The Fire of Hejaz
The Prophecies Details
Allah's Messenger (ﷺ) said:
“The Last Hour would not come until fire emits from the earth of Hejaz, [a fire] which would illuminate the necks of the camels of Busra.” [1]
Before examining the fulfillment of this prophecy, we must understand what exactly is being prophesied. In the following image, the area of Hejaz is colored in dark green, and the city of Busra, Syria is marked with a blue star.
A key point to mention, which will soon be relevant, is that Medina is hundreds of kilometers away from Busra.
This prophecy can be divided into three main points:
A fire would emit from the Hejaz region, which is where Medina is,
That fire would come from the earth.
That fire would be so great, that it would illuminate a city hundreds of kilometers away, Busra.
It's a remarkably bold claim.
The Fulfillment of the Prophecy
Surprisingly, the prophecy came true in full detail 600 years later.
In 1256 CE, the people of Medina encountered repeated tremors. The tremors lasted nearly three days. Then, Friday brought a massive earthquake that shook even the ceiling and minaret of The Prophet’s Mosque. Adding to the people’s shock, a massive flame exploded upwards from the East. This explosive fire rose up into the sky, emitting a large amount of smoke which turned the sky red.
The fire itself was intense, appearing as a towering mountain. It raged on, flowing like a fiery flood, flattening and melting anything it crossed. This clearly terrified any onlookers, especially as they saw that the sea of flame was nearly three meters high (!). It threw molten stones at anybody who dared come near it, all while roaring like thunder. While the flame did come somewhat close to Medina, it stopped its movement at the edges of the city. City residents said that night was unlike any they had experienced before, as the fire's light was so bright that it seemed as if their lamps were always lit, even at night. The phenomenon lasted for over a month. [2]
This is what the residents of Medina saw, but what about the residents of Busra? Adh-Dhahabi (A Historian) writes that those living in Busra could see this fire as well. It was so luminous that even at this distance they could see the necks of their camels light up at night. [3]
These accounts were mass-transmitted by the people of Busra. This means that it was not just one witness, or two witnesses, or three or four, but so many witnesses that it was known throughout the entire city. This is not the end of it, though. Those living in Damascus, which is even further from the fire, also mass-transmitted the fact that they could see the fire. [4] Keep in mind this is hundreds of kilometers away from the fire.
So what happened?
There is something interesting to note here. It seems like witnesses were unable to fully comprehend what they were seeing. they described the event vaguely, calling it "a sea of fire" that "threw stones." In reality, what caused this was a massive volcanic eruption. The sharp readers may have already caught onto this. Modern volcanologists have studied this event, known as the 1256 AD Eruption. We can still see evidence of this massive eruption today.
A research paper published by the International Journal of Earth Sciences states:
“The 1256 AD eruption site is located near to the culturally significant Al Madinah city… The historically documented eruption lasted for 52 days and formed a 2.25 km long chain of NW–SE-aligned scoria and lava spatter cones... This spectacular landscape is not only attractive for visitors, but also provides one of the best exposed and accessible sites on Earth to show the diversity of volcanic features a fissure eruption can produce.” [5]
They also show a picture of the site.
Review of the Prophecy and its Fulfillment:
Prophecy: A fire would emit from the Hejaz region.
Fulfillment: The volcano erupted in the Hejaz region.
Prophecy: The fire would come from the earth.
Fulfillment: Lava, which comes from the earth, was the source.
Prophecy: The fire would illuminate Busra, a city hundreds of kilometers away.
Fulfillment: The fire illuminated Busra, just as predicted.
References:
El-Masry, Nabil & Moufti, Mohammed Rashad & Nemeth, Karoly & Murcia, Hugo & Qaddah, Atef & Abdelwahed, Mohamed. (2013). Historical Accounts of the AD 1256 Eruption near Al-Madinah. International Journal of Earth Sciences. doi:10.13140/RG.2.1.4493.9602
Tarikh Al-Islam, 49/22, by Adh-Dhahabi
Fath Al-Bari, 13/79, by Ibn Hajar Al-Asqalani
Moufti, M. R., Németh, K., Murcia, H., & Lindsay, J. M. (2013). The 1256 AD Al Madinah historic eruption geosite as the youngest volcanic chain in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. International Journal of Earth Sciences. doi:10.1007/s00531-013-0878-4
