When the opening verses of Surah al-Rum came down foretelling that the just-defeated Byzantine Romans would defeat the Persians within "a few years" (Qur'an 30:1-5), Ubay ibn Khalaf mocked Abu Bakr RA over the prophecy, considering a Roman victory impossible. Abu Bakr wagered with him on it, and, going by the Arabic phrase "bid'i sinin" (a few years, meaning three to nine), set the term at six years.
Significance
Six years passed without a Roman victory and Abu Bakr RA lost the wager. But eight and a half years after the bet (on the very same day as the Battle of Badr) Heraclius's Byzantine forces routed Khosrow II's Sassanid Persians after two of Khosrow's generals defected and a family member turned on him, fulfilling the Qur'anic prophecy. News of the Roman victory took a further two weeks to reach the Muslims. Ubay ibn Khalaf, who mocked the prophecy and lost the wager, was killed the following year at the Battle of Uhud, personally by the Prophet ﷺ.
Around this time
Other events recorded around the same time. Their order within the year is not established; use the storyline above for the sequence.
“Alif, Lam, Meem. The Byzantines have been defeated in the nearby land. But they, after their defeat, will overcome within a few years. To Allah belongs the command before and after. And that day, the believers will rejoice in the victory of Allah. He gives victory to whom He wills, and He is the Exalted in Might, the Merciful.”
The opening verses of Surah al-Rum, prophesying the Roman victory over the Persians, are the subject of Abu Bakr RA's wager with Ubay ibn Khalaf.
“Alif, Lam, Meem. The Byzantines have been defeated in the nearby land. But they, after their defeat, will overcome within a few years. To Allah belongs the command before and after. And that day, the believers will rejoice in the victory of Allah. He gives victory to whom He wills, and He is the Exalted in Might, the Merciful.”
The opening verses of Surah al-Rum, prophesying the Roman victory over the Persians, are the subject of Abu Bakr RA's wager with Ubay ibn Khalaf.
“Alif, Lam, Meem. The Byzantines have been defeated in the nearby land. But they, after their defeat, will overcome within a few years. To Allah belongs the command before and after. And that day, the believers will rejoice in the victory of Allah. He gives victory to whom He wills, and He is the Exalted in Might, the Merciful.”
The opening verses of Surah al-Rum, prophesying the Roman victory over the Persians, are the subject of Abu Bakr RA's wager with Ubay ibn Khalaf.