This Is Islam Uncovered

The Failed Prophecy: Did Muhammad Predict the End of the World Within a Generation?

Introduction

A key test of a prophet’s authenticity is whether their prophecies come true. In the Bible, for instance, Deuteronomy 18:22 explicitly states:

“If what a prophet proclaims in the name of the LORD does not take place or come true, that is a message the LORD has not spoken.”

So what do we do when Muhammad himself prophesied that the end of the world would occur within a generation—and it clearly didn’t?

One of the most direct and problematic statements comes from Sahih Muslim 2953a, a hadith considered authentic (sahih) by Muslim standards. Let’s look at what it says, analyze its implications, and ask the obvious: If this prophecy failed, what does that say about Muhammad's claim to prophethood?

1. The Hadith in Question: Sahih Muslim 2953a

Narrated by Anas bin Malik:
“A man asked the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ): When will the Hour be? He said: ‘What have you prepared for it?’ The man said: ‘Nothing, except that I love Allah and His Messenger.’ He said: ‘You will be with those whom you love.’
Then the narration continues: “…And I am telling you this hadith while that man was among us. And then he died, and we were not buried until we thought that the Hour would occur before we died.”

This last sentence is critical. The companions—who lived with Muhammad and heard this firsthand—believed the Final Hour (Doomsday) would occur in their lifetimes. They didn't infer this randomly—it was based on what Muhammad said.

And this isn't an isolated statement. The same general expectation is echoed in Sahih Bukhari, Sunan Abi Dawood, and multiple other reports where the Prophet speaks as though the end is imminent, within the lives of his hearers.

2. Supporting Hadiths: A Pattern Emerges

Here are a few more:

🔹 Sahih Bukhari 4936 —

“The Hour and I have been sent like these two,” and he pointed with his fingers (showing closeness).

🔹 Sahih Muslim 2537b —

“If this young boy lives, he may not grow very old before the Hour will come.”

🔹 Sunan Ibn Majah 4056 —

“The Hour will not come until my companions die, then the next generation, and then the next…”

The cumulative impression from these narrations is that Muhammad expected—or led others to expect—that the apocalypse was close at hand, and perhaps even within the lifetime of his immediate followers.

3. Historical Reality: The End Did Not Come

The key point is undeniable:

The Day of Judgment did not occur in the 7th century, nor in the lifetimes of Muhammad’s companions, nor in the following generation.

The world continued. Islamic civilization expanded. Empires rose and fell. The companions died natural deaths. No resurrection. No final judgment.

This makes the prophecy demonstrably false—a failed prediction.

4. Muslim Apologetic Responses (and Their Collapse)

To salvage this, some Islamic scholars argue that these hadiths were metaphorical, or meant to encourage readiness. But this explanation fails on three counts:

🔹 1. The Companions Took It Literally

The Sahih Muslim hadith explicitly states that they believed the Hour would come before they died. They didn't allegorize it. Why should we?

🔹 2. Muhammad Gave Specific Time Indicators

Saying the Hour would arrive in the life of a child ("before this boy grows old") or within a few generations is a temporal marker, not a generic warning.

🔹 3. Consistency Across Hadith

This isn’t a single vague hadith—it’s a pattern of predictions. That pattern is internally consistent, but externally false.

5. Implication: The Test of a Prophet

According to the Qur’an itself:

“And if he had made up about Us some [false] sayings, We would have seized him by the right hand, then We would have cut from him the aorta.” — Qur’an 69:44–46

And yet here we have a prophetic claim that failed—a false saying attributed to divine revelation.

If Muhammad predicted the end of the world within a generation, and that didn’t happen, then by Islamic and biblical standards of prophethood, he fails the test.

6. Is This the Only Failed Prophecy?

No. Other examples exist:

The defeat of the Byzantines and the Persians within a precise timeframe (Qur’an 30:1–6)—which is debated.
A claim that the moon split (Qur’an 54:1)—yet no external historical evidence supports it.
Promises of victory or protection that didn’t materialize fully (e.g., Uhud).

But the failed apocalypse prophecy is the most conclusive: it deals with a global, observable event, predicted within a human lifetime, and it did not occur.

Conclusion: A Prophet’s Words That Time Undid

Muhammad’s prediction that the world would end within the generation of his companions is not obscure—it’s documented in multiple sahih sources. And it didn’t happen.

That’s not just a minor mistake—it is a disqualifying error.

A true prophet cannot be wrong when speaking on behalf of God. And yet Muhammad was wrong about the most important future event in human history.

The verdict is unavoidable:

Either Muhammad was not receiving divine revelation, or God makes false predictions.

Only one of those options is logically consistent. And it’s not the one Islam depends on.