"How can you say that there are no prophecies in the Quran?"
Greetings in the precious Name of our Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ.
Concerning the "prophecies" referred to in the Quran: There are no real prophesies in the Quran. By that we mean that there are no detailed prophecies far in advance of an event to convince one of the Divine origin of this book.
Surah 30:2-4 which you refer to speaks of the Roman Empire being defeated. This occurred well before the life of Muhammad. The Western Roman Empire had collapsed in the 5th Century, well before the birth of Muhammad, and the Eastern Empire was in serious decline at the time of Muhammad's life. The specific defeat that the Yusuf Ali translation and commentary tries to refer to in the footnotes is listed as 614AD. This is well before the Quran was put to writing which was after the death of Muhammad in 632AD.
At any rate the text of Surah 30:2 "The Roman Empire has been defeated" is very vague.
As to Surah 54:1-2, this states: "The hour of judgment is nigh and the moon is cleft asunder..." In what way can this be regarded as a fulfilled prophecy? It is vague and seems to speak of the last Day of Judgment in which case it is speaking of something still to take place in the future. If it is speaking about a judgment that has already fallen, where? when? to who? There are no specifics.
Naturally, there have been many hours of judgment upon a specific city, country or people. But Surah 54 gives absolutely no specifics, merely that an hour of judgment will come.
These so called prophesies can in no way be compared to the very specific prophesies in the Scripture concerning the destruction of the impregnable fortress of Tyre, and the destruction of Jerusalem and its temple. Or of the 300 prophesies which our Lord Jesus Christ fulfilled in such detail. The Old Testament, many hundreds of years before Christ, made clear that the Messiah would be an offspring of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, from the tribe of Judah, a descendant of King David, born in Bethlehem, born of a virgin. He would be rejected and betrayed by a friend, sold for thirty pieces of silver, His hands and His feet would be pierced. He would pray for His enemies, His side would be pierced, soldiers would cast lots for His clothes, but not a bone of His would be broken. He would be buried with the rich, but He would rise from the dead.
All of these, over 300 prophesies in total, were fulfilled in detail by our Lord Jesus Christ.
The prophesies in the Bible are numerous and most convincing. The two supposed prophecies referred to in the Quran are no prophecies at all. Therefore, it is quite correct to say the there are no prophesies in the Quran.
Do you have a copy of our book: Slavery, Terrorism & Islam - The Historical Roots and Contemporary Threat? This includes a Muslim Evangelism Workshop Manual at the back which deals with many of these issues. The Muslim Evangelism Workshop is also available in a 12 audio CD box set, with PowerPoints. These can be ordered from FF-USA ( This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. ).
May the Lord continue to be your joy and strength.
Yours for the fulfillment of the Great Commission
Dr. Peter Hammond
Africa Christian Action
PO Box 23632
Claremont
7735 Cape Town
South Africa
Tel: 021-689 4481
E-mail:
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Web: http://www.christianaction.org.za/
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