al-Aqsā Mosque. It is where the prophets of the Children of Israel were sent, where Abraham migrated, and where our Prophet was taken on his night journey and from where he ascended. There lie his dominion, the mainstay of his religion and his Book, and a victorious group from his nation. To it will be the gathering and the return, just as the beginning is in Mecca.

Mecca is the Mother of Towns, from beneath which the earth was spread out, while al-Shām is where people will be gathered. In His words:

“At the first gathering,”

He drew attention to the second gathering. Thus Mecca is the starting point and Īliyā (Jerusalem) the place of return in creation, and likewise in divine command, for the Messenger was taken by night from Mecca to Īliyā.

His prophetic mission and his religion originated in Mecca, while the perfection, ascendancy and completion of his religion, extending to the kingdom of the Mahdī, are in al-Shām. Thus Mecca is the beginning and al-Shām the end: in creation and command, in the divine words concerning the created order and religion.

Among these merits is that a victorious group will remain there until the Hour comes. It is this group concerning which the hadith is established in the authentic collections, through Muʿāwiya and others:

“A group of my nation will remain triumphant upon the truth, unharmed by those who oppose them or abandon them, until the Hour comes.”

In the two Sahīh collections, Muʿādh ibn Jabal says:

“They are in al-Shām.”

In al-Bukhārī’s Tārīkh (History), it is reported as a statement of the Prophet:

“They are in Damascus.”

In Sahīh Muslim, the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, said:

“The people of the West will remain triumphant, unharmed by those who oppose them, until the Hour comes.”

Ahmad ibn Hanbal said: “The people of the West are the people of al-Shām.” They are indeed as he said, for two reasons. First: the other hadith reports make clear that they are the people of al-Shām.