Victory of the Byzantine Empire and Prophecy of the Holy Prophet(sa)

It was mentioned in Volume I of this book, that in those days the kingdoms of Byzantium and Persia were at war, and naturally the sentiments of the Makkans were with the Persians who were polytheist like themselves. The Holy Prophet(sa) was still residing in Makkah when he received revelation from God and prophesied that in this war although the Byzantines would have to face defeat in the beginning, but ultimately they would triumph over the Persians and in a period of three to nine years, the Byzantines would prevail. This prophecy was made at a time when the Persian armies continued overpowering Byzantium and much of its territory had been snatched by Persia. Apparently, it seemed as if there was no hope for Byzantium. Upon witnessing this state, the disbelievers of Makkah were very pleased and when the Holy Prophet(sa) made this prophecy, they would assert that it would never happen that Byzantium would now be able to attain dominance. Hence, motivated by them, Ḥaḍrat Abū Bakr(ra) also placed a wager on it.1 However, the mistake committed by Ḥaḍrat Abū Bakr(ra) was that he agreed with the disbelievers of Makkah and limited a period of three to nine years, which was the term mentioned by the Holy Qur’ān, to merely six years. In this manner, the Quraish received a false opportunity to rejoice. Afterwards, however, the Holy Prophet(sa) made the rectification that no one had the right to limit a term set by God and that the full term was nine years; therefore, everyone should wait until this time for the prophecy to be fulfilled. Hence, nine years had not passed when the war took a sudden turn and hitting Persia with defeat upon defeat, Byzantium seized all of its lost territory, and the war concluded with a Byzantium victory. These were the same days when the Companions defeated the Quraish of Makkah, in the field of Badr. In other words at this time, the Muslims were met with two joys, while the Quraish of Makkah were confronted with two misfortunes.2 In various narrations it has been related that the Byzantines acquired this victory in the era of the Treaty of Ḥudaibiyyah. However, these narrations are not contradictory, because in actuality, the era of the Byzantine victory covered a period spanning from the battle of Badr to the Treaty of Ḥudaibiyyah.