foraging birds and beasts of prey, which will eat its fruit. The Dajjāl will not enter it, Allah willing. Whenever he tries to enter, an angel with his sword drawn will confront him at every one of its passes and prevent him from entering.”

Recorded by al-Hākim (4/427), who said:

“Its chain of transmission is sound.” Al-Dhahabī agreed.

I say: There is a break in its chain, as will be explained below.

24 – There are several hadiths concerning this:

The first is from Ibn ʿUmar, may Allah be pleased with them both, who said: The Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, said:

“The Dajjāl will encamp in this salt flat at Marr Qanāh. Most of those who go out to him will be women, so much so that a man will return to his loved one, his mother, daughter, sister and paternal aunt, and bind each one securely for fear that she might go out to him. Then Allah will give the Muslims power over him, and they will kill him and his followers. A Jew will even hide beneath a tree or a rock, and the rock or tree will say to the Muslim: ‘There is a Jew beneath me; kill him.’”

Recorded by Ahmad (2/67) and Hanbal in al-Fitan (Tribulations) (51/2–52/1).

I say: Its chain of transmission would be good were it not for Muhammad ibn Ishāq’s use of the formula “from” in transmitting it.

The second is from Abū Saʿīd al-Khudrī, traced back to the Prophet:

“The Dajjāl will come, though he is forbidden to enter the passes of Medina. He will encamp on one of the salt flats near Medina, and on that day a man will go out to him…” The hadith continues.

Recorded by al-Bukhārī, Muslim and others. It has already been cited in ʿAbd al-Razzāq’s wording (pp. 77–78).