to man and with Whom man can hold communion.
The prophecies mentioned in the Holy Qur’ān and those uttered by the Holy Prophet, of which Ḥadīth literature is full, cover so vast a ground and relate to a future so distant that they require separate treatment. But one example may be given in illustration of what has been said above. The Holy Qur’ān gives prominence to the great prophecy of the triumph of Islām, and its earlier chapters are full of such prophecies uttered in various forms. Now these chapters were revealed, and these prophecies announced, at a time when the Holy Prophet was quite alone and helpless, beset on all sides by enemies plotting to put an end to his life. The few adherents to his cause had been forced by cruel persecution to leave their homes and to take shelter in a foreign land. There was not the remotest prospect of Islām ever making any headway against the mighty forces of polytheism and idolatry, the mass of superstition and evil of every kind ranged against it. All previous attempts at the regeneration of Arabia, those of the Jewish nation which had settled down in various parts of Arabia, of the Christian missionaries who had the backing of the powerful Roman empire on the north and of Abyssinia in the south and west, the indigenous Arab attempt known as Hanīfism, had all proved utter failures, and thus the fate of each previous attempt was only a symbol of despair for any fresh reform movement. Yet under these adverse circumstances, amidst nothing but despair on every side, we find prophecy after prophecy announced in the surest and most certain terms to the effect that the great forces of opposition would be brought to naught, that the enemies of Islām would be put to shame and perish, that Islām would become the religion of the whole of Arabia, that the empire of Islām would be established and battles be fought in which the Muslims would be victorious and the enemy brought low, that Islām would spread to the farthest corners of the earth and that it would ultimately be triumphant over the religions of the world.35
All this has been stated in the Holy Qur’ān in plain words, and at a time when there was not the least prospect of Islām gaining ground, and all this was brought to fulfilment, against all expectation, in the
35 I give a few quotations from the Holy Book: “Are your disbelievers better than these (Pharaoh and others), or have you an immunity in the scriptures? Or say they: We are a host allied together to help each other? Soon shall the hosts be routed, and they will show (their) backs” (54:43-45).
“And you dwell in the abodes of those who wronged themselves, and it is clear to you how We dealt with them and We made them examples for you. And they have indeed planned their plan, and their plan is with Allāh, though their plan is such that the mountains should be moved thereby. So think not that Allāh will fail in His promise to His messengers; for Allāh is Mighty, the Lord of retribution” (14:45-47).
“Those who disbelieve, neither their wealth nor their children will avail them aught against Allāh … As was the case of the people of Pharaoh, and those before them. They rejected Our messages, so Allāh destroyed them on account of their sins and Allāh is Severe in requiting (evil). Say to those who disbelieve: You shall be vanquished and driven together to hell” (3:10-12).
“We will soon show them Our signs in farthest regions and among their own people, until it is quite clear to them that it is the truth” (41:53).
“And those who disbelieved said to their messengers: We will certainly drive you out of our land, unless you come back into our religion. So their Lord revealed to them, We shall certainly destroy the wrongdoers and We shall certainly settle you in the land after them” (14:13,14).
“And certainly We wrote in the Book after the reminder that My righteous servants will inherit the land. Surely in this is a message to a people who serve (Us)” (21:105-106).
“Allāh has promised to those of you who believe and do good that He will surely make them rulers in the earth as He made those before them rulers, and that He will surely establish for them their religion which He has chosen for them, and that He will surely give them security in exchange after their fear” (24:55).
“He it is Who has sent His Messenger with the guidance and the religion of truth that He may make it prevail over all religions” (61:9; 48:28; 9:33).