The Prophet (SAW) is reported to have said,

“Verily you shall conquer Constantinople. What a wonderful leader will her leader be, and what a wonderful army will that army be!”

[Musnad Ahmad, Al-Hakim, al-Jami’ al-Saghir]

Exactly 857 years after Hijra, Muslims, led by Sultan Muhammad Al-Fatih, defeated the Byzantine Empire and took control of Constantinople, the capital of their Empire. Muslims renamed the city Istanbul. Sultan Muhammad Al-Fatih was 21 years old at the time, and Istanbul has remained in Muslim hands ever since.

This one Hadith had inspired the Ummah for centuries. Muslims had exerted great effort and displayed great zeal to conquer Constantinople and become the person whom Muhammad (SAW) praised. Since the time of Caliph Mu’awiyah, to companions such as Khalid ibn Zayd (RA), followed by many Ottoman Caliphs and their progeny all fought with the aim of conquering Constantinople, a city which Napoleon had described as “the capital of the world”.

Prophecies such as this are abundantly found in Islam. Some of which have already transpired and proven true and others which wait to become reality. However, the question we should ask ourselves is, should we merely wait for good prophecies to materialise, or become the catalyst to ensure their fruition? Could the conquest of Constantinople have happened without the believers working for it?

The Prophet (SAW) was also reported to have said: “An age will surely come when people gather and pray in the mosques, while there is not a single believer amongst them.” [Sahih Al-Bhukari]

This is a warning from the Messenger (SAW) that whilst people will continue to attend the Masajid, they will not believe and practice Islam. The believers are not insulated from the ideologies that demand the acceptance of their practices, replacing religiosity with a cultural identity comfortable with a compromised belief. Whilst this prophecy paints a disturbing future, should we as Muslims wait for the inevitable and be doomed to our fate?

Dear Muslims, prophecies should be used to encourage the believer to achieve and fulfil the great promise and success which they mention. Similarly, prophecies which paint a future where misfortune and demise befalls the Ummah, the believers must exhaust every effort to prevent it. Whether a prophecy relates to good or bad news, the believers must not become fatalists removing any liability upon themselves for their realisation. This is not how Muhammad Al-Fatih took the Hadith that led him to conquer what is now Istanbul, nor Umar bin-Khattab (RA) when he took Jerusalem. Surely the Sahaba (RA) knew of Al-Mahdi but this did not stop them from spreading Islam and they never resigned themselves to waiting for his arrival upon facing a difficulty. May Allah (SWT) guide us and allow us to once again establish Islam and spread its light to every corner of this earth. Ameen.

The Prophet (SAW) was reported to have said, “Prophethood will remain amongst you for as long as Allah wishes. Then Allah will remove it whenever He wishes to remove it, and there will be a caliphate upon the prophetic methodology. It will last for as long as Allah wishes it to last, then Allah will remove it whenever He wishes to remove it. Then there will be an abiding dynasty, and it will remain for as long as Allah wishes it to remain. Then Allah will remove it whenever He wishes to remove it. Then there will be tyrannical (forceful) kingship, and it will remain for as long as Allah wishes it to remain. Then He will remove it whenever He wishes to remove it, and then there will be a caliphate upon the prophetic methodology.” [Ahmad]