Abī ʿUtbah, from Abū Saʿīd, who said:
The Messenger of Allah ﷺ said, “This House will most certainly continue to be visited for ḥajj and for ʿumrah after the emergence of Gog and Magog.”
Al-Bukhārī alone recorded this ḥadīth. He transmitted it through Aḥmad ibn Ḥafṣ ibn ʿAbd Allah, from his father, from Ibrāhīm ibn Ṭahmān, from Ḥajjāj—that is, Ibn Ḥajjāj (1)—from Qatādah ibn Diʿāmah with this chain. He added: Abān and ʿImrān corroborated it through Qatādah, whereas ʿAbd al-Raḥmān reported, from Shuʿbah, from Qatādah: “The Hour will not be established until the House is no longer visited for pilgrimage.” Abū ʿAbd Allah remarked: the first wording is more prevalent. This ends al-Bukhārī’s statement.
Al-Bazzār likewise related it, through Muḥammad ibn al-Muthannā, from ʿAbd al-Raḥmān ibn Mahdī, from Abān ibn Yazīd al-ʿAṭṭār, from Qatādah, in the same form cited by al-Bukhārī; and Imam Aḥmad has cited the narration of ʿImrān ibn Dāwūd al-Qaṭṭān, as you have seen (2).
Abū Bakr al-Bazzār said: Muḥammad ibn al-Muthannā narrated to us; ʿAbd al-ʿAzīz narrated to us; Shuʿbah narrated to us, from Qatādah; I heard ʿAbd Allah ibn Abī ʿUtbah relate, from Abū Saʿīd al-Khudrī, from the Prophet ﷺ: “The Hour will not rise until the House is no longer visited for pilgrimage.” He then added: We are unaware of this ḥadīth being reported from Abū Saʿīd, from the Prophet ﷺ, except through this chain.
I say: There is no contradiction in meaning between the two reports. The Kaʿbah will indeed be the object of ḥajj and ʿumrah after Gog and Magog have appeared and perished, when people enjoy security and plentiful provisions during the era of the Messiah (may Allah have mercy on them). Thereafter Allah will send a gentle, pleasant breeze that will seize the soul of every believing man and woman; the Prophet of Allah Jesus son of Mary (may Allah have mercy on them) will then pass away, the Muslims will perform the funeral prayer over him, and he will be buried in the Prophet’s chamber alongside the Messenger of Allah (3). After that the Kaʿbah will be ruined at the hands of Dhu al-Suwayqatayn, even though his first appearance occurs during the time of the Messiah, as Kaʿb al-Aḥbār stated.
The manner in which he will destroy it—may Allah disgrace him and honor the Kaʿbah—
Imam Aḥmad said: Aḥmad ibn ʿAbd al-Malik—who is al-Ḥarrānī—narrated to us; Muḥammad ibn Salamah narrated to us, from Muḥammad ibn Isḥāq, from Ibn Abī Najīḥ, from Mujāhid, from ʿAbd Allah ibn ʿAmr, who said: I heard the Messenger of Allah ﷺ say, “The Kaʿbah will be demolished by Dhu al-Suwayqatayn from Abyssinia; he will strip it of its ornaments and remove its covering. It is as though I can see him: bald-headed, bow-legged (4), striking it with his mattock and pickaxe.” Aḥmad alone recorded this report, and its chain is sound and strong (5).