The Indication of Revelation to Contemporary Vehicles - إشارة الوحي إلى المركبات المعاصرة
Note: This was originally a Fatwa, came to IslamQA.com and they've answerd it, but it was only in Arabic, so this is its translation :
Question No. 316870:
Did the Prophet (peace be upon him) truly predict modern vehicles?
Answer:
Praise be to Allah.
«Firstly»: Some Islamic texts allude to contemporary vehicles.
Certain Islamic texts contain references that hint at modern vehicles.
For example, Allah the Almighty says:
"And [He created] horses, mules, and donkeys for you to ride and as adornment. And He creates that which you do not know." (Quran 16:8)
Sheikh Abdur-Rahman As-Sa'di (may Allah have mercy on him) commented:
"And He creates that which you do not know" refers to things that will come into existence after the revelation of the Quran, such as vehicles that people will use on land, sea, and air for their benefits and interests. Allah did not specify these things by name because He only mentions in His Book what people are familiar with or can relate to. For things that have no precedent, if they were mentioned, people would not understand them. Instead, Allah provides a general principle that encompasses both what is known and unknown. For example, when describing the pleasures of Paradise, He mentions things we recognize, like palm trees, grapes, and pomegranates, and summarizes the rest by saying, "In both of them are pairs of every fruit." Similarly, here He mentions known means of transportation, such as horses, mules, donkeys, camels, and ships, and summarizes the rest by saying, "And He creates that which you do not know." (Tafsir As-Sa'di, p. 436)
Sheikh Muhammad Al-Amin Ash-Shanqiti (may Allah have mercy on him) said:
"And He creates that which you do not know" indicates that Allah creates things unknown to the people at the time of the Quran's revelation. The verse does not specify what these things are, but the context of mentioning means of transportation suggests that some of them are vehicles. This is evident in Allah's blessings upon His servants with modern vehicles like airplanes, trains, and cars, which were unknown at the time of the Quran's revelation.
This is further supported by the Prophet’s (peace be upon him) indication in an authentic hadith. Muslim ibn Al-Hajjaj (may Allah have mercy on him) narrated in his Sahih from Abu Hurairah that the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) said: "By Allah, the son of Mary will descend as a just ruler. He will break the cross, kill the pig, abolish the jizyah (tax on non-Muslims), and wealth will be so abundant that no one will accept it. The camels will be left without anyone to tend to them, and enmity, hatred, and jealousy will disappear."
The relevant part of this hadith is the Prophet’s (peace be upon him) statement: "The camels will be left without anyone to tend to them," which indicates that camels will no longer be used for transportation. This is evident today, as people have replaced camels with modern vehicles.
This hadith is a great miracle that attests to the truth of the Prophet’s (peace be upon him) prophethood, although his miracles are too numerous to count. (Adwa' Al-Bayan, 3/265-266)
Imam Ahmad narrated in Al-Musnad (11/654) from Abdullah ibn Ayyash ibn Abbas Al-Qitbani, who said: "I heard my father say: I heard Isa ibn Hilal As-Sadafi and Abu Abdur-Rahman Al-Hubuli say: We heard Abdullah ibn Amr say: I heard the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) say: 'At the end of my Ummah, there will be men who ride on saddles resembling pack-saddles, dismounting at the doors of mosques. Their women will be dressed yet naked, with something like the humps of camels on their heads. Curse them, for they are cursed. If there were a nation behind you, your women would serve their women, just as the women of previous nations served you.'"*
Al-Hakim narrated in Al-Mustadrak (4/436) with his chain from Abdullah ibn Ayyash Al-Qitbani, from his father, from Isa ibn Hilal As-Sadafi, from Abdullah ibn Amr (may Allah be pleased with them), that the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) said: "At the end of this Ummah, there will be men who ride on saddles until they come to the doors of their mosques...". I asked my father, "What are these saddles?" He replied, "Large saddles.".
Sheikh Al-Albani graded this hadith as hasan (good) in As-Silsilah As-Sahihah (6/411) and said: "Al-Hakim’s narration explains the first narration. Combining both, the meaning is that the saddles they ride will be soft and comfortable, resembling pack-saddles in their spaciousness... If you recall that 'pack-saddles' refers to equipment prepared for travel, such as containers for luggage or camel saddles, it becomes clear that the Prophet (peace be upon him) is referring to modern vehicles like cars, which are soft, comfortable, and spacious like pack-saddles. This is further supported by the fact that the Prophet (peace be upon him) called them 'houses' in another hadith (No. 93), though it was later found to have a break in its chain. Thus, this hadith contains another scientific and miraculous prophecy, unrelated to the description of women, but concerning men who ride cars to the doors of mosques. By Allah, this is a true prophecy that we witness every Friday when cars gather in front of mosques, almost blocking the roads, as men step out to attend Friday prayers. Many of them do not pray the five daily prayers or at least do not pray them in mosques, as if they are content with only Friday prayers. This is why they gather on Fridays, arriving in their cars, yet the fruits of prayer are not evident in their behavior or treatment of their wives and daughters. They are truly 'dressed yet naked'! Another phenomenon that perfectly fits this hadith is the recent trend of using cars in funeral processions, where wealthy, indulgent people who neglect prayers ride in cars. When the car carrying the deceased stops at the mosque for the funeral prayer, these indulgent individuals remain in their cars outside the mosque, waiting to follow the procession to the grave out of social hypocrisy, not out of devotion or remembrance of the Hereafter. Allah is the One whose help we seek. This is my interpretation of this hadith. If I am correct, it is by Allah’s grace, and if I am mistaken, it is from myself. I ask Allah to forgive my errors and shortcomings." (As-Silsilah As-Sahihah, 6/414-416)
«Secondly»:
The term "predicted" (تنبأ) is commonly used for false claimants of prophethood.
In Taj Al-Urus (1/445-446), it is stated: "The term 'predicted' (تنبأ) is used for those who falsely claim prophethood, like Musaylimah the Liar and other imposters. Although linguistically, it could be used for true prophets, it has become associated with false claimants, and thus it is avoided when referring to true prophets."
In modern times, people also use this term to describe someone’s predictions about the future based on their analysis or claims of knowing the unseen. Therefore, it is safer to avoid using this term in reference to the Prophet (peace be upon him), as everything he informed us about the unseen was revelation from Allah.
And Allah knows best.