Surah Ar Room (The Romans) – Ar-Rum (Arabic: الروم, romanized: ’ar-rūm, lit. ‘The Romans’) is the 30th chapter (sūrah) of the Quran, consisting of 60 verses (āyāt). The term Rūm originated in the word Roman, and during the time of the Prophet Muhammad (pbuh), it referred to the Eastern Roman Empire sometimes translated as “The Byzantines”.

The surah provides information on the cataclysmic Byzantine–Sasanian War of 602–628 (Between the Roman and the Persian/Iranian Empires) from the perspective of the Arabs of Mecca.

Ayat 2 signifies that the Romans have been defeated  – These Ayat were revealed about the victory of Sabur, the king of the Persian Empire (including Iran / Ash-Sham (Greater Syria) / the adjoining partisan states of the Arabian Peninsula / and the outlying regions of the land of the Romans) over Heraclius, the emperor of the Romans. Heraclius was forced to flee to Constantinople where he was besieged for a lengthy period.

This Byzantine defeat posed a significant theological and sociological problem for the early Muslim community because the Byzantines were Christians (considered to be “People of the Book” from the Islamic viewpoint) while the Sassanids (Persians) who defeated them were Zoroastrians (considered to contain both monotheistic and dualistic elements along with fire being seen as the supreme symbol of purity). 

The non-Muslim Arab Meccans took the Sassanid (Persian) victory as a sign that the traditional polytheistic practices would win out over the monotheism of the Abrahamic religions, with the Arab Muslims at the time wanting the Romans to prevail (information taken from Tafsir Ibn Kathir). The idol worshipping Arabs of the time rejoiced at the Roman loss/retreat – even mocking the Muslim population of Mecca.

Surah Rum had been revealed signaling the Roman defeat (miraculously also at the time of the defeat without the ability for long distance messaging in that era) – Ayat 3 mentions where the battle took place. Adna in Arabic أَدْنَى has two meanings: the nearest and the lowest. The Dead Sea (Hebrew: יַם הַמֶּלַח, Yam hamMelaḥ; Arabic: اَلْبَحْرُ الْمَيْتُ, Āl-Baḥrū l-Maytū), is a salt lake bordered by Jordan to the east and the West Bank and Israel to the west. It lies in the Jordan Rift Valley, and its main tributary is the Jordan River.  The lake’s surface is 430.5 metres (1,412 ft) below sea level making its shores the lowest land-based elevation on Earth. This was only recently known with advanced scientific altimeters able to determine depth. The Quran nearly 1400 years ago mentions the battle took place near the Dead Sea – the lowest point on Earth (Adna in Arabic). 

Ayat 4 mentions that within several years – B’idi in Arabic meaning several years (3-9 years) – the Romans will be victorious over the Persians. Rarely do empires recover at all from such a brutal defeat let alone in that short time period; however, after seven years, the prophecy of the Ever-Glorious Qur’an came true. This refers to Heraclius’ campaign of 622 – a major campaign in the Byzantine–Sasanian War of 602–628 by emperor Heraclius that culminated in a crushing Byzantine victory in Anatolia (Likely in the year 624).

Ayat 4 also mentions the believers (Muslims) will rejoice at the victory – some would infer the Muslims were purely elated by the victory of the Roman Empire over the Persians; however, this Roman victory coincided with the victory of the Muslims in the Battle of Badr! The Battle of Badr (Arabic: غَزْوَةُ بَدْرٍ Arabic pronunciation: [ɣazwatu badr]), also referred to as The Day of the Criterion (Arabic: يَوْمُ الْفُرْقَانْ, Arabic pronunciation: [jawm’ul fur’qaːn]) in the Qur’an and by Muslims, was fought on 13 March 624 CE (17 Ramadan, 2 AH), near the present-day city of  Badr, Al Madinah Province in Saudi Arabia. The idol worshipping Meccan army marched to Medina to attempt to destroy the growing Muslim movement with approximately 1000 men (all with weapons) and 270 animals (100 horses / 170 camels). The Muslim army defended with a total of 313 men (with only a handful of weapons) and only 72 animals ( 2 horses / 70 camels). On this day – despite having significantly less manpower / weapons /  animals – Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) commanding an army of his Sahaba, defeated an army of the Quraysh led by Amr ibn Hishām, better known among Muslims as Abu Jahl. Miracle after miracle!