figurative, referring to their exposure before the Muslims and their inability to defend themselves, as has been claimed. Allah knows best.

55 – Medina’s Expulsion of Its Wicked People and Its Ruin at the End of Time:

The Prophet (may Allah bless him and grant him peace) encouraged people to reside in Medina and urged them to do so. He stated that no one would leave it out of aversion to it without Allah replacing him there with someone better.

He also stated that one of the signs of the Hour is that Medina will expel its dross—namely, the wickedest people—just as a furnace removes dross from iron.

Imam Muslim narrated from Abū Hurayra (may Allah be pleased with him) that the Messenger of Allah (may Allah bless him and grant him peace) said: “A time will come when a man will call his cousin and other relatives, saying, ‘Come to ease! Come to ease!’ Yet Medina would be better for them, if only they knew. By Him in whose hand is my soul, no one among them leaves it out of aversion to it without Allah replacing him there with someone better. Indeed, Medina is like a furnace that casts out the impure. The Hour will not come until Medina expels its wicked people just as a furnace removes dross from iron.” (1)

Judge Iyād understood Medina’s expulsion of its dross as referring to the Prophet’s lifetime, for only those whose faith was firm could patiently endure migration to and residence in Medina. As for the hypocrites and ignorant Bedouins, they could not endure Medina’s severity and hardships, nor did they seek reward for enduring them.

Al-Nawawī understood it as referring to the time of the Dajjāl, and regarded as unlikely the view chosen by Judge