Isaac.”

He supported this by noting that they were praised in the hadith of al-Mustawrid al-Qurashī, who said: I heard the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, say, “The Hour will come when the Romans are the most numerous people.” Amr ibn al-Ās said to him, “Consider carefully what you are saying.” He replied, “I am saying what I heard from the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him.” Amr said, “If you say that, then they indeed possess four qualities: they are the most forbearing of people in times of turmoil, the quickest to recover after calamity, the quickest to return to battle after retreat, and the kindest to the poor, orphans, and the weak. They also possess a fifth, fine and admirable quality: they are the most resistant to the oppression of rulers.” (1)

I say: The hadith of Abū Hurayra cited earlier concerning the battle against the Romans also indicates that the Romans will embrace Islam at the end of time. It states that the Romans will say to the Muslims, “Leave us to fight those of our people who were taken captive.” The Muslims will reply, “No, by Allah! We will not leave our brothers to you.” (2) Thus, the Romans will ask the Muslims to let them fight those among them who had been taken captive, because they had embraced Islam. The Muslims will refuse and make it clear to the Romans that anyone among them who embraces Islam becomes one of our brothers and will not be surrendered to anyone. Nor is it surprising that the bulk of the Muslim army should consist of former captives taken from among the disbelievers.

Al-Nawawī said, “This is a reality in our own time. Indeed, most of the Muslim forces in the lands of Syria and Egypt were taken captive, yet today—praise be to Allah—they take disbelievers captive. In our time they have done so on very many occasions, capturing thousands of disbelievers at a time, and all praise is due to Allah