THE WORD OF GOD

THE WORD OF GOD From The Scriptures T HE Quran is the book of God. It has been preserved in its entirety since its revelation to the Prophet of Islam between 610 and 632 A.D. It is a book that brings glad tidings to mankind, along with divine admonition, and stresses the importance of man’s discovery of the Truth on a spiritual and intellectual level. Translated from Arabic and commentary by Maulana Wahiduddin Khan In the name of God, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful. Alif Lam Mim. The Romans have been defeated in a nearby land. They will reverse their defeat with a victory within a few years: [for] with God rests all power of decision, first and last. On that day the believers too will have cause to rejoice, with the help of God. He helps whom He pleases: He is the Mighty, and the Merciful. (30: 1-5) Two great empires—the Christian Roman Empire and the Zoroastrian Persian Empire thrived when Islam emerged. There were constant clashes between these two. Iran (Persia) attacked the Roman Empire in 603 AD, taking advantage of certain weaknesses in the latter. The Romans suffered severe defeat and by 616 AD, a large part of the Roman Empire, including Jerusalem, had been captured by the Iranians. The Prophet received the prophethood in the year 610 AD, and began his task of explaining the oneness of God in Makkah. This led to the struggle between monotheism and polytheism. The Quran predicted that within ten years, the Romans would regain supremacy over the Iranians. Roman historians say that immediately thereafter the vanquished R o m a n King, Heraclius, underwent a mysterious change, that in 623 AD, he led a retaliatory attack on Iran. By 627 AD, he recovered all his occupied territories from the Iranians. This proved that the Quran was a revelation from God. None except God could have made such accurate predictions about the future . These events indicate that victory or defeat are in the hands of God. The downfall of a nation and the rise of another, to all appearances, seem to be ordinary events, but appearances have a deeper significance.