And its chain of transmission is authentic according to Muslim’s criteria. Muslim ibn Safwan contradicted him, reporting it from Safiyyah as a report attributed to the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him. Ibn Majah (4064) and al-Tirmidhi (2185) transmitted it, and al-Tirmidhi authenticated it.

Al-Dalani narrated it from ‘Amr ibn Murrah, from Salim ibn Abi al-Ja‘d, from his brother, who said: Ibn Abi Rabi‘ah narrated to me from Hafsah, daughter of ‘Umar, may Allah be pleased with her, as a report attributed to the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, similar to it, with the wording: “...the first and last of them will be swallowed up by the earth, and those in their midst will not escape.” I asked: “What if there are believers among them?” He said: “It will be graves for them.” Al-Nasa’i transmitted it.

I say: Al-Dalani—whose name was Yazid ibn ‘Abd al-Rahman—is weak. Al-Hafiz said: “He was truthful, but made many mistakes and practised tadlis.” I say: I found his addition, “the graves,” objectionable. The preserved wording is that found in Muslim and elsewhere, in the hadith of Umm Salamah, may Allah be pleased with her, attributed to the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, similar to the hadith under discussion. It states that she said: “I said, ‘O Messenger of Allah, what of one who was unwilling?’ He said: ‘He will be swallowed up with them, but on the Day of Resurrection he will be raised according to his intention.’”

A benefit: Know that there is no contradiction between this hadith and the preceding hadith (2427): “Mecca will not be invaded after this until the Day of Resurrection.” For the invasion affirmed in this hadith is other than that negated in the other. Do you not see Sufyan’s explanation of it when he said: “They will never disbelieve, nor will they wage war in disbelief”? This is further supported by the wording in this hadith: “An army among them will be swallowed up by the earth.”