This view is further corroborated by what Imām Aḥmad has transmitted: Ismāʿīl narrated to us, from al-Jurayrī, from Abū Naḍrah, who said: “We were sitting with Jābir ibn ʿAbd Allāh when he remarked, ‘The time is coming when no qafīz nor dirham will reach the people of Iraq.’ We asked, ‘Why will that be?’ He replied, ‘Because the non-Arabs will withhold it.’ He then said, ‘The time is coming when no dinar nor mudd will reach the people of Syria.’ We asked, ‘Why will that be?’ He answered, ‘Because the Byzantines will withhold it.’ He then fell silent for a short while and went on to say, ‘The Messenger of Allah ﷺ said: “At the end of my community there will be a caliph who will scoop out wealth in handfuls, without even counting it.”’
Al-Jurayrī continued: I asked Abū Naḍrah and Abū al-ʿAlāʾ, ‘Do the two of you think this refers to ʿUmar ibn ʿAbd al-ʿAzīz—may Allah be pleased with him?’ They replied, ‘No.’
Muslim also recorded this ḥadīth through Ismāʿīl ibn Ibrāhīm ibn ʿUlayyah and ʿAbd al-Wahhāb al-Thaqafī, both of them from Saʿīd ibn Iyās al-Jurayrī, from Abū Naḍrah al-Munḏhir ibn Mālik ibn Quṭʿah al-ʿAbdī, from Jābir, as mentioned above. It is striking that the ḥāfiẓ Abū Bakr al-Bayhaqī cited this report in support of the opinion he preferred among the two views already discussed; yet a closer look shows his argument to be questionable, and the outward sense of the report points to the contrary.
It is likewise established in the two Ṣaḥīḥs, through multiple chains, that the Messenger of Allah ﷺ fixed Dhū al-Ḥulayfah as the miqāt for the people of Madinah, al-Juhfah for the people of Syria, and Yalamlam for the people of Yemen. In Ṣaḥīḥ Muslim, in the narration of Jābir, he also fixed Dhāt ʿIrq for the people of Iraq. This is among the signs of prophethood, for he foretold exactly what came to pass regarding the pilgrimage routes of the people of Syria, Yemen, and Iraq—may Allah’s blessings and peace be upon him.
Moreover, in the two Ṣaḥīḥs, Sufyān ibn ʿUyaynah relates from ʿAmr ibn Dīnār, from Jābir, from Abū Saʿīd, that the Messenger of Allah ﷺ said: “A time will surely come upon people when a detachment will set out to fight and it will be asked, ‘Is there among you anyone who kept company with the Messenger of Allah ﷺ?’ They will say, ‘Yes,’ and victory will be granted to them. Then another time will come when a detachment will go out, and it will be asked, ‘Is there among you anyone who kept company with the Companions of the Messenger of Allah ﷺ?’ They will say, ‘Yes,’ and victory will be granted to them. Then yet another time will come when a detachment will go out, and it will be asked, ‘Is there among you anyone who kept company with those who kept company with them?’ They will say, ‘Yes,’ and Allah will grant them victory.”