According to an authentic narration, he said: “Istanbul will be conquered, and blessed are the ruler and the toops that will conquer it.”[56] He thus gave tidings that Istanbul  would  be conquered  by Muslim  hands,  and  that  Mehmed  the  Conqueror would attain a high spiritual rank. His prediction again proved to be true.

He also said, according to an authentic narration: “Were religion to be hung on the Pleiades, men from Persia would reach up and lay hold of it,”[57] indicating that matchless scholars and saints like Abu Hanifa would emerge from Iran. In addition, he foretold Imam Shafi‘i, saying: “A scholar from Quraysh who will fill all regions of the earth with learning.”[58]

According to an authentic narration, he said: “My community will be divided into seventy-three sects, and only one among them will attain salvation.” He was asked: “Who are they?” He replied: “Those who follow me and my Companions,”[59] meaning the Sunnis or Ahl al-Sunna wa’l-Jama‘a.

He  also  declared:  “The  Qadariyya  are  the  Magians  of  this  community,”[60] foretelling the emergence of the Predestinationist (Qadariyya) sect, which would be divided  into  different  branches  and  reject  divine  determining  or destiny.  He  also foretold the Defectors (Rafida), who would produce various offshoots.

Again according to an authentic narration, he said to ‘Ali: “As was true of Jesus, two groups of people will perish on your account: one because of excessive love, the other because of excessive enmity. Christians, on account of their deep love for Jesus, transgressed the limits and called him – God forbid! – ‘the son of God,’[61]  while the Jews, because of their hostility, went to the other extreme by denying his message and virtue. Similarly, some will incur loss due to their exaggerated affection toward you. For them is the insulting name of Rafida. [62] And certain others will be excessively hostile to you. They are the Kharijites, and the extremist partisans of the Umayyads, who will be called Nasiba.”

[56] al-Hakim, al-Mustadrak, iv, 422; Bukhari, Ta’rikh al-Saghir, no: 139; Musnad, iv, 335; al- Haythami, Majma’ al-Zawa’id, vi, 218.

[57] Bukhari, al-Tafsir, 62; Tirmidhi, 47; Tafsir Sura, 3.

[58] al-‘Ajluni Kashf al-Khafa’, ii, 53, 54.

[59] Abu Da’ud, Sunna, 1; Ibn Maja, Fitan, 17; Tirmidhi, Iman, 18; Musnad, ii, 232; iii, 120, 148; ‘Ali al- Qari, Sharh al-Shifa’, i, 679.

[60] al-Albani, Sahih Jami’ al-Saghir, iv, 150; al-Hakim, al-Mustadrak, i, 85; Abu Da’ud, Sunna, 5; Suyuti, al-Fath al-Kabir, iii, 23; Musnad, ii, 86, 125; v, 406.

[61] Musnad, i, 160; al-Haythami, Majma’ al-Zawa’id, ix, 133; al-Hakim, al-Mustadrak, iii, 123.