Surah Ar-Rum and the Byzantine-Persian War: A Prophecy Fulfilled on the Day of Badr

One of the most remarkable features of the Battle of Badr is that on the very same day, in the same twenty-four-hour period, thousands of miles away, an entirely separate world-historical event was taking place that the Quran had predicted years earlier.

Background: Sūrat ar-Rūm

Approximately in the sixth or seventh year of the Prophet's Da'wah, still deep in the Makkan period, years before Badr, the Byzantine Roman Empire had suffered a devastating defeat at the hands of the Sasanid Persian Empire. The Persians under Khosrow II (Kisrā) were on an ascendant trajectory: military victories, expanding territory, growing power. The Romans were collapsing.

Allah revealed the opening verses of Sūrat ar-Rūm:

'Alif Lām Mīm. Ghulibati-r-Rūm. Fī adnā-l-arḍi wa hum mim baʿdi ghalabihim sayaghlibūn. Fī biḍʿi sinīn. Lillāhi-l-amru min qablu wa mim baʿd. Wa yawma'idhin yafraḥu-l-muʾminūna bi naṣrillāh.'

'Alif Lām Mīm. The Romans have been defeated in the nearer land. But after their defeat, they will be victorious within a few years. To Allah belongs the command before and after. And on that day the believers will rejoice with the victory of Allah.'

This contained two specific predictions:

First: the Romans (who were losing) would defeat the Persians (who were winning), an extraordinary reversal of the then-current trajectory, within 'biḍʿi sinīn' (a few years; Arabic: three to nine years).

Second, and this is what makes Badr miraculous, on the very day the Romans won, the Muslims would also be rejoicing 'bi naṣrillāh' (with the victory of Allah). Two separate victories, on the same day, linked by divine decree.

Ubayy ibn Khalaf's Wager

When this Surah was revealed, Ubayy ibn Khalaf, one of the fiercest enemies of the Prophet ﷺ, approached Abū Bakr and mocked it: 'Do you really believe the Romans are going to defeat the Persians? After that vicious defeat? After everything the Persians have accomplished?' Abū Bakr said: 'Yes, of course.' Ubayy proposed a wager: let us bet on the outcome. (Note: this was in the Makkan period before gambling was prohibited in Islam; additionally, this was not a bet on inside knowledge, neither party had certainty about the outcome.)

Ubayy pressed: 'How many years does 'biḍʿi sinīn' mean?' Abū Bakr took the middle of the three-to-nine range and said: 'Six years.' They agreed on a wager of several camels. Six years passed. The Romans had not yet won. Abū Bakr paid up the camels.

But the Romans then won, approximately 8.5 years after the Surah was revealed. It is reported in a weak narration that the Prophet ﷺ said: 'Why did you say six years? Biḍʿi can mean up to nine.' Dr. Qadhi acknowledges this narration is likely weak but notes that linguistically it is accurate, 'biḍʿi' in Arabic covers three to nine. Abū Bakr had chosen the middle; the fulfillment came toward the upper end.

The Coincidence of Badr

Western historical records, independently of Islamic sources, confirm that on the exact same day as the Battle of Badr (17 Ramaḍān 2 AH / March 624 CE), the Emperor Heraclius launched a major offensive against Khosrow II in what is modern Iran. On that specific day, two of Khosrow's senior generals defected with their entire flanks, and a family member had plotted against him internally. His military was effectively cut apart from within. Khosrow suffered a resounding defeat on the very same day the Muslims at Badr were being described by Abū Sufyān as being helped by white-faced men on black-and-white horses between the heavens and earth.

The news of the Roman-Persian battle took weeks to travel to Arabia. By the time it arrived, the wager was already settled against Abū Bakr, and Ubayy ibn Khalaf was already dead (he died later at the Battle of Uḥud). But the Quranic prophecy had been vindicated:

On the day the Muslims rejoiced at the victory of Badr, 'yafraḥu-l-muʾminūn bi naṣrillāh', the Romans too were being given their victory against the Persians.

Dr. Qadhi draws a further point: those who doubt the preservation of the Seerah or the Hadith often have no good answer to the fact that the dates and events of Islamic history align precisely with what non-Muslim historical records show for world events during the same periods. The coincidence of Badr and Heraclius's victory is not a Muslim fabrication, it is verifiable from Byzantine and Persian sources. The Quran predicted it years before either event took place.