Page 72 - Tafsir of surat at tawba repentance

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The Romans have been defeated in the nearest land; and after their
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defeat they will conquer, within a few years.”

The Arabic word bid‘ is more precise than the English word “few.” Bid‘ is used
for a number between three and ten. The Persians dealt the Romans a crushing
defeat in the year 616 CE, taking away Greater Syria and Egypt from them and
eventually besieging them in their capital of Constantinople. In 622 CE, the
Byzantines won a decisive victory against the Persians at the battle of Issus,
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which allowed them to regain all the lands they had lost.
The Qur’aan also accurately predicted that the Muslims would be able to
enter Makkah peacefully in order to make
‘umrah, the Lesser Pilgrimage. 56 The prediction came in the middle of a long
bitter war between the Muslims and the idol worshippers who ruled Makkah. It
also promised the Muslims that if they fulfilled the conditions of complete faith
and good deeds that Allaah would deputize them to rule the world and would
establish their religion and replace the fear they were currently living in with
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security. That is precisely what happened.

Descriptions of Natural Phenomena

The Qur’aan calls the reader’s attention to numerous natural phenomena
that are indicators of Allaah’s power, wisdom, mercy, etc. As humanity’s
understanding of the workings of the natural has increased, the miraculous nature
of these Qur’aanic descriptions has become manifest. This is not the forum for a
detailed discussion of this issue, but a few examples are mentioned by way of
illustration.

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Soorah ar-Room (30):2-4
55
See The Holy Qur-an: English Translation of the Meanings and Commentary, pp. 1202-3.
56
Soorah al-Fat-h (48):27.
57
Soorah an-Noor (24):55.

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