Another miraculous aspect of the Holy Quran is that it foretold many important events that would occur in the future. The following are some examples of such foretold events that proved to be true with time. Such accurate prophecies of the future also prove that the Holy Quran is the true word of Allah SWT. 

 Victory of Romans over Persians

The Holy Quran made the following prediction regarding the victory of the Roman Empire after its defeat by the Persian Empire. No one at that time expected the victory of the Romans over the Persians due to their crushing defeat at the hands of the Persians. But the Holy Quran predicted the contrary, and it came true with time. The prediction made in these verses is one of the most outstanding evidence of the Holy Quran's being the Word of Allah SWT and the Prophet Muhammad PBUH being a true Messenger of Allah SWT.

Following is the background of this great, unexpected event. Byzantine (Roman) Emperor Maurice was overthrown by Phocus, who captured the throne and became the emperor. Phocus got the Emperor's five sons executed in front of him and then got the Emperor killed as well. A few days after this, the empress, along with three daughters, were also sentenced to death. The event provided Khusrau Parvez, the Sassanid emperor of Iran, a valid excuse to attack Byzantium (Roman Empire), as Emperor Maurice had been his benefactor in the past. Therefore, Khusrau Parvez declared that he would avenge his benefactor upon Phocus. Thus, the war started in 603 A.D.

Within a few years, putting the Phocus armies to rout in succession, Khusrau Parvez reached Edessa (modern, Urfa) in Asia Minor on the one hand, and Aleppo and Antioch in Syria, on the other. When the Byzantine ministers saw that Phocus could not save the country, they sought the African governor's help, who sent his son, Heraclius, to Constantinople with a strong fleet. Thus, Phocus was immediately deposed, and Heraclius was made the emperor of Rome. Heraclius treated Phocus as he had treated Maurice. This happened in 610 A.D., the year the Prophet Muhammad PBUH was appointed to Prophethood. The moral excuse for which Khusrau Parvez had started the war was no longer valid. But Khusrau Parvez continued the war and gave it the color of a crusade between Zoroastrianism and Christianity. The sympathies of the Christian sects, which had been excommunicated by the Roman ecclesiastical authority and tyrannized for years, were with the Zoroastrian invaders, and the Jews also joined hands with them; so much so that the number of the Jews who enlisted in Khusrau's army rose to 26,000.

Roman Emperor Heraclius could not stop this storm. Iranians succeeded in occupying Antioch, followed by the fall of Damascus in 613 A.D. In 614 A.D., the Iranians occupying Jerusalem played havoc with the Christian world. Ninety thousand Christians were massacred, and the Holy Sepulcher was desecrated. The Original Cross on which, according to the Christian belief, Jesus had died was seized and carried to Mada'in. The chief priest Zacharia was taken prisoner, and all the important churches of the city were destroyed. Khusrau Parvez very arrogantly wrote to Heraclius from Jerusalem, "From Khusrau, the greatest of all gods, the master of the whole world: To Heraclius, his most wretched and most stupid servant: You say that you have trust in your Lord. Why didn't then your Lord save Jerusalem from me?"

Within a year after this victory, the Iranian armies conquered Jordan, Palestine, and the whole of the Sinai Peninsula, and reached the frontiers of Egypt. Meanwhile, another conflict of a far greater historical consequence was going on in Makkah. The believers in One God, under the leadership of the Prophet Muhammad PBUH, were struggling for their existence against the pagans under the command of the chiefs of the Quraish tribe. A substantial number of the Muslims had to leave their homes and take refuge in the Christian kingdom of Habash, which was an ally of the Byzantine Empire. In those days, the Sassanid victories against Byzantium were the talk of the town, and the pagans of Makkah were delighted and were taunting the Muslims: "Look, the fire worshipers of Iran are winning victories, and the Christian, believers in revelation and prophethood are being routed everywhere. Likewise, we, the idol worshipers of Arabia, will exterminate you and your religion."

These were the conditions when these verses of the Holy Quran were revealed. These verses contained not one but two predictions. First, the Romans shall be victorious; and second, the Muslims shall also win a victory at the same time. There was not even a remote chance of the fulfillment of either prediction in the next few years. On one hand, there were a handful of Muslims, who were being beaten and tortured in Makkah, and even eight years after this prediction, there appeared no chance of their victory and domination. On the other hand, the Romans were losing more and more ground every day. By 619 A.D., the whole of Egypt had passed into Sassanid hands, and the Magian armies had reached as far as Tripoli. In Asia Minor, they beat and pushed back the Romans to the Bosporus, and in 617 A.D., they captured Chalcedon (modern, Kadikoy) just opposite Constantinople. The emperor sent an envoy to Khusrau, begging that he was ready to have peace on any terms, but he replied, "I shall not give protection to the emperor until he is brought in chains before me and gives up obedience to his crucified god and adopts submission to the fire god." At last, the Roman emperor Hercules became so depressed by the defeat that he decided to leave Constantinople and shift to Carthage (modern, Tunis).

In short, as the British historian Gibbon says, even seven to eight years after this prediction of the Holy Quran, the conditions were such that no one could even imagine that the Byzantine Empire would ever gain an upper hand over Iran. Not to speak of gaining domination, no one could hope that the Empire, under the circumstances, would even survive. However, ultimately the Holy Quran’s prediction started to actualize with time and things started to change in a positive direction.

In 622 A.D. as the Holy Prophet migrated to Madinah, the Emperor Heraclius set off quietly for Trabzon from Constantinople via the Black Sea and started preparations to attack Iran from the rear. Upon his request, Pope Sergius lent him the Church collections on interest, in a bid to save Christianity from Zoroastrianism. Heraclius started his counter-attack in 623 A.D. from Armenia. Next year, in 624 A.D., he entered Azerbaijan and destroyed Clorumia, the birthplace of Zoroaster, and ravaged the principal fire temple of Iran. Great are the powers of Allah SWT. This was the same year the Muslims achieved a decisive victory at Badr for the first time against the pagans of Makkah. Thus, both the predictions made in these verses were fulfilled simultaneously within the stipulated period of ten years.

The Byzantine forces continued to press the Iranians, and in the decisive battle at Nineveh (627 A.D.), they dealt them the hardest blow. They captured the royal residence of Dastagerd and then, pressing forward, reached opposite Ctesiphon, the capital of Iran. In 628 A.D. in an internal revolt, Khusrau Parvez was imprisoned, and 18 of his sons were executed in front of him. A few days later, he died in prison. This was the year when the peace treaty of Hudaibiya was concluded by Prophet Muhammad PBUH, which the Quran has termed as "the supreme victory". In the same year, Khusrau's son, Qubad II, gave up all the occupied Roman territories, restored the True Cross, and made peace with Byzantium. In 628 A.D., the Emperor himself went to Jerusalem to install the "Holy Cross" in its place, and in the same year, the Holy Prophet entered Makkah for the first time after the Hijrah to perform the `Umra-tul-Qada'.

After looking at these events, no one could even slightly doubt the true prophecy of the Holy Quran. Consequently, most of the Arab polytheists accepted Islam.  This was an amazing prophecy of the Holy Quran regarding the victory of the Romans and Muslims, which was made at a time when no one even remotely expected it. But the word of God came true, and everything happened as per the predictions made by the Holy Quran. Isn’t it amazing? Such large-scale predictions came true, including the fate of the two superpowers of that time. Allah SWT is truly one Almighty God, the possessor of all knowledge and power.

Abu Lahab

Abu Lahab was the son of Abdul Muttalib and the uncle of Prophet Muhammad PBUH. His real name was 'Abd al-'Uzza, and he was called Abu Lahab on account of his glowing, ruddy complexion. In Arabia, an uncle represented the father, especially when the nephew (Prophet Muhammad PBUH) was an orphan. Despite this, he and his wife became the worst enemies of Prophet Muhammad PBUH and Islam. Thus, a complete Surah (Lahab) with the following verses of the Holy Quran was revealed about his fate:

Surah Lahab is considered a miracle of the Holy Quran as it correctly predicted the fate of Abu Lahab and his wife as enduring punishment in the afterlife. This prophecy is said to have come true, as they both died as disbelievers. At the time of the revelation of this Surah, many people of Makkah were the worst enemies of Islam. Many of these enemies later became staunch believers like Umer RAA, Khalid bin Waleed RAA, and Abu Sufyan RAA. Abu Lahab could also have converted, being the uncle of Prophet Muhammad PBUH as his probability of accepting Islam was very high. Therefore, making such a prediction about him in the early days of Makkah was extremely risky.

If Prophet Muhammad PBUH had fabricated the Holy Quran, Abu Lahab could have easily converted to Islam to disprove the prophecy. But the author of the Holy Quran is Allah SWT Who knew that this would never happen. Thus, Surah Lahab is a sign of God showing the truth of Islam and the true prophethood of Muhammad PBUH.

The preserved body of Pharoah

Firaun or Pharaoh (Ramesses II) is a very significant historical character present at the time of Prophet Musa AS (Moses). He was a powerful tyrant and one of the most evil men to have ever existed in human history. He was the ruler of Egypt when Prophet Musa AS (Moses) was bestowed the prophethood. He savagely opposed the prophet and his followers. Even the most clear signs that Prophet Musa AS was sent with were not enough to alter his belief in self-claimed divinity. The Holy Quran talks about him in detail in various chapters. When talking about his end, Allah SWT tells us that although he drowned along with his army, his body was preserved by Him (Allah SWT) as a sign and lesson for generations to come.  His mummy was discovered in 1881 and is considered to be one of the most well-preserved mummies ever found. However, after nearly 100 years of its discovery, in 1976, the mummified body of Ramesses II was suddenly required to be transported to France as it was getting affected by some external fungus which needed immediate treatment to avoid complete decay.

The French surgeon Dr. Maurice Bucaille was the scientist in charge of the study on the mummy of Ramesses II. It was he who discovered the traces of sea salt in the body of Ramesses II. It was commonly known that salt was a major ingredient in the process of mummification, but that was Natron salt, which is completely different from sea salt. Therefore, it was a very clear indication that Ramesses II died by drowning in the sea, but his body was soon recovered and mummified after his demise. The question that came into Dr. Bucaille’s mind was how the body of Ramesses II remained so undamaged compared to the other mummies, although his body was recovered from the sea. At that time, he did not know about the following verses of the Holy Quran discussing Pharaoh’s death and preservation of his body:

These verses of the Holy Quran clearly state that the body of Pharaoh will be saved, and it will serve as a sign for people of the future. And this actually happened. No one knew about the preserved body of Pharaoh at the time of the revelation of the Holy Quran, as the mummy was discovered many centuries later in 1881.  Islamic scholars before this discovery were not able to explain these verses of the Holy Quran, as no one knew the reality. But this happened as per God’s will. And since the Holy Quran is the true word of God, this was bound to happen.

Ultimately Dr. Maurice Bucaille was informed about these verses of the Holy Quran. He was highly astonished that although this incident of Pharaoh’s death was mentioned in the Bible and the Torah, nothing was mentioned about Pharaoh’s body being recovered and preserved. Thus, these verses from the Holy Quran in particular eventually made Dr Maurice Bucaille accept Islam. He became Muslim after researching the verses of the Holy Quran and wrote an entire book named “The Bible, The Quran and Science” in 1976.