Hadith Nine: Hudhayfah ibn al-Yamān narrated a report similar to the hadith of Abū Hurayrah cited above, but fuller. It mentions the pass of Afīq and includes the following:

“When they stand up to pray, Jesus son of Mary, may Allah’s blessings be upon him, will descend as their imam and lead them in prayer (1). When he has finished, he will say the following: ‘Clear a path for me to the enemy of Allah.’ (Abū Hāzim said: Abū Hurayrah said, ‘He will melt as fat melts in the sun,’ while ʿAbd Allāh ibn ʿAmr said, ‘As salt dissolves in water.’) Allah will give the Muslims power over them, and they will shatter the cross, kill the swine and abolish the jizyah tax.”

It was recorded by Ibn Mandah (95/ 2) and al-Hākim (4/ 490–491), who said:

“Authentic according to Muslim’s criteria.”

Al-Dhahabī concurred.

I say: Its chain includes Khalaf ibn Khalīfah al-Ashjaʿī. Although he is a truthful narrator whose reports Muslim included, his memory became confused late in life. His reports are therefore good as corroborating evidence. As for al-Hāfiz’s statement in (6/ 478), after attributing it to Ibn Mandah—“An authentic chain of transmission”—this is either an oversight or undue leniency.

The tenth: Hudhayfah ibn Usayd said:

“… But the Dajjāl will emerge at a time of hatred among people, laxity in religion and discord. He will come to every watering place, and the earth will be folded up for him as a ram’s hide is folded, until he reaches Medina. He will take control of its outskirts but be prevented from entering it. Then he will proceed to the mountain of Īliyā’, where he will besiege a group

(1) That is, in Jerusalem. In Damascus, however, he will pray behind the Mahdī, as the other hadiths cited above indicate.