Here are the main controversial points we discussed about Surah Ar-Rum (30:2-5). Please explain your view with references:
Does the verse clearly indicate 'ultimate/final victory' (complete conquest of Persia) or only an initial reversal/turning point? The Arabic uses 'sayaghlībūn' (they will overcome) without qualifiers like 'mubīn' (clear/manifest) or 'tām' (complete), unlike other verses (e.g., Surah Al-Fath 48:1 'fath mubīn'). Classical tafsir (Ibn Kathir, Ma'ariful Quran) treats it as a limited reversal, not ultimate.
Is 'fī bid‘i sinīn' (in a few years) strictly limited to 3–9/10 years according to Arabic grammar and usage? (Lisān al-‘Arab by Ibn Manẓūr, Tirmidhi 3193-3194 where the Prophet limits it to 'dūn al-‘ashr' – below ten). Or can it be flexible to include 13–14 years up to 628 CE (Hudaybiyyah year)? Some scholars (e.g., Ibn Taymiyyah in his fatwa) prefer Hudaybiyyah, but majority classical sources (Ibn Kathir, Qurtubi, Maududi in Tafhim) insist on the strict range and favor 624 CE.
Does 'yawma'idhin' (that day/on that day) refer exactly to the day of Badr victory (17 Ramadan 2 AH / March 13, 624 CE) when the news of Roman victory arrived, causing believers to rejoice? (Explicit in Tirmidhi 3193-3194: 'On the day of Badr, the Romans gained victory over the Persians, so the believers rejoiced'). Or does it point to the completion of victory in 628 CE?
How could the news of the Roman victory reach Madinah on the exact day of the event when the distance from Constantinople or the battlefields (Anatolia/Mesopotamia) to Madinah is ~2000–2500 km? Travel in the 7th century took weeks/months by camel or caravan. Does 'yawma'idhin' mean the day the news arrived in Madinah, not the day the battle happened? (Consensus in classical tafsir: it refers to the arrival of the news, coinciding with Badr).
Contemporary Arabs (both Muslims and mushriks) accepted the prophecy as fulfilled. Abu Bakr won the bet against the mushriks (who paid camels after the Roman reversal), and no contemporary critic claimed 'timeline error' (Tirmidhi 3193-3194, Ibn Kathir). Why do some modern English-speaking critics claim a 'timeline error' 1400 years later, focusing only on the final victory in 628 CE while ignoring early acceptance, linguistic context, and the majority scholarly view that fulfillment occurred in 624 CE (Badr year)?
Please share your thoughts with references to tafsir, hadith, or linguistics."
Asked by Forhad Islam
(1 rep)
Feb 14, 2026, 10:28 AM