Prophecy of Romans Being Defeated
Narration 1
With regard to the prophecy about the Romans being defeated, there is an incident about Hazrat Abu Bakr (ra) placing a bet. There is a narration of Hazrat Ibn Abbasra regarding what Allah the Almighty states in the verse:
الٓمٓ ۔ غُلِبَتِ الرُّوْمُ ۔ فِيٓ أَدۡنَى الۡأَرۡضِ
Hazrat Ibn Abbas (ra) stated, “They have been defeated” and “They will overcome”. He said that it pleased the polytheists that the Persians defeat the Romans, because both were idolaters, whereas the Muslims desired for the Romans to defeat the Persians because they were the People of the Book. He mentioned this [prophecy] to Hazrat Abu Bakr (ra), who in turn asked the Holy Prophet (sa). The Holy Prophet (sa) said, “Most certainly they [the Romans] will be victorious.” Hazrat Abu Bakr (ra) mentioned it to them (the polytheists), to which they said, “Set a timeframe for it. If we win, we will get such and such thing, and if you win, you will get such and such.” That is, they placed a bet and set a time period of five years. However, they [the Romans] did not gain victory in this time. Hazrat Abu Bakr (ra) mentioned this to the Holy Prophet (sa), upon which he said, “Why did you not set a time limit more than this?” The narrator states that he thought the timeframe suggested by the Holy Prophet (sa) was 10 years. This was a narration of Tirmidhi from Kitab al-Tafsir.
(Sunan al-Tirmidhi, Abwab al-Tafsir, Bab wa min Surah al-Rum, Hadith 3193)
Narration 2
There is a narration of Sahih al-Bukhari, which mentions four prophecies of the Holy Prophet (sa) which were fulfilled with great grandeur and glory. Out of these four prophecies, one of them was the prophecy about the Romans.
Masruq narrates, “We were with Hazrat Abdullah (ra) bin Mas‘ud. He said, ‘When the Holy Prophet (sa) saw that people had refused to accept his message, he prayed, “O Allah! Just as You sent down a famine for seven years in the time of Josephas, send a famine on them in the same way.” And so, a famine spread which destroyed everything. It was so severe that people started eating hides, carcasses and rotten dead animals. Whenever one of them looked towards the sky, he would [imagine himself to] see smoke because of hunger.’” This is one of the four prophecies.
“‘So Abu Sufyan went to the Holy Prophet (sa) and said, “O Muhammad (sa)! You order people to obey Allah and to keep good relations with kith and kin. No doubt the people of your tribe are dying, so please pray to Allah for them.” So Allah the Almighty revealed:
“‘“But watch thou for the day when the sky will bring forth a visible smoke […] but you will certainly revert to disbelief. On the day when We shall seize you with the great seizure.” Thus, this “great seizure” happened in the Battle of Badr, and undoubtedly the punishment of the “smoke”, “great seizure” “prophecy of Lizam” and prophecy about “the Romans” have all been fulfilled.’”
This is a narration of Sahih al-Bukhari.
(Sahih al-Bukhari, Kitab al-Istisqa, Bab Du‘a al-Nabi (sa): Ij‘alha alaihim Sinin, Hadith 1007)
In the commentary of this hadith, Allama Badruddin Aini writes regarding the prophecy about the Romans:
“When the Persians and the Romans fought against one another, the Muslims wanted the Romans to gain victory over the Persians, because the Romans were People of the Book. On the other hand, the disbelievers of the Quraish wanted the Persians to win the battle because they were fire-worshippers and the disbelievers of the Quraish also worshipped idols. Thus, upon this, a bet took place between Hazrat Abu Bakr (ra) and Abu Jahl, i.e. they fixed a time period between themselves of a few years. The Holy Prophet (sa) said, ‘The word “bid‘un” [in a few years] refer to nine or seven years, therefore increase the time period.’ Thus, Hazrat Abu Bakr (ra) did just that and the Romans gained victory. Allah the Almighty stated:
الٓمٓ ۔ غُلِبَتِ الرُّوْمُ ۔ فِيٓ أَدۡنَى الۡأَرۡضِ وَهُمْ مِّنۢ بَعۡدِ غَلَبِهِمۡ سَيَغۡلِبُوْنَ ۔ فِيْ بِضۡعِ سِنِيْنَۗ لِلّٰهِ الۡأَمۡرُ مِنْ قَبۡلُ وَمِنۢ بَعۡدُۚ وَيَوۡمَئِذٍ يَفۡرَحُ الۡمُؤۡمِنُوْنَ ۔ بِنَصۡرِ اللّٰهِۚ يَنْصُرُ مَن يَشَآءُۖ وَهُوَ الۡعَزِيزُ الرَّحِيمُ ۔
“Meaning, ‘I am Allah, the All-Knowing, the Romans have been defeated, In the land nearby, and they, after their defeat, will be victorious between three to nine years. Allah’s is the command before and after that and on that day the believers will rejoice. In Allah’s help.’
“Sha‘bi states that at that time it was not unlawful to make bets.”
(Umdat al-Qari Sharh Sahih al-Bukhari, Kitab al-Istisqa, Vol. 7, p. 46, Hadith 1007, Dar Ihya al-Turath al-Arabi, 2003)
The Promised Messiah’s (as) Narration
The Promised Messiah (as) states:
“When Hazrat Abu Bakr Siddiq (ra) placed a bet with Abu Jahl about the prophecy of the Holy Quran:
الٓمٓ ۔ غُلِبَتِ الرُّومُ ۔ فِيٓ أَدۡنَى الۡأَرۡضِ وَهُمْ مِّنۢ بَعۡدِ غَلَبِهِمۡ سَيَغۡلِبُونَ ۔ فِيْ بِضۡعِ سِنِينَۗ
“A period of three years was stipulated. When the Holy Prophet (sa) came to know of this, upon pondering over the prophecy and owing to his foresight, he asked Abu Bakr Siddiq (ra) to make an amendment to the details of the bet, stating that the word:
بِضۡعِ سِنِينَ
“Had a broader meaning and often meant up to nine years.”
(Izalah-e-Auham, Ruhani Khazain, Vol. 3, pp. 310-311)
Hazrat Musleh Mau’d’s (ra) Narration
Hazrat Musleh-e-Maud (ra) writes regarding this:
“While the Holy Prophet (sa) was still in Mecca, news arrived that the Persians had vanquished the Romans in battle. This occasioned great rejoicing among the Meccans, for the Persians were idolaters just as they were. The Meccans took the victory of the Persians as a good omen indicating their own ultimate triumph over Muslims. On this occasion, the Holy Prophet (sa) received the revelation:
غُلِبَتِ الرُّومُ ۔ فِيٓ أَدۡنَى الۡأَرۡضِ وَهُم مِّنۢ بَعۡدِ غَلَبِهِمۡ سَيَغۡلِبُونَ ۔ فِي بِضۡعِ سِنِينَۗ
that ‘the Romans had been vanquished in a neighbouring land of Syria but do not consider this to be the final outcome, within nine years of their defeat the Romans would again be victorious’; When this revelation was announced among the Meccans, they laughed and jeered at the Muslims. Some of them made a wager of a hundred camels with Hazrat Abu Bakr (ra) that the prophecy would not be fulfilled. Events indicated that there was very little chance of the Romans defeating the Persians as their defeat in Syria was followed by further victories of the Persians and the Roman army was pushed back by stages to the shores of the Sea of Marmora. Constantinople was cut off from its Eastern dominions and the Roman Empire was reduced to the size of a small State. The Word of God was, however, bound to be fulfilled and was fulfilled. In their state of utter despondency, the Roman emperor himself set out from Constantinople along with his troops and met on the shores of Asia for a decisive battle. The Romans, though smaller in number and not so well equipped as the Persians, won a complete victory – as prophesied by the words of the Holy Quran – and the Persians were put to flight. They were forced to retreat into Persia not finding any respite anywhere and the Romans re-occupied their Asiatic and African possessions.”
(Dibacha Tafsir-ul-Quran, Anwar-ul-Ulum, Vol. 20, p. 445)