Green Arabia
Published Feb, 8, 2021
Today, we know Arabia to be mostly dry, arid, and made up of deserts. We think of endless sand, huge dunes, and a blazing sun. It is a place where the sky meets the ground in a blur, and where plants and animals struggle to survive in the intense heat. It is hard to imagine that this barren land was once full of life.
Unveiling the Green Past of Arabia
However, completely going against this notion, the Prophet (ﷺ) stated that the Final Hour would not come until “the land of Arabia reverts to meadows and rivers.”. [1]
This is quite an interesting prophecy for multiple reasons.
First of all, pay attention to the fact that the word revert is used here. That means that Arabia once used to be green and full of meadows and rivers.
Secondly, it tells us that Arabia will somehow go from being a dry desert to a wet land once again.
Let’s look at the idea of a historical Green Arabia first.
For many years, an issue confused those who studied the history of human migration. The theory that humans came from Africa led to a question: how did they cross Arabia to spread around the world? This seemed to be a hole in the theory. Crossing Arabia would be an impossibility considering how unforgiving and dry the land of Arabia was, and yet that was the only route they could take out of Africa.
Within recent years, however, a solution to this problem was found. It was discovered that Arabia used to be a land lush with greenery and rain. In fact, it was so wet and full of life that hippos used to live there!
“Hippos cannot survive in very arid and dry situations…”
Arabia’s Forgotten Meadows
Michael Petraglia, one of the people involved in the archeological Green Arabia project, states in an interview:
“We looked at satellite images for example, and found that there are literally thousands of ancient rivers that crisscrossed Saudi Arabia. We also now count 10,000 ancient lakes.
We have fossils of elephants; these were gigantic creatures, much larger than the African elephant.
Amazingly, we also have hippos. These finds tell you something of how wet it really was. Because hippos cannot survive in very arid and dry situations, so the environment had to be green for them to survive. So, there were surely lots of lakes and rivers all across Arabia, and there was plenty of grass with vegetation for these animals to consume.” [2]
Quite interesting, isn’t it? For thousands of years, this history was unknown to us, yet the Prophet (ﷺ) spoke of it 1400 years ago.
The Future of a Green Arabia
Let’s not forget about the second part though, the prophecy itself. So is there any evidence that Arabia will go back to this state?
By taking a look at what caused Arabia to become green to begin with, we can perhaps answer that question. Experts think that regular monsoon rains made it green. An article published in the journal Geology explains this further.
Starting from around 150,000 years ago, the Indian Ocean Monsoon would cycle in and out of Arabia about every 23,000 years, giving Arabia heavy rain and life. This is what the sediment deposits, as well as the dating of fossils, tell us. All in all, we have five recorded “wet phases”, times when the monsoon came into Arabia and turned it green. [3]
Now here is the kicker; notice how the monsoon came about every 23,000 years. The question then becomes, how long ago was the most recent wet phase?
55,000 years ago.
This has two profound implications:
The Prophet ﷺ somehow had access to this lost knowledge of a green Arabia, despite it occurring over 30,000 years before human civilization even existed.
We are 32,000 years overdue for another wet phase, if this cycle is still continuing.
Additionally, this is only a possible way that the prophecy will be fulfilled. Another possible way is human intervention, or even a mix of natural means and human intervention. It could even happen due to natural means other than the Indian Ocean Monsoon.
What Would a Green Arabia Look Like?
One of the Arabian countries, Oman, is actually still affected by this same monsoon.
From this image, we can see what Arabia might look like once this prophecy is inevitably fully fulfilled.
So not only did the Prophet (ﷺ) somehow know a history which was hidden to us for tens of thousands of years, but he also accurately predicted what will come in the future.
One of the monsoon-affected areas of Oman.
References:
Brand, Meredith. “Interview: Unraveling Arabia’s Green Past.” Nature Asia, 9 Apr. 2018, www.natureasia.com/en/nmiddleeast/article/10.1038/nmiddleeast.2018.44.
Parton, Ash, et al. “Alluvial Fan Records from Southeast Arabia Reveal Multiple Windows for Human Dispersal.” Geology, vol. 43, no. 4, 2015, pp. 295–298., doi:10.1130/g36401.1.
