Evidence supporting Islam's truth claim

This post will explain why Islam is true and there is really no reason to doubt it.

1. Prophecy about the Romans in the Quran

There is a Prophecy about the victory of the Romans in Surah Ar-Rum (30:1-7), which predicts that in a few years the Romans would win again despite being defeated earlier.

These are the relevant verses: (2) The Roman Empire has been defeated- (3) In a land close by; but they, (even) after (this) defeat of theirs, will soon be victorious- (4) Within 3-9 years. With Allah is the Decision, in the past and in the Future: on that Day shall the Believers rejoice- (5) With the help of Allah. He helps whom He will, and He is exalted in might, most merciful. (6) (It is) the promise of Allah. Never does Allah depart from His promise: but most men understand not. (7) They know but the outer (things) in the life of this world: but of the End of things they are heedless.

Context: This verse had been revealed around 614-615 AD during the Byzantine-Sassanid War of 602-628 AD. In 614 AD the Romans faced a terrible defeat against the Persians, it was almost impossible for them to recover at this point since they faced such a major defeat, but in 622 AD (8 years after the major defeat), they had their first major victory against the Persians, and the Prophecy had been fulfilled at that time.

The verses also mention "a few years/3-9 years" so it can't be claimed that this is ex-eventu (since if it was, it would have more details).

So, we see that the Quran predicted an extremely unlikely event accurately, being proof that Islam is the true religion.

2. Protection of Medina from plague

Allah's Messenger (ﷺ) said, "Neither Messiah (Ad-Dajjal) nor plague will enter Medina." (Bukhari)

Here the prophet Muhammad ﷺ is predicting that plague will never enter Medina. This prediction has several characteristics which make it an excellent proof for Islam:

Risky - plague outbreaks occur all the time and everywhere. Plagues even occurred in Arabia at the time of the companions (e.g. plague of Amwas). They can spread and kill massive populations (e.g. plague of Justinian, the Black Death etc). Virtually all major cities on earth at the time will have dealt with plague outbreaks So the idea that medina will go throughout its whole history without a single plague is very unlikely. What makes it even more unlikely is the fact that Muslims from all around the world visit and have visited in the millions for 1400 years. Yet there’s been no plague outbreak

Unpredictable - one can’t predict whether a city will be free from plague or not for all times

Falsifiable - if any evidence of plague entering medina ever existed or ever occurs, then the prediction will be falsified and Islam proven to be a false religion

Accurate - plague has never entered medina according to Muslim AND non-Muslim sources (references below).

From the Muslim sources:

Ibn Qutayba (d.889) (1) Al-Tha’labi (d.1038) (1) Imam Al-Nawawi (d. 1277) (2) Al-Samhudi (d.1506)

From non Muslim sources:

Richard Burton (d. 1890) writing in the middle of the nineteenth century observed, “It is still the boast of El Medinah that the Ta‘un, or plague, has never passed her frontier.” (3)

Frank G Clemow in 1903 says “Only two known cases of plague occurred in mecca in 1899, and medina is still able to boast, as it did in the time of burton’s memorable pilgrimage, that the ta’un or plague has never entered its gates..” (4)

John L. Burckhardt (d. 1817) confirmed that a plague that hit Arabia in 1815 reached Makkah as well but, he wrote, “Medina remained free from the plague.” (5)

Further mention and confirmation of what Burckhardt and Burton said can be found in Lawrence Conrad’s work (6)

Conclusion: We learn that the prophet Muhammad ﷺ predicted that plague will never enter medina. We know from both Muslim and secular sources that plague has never entered medina

The likelihood of plague never entering medina from its founding till the end is virtually zero. A false prophet or a liar would never want to make this claim because of the high likelihood he will be proven wrong and people will leave his religion

Therefore, the only logical conclusion is that the prophet Muhammad ﷺ was divinely inspired - that’s why he made such an absurd prediction and that’s why it has come true and continues to be true

Common objection: a)What avoid COVID-19? COVID-19 entered Medina

In Arabic, there is a difference between the word “ta’un” (which is translated as plague and what’s used in the Hadith) and waba (epidemic). Not every Ta’un becomes a waba and not every waba is a ta’un.

This is explained by the prophet ﷺ in another Hadith:

The prophet ﷺ said was asked “What is a plague (Tā’ūn)?” He replied: “It is a [swollen] gland like the gland of a camel which appears in the tender region of the abdomen and the armpits.” (7)

Further discussions of the difference between Ta’un and Waba are explored by Muslim scholars like Imam Al-Nawawi and Al-Tabari (1) as well as non Muslim scholars like Lawrence Conrad who agrees that early Islam considered Ta’un to be a specific disease and waba to be a general epidemic (1)

References: (1) https://www.icraa.org/hadith-and-protection-of-makkah-and-madina-from-plague/ (2) https://muftiwp.gov.my/en/artikel/irsyad-al-hadith/4629-irsyad-al-hadith-series-511-medina-is-protected-from-disease-outbreak (3) Personal Narrative of a Pilgrimage to Mecca and Medina, (Leipzig: Bernhard Tauchnitz, 1874) Vol.1, 93) https://burtoniana.org/books/1855-Narrative%20of%20a%20Pilgrimage%20to%20Mecca%20and%20Medinah/1874-ThirdEdition/vol%202%20of%203.pdf (4) Frank G. Clemow, I’m The Geography of Disease, (Cambridge: The University Press, 1903) 333 https://www.noor-book.com/en/ebook-The-geography-of-disease-pdf-1659626350) (5) Travels in Arabia, (London: Henry Colburn, 1829) Vol.2 p326-327) (https://www.gutenberg.org/cache/epub/9457/pg9457.txt Note: in reference 5, I found the quote in page 418 (6) Lawrence Conrad “Ta’un and Waba” p.287 https://www.jstor.org/stable/3632188 (7) Musnad Imām Ahmad 6/145, Al-Haythami stated in his Majma’ az-Zawā’id, 2/315, that the narrators in the chain of Ahmad are all reliable, so the narration is authentic.