether the Byzantine would be victorious or not within three years.
When Hazrat Abu Bakr told the Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) about what had happened, the prophet said: The word of “bid” (بِضْعِ) (a few) as said in the verse does not express three years but between three and nine years; thus, he told Hz. Abu bakr to increase the time period and the number of camels three times more.
This time, they made a bet on whether the Byzantine could be victorious within nine years for one hundred camels. In fact, according to the Sahih of Tirmidhi, during the days of the Battle of Badr, the Byzantine became victorious over Persians in the battle and the news of the Qur’an from the Ghayb became true. Hz. Abu Bakr gave the camels that he gained from the successors of Ubay Ibn Khalaf to the poor upon the advice of the prophet (PBUH).
Now, let us see how this news is so miraculous by analyzing the situation of the Byzantine more clearly:
The Byzantine Empire was undergoing such a downfall that it seemed impossible for it to survive let alone beating the Persian army. The Persians had beaten the Byzantines in 613 in Antioch and invaded Damascus, Cilicia, Tarsus, Armenia and Jerusalem. In the same era, not only the Persians but also Avars, Slavs and Lombards declared war against the Byzantines. Heraclius, the Byzantine King, ordered the gold and silver ornaments to be melted and used to meet the expenses of the army. When they were not enough, they started to melt bronze statutes, too. Many governors rebelled against Heraclius and the Empire was about to be divided into several parts. All of the Byzantine lands were invaded by the Persians.
To sum up, everybody expected the Byzantine to be destroyed. However, just then, the first verses of the chapter of ar-Rum were sent down; it was stated that the Byzantine would be victorious again in a few (3-9) years. Heraclius invaded Armenia and beat the Persians, gaining victory. In December 627, a big war took place the Byzantine army and the Persians. The Byzantine army defeated the Persians. A few months later, the Persians had to sign an agreement by retreating from the places they had invaded and leaving them to the Byzantines.
Thus,"the victory of the Byzantine", which had been informed by Allah in the Quran, took place "in three to nine years" as it was emphasized in the verse.
Think of a person who emerges alone and says, "I am the prophet of Allah and this is His book." Very few people believe in him among the stubborn people of his tribe. He gives information about something that seems almost impossible to take place without any fear, hesitation or anxiety by stating the time and place of the event.
The people around him were in astonishment; those who regarded it to be impossible made a bet on it. If that news turned out to be wrong, his honesty and the cause of prophethood would be brought into disrepute; however, he was sure and said, "It will take place."
Would you doubt that this person was an extraordinary person and that the book he brought was the book of Allah when you saw that this event happened exactly as he had said? Definitely not. For, only Allah and those He teaches can know about the unknown. It is impossible for a person to know the unknown and tell about the future.
Another miracle existing in the verse is the fact that it tells about a geographical feature that was impossible for anyone living at that period to know.
In the 3rd verse of the chapter of ar-Rum, it is stated that the Byzantines were beaten in the lowest part of the earth. The Arabic phrase is "adnal-ard". Adna (the lowest) is derived from the word "dani" which means low in Arabic. Ard means earth. So, the phrase adnal-ard means the lowest place of the earth.
This phrase denotes a very important geological fact that is impossible to be known by anybody in the period when the Quran was sent down.
The scientists who searched for the lowest part of the earth discovered it as the basin of the Dead Sea, where the Byzantines were defeated in 613-614. The place where the war between the Byzantine Empire and the Persians took place is the basin of the Dead Sea where the lands of today's Syria, Palestine and Jordan meet. The basin of the Dead Sea is 395 meters below sea level and the lowest place in the world.
It is impossible to determine the lowest place in the world without a scientific research. It is impossible for a person to know it through his own knowledge.
Then, let us ask this question: How can we explain the fact that the Quran mentioned something 1400 years ago that could be determined only through the technical knowledge of this age? Can we call it "the word of a human being" instead of accepting that it is "the book of Allah"? To call this book the word of a human being means to turn a blind eye and to deny the truth.
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