Imam Aḥmad also said:
Hasan narrated to us; Ibn Luhayʿah narrated to us; Abū az-Zubayr narrated to us, from Jābir, that ʿUmar ibn al-Khaṭṭāb informed him that he had heard the Messenger of Allah ﷺ say:

“The people of Mecca will depart, after which the city will no longer be frequented—or only a few will pass through it—then it will become full and be rebuilt, and then they will leave it once more, never to return to it ever again.” Al-Bazzār likewise reported this. (1)

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As for the Prophetic City—upon its inhabitant be the finest blessings and peace—it is established in the authentic collections, as noted earlier, that the Dajjāl will not enter it nor Mecca, and that angels will be stationed at its mountain passes guarding it from him.

In Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī, in the narration of Mālik from Nuʿaym al-Mujmir, from Abū Hurayrah, the Messenger of Allah ﷺ said:

“Neither al-Masīḥ al-Dajjāl nor the plague will enter it.” (2)

It has been related that the Dajjāl will camp outside the city, that it will quake with its people three times, and that every male and female hypocrite and every male and female evildoer will go out to him, while every believing man and woman and every Muslim man and woman will remain within. That day will be called the Day of Deliverance, and the majority of those who go out to him will be women. Concerning Medina the Messenger of Allah ﷺ said:

“Indeed it is Ṭaybah; it expels its impurities and its fragrance becomes pure.”

Allah the Exalted says: “Impure women are for impure men and impure men for impure women; good women are for good men and good men for good women” (al-Nūr 24:26).

The point is that Medina will be thriving in the days of the Dajjāl, and likewise during the time of the Messiah, Jesus son of Mary—may Allah’s mercy be upon them—so much so that he will die there and be buried there. After that, however, it will fall into ruin, as Imam Aḥmad said:

Yahyā ibn Isḥāq narrated to us; Ibn Luhayʿah narrated to us, from Abū az-Zubayr, from Jābir, who said: ʿUmar ibn al-Khaṭṭāb (may Allah be pleased with him) told me that he heard the Messenger of Allah ﷺ say:

“A rider will travel through the outskirts of Medina and will say, ‘Indeed, there was once a large gathering of believers here.’”

Imam Aḥmad added: Ḥasan al-Ashyab did not transmit this report beyond Jābir; Aḥmad alone recorded it. (3)

The Emergence of the Beast from the Earth That Will Speak to the People

Allah the Most High says: “When the decree falls upon them, We shall bring forth for them a Beast from the earth that will speak to them” (al-Naml 27:82).

We have already discussed the matters related to this noble verse in our book Tafsīr, where we cited the pertinent hadiths in sufficient detail. Were we to reproduce them all here, it would be both suitable and adequate.