Muhammad’s Failed Prophecies

8. Muhammad’s Failed Prophecies

Muhammad made multiple time-bound predictions about al-Sā’ah (the Hour / apocalypse) that have provably failed.

(Explanatory parentheses and “to you” in the sunnah.com English translation aren’t in the Arabic. Explanations about what he “meant” were also added later.)

1. As near as the index and middle finger

“I saw Allah’s Messenger (ﷺ) pointing with his index and middle fingers, saying, ‘The time of my Advent and the Hour [al-Sā’ah] are like these two fingers.’” Sahih Bukhari 4936

2. Three different boys “won’t grow old” before the Hour

Muhammad said this about three separate young boys in his lifetime.

“Anas reported that a person asked Allah’s Messenger (ﷺ) as to when the Last Hour [al-Sā’ah] would come. He had in his presence a young boy of the Ansar who was called Muhammad. Allah’s Messenger (ﷺ) said: If this young boy lives, he may not grow very old till the Last Hour [al-Sā’ah] comes.” Sahih Muslim 2953a
“Anas b. Malik reported that a person asked Allah’s Apostle (ﷺ): When would the Last Hour [al-Sā’ah] come? Thereupon Allah’s Messenger (way peace be upon him) kept quiet for a while. Then looked at a young boy in his presence belonging to the tribe of Azd Shanu’a and he said: If this boy lives he would not grow very old till the Last Hour [al-Sā’ah] would come.” Sahih Muslim 2953b
“A young boy of Mughira b. Shu’ba happened to pass by (the Holy Prophet) and he was of my age. Thereupon Allah’s Apostle (ﷺ) said: If he lives long he would not grow very old till the Last Hour [al-Sā’ah] would come” Sahih Muslim 2953c
“A bedouin came to the Prophet (ﷺ) and said, “O Allah’s Messenger (ﷺ)! When will The Hour [al-Sā’ah] be established?” ... In the meantime, a slave of Al-Mughira passed by, and he was of the same age as I was. The Prophet (ﷺ) said. “If this (slave) should live long, he will not reach the geriatric old age, but the Hour [al-Sā’ah] will be established.” Sahih Bukhari 6167

3. Within 100 years

One month before his death:

“Allah’s Messenger as saying this one month before his death: You asked me about the Last Hour [al-Sā’ah] whereas its knowledge is with Allah. I, however, take an oath and say that none upon the earth, the created beings, would survive at the end of one hundred years.” Sahih Muslim 2538a
“Do you realize (the importance of) this night? Nobody present on the surface of the earth tonight will be living after the completion of one hundred years from this night.” Sahih Bukhari 116

4. People initially understood it literally

“The people made a mistake in grasping the meaning of this statement of Allah’s Messenger (ﷺ) and they indulged in those things which are said about these narrators (i.e. some said that the Day of Resurrection will be established after 100 years etc.)” Sahih Bukhari 601

5. Dajjal (Antichrist) comes after the conquest of Constantinople

Constantinople fell to the Ottomans in 1453. The Dajjal did not come.

“the outbreak of the great war will be at the conquest of Constantinople and the conquest of Constantinople when the Dajjal (Antichrist) comes forth. He (the Prophet) struck his thigh or his shoulder with his hand and said: This is as true as you are here or as you are sitting (meaning Mu’adh ibn Jabal).” Sunan Abu Dawud 4294 Sahih Muslim 2897 Sahih Muslim 2900 Sahih Muslim 2920a Jami at-Tirmidhi 2239

The lexical kill-shot

  • The Quran uses al-Sā’ah for ONLY the literal apocalypse 30+ times. The Quran uses mawt for personal death.
  • Nowhere else in the sahih hadiths does al-Sā’ah mean personal death - except where it’s invoked specifically to rescue this exact set of failed predictions.
Quran: The Hour (al-Sā’ah) is Near
“They are waiting for nothing but for the Hour (of Doom) [al-Sā’ah] that it should come upon them suddenly. So, its signs have already come. Then, once it will come upon them, how would they have an opportunity to accept the advice (already) given to them?” Quran 47:18
“The Hour (of doom) [al-Sā’ah] has drawn near, and the moon has split asunder.” Quran 54:1
Quran Differentiates al-Sā’ah (Apocalypse, Used In These Hadiths) vs sā’ah (an hour) In One Verse
“And on the Day when the Hour (Qiyāmah : the Day of Judgement) [al-Sā’ah] will take place, the sinners will swear that they did not remain (in the graves) more than one hour [sā’ah]. In the similar way they used to be contrary (to truth in their worldly life).” Quran 30:55 Quran Corpus 30:55
Muhammad Hides Behind Palm Trees to Spy on a Boy He Suspects Is the Dajjal (Apocalyptic Antichrist)
“Umar set out along with the Prophet (ﷺ) with a group of people to Ibn Saiyad till they saw him playing with the boys near the hillocks of Bani Mughala. Ibn Saiyad at that time was nearing his puberty and did not notice (us) until the Prophet (ﷺ) stroked him with his hand and said to him, “Do you testify that I am Allah’s Messenger (ﷺ)?” Ibn Saiyad looked at him and said, “I testify that you are the Messenger of illiterates.” Then Ibn Saiyad asked the Prophet (ﷺ), “Do you testify that I am Allah’s Messenger (ﷺ)?” The Prophet (ﷺ) refuted it and said, “I believe in Allah and His Apostles.” Then he said (to Ibn Saiyad), “What do you think?” Ibn Saiyad answered, “True people and liars visit me.” The Prophet (ﷺ) said, “You have been confused as to this matter.” Then the Prophet (ﷺ) said to him, “I have kept something (in my mind) for you, (can you tell me that?)” Ibn Saiyad said, “It is Al-Dukh (the smoke).” The Prophet (ﷺ) said, “Let you be in ignominy. You cannot cross your limits.” On that Umar, said, “O Allah’s Messenger (ﷺ)! Allow me to chop his head off.” The Prophet (ﷺ) said, “If he is he (i.e. Dajjal), then you cannot overpower him, and if he is not, then there is no use of murdering him.” (Ibn Umar added): Later on Allah’s Messenger (ﷺ) once again went along with Ubai bin Ka‘b to the date-palm trees (garden) where Ibn Saiyad was staying. The Prophet (ﷺ) wanted to hear something from Ibn Saiyad before Ibn Saiyad could see him, and the Prophet (ﷺ) saw him lying covered with a sheet and from where his murmurs were heard. Ibn Saiyad’s mother saw Allah’s Apostle while he was hiding himself behind the trunks of the date-palm trees. She addressed Ibn Saiyad, “O Saf ! (and this was the name of Ibn Saiyad) Here is Muhammad.” And with that Ibn Saiyad got up. The Prophet (ﷺ) said, “Had this woman left him (Had she not disturbed him), then Ibn Saiyad would have revealed the reality of his case.”” Sahih Bukhari 1354
Muhammad Is Afraid of an Eclipse Thinking It’s the Apocalypse
“The sun eclipsed and the Prophet (ﷺ) got up, being afraid that it might be the Hour [al-Sā’ah] (i.e. Day of Judgment). He went to the Mosque and offered the prayer with the longest Qiyam, bowing and prostration that I had ever seen him doing. Then he said, “These signs which Allah sends do not occur because of the life or death of somebody, but Allah makes His worshipers afraid by them. So when you see anything thereof, proceed to remember Allah, invoke Him and ask for His forgiveness.”” Sahih Bukhari 1059
Scholar Stephen J. Shoemaker: “wrongly predicting the Hour’s appearance in the immediate future”

Islamic Studies scholar Stephen J. Shoemaker:

“Thus, the criterion of dissimilarity (that is, dissimilarity with the lived experience of the early community) speaks very highly for the antiquity if not authenticity of this perspective: although strong eschatological elements persisted in early Islam beyond Muhammad’s death, it seems rather improbable that the later tradition would insert traditions into the Qurʾān wrongly predicting the Hour’s appearance in the immediate future” Shoemaker, The Death of a Prophet, p. 166
“It is extremely difficult to account for the existence of these eschatological traditions unless Muhammad and his earliest followers actually anticipated the Hour’s appearance in the near future, an expectation that the later tradition had to explain and adjust in light of its failed arrival. In recent years, several scholars have revived Casanova’s investigation of such eschatological hadith, generally with impressive results that are supportive of his initial observations.” Shoemaker, The Death of a Prophet, p. 172
Scholar Nicolai Sinai: “necessary to concur with Stephen Shoemaker”
“Overall, passages like Q 54:1 and 47:18 make it necessary to concur with Stephen Shoemaker that the importance of imminent eschatological expectation as a likely catalyst of Muhammad’s prophetic preaching should not be downplayed (Shoemaker 2012, 121–127 and 158–171)” Sinai, Key Terms of the Qur’an, p. 422