05-31-2006, 11:48 PM
In this area of study, a book called "The Prophecies of the Holy Qur'an," written by Q.I. Hingora, suggests 22 predictions in the Koran --as generally, among Koranic scholars, there are said to be 22 predictive prophecies in the Koran. (Note: A chapter in the Koran is called a "Sura"). Those 22 predictions are cited as being found in: Sura 2:23-24; 3:10,106,107,144; 5:70; 8:7; 9:14; 15:9,96; 24:55; 28:85; 30:2-4; 41:42; 48:16-21, 27, 28; 54:44-48; 56:1-56; and Sura 110:1-2.
--So, let's look at the first of those 22 predictions:
Sura (chapter) 2:23-24 states: "And if ye are in doubt as to what We have revealed from time to time to Our servant, then produce a Sura like thereunto; and call your witnesses or helpers (If there are any) besides Allah, if your (doubts) are true. But if ye cannot -and of a surety ye cannot- then fear the Fire whose fuel is men and stones, -which is prepared for those who reject Faith." ---Just like this passage from Sura 2 of the Koran, the Bible also has a good number of verses which are predictive in a similar way, such as the passage in Matthew 13:41-42 in which Jesus says, "The Son of Man will send forth His angels, and they will gather out of His kingdom all stumbling blocks, and those who commit lawlessness, and will cast them into the furnace of fire; in that place there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth."
Now, both of the above passages (from Sura 2 and Matthew 13) are predictive, however, neither of them can be used today to determine whether either the Bible or the Koran are authored by God, because the fulfillment would occur at the time of the great judgment at the end of world history. ----Therefore, the above Quranic passage (as well as the Bible passage in Matthew) does not qualify as fulfilled predictive prophecy which would indicate that the Quran is truly inspired words from God, because it is a declaration of what Allah will ultimately do to people after they die, or after the end of world history, and it is not now verifiable from facts of history available today.
More Suras:
Similar to the above two passages (from Sura 2 and Matthew 13), out of the 22 Koranic predictions cited above, most of them declare the final destiny of non-believers (divine judgment and punishment) and/or the destiny of Muslim believers (divine reward and blessing) at the end of world history, in eternity...
...to be specific: Of the 22 predictions cited, the Koranic predictions of divine judgment and blessing at the end of history are found at: Sura 2:88-89; Sura 3:10, 106, 107, 144; Sura 8:7; Sura 9:14; Sura 28:85; Sura 48:16-21, 28; Sura 54:44-48; and Sura 56:1-56. --These Quranic verses have not yet happened in history; therefore, they do not qualify as fulfilled predictive prophecy, and they do not (yet) verify that Mohammed is a true prophet, nor that the Koran is truly from God.
--In the same manner, there are similar predictions from the Bible (concerning not-yet-fulfilled judgment and blessing) which also do not yet qualify as historically fulfilled predictive prophecy. Some of these not-yet-fulfilled prophecies are found at: Psa. 9:7-8; 9:9-10; 96:13; Ezek. 38:1-39; Zech. 14:1-21; Matt. 12:36-37; 13:43; 24:14,31; 25:41-16; Jn. 3:36; 5:28-29; 6:39-40; Rom. 2:5-8, 16; 8:18-25; 2Cor. 5:10; 1Thes. 4:14-17; 2Thes. 1:9-10; 2:8; Heb. 10:27; 11:13-16; Rev. 14:9-11; 20:10-15 and Rev. 21:1-22:5. ---These prophecies do not (yet) verify that these writers of the Bible are true, nor that the Bible is truly from God.
The problem is this: None of these sorts of passages from the Koran or the Bible are any more adequate than the passages cited from Matthew 13 and Sura 2, because they are not yet fulfilled. Even if they supposedly will be true, the fulfillment is future to us today, and therefore, they do not (yet) verify the divine origin of the book they are in --either the Bible or the Koran. Such verses (from both the Bible and the Koran) are inadequate for the purpose of proving authorship by God. They do not (yet) demonstrate the working of divine power to predict events ahead of time, so as to indicate a divine origin for the book they are in. In light of such passages we cannot assume that either Allah or YHWH may have the power to do any such thing as judge, punish or reward people, unless there is demonstrable evidence of divine power to prophetically predict the deeds of specific people in specific places during a specified time-frame (like the Bible prophecy of Jeremiah given above).
More Instances
Some people have said that predictive prophecy is found in Sura 5:70, which states: "We took the covenant of the Children of Israel and sent them apostles, every time, there came to them an apostle with what they themselves desired not - some (of these) they called impostors, and some they (go so far as to) slay." --- The problem here is: there is not even a future-tense verb in this sentence. It must be considered history, however there is no prediction in it. --- This passage is very similar to Matt. 24:37, where Jesus said: "O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, you who kill the prophets and stone those sent to you, how often I have longed to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, but you were not willing." This Bible verse is also history, without prediction in it. ---Despite the clear similarities of these two verses from the Koran and the Bible, neither one of them is predictive, and thus, neither one is useful for our purposes in trying to demonstrate the presence of the power of God to predict future events, which would be evidence that the speaker is a true prophet or that book is from God.
Sura 15:9 says, "We have, without doubt, sent down the Message; and We will assuredly guard it (from corruption)." --So, here we find a promise to guard the message of the Koran. This verse is fairly similar to the declaration of Jesus in Mat. 24:35, when he said, "Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will never pass away." --Despite the admittedly predictive nature of both of these passages, neither one can yet be said to be truly and completely fulfilled, since we have not yet reached the final consummation of history, where God finally confirms the eternal nature of his word --therefore neither passage can yet be said to be fulfilled, nor can they yet be cited as demonstrating the power of God to predict the future.
Going on, Sura 41:42 (which makes a statement about the Quran similar to Sura 15:9) says: "No falsehood can approach it from before or behind it: It is sent down by One Full of Wisdom, Worthy of all Praise." This statement is also not fulfilled predictive prophecy of a specific future event, but rather it is a theological assertion --and many such similar assertions are found in the Bible as well. But then, if the issue in these two verses is said to be the preservation of the writing from any corruption, both Christians and Muslims have a good deal to say about the supposed corruption of each other's books ---therefore (for the purposes of this article) we must "call it equal" for now, and we must let the present form of both books (as found in a major modern version, such as the NIV or NAS Bible) speak for themselves. If either the Bible or the Koran are actually corrupted words of God, then they would manifest even less of God's power to be accurate and true, and a corrupt text would be less able (or unable) to predict the future. --So, let's proceed.
Sura 15:96 is a warning against adopting another god besides Allah. Of course, this warning stands to reason, assuming the Quran's Allah is truly God. However, the Bible has virtually the same sort of statements about YHWH-God ---and neither statements in the Koran nor the Bible are predictive prophecy which shows the power of God to predict the future, so, we must go on.
Sura 24:55 says that Allah has promised to bless (with land? and inheritance?) those who believe, and to establish the authority of their religion and give them security and peace. --This "prediction" might seem to be fulfilled in some sense, but it is quite general, since it does not clearly or specifically name the person(s) who will be blessed nor the specific land-mass they will inherit: Is it every Muslim? What is the specific name of the land? How soon will they have peace and security, and how long will it last? --It is because of these unclear and non-specific qualities of this "prediction" in Sura 24, that therefore, it does not qualify as predictive prophecy which is specific enough that we can confirm it from history. --The Bible has many such promises as well.
--Besides, if you are just talking about the amount of land and wealth controlled by nations where a certain religious persuasion predominates, then Christianity comes out on top.
Sura 48:27 is thought to be a prediction that the "Prophet" (Mohammed) would enter the "Sacred Mosque" (the Ka'aba) to worship... however this "prediction" is conditional, using the phrase "if Allah wills." That is a very big "if." --Whatever the result, it is "if" Allah wills.
Thus, it wouldn't matter whether Mohammed did or did not enter the Mosque to worship, one could say this is "prediction" is fulfilled either way, because that could be said to be what Allah willed. This makes it a failsafe prediction. It can't fail. It can't be proven false either way.
Therefore, Sura 48:27 is not true predictive prophecy, since it can't fail and be shown to be false.
Sura 54:44-48 may be seen as a threatened militant action by one group of people against a group of "unbelievers," which some take to be the people of Quraish. If this happened in history, however, it would not be a prophecy, but an action which humans planned to do, and then carried out. This would be a self-fulfilling prediction (or threat), and not a predictive prophecy. If we can call it predictive prophecy when militant leaders give "pep-talks" to their followers (or "threats" to their foes), then most of the US Generals, who led troops to conquer Sadam Hussein's regime in Iraq in 2003, are "prophets." But they are not. ---There are probably more such declarations in the Quran, and there are similar human statements and threats in the Bible too, but such declarations are not necessarily predictive prophecy either book, ...so, we must go on.
Similarly, Sura 110:1-2 promises help and victory from Allah. --And again, this promise may be seen as being generally fulfilled in many lives, but it is too general because it does not name specific people or nations or time-frames; and the Bible also has many such promises which could be cited... but neither in the Koran nor in the Bible do such promises qualify as specifically predictive prophecy to demonstrate that they are truly from God