I continue with my exposition of the alleged prophecy of Q. 30:1-5 (https://answeringislamblog.wordpress.com/2019/06/02/the-prophecy-that-exposed-muhammad-as-a-fraud-pt-1/).
The term bid’i is
used at least twice in the Quran, here in Q. 30:4 and also in Q. 12:42. Ibn
Kathir comments on the meaning of this term in Q. 12:42:
<But Shaytan made him forget to mention it to his master.>
that it refers to the man who was saved. As was said by Mujahid,
Muhammad bin Ishaq and several others. As for ‘a few years’, or, Bida’ in
Arabic, IT
MEANS THREE TO NINE, according to Mujahid and Qatadah. Wahb bin
Munabbih said, “Ayub suffered from the illness for seven years, Yusuf remained in prison for seven
years and Bukhtanassar (Nebuchadnezzar – Chaldean king of
Babylon) was tormented for seven years.” (Tafsir
Ibn Kathir (Abridged): Surah Hud to Surat Al-Isra’, Verse 38,
abridged by a group of scholars under the supervision of Shaykh Safiur-Rahman
Al-Mubarakpuri [Darussalam Publishers & Distributors, Riyadh, Houston, New
York, Lahore; First Edition: July 2000], Volume 5, pp. 170-171 http://www.qtafsir.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=871&Itemid=67#1;
bold and capital emphasis ours)
In light of Ibn Kathir’s time specification for the term, this
means that there was nothing stopping Allah from causing the Romans from being
victorious within 3 years. Seeing that the Romans didn’t become victorious
until much later, it comes as no surprise that Muslims opt for the later time
frame.
Interestingly, the hadith literature highlights the
embarrassment Muslims faced due to the imprecise nature of the time stipulated
by the expression:
Jami` at-Tirmidhi
Chapters on Tafsir
Narrated Sa’eed bin Jubair:
from Ibn ‘Abbas, regarding the saying of Allah, Most High: Alif
Lam Mim. The Romans have been defeated. In the nearest land (30:1-3)” he said:
“Ghulibat wa Ghalabat (defeated and then victorious).” He said: “The idolaters
wanted the Persians to be victorious over the Romans because they too were
people who worshiped idols, while the Muslims wanted the Romans to be victorious
over the Persians because they were people of the Book. This was mentioned to
Abu Bakr, so Abu Bakr mentioned that to the Messenger of Allah and he said:
‘They will certainly prevail.’ Abu Bakr mentioned that to them, and they said:
‘Make a wager between us and you; if we win, we shall get this and that, and if
you win, you shall get this or that.’ He made the term five years, but
they (the Romans) were not victorious. They mentioned that to the Prophet
and he said: “Why did you not make it less (than)” – He (one of the narrators
said): I think he said: “ten?” He said: Sa’eed said: “Al-Bid’ is what is less
than then” – he said: “Afterwards the Romans have been victorious.” He said:
“That is what Allah Most High said: ‘Alif Lam Mim. The Romans have been
defeated’ up to His saying: ‘And on the day, the believers will rejoice – with
the help of Allah. He helps whom He wills (30:1-5).’ Sufyan said: “I heard that
they were victorious over them on the Day of Badr.”
Grade: SAHIH (Darussalam)
English reference: Vol. 5, Book 44, Hadith 3193
Arabic reference: Book 47, Hadith 3497 (sunnah.com https://sunnah.com/urn/642230;
capital and underline emphasis ours)
And:
Jami` at-Tirmidhi
Chapters on Tafsir
Narrated Ibn ‘Abbas:
that regarding “Alif Lam Mim. The Romans have been defeated” (In
the nearest land, and they, after their defeat, will be victorious. Within Bid’
years…) (30 1 & 2)” The Messenger of Allah said to Abu Bakr about
the wager: “Why were you not more cautious Abu Bakr? For indeed Al-Bid’
refers to what is from three to nine.”
Grade: Sahih (Darussalam)
English reference: Vol. 5, Book 44, Hadith 3191
Arabic reference: Book 47, Hadith 3495 (sunnah.com https://sunnah.com/urn/642210;
underline emphasis ours)
Finally:
… Imam Ahmad recorded that Ibn `Abbas commented on this Ayah…
He [said, “They were defeated and then they were victorious.” He
said, “The idolators wanted the Persians to prevail over the Romans, because
they were idol worshipers, and the Muslims wanted the Romans to prevail over
the Persians, because they were People of the Book. This was mentioned to Abu
Bakr who mentioned it to the Messenger of Allah. The Messenger of Allah said…
((They will prevail.))
Abu Bakr mentioned this to the idolators, and they said, “Set a
time limit for that, and if we prevail, we will get such and such; and if you
prevail, you will get such and such.” So he set A LIMIT OF FIVE YEARS, AND THEY
(THE ROMANS) DID NOT PREVAIL. Abu Bakr mentioned that to the
Messenger of Allah and he said…
((Why did you not make it less than))
[I (the narrator) think he meant less than ten]. Sa’id bin
Jubayr said: “Bid’ means
less than ten.” Then the Romans were victorious…
Abu ‘Isa At-Tirmidhi recorded that Niyar bin Mukram Al-Aslami
said: “When the following Ayat were
revealed…
<Alif Lam Mim. The Romans have been defeated. In the nearest
land, and they, after their defeat, will be victorious. In Bid’ years.> on
the day they were revealed, the Persians were prevailing over the Romans. The
Muslims wanted the Romans to prevail over them (the Persians), because they
were both people who followed a Book. Concerning this Allah said…
<And on that day, the believers will rejoice- with the help
of Allah. He helps whom he wills, and He is the All-Mighty, the Most
Merciful.>
The Quraysh, on the other hand, wanted the Persians to prevail,
neither of them were people who followed a Book and neither of them believed in
the Resurrection. When Allah revealed these Ayat, Abu Bakr went out proclaiming
throughout Makkah…
< Alif Lam Mim. The Romans have been defeated. In the nearest
land, and they, after their defeat, will be victorious. In Bid’ years.>
Some of the Quraysh said to Abu Bakr: ‘This is (a bet) between
us and you. Your companion claims that the Romans will defeat the
Persians WITHIN
THREE TO NINE YEARS, so why not have a bet between us and you?’
Abu Bakr said, ‘Yes.’ This
was before betting had been forbidden. So, Abu Bakr and the
idolators made a bet, and they said to Abu Bakr: ‘What do you think, Bid’ means
something between three and nine years. So let us agree on the middle.’ So they
agreed on six years. Then
six years passed without the Romans being victorious, so the idolators took
what had bet with Abu Bakr. When the seventh year came and the
Romans were finally victorious over the Persians, the Muslims REBUKED Abu Bakr for agreeing on six years.
He said: ‘BECAUSE
ALLAH SAID: “In Bid’ years.”’ At that
time many people became Muslims.” (Tafsir
Ibn Kathir Abridged: Surat An-Nur to Surat Al-Ahzab, Verse 50 [Darussalam
Publications, First Edition, August 2000], Volume 7, pp. 518-520 http://www.qtafsir.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=1777&Itemid=86;
bold and capital emphasis ours)
What an embarrassment!
Notice that Muhammad and the rest of the Muslims only corrected
Abu Bakr AFTER he
lost the bet since the supposed victory didn’t transpire within the five-six
year period. This proves that Abu Bakr was only corrected to save face in the
eyes of the pagans. It also highlights the huge embarrassment the expression
turned out to be even for the Muslims. I.e., the imprecision of the phrase led
Abu Bakr to bet that the prophecy would be fulfilled within five-six years.
This in itself demonstrates that nothing in the Arabic phrase
led the first Muslims to assume that Allah would only empower the Romans to win
during the latter part of the stipulated time period. And yet this could
have all been prevented had Allah simply given the exact number of years from
the start, instead of referring to an imprecise, vague time frame that ended up
embarrassing the Muslims.
However, the problem gets
much worse for Muslims since the ahadith claim that this so-called prophecy was
actually “revealed” AFTER the
Romans had won a victory against the Persians!
Jami` at-Tirmidhi
Chapters on Recitation
Narrated Abu Sa’eed:
“On the Day of (the battle of) Badr, the Romans had a victory
over the Persians. So the believers were pleased with that, THEN
THE FOLLOWING WAS REVEALED: Alif Lam Mim. The Romans have been
defeated…” up to His saying: ‘…the believers will rejoice. (30:1-4)” He said:
“So the believers were happy with the victory of the Romans over the Persians.
Grade: Hasan (Darussalam)
English reference: Vol. 5, Book 43, Hadith 2935
Arabic reference: Book 46, Hadith 3186 (sunnah.com https://sunnah.com/urn/631800;
capital and underline emphasis ours)
Jami` at-Tirmidhi
Chapters on Tafsir
Narrated ‘Atiyyah:
Abu Sa’eed narrated: “On the Day of Badr, the Romans had a
victory over the Persians. So the believers were pleased with
that, THEN THE FOLLOWING WAS REVEALED: ‘Alif Lam Mim. The
Romans have been defeated, up to His saying: ‘the believers will rejoice – with
the help of Allah… (30:1-5)'” He said: “So the believers were happy with the
victory of the Romans over the Persians.”
Grade: SAHIH (Darussalam)
English reference: Vol. 5, Book 44, Hadith 3192
Arabic reference: Book 47, Hadith 3496 (sunnah.com https://sunnah.com/urn/642220;
capital and underline emphasis ours)
These narrations prove that Muhammad was a fraud, a charlatan,
who concocted supposed prophecies around events that had already transpired.
In other words, Q. 30:1-5
wasn’t a prediction of what was to take place, but a prophecy that was written
after the fact, when the Romans had already defeated the Persians!
(This assumes, of course, that the “traditional” rendering of
the passage, which has been widely accepted by the majority of Muslim sects
across the board, is the correct understanding of the Arabic consonantal text.
See part 1 for the reasons why this may not the case at all.)
Hence, the so-called prophecy of Q. 30:1-5 turns out to be
anything but a prediction of the Roman victory over the Persians. It is
actually proof that Muhammad would make things up as he went along, such as
shamelessly forging prophecies around certain events that had already
transpired, in order to deceive his followers into thinking that he had
predicted things that were going to come to pass even before they had occurred.
These ahadith also
highlight the utter dishonesty of the Muhammadan compilers of the hadith
literature. After all, if Q. 30:1-5 was only composed AFTER the defeat
of the Persians at the hands of the Romans, then this shows that the story of
the bet Abu Bakr made with the pagans concerning the time it would take the
Romans to win is a farce, a fraudulent tale which the Muslims concocted in
order to make it seem as if this part of the surah was “revealed” before the
victory of the Romans over against the Persians.
So much for Muhammad being a prophet of the true God. It’s time
for Muslims to abandon this charlatan and turn to Jesus Christ, the unique,
beloved Son of God since he is the only Hope of salvation that mankind has.
In the addendum (https://answeringislamblog.wordpress.com/2019/06/03/the-prophecy-that-exposed-muhammad-as-a-fraud-addendum/),
I will cite Muslim and secular sources proving that the Roman victory over
against the Persians did not take place within 9 years of their defeat, but
within 13-15 years of this so-called prediction.
IHS
No comments:
Post a Comment