those born blind and lepers, and bring the dead to life. He will say to the people, ‘I am your Lord.’ Whoever says, ‘You are my Lord,’ has succumbed to his trial, whereas whoever says, ‘My Lord is Allah,’ and maintains this until he dies has been protected from his trial. There will be no trial after him, nor any punishment upon him. He will remain for as long as Allah wills.

Then Jesus son of Mary (peace be upon them both) will come from the west, affirming Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him) and following his religion. He will kill the Dajjāl, and then nothing remains but the coming of the Hour.”

Recorded by Ahmad (5/13).

I say: Its chain of transmission would be sound were it not for al-Hasan al-Basrī’s use of the transmission formula “from.” Al-Hāfiz, however, stated unequivocally in al-Fath (6/478) that its chain is good.

Eighth: Also from Abū Hurayrah, who reported that the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said:

“How will you be when the son of Mary descends [from heaven] among you, and your leader is one of you (in another version: ‘and he leads you as one of you’)?”

Ibn Abī Dhiʾb—one of its narrators—said: “Do you know what ‘he leads you as one of you’ means? He will lead you according to the Book of your Lord (Blessed and Exalted is He) and the Sunnah of your Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him).”

Recorded by al-Bukhārī (6/384), Muslim (1/94), ʿAbd al-Razzāq (20841), Ahmad (2/272 and 336), Ibn Mandah (41/2), and al-Bayhaqī in al-Asmāʾ (p. 424). The additional words are from al-Bayhaqī’s version.

Another chain from him traces the following wording back to the Prophet:

“By Him in whose hand is my soul, the son of Mary will soon descend among you as a just judge. He will break the cross, kill the swine, bring warfare to an end, and wealth will become so abundant that it will not be accepted by