the swine, abolish the jizyah, and suppress every creed, so that during his lifetime not a single religion will remain except Islam. Allah will, in his days, destroy the lying Messiah, the Antichrist. Security will so fill the earth that camels will graze side-by-side with lions, leopards with cattle, wolves with sheep, and children will play with serpents without any harm befalling either side. He will remain for as long as Allah wills, then he will die; the Muslims will perform the funeral prayer over him and bury him.

Ahmad (1) also narrated it from ʿAffān, from Hammām, from Qatādah, from ʿAbd al-Raḥmān, from Abū Hurayrah in similar words, adding: “He will stay for forty years, then he will die and the Muslims will pray over him.”

Abū Dāwūd transmitted it as well from Hudbah ibn Khālid, from Hammām ibn Yaḥyā (2) with similar wording.

Hishām ibn ʿUrwah related from Ṣāliḥ, the freedman of Abū Hurayrah, from him that the Messenger of Allah ﷺ said: “He will remain on earth for forty years.”

The details of his descent—peace be upon him—at the end of time will be discussed in the Book of Malāḥim (3), just as we have set them out in the Tafsīr under Allah’s words in Sūrat al-Nisāʾ, 4:159: “There is none of the People of the Book but will believe in him before his death, and on the Day of Resurrection he will be a witness against them,” (4) and His words, “Indeed, he is a sign of the Hour” (5) [al-Zukhruf, 61].

He will descend at the White Minaret in Damascus once the dawn prayer has been established. The leader of the Muslims will say to him, “Advance, O Spirit of Allah, and lead us in prayer,” but he will reply, “No. Some of you are leaders over others as an honor that Allah has bestowed upon this community.” In another wording he says to Jesus, “The prayer has been established for you,” whereupon he prays behind him.

He will then mount and, accompanied by the Muslims, pursue the Antichrist until he overtakes him at the Gate of Lod and kills him with his blessed hand.

We have noted that hope grew strong when that eastern minaret of Damascus—built of white stones—was erected, financed with Christian funds after they had burned down the previous structure and its surroundings. It is upon that minaret that Jesus son of Mary, peace be upon him, will descend, where he will slay the swine, break the cross, and accept nothing from anyone except Islam. It is also reported that he will set out from the pass of al-Rawḥāʾ, as a pilgrim, performing ʿumrah, or combining the two. He will spend forty years, then die, and—according to what has been said—be buried in the Prophetic Chamber beside the Messenger of Allah ﷺ and his two Companions.

A tradition to this effect is cited by Ibn ʿAsākir (8) at the end of the biography (9) of the Messiah, peace be upon him, in his work on