seekeroftruth
Well-Known Member
Quran 30:In the name of God, the Gracious, the Merciful.
1. Alif, Lam, Meem.
2. The Romans have been defeated.
3. In a nearby territory. But following their defeat, they will be victorious.
4. In a few years. The matter is up to God, in the past, and in the future. On that day, the believers will rejoice.
5. In God’s support. He supports whomever He wills. He is the Almighty, the Merciful.
6. The promise of God—God never breaks His promise, but most people do not know.
7. They know an outer aspect of the worldly life, but they are heedless of the Hereafter.
8. Do they not reflect within themselves? God did not create the heavens and the earth, and what is between them, except with reason, and for a specific duration. But most people, regarding meeting their Lord, are disbelievers.
9. Have they not travelled the earth and seen how those before them ended up? They were more powerful than them, and they cultivated the land and developed it more than they developed it, and their messengers came to them with clear signs. God would never wrong them, but they used to wrong themselves.
10. Then, evil was the end of those who committed evil. That is because they rejected God’s revelations, and used to ridicule them.
Here's the commentary.
The people of the empire called themselves Romans, and to them Greek, which was synonymous with heathen, was a term of reproach (Butler’s Arab Conquest of Egypt, footnote, p. 141).
The struggle between Persia and the Roman Empire had existed for a long time. The great struggle, in which Persia was victorious, began in 602 of the Christian era, when Chosroes II of Persia began war with Rome to avenge the death of Maurice, who was murdered by Phocas. “His armies plundered Syria and Asia Minor, and in 608 advanced to Chalcedon. In 613 and 614 Damascus and Jerusalem were taken by the General Shahabaraz, and the Holy Cross was carried away in triumph. Soon after, even Egypt was conquered. The Romans could offer but little resistance, as they were torn by internal dissensions and pressed by the Avars and Slavs” (En. Br., Art. “Chosroes II”). When the news of this conquest reached Makkah, the Quraish were jubilant, as their sympathies were with the fire-worshipping Persians more than with the Christians, who, being the followers of the scriptures, were classed by them with the Muslims. It was in the year 615 or 616 that this revelation came to the Prophet, containing two different prophecies, one about the vanquishment of the victorious Persians, who had reached the very gates of Constantinople, by the Romans, who were by this time quite exhausted, and the other about the vanquishment of the powerful Makkans by the handful of persecuted Muslims.
It is noteworthy that a time limit was also announced along with these two prophecies, during which they would be brought to fulfilment. The word bi˙‘ occurring in the beginning of the next verse means from three to nine years, both inclusive, according to the best authorities (LL). It was exactly within nine years, in the year 624 of the Christian era, that the tables were turned against the powerful Persian Empire, the same being the year in which the mighty Quraish suffered a defeat at the hands of the helpless Muslims at Badr.
“In 624 he (Heraclius) advanced into northern Media, where he destroyed the great fire-temple of Goudzak” (En. Br., Art. “Chosroes II”). In the same year, 313 Muslims, many of whom were raw, inexperienced youths without any arms, routed a strong force of about a thousand of the Quraish warriors, killing all the leaders and dealing a deathblow to the power of the enemy. The successes of the Muslim army, on the one hand, and of the Romans, on the other, continued until the Quraish were utterly crushed by the conquest of Makkah in 630, while “the Persian Empire, from the apparent greatness which it had reached ten years ago, sank into hopeless anarchy” (En. Br.).
Rodwell tries to mitigate the force of the prophecy by saying that the vowel-points were given later, and therefore the prophecy could be read either way, i.e., either as translated above, “And they, after their defeat, will gain victory”, or reading sa-yughlab∂n, “And they, after their defeat, will be defeated”. In fact, thus read the statement is quite meaningless, because there is no sense at all in saying that they will be defeated after their defeat. The addition, however, of the words on that day the believers will rejoice makes it quite certain that the word is yaghlib∂n — they will gain victory — as it was the victory of the Romans which could make the believers rejoice. There is no doubt that actual ignorance of the manner in which the revelation of the Qur’ån was propagated is the only excuse one can offer for such an absurd suggestion. Every portion revealed was committed to memory by large numbers and was repeated over and over in prayers in congregation, and the vowel-points could not be left undecided. Moreover, there is clear evidence that when this verse was revealed, Ab∂ Bakr asserted in a public assembly that the Romans would defeat their enemies within three years, and Ubayy ibn Khalf, an unbeliever, denied this, and ten camels were betted on the issue. This coming to the Holy Prophet’s knowledge, he told Ab∂ Bakr that the time-limit of three years was not correct, for bi˙‘ signified from three to nine years. The time-limit was accordingly extended and the bet raised to a hundred camels (IJ). This further shows how sure were the companions and the Holy Prophet himself of the fulfilment of the prophecy. Betting, of course, was disallowed long afterwards in Madßnah.
The help of Allåh is the help that was over and over again promised to the believers against the idolatrous Makkans. Thus we have here a clear prophecy of the victory of the Muslims over the Makkans within nine years from the pronouncement of the prophecy. It was fulfilled in the battle of Badr.
The digging of the earth includes its ploughing for cultivation, its digging for minerals and the making of aqueducts, as also the laying of the foundations of buildings.
I saw a neighbor of mine yesterday. I was on the way back from the mail box and she actually flagged me down. I warned her that I am in quarantine [COVID is going through my neighborhood now] so we had this conversation a good 10 feet apart. I'm pretty sure the other neighbors could hear us too.
I know this woman to be a good Christian woman who lives by the Bible she reads. Yep... I think she's a Baptist. She's brave enough to read the Bible and let God interpret it for her. She knows I am reading the Quran but she doesn't know I am a Christian. So she's trying to get time for us to "have a talk". I think she wants to convert me.... anyway.....
I told her I'm 29 chapters into the book and so far it goes right along with what the Bible teaches.... only it has some insight into the "other side" of the family.... Ishmael's and Esau's side of the family. I told her... "Same God.... Same Characters.... different view point".
So we're still going to have the meeting. I'll let you know how it comes out.
My point is ..... this is the Romans fighting the Persians.... just like in the Bible..... in the 600's when the Muslim faith was just starting.
This is about the Romans.
