the narration of Sulaymān ibn al-Mughīrah, both of them from Ḥumayd ibn Hilāl al-ʿAdawī, from Abū Qatādah al-ʿAdawī. There is a disagreement concerning his personal name, the most common view being that cited by Ibn Maʿīn: it is Tamīm ibn Nudhayr, and Ibn Maʿīn deemed him reliable. Ibn Mandah and others added that he enjoyed Companionship; Allah knows best. (1)

Earlier we quoted, through the chain of Jubayr ibn Nufayr from ʿAwf ibn Mālik, in the enumeration of the portents that will precede the Hour, that the Prophet ﷺ said:

“The sixth is a truce that will be concluded between you and the Banū al-Asfar (the Byzantines). They will then advance against you under eighty banners; beneath every banner will be twelve thousand men. The Muslims’ fustāṭ (encampment) on that day will be in a land called al-Ghūṭah, in a city called Damascus.” Recorded by Aḥmad. (2)

Abū Dāwūd likewise transmitted—from Jubayr ibn Nufayr, on the authority of Abū al-Dardāʾ—that the Messenger of Allah ﷺ said:

“Indeed, the fustāṭ of the Muslims on the Day of the Great Battle (al-Malḥamah) will be at al-Ghūṭah, beside a city called Damascus—one of the finest cities of al-Shām.” (3)

We have already mentioned the ḥadīth of Abū Ḥayyah, from ʿAbd Allāh ibn ʿAmr, concerning the conquest of Constantinople (4), as well as the ḥadīth of Abū Qabīl regarding the subsequent conquest of Rome. (5)

Muslim ibn al-Ḥajjāj said: Zuhayr ibn Ḥarb related to me; Muʿallā ibn Manṣūr related to us; Sulaymān ibn Bilāl related to us; Suhayl related to me from his father, from Abū Hurayrah, that the Messenger of Allah ﷺ said:

“The Hour will not be established until the Romans descend upon al-Aʿmāq (6) or Dābiq. An army from the city [of Medina]—the best people on earth at that time—will march out to meet them. When the two forces line up, the Romans will say, ‘Leave us with those who were taken captive from among us so that we may fight them.’ The Muslims will reply, ‘By Allah, we will never let you reach our brothers.’ They will then fight, and a third [of the Muslim army] will flee—Allah will never accept their repentance; a third will be killed, and they will be the best martyrs in Allah’s sight; and the remaining third will conquer and will never again be put to trial. They will then capture Constantinople. While they are dividing the spoils, having hung their swords on the olive trees, Satan will cry out: ‘The Messiah has entered among your families behind you!’ They will rush back, but what he says is false. When they reach al-Shām the Antichrist will emerge. As they are preparing for battle and drawing up their ranks, the prayer will be established and ʿĪsā son of Mary ﷺ will descend and lead them. When the enemy of Allah sees him, he will melt away just as salt dissolves in water. Were ʿĪsā to leave him, he would continue to dissolve until he perished, but Allah will cause him to be killed at ʿĪsā’s hand, and he will show the people the blood on his spear.” (7)