The unthinkable defeat of the Romans and their revenge afterwards was successfully predicted in the Quran 30:2-4.
Following their defeat, the battle that brought the Romans in the dominant position against the Persians took place in 627 CE. But this is not what the Quran speaks of; the Quran speaks of the Romans turning the tide in their favor following their defeat in 614CE. This event occured in 622 with the major defeat of the Persians in Cappadocia. This seemed impossible to everyone including the Romans to the point that prior to the battle, they sought out unconditional peace treaties with the Persians which the latter rejected.
The verses give a timeframe of 3 to 9 years, as understood from the word bidaa, for that decisive comeback. The location is placed in the area of interest of the Romans, in the closest land in relation to the Arabs. Prior to the revelation of this Meccan passage, the Arab pagans used to taunt the believers, telling them that the Persian polytheists' dominance over the Roman Christians indicated that their religion was superior to the religions based on books and that claimed coming from the supreme Creator. At the time, the Muslims sided with the Romans as they had still not engaged with the people of the book and were expecting they would wholeheartedly enter the fold of Islam once the message reaches them 2:75.
Upon the prophecy's revelation, the pagans who sided with the Persians pressed Abu Bakr for a precise time for the fulfillement of the prophecy. He placed it at 5 years but following his failed prediction and sharing it with the prophet, he was censored
“Why were you not more cautious Abu Bakr? For indeed Al-Bid’ refers to what is from three to nine”.
Neither the prophet, nor any other Muslim knew the exact year the event would occur. The precise occurrence within that narrow time frame is not in the hands of any entity in the heavens and the earth. It is within Allah's knowledge and power alone
"Within a few years. Allah's is the command before and after".
The prophet knew only what Allah conveyed to him, and in that regard the prophecy was fulfilled.
Even if, as a side note, one would take the variant reading (rejected as unreliable) "ghalabat/they were victorious" and "sa-yughlabuna/they will be defeated", in reference to Roman victory (627-8) followed by their defeat 3-9 years later then it still means it was correct. In 635 Khalid ibn Al-Walid led Muslim troops into Syria and captured Damascus. Interestingly, the same Atiyah who related that variant reading reported that the prophecy was revealed after the second battle of Badr (626). This still places the Roman defeat within the 3-9 timeframe.
Another interesting aspect of the prophecy is that it links its occurrence 9 years later with the believers rejoicing 30:5"With the nusra/help of Allah". By the time of the Roman victory, Muslims had interacted with the people of the book in Medina and had seen, from their hostility towards the community and the religion itself, that the majority trend among them would be to reject Islam. One could not therefore speak of the believers rejoicing at that Christian victory. But the believers did certainly rejoice when "the nusra/help of Allah" came at the victory of Badr 3:123 which coincides with the day the Romans turned the tide against the Persians, 9 years after the prophecy was made.
Finally and as always in the Quran, statements are not made haphazardly. The prophecy of rise and fall of empires comes in the context of providing evidence for the ephemerity of worldly success when the judgement of Allah is decreed. It is a law none can escape, especially not the Quraysh who were being warned through a prophet in their midst
30:9-10"Have they not travelled in the earth and seen how was the end of those before them? They were stronger than these in prowess, and dug up the earth, and built on it in greater abundance than these have built on it, and there came to them their apostles with clear arguments; so it was not beseeming for Allah that He should deal with them unjustly, but they dealt unjustly with their own souls. Then evil was the end of those who did evil, because they rejected the communications of Allah and used to mock them".
In terms of successful prophecies, one might also mention the prophet's victorious return to Mecca following his exile at a time when none could have imagined for such an outcome to materialize 28:85,48:27. The Quran contains many such early predictions of overall triumph and establishment of Islam 24:55, uttered while the Muslims were in a state of weakness, a rhetoric which antagonized further his people against him, further reducing the chances of these prophecies coming true. The Quran repeatedly assures its listeners of that outcome, no matter the intensity and will to extinguish its light.
Nothing indicated the success of Islam at the time those statements were made, not when the Muslims suffered a combined assault from the hostile elements within Arabia, much less when the Islamic territories drew closer to the 2 adjacent superpowers of the time -the Byzantine and Persian empires- 9:32-3,48:28,61:8-9. Yet soon after, Islam reigned supreme, from the Atlantic Ocean to India. This confirmed the repeated prophecy regarding the universality of Islam, made in the earliest Meccan revelations, at a time where none would have entertained the thought of it coming true
83:27,68:52"it is but a reminder to all mankind".
The prophet is assured of divine protection in the process, and urged to continue transmitting the antagonizing message in the midst of the turmoil 5:70.
In what seems to be referring to the future event where the believers will be standing in ranks (either in prayer or in war, but in all cases, the word implies a high number), repelling evil (of oppression and sin) and reciting the Reminder, the Quran makes a forceful prophetic statement of victory which is in itself testimony to the gist of the Quranic message; divine unity 37:1-4. This prophetic oath is later reinforced in the same sura, as well as in many other Quranic passages, when referring to God's promise of divine assistance to His messengers and their followers, opposite the destruction of their enemies and rejecters, placing Muhammad inside a well-known established pattern in the prophetic history 6:33-4,37:171-182,54:9-45etc. It is important noting that the prophet, whether in Mecca or Medina, lived a simple, ascetic lifestyle. He would walk outside his home alone, day and night, spend hours in prayers while everyone was asleep, receive guests indiscriminately and anytime. When he entered Medina, inviting the people of the book to Islam, and that they not only rejected but began plotting with his enemies to dispose of him, God almighty promised to protect him against them 2:137. At that point the Jews particularly enjoyed a position of political and economic power, nothing prevented them from assassinating the prophet as they did with countless prophets in the past, especially given his exposed lifestyle. But the Quran points them out specifically as being powerless in doing so 3:111.
The Quran also predicted the severe divine chastisement of the Jewish nation in a similar manner as was twice done in antiquity 17:4-7. Although abasement and defeat did come upon them in response to their threats and aggressions during the rise of Islam, such divinely decreed punishment was far lower in scope and scale than what occurred to them twice before. The reference in the Quran could thus only be to their near-decimation during the 2nd world war. In addition, an ominous statement is made that destruction will remain hanging above them until the Day of Resurrection 7:167. This severe decree does not contravene God's attribute of forgiveness, since both His punishment and mercy are contingent on the people's behaviour
"And when your Lord proclaimed that He would surely send against them, until the day of Resurrection, those who would inflict on them a terrible punishment. Indeed your Lord is swift in retribution, and indeed He is all forgiving, ever merciful"
Further reading answering Sam Shamoun "The Prophecy that Exposed Muhammad as a Fraud"
