How Was the Roman Empire Conquered?

Answered by Mawlana Ilyas Patel

Question

I heard a prophecy that the companions would conquer the Persian and Roman Empires. The problem is that the Prophet’s companions did not conquer the Roman empire. I know that Constantinople was conquered not by the sahaba but by a Muslim leader. I heard an Alim say that the Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace) spoke with the companions (Allah be pleased with them all) about the conquest of Rome and to be careful not to become competitive in the Dunya after that. However, I studied that Rome was not conquered; I think it collapsed due to many problems within the empire, from what I remember. Please, I need some help understanding this hadith or someone who can explain the Roman Empire to me.

Answer

In the Name of Allah, the Most Merciful and Compassionate

I pray you are in good faith and health. Thank you for your question.

The Quranic prophecy about the fall of Rome is about a certain period of the Roman Empire. You are correct that the fall of the Roman empire was due to many other factors when it declined and eventually collapsed, as mentioned below.

Fall of Rome – A Quranic Prophecy

Allah Most High said: ‘Alif-Lam-Mim. The Romans have been defeated in a nearby land. Yet, following their defeat, they will triumph within three to nine years. The ˹whole˺ matter rests with Allah before and after ˹victory˺. And on that day, the believers will rejoice at the victory willed by Allah. He gives victory to whomever He wills. For He is the Almighty, Most Merciful. This is the promise of Allah. ˹And˺ Allah never fails in His promise. But most people do not know.’  [Quran, 30:6]

The fall of Rome was a Quranic prophecy, as mentioned in the above verses of Sura Rum. Below is a commentary on it.

“It means within nine years, the Greeks shall overcome the Persians because in the Arabic lexicon and in hadith, the word mentioned in the afore-mentioned verse implies a period ranging from three to nine years.  In this verse, the Quran has made a wonderous prophecy, which is proof of its truthfulness.  The fact is that the two great empires of the time – the Persian and Roman Empires – were in conflict for a long period of time.  They remained fighting from 602 CE to 614 CE and onwards.”  Our Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace) was born in 571 CE and was bestowed with prophethood at the age of forty. News of the battle between both sides reached the Makkans now and then.

Meanwhile, the claim to prophethood by the Prophet and the establishment of the Islamic movement created a special interest for the Makkans in the news coming from the war zone. The Persian fire-worshippers had a special relationship with the Makkan idolaters, whereas the Muslims were related due to their belief in a single Supreme Being to the Romans, who were followers of the Christian religion.  Whenever the news of the victory of the Persians came, the idolaters became glad and thereby took the prophecy of their own victory over the Muslims, leading them to cherish good hopes for the future.  Muslims were naturally shocked that the Christians, who were known as the people of the book, should be overpowered by the fire-worshippers.

After the year 614 CE, when 45 Lunar years had passed by since the birth of the Prophet, of which the last five years consisted of his prophethood, Kosros II, the Persian Emperor, gave a crushing and decisive defeat to the Romans.  The Middle East, Asia Minor, etc., were by now in the hands of the Persians.  Heraclitus (the Roman leader) was forced to take refuge in Constantinople, and the Roman capital was also in danger.  Priests were either slain or made prisoners.  Caesar’s sovereignty no longer existed.  Now, it seemed that the Romans no longer had the power to free these lands from the Persian occupation.  By acknowledging these conditions, the Makkan idolaters were overjoyed, and they teased the Muslims.  They were ambitious and hopeful to such an extent that they remarked to Abu Bakr (Allah be pleased with him), “Today our Persian brothers have blotted out your Roman friends, tomorrow we shall exterminate you like them.”

This is when the Quran made a general proclamation against the external factors that, no doubt, the Persians vanquished the Romans for a while, but within nine years, they would again become triumphant.

On the basis of this prediction, Abu Bakr (Allah be pleased with him) made a bet with some of the idolaters, which was not prohibited at that time, that if the Romans did not get a victory within nine years, he would give them a hundred camels. Otherwise, they would give him a certain number of camels.  In the beginning, Abu Bakr (Allah be pleased with him) understood بضع سنین ‘bid’a sinin’ (a few more years) as three years from his own opinion.  But afterward, at the bidding of the Prophet, the covenant was made on the term of nine years, which is the real application of the word ‘بضع’.  On the other side, the Caesar of the Roman Empire was determined to regain the lost power and vowed that if he defeated the Persians, he would go to ‘Jerusalem’ by foot.  Behold the power of Allah!  According to the Quranic prediction, right within nine years, after the passing of one year of Hijrah, on the day of Badr, when the Muslims were rejoicing in the clear victory over the idolaters, by the grace of Allah, became happier with the news that Allah had made the Romans to prevail over the Persians; fire-worshippers.  In this way, the idolaters got a double blow of disgrace.

Observing this Divine revelation issued by the Quran, many people embraced Islam, and Abu Bakr (Allah be pleased with him) won a hundred camels from the idolaters, about which the Prophet ordered that they should be given in alms.

Praise be to Allah for his external bounties and manifest signs.

[Shabbir Usmani, Tafsir Usmani]

It was proved that the Quran was a revelation from Allah, as nobody else except He could have made such statements about the future so accurately. Moreover, these events indicate that victory or defeat is directly in the hands of Allah. It is according to His decision who gains and who loses power. The downfall of a nation and the rise of another nation, to all appearances, seems to be ordinary, normal, worldly events, but appearances have an inner aspect to them. Every event is caused by a number of angels of Allah, though they are not visible to ordinary human eyes. Similarly, there is an invisible aspect of the present, outward world, and it is the world of the Hereafter.

What Caused the Fall of Rome?

Corruption, the division of the empire, and the invasion by Germanic tribes were the three main causes of the fall of Rome. Some scholars believe that there were other contributing factors as well.

How Many Years did the Roman Empire last?

The Roman Empire lasted from 27 BC to 476 AD. This was 503 years. However, the founding of the city of Rome was in 753 BC. For much of its history, Rome was a republic. Therefore, Roman civilization lasted for 1,229 years.

Related Answers

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• (312) LIVE SEMINAR: The History of Faith: Islamic History for Beginners | Shaykh Faraz Rabbani – YouTube
• The Venture of Islam, Volume 1: The Classical Age of Islam – Zaytuna College Bookstore
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Wassalam,
[Mawlana] Ilyas Patel
Checked and Approved by Shaykh Faraz Rabbani

Mawlana Ilyas Patel is a traditionally-trained scholar who has studied in the UK, India, Pakistan, Syria, Jordan, and Turkey. He started his early education in the UK. He went on to complete the hifz of the Quran in India, then enrolled in an Islamic seminary in the UK, where he studied the secular and ‘Aalimiyya sciences. He then traveled to Karachi, Pakistan. He has been an Imam in Rep of Ireland for several years. He has taught hifz of the Quran, Tajwid, Fiqh, and many other Islamic sciences to children and adults onsite and online extensively in the UK and Ireland. He taught at a local Islamic seminary for 12 years in the UK, where he was a librarian and a teacher of Islamic sciences. He currently resides in the UK with his wife. His interest is a love of books and gardening.