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.

(anything in parenthesis or like "X said this meant" was added later and "to you" isn't in the original Arabic)

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 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?" The Prophet (ﷺ) said, "Wailaka (Woe to you), What have you prepared for it?" The bedouin said, "I have not prepared anything for it, except that I love Allah and H is Apostle." The Prophet (ﷺ) said, "You will be with those whom you love." We (the companions of the Prophet (ﷺ) ) said, "And will we too be so? The Prophet (ﷺ) said, "Yes." So we became very glad on that day. 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 2920a Jami at-Tirmidhi 2239

The lexical kill-shot