The Life & Character of the Seal of Prophets (sa) - Volume I — Page 292
Seal of the Prophets - Volume I 292 be war and conflict. Even in the era we are alluding to now, both these empires were at war. Persia had gained dominance over Rome and had seized many of its valuable regions. As such, Persia would continue dominating Rome. 1 Since the Quraish were idol worshippers and the religion of Persia was also quite similar, for this reason, the Quriash were very pleased with Persia’s victories. However, the Muslim sentiments were with Rome, which was Christian. On account of their being Christian, they were also Ahl-e-Kitāb and due to their relation to the Messiah, were closer to the Muslims than were the idolatrous and fire-worshipping nations. In such circumstances, after receiving knowledge from Allāh the Exalted, the Holy Prophet sa prophesized that although currently, Rome is being dominated by Persia, in a few years time, it shall defeat Persia, and on that day the believers shall rejoice. 2 Upon hearing this prophecy, the Muslims, among whom the name of Ḥaḍrat Abū Bakr ra has been recorded in particular, began to openly announce in Makkah that our God has told us that Rome shall soon defeat Persia. The Quraish responded that if this is true, then come and let us place a wager on it. Until that time, since wagers had not yet been prohibited in Islām, Ḥaḍrat Abū Bakr ra accepted. Terms were set between Ḥaḍrat Abū Bakr ra and the chieftains of the Quraish on a few camels and an appointed time of six years. However, when the Holy Prophet sa received news of this, he said: “To appoint a time of six years is wrong. Allāh the Exalted has used the words َ بِضْع ِ سِنِیْن with regards to the appointed time, which, in the spirit of Arabic idiom, is used to denote a time period of three to nine years. ” This instance is during the era in which the Holy Prophet sa still resided in Makkah and had not yet migrated. After this, within the appointed time frame, the war took a turn, and within a short time-frame, Rome defeated Persia and reacquired the entirety of its land. This took place after the migration. 3 Sir William Muir has mentioned this occurrence in his book as follows: “It was while the career of Persian conquest was yet unchecked, that Mahomet, 1 Chambers’ Encyclopedia, Under the name ‘Heraclius’, p. 321, Vol. 5, Edition (1872) 2 Ar-Rūm (30:3-5) 3 * Sunan At- Tirmidhī, Kitābut-Tafsīr, Bābu Wa min Sūratir-Rūm, Ḥadīth No. 3193 * Tārīkhul-Khamīs, By Ḥusain bin Muḥammad bin Ḥasan Dayār Bakrī, Volume 1, p. 406, Dhikrul- Usārā bi-Badrin, Muwassasatu Sha‘bān, Beirut * Chambers’ Encyclopedia, Under the name ‘Heraclius’, p. 321, Vol. 5, Edition (1872) * Chambers’ Encyclopedia, Under ‘Byzantine Empire’, p. 470, Vol. 2, Edition (1872)