toward Madinah, driving their sheep and calling out behind them. They will find it a wilderness, and when they reach Thaniyyat al-Wadaʿ they will fall upon their faces. (1)

In the report of Hudhayfah, he said: “I questioned the Messenger of Allah ﷺ about many matters, yet I did not ask him: What will drive the people of Madinah out of it?” (2)

Another narration, from Abu Hurayrah, states: “They will depart from it while half of its dates are still in the early blossom stage and half are fully ripe.” It was asked, “What will cause them to leave, O Abu Hurayrah?” He replied, “Wicked governors.” (3)

Abu Dawud said: Ibn Nufayl narrated to us; ʿIsa ibn Yunus narrated to us; from Abu Bakr ibn Abi Maryam; from al-Walid ibn Sufyan al-Ghassani; from Yazid ibn Qatib al-Sakuni; from Abu Bahriyah; from Muʿadh ibn Jabal, who said that the Messenger of Allah ﷺ declared: “The Great Battle, the conquest of Constantinople, and the emergence of the Dajjal will all occur within seven months.” Al-Tirmidhi likewise related it from ʿAbd Allah ibn ʿAbd al-Rahman al-Darimi, from al-Hakam ibn al-Mubarak, from al-Walid ibn Muslim with this chain, and he said: “Hasan [gharib]; we know it only through this route. On the same topic there are reports from al-Saʿb ibn Jathamah, ʿAbd Allah ibn Busr, ʿAbd Allah ibn Masʿud, and Abu Saʿid al-Khudri.” Ibn Majah also transmitted it from Hisham ibn ʿAmmar, from al-Walid ibn Muslim and Ismaʿil ibn ʿAyyash, from Abu Bakr ibn Abi Maryam with this chain. (4)

Imam Ahmad and Abu Dawud—this wording is Abu Dawud’s—reported: Ḥaywah ibn Shurayḥ al-Ḥimsi narrated to us; Baqiyyah narrated to us; from Baḥir ibn Saʿd; from Khalid—that is, Ibn Maʿdan; from Ibn Abi Bilal; from ʿAbd Allah ibn Busr, that the Messenger of Allah ﷺ said: “Between al-Malḥiyah and the conquest of the City are six years, and in the seventh the Dajjal will appear.” Ibn Majah likewise recorded it from Suwayd ibn Saʿid, from Baqiyyah ibn al-Walid with the same chain. (5) This seems at odds with the preceding report—unless the interval between the beginning and the end of the battle is six years, and the time between its conclusion and the conquest of the City, namely Constantinople, is very brief, so that all of this together with the appearance of the Dajjal transpires within seven months. Allah knows best.

Al-Tirmidhi said: Mahmoud ibn Ghailan narrated to us; Abu Dawud narrated to us; from Shuʿbah; from Yahya ibn Saʿid; from Anas ibn Malik, who said: “The conquest of Constantinople will take place together with the establishment of the Hour.” Mahmoud remarked: “This is a gharib hadith.” Constantinople is the city of the Byzantines; it will be taken when the Dajjal emerges, yet Constantinople was conquered in the era of certain Companions of the Prophet ﷺ. (6) Such were his words—that it was captured during the time of the Companions—yet this needs consideration, for Muʿawiyah dispatched an expedition against it