Note: In the above two ahadith, it says that he:

1) fills the Earth with equity and justice

2) rules for seven years.

Elsewhere, it says that he would rule the entire world, which, based on the above, would be for a period of seven years. Another duration of his rule given, is 20 years. Also, according to Nu'aym bin Hammad, the Mahdi would survive for 40 years after his emergence. For these three durations to be correct, it can only be said that from his emergence to his death is 40 years, the last 20 of which he rules, while it is only the last 7 years of that period, that he rules the entire world with equity and justice.

Narrated by Hudhayfah,

The Prophet said: "The Mahdi is a man from my children. His skin is the color of an Arab, and his body is like that of Israel. Upon his right cheek is a mole like a shining star. He will fill the earth with justice just as it will have been filled by injustice, and the dwellers of Heaven and Earth and the birds in the sky will be pleased with his Caliphate."

(Musnad Ar-Ruwayyani, Abu Nuaym, At-Tabarani, and Abu Amru Ad Dani.)

Note: From the above hadeeths, we can conclude that the Mahdi's name is Muhammad (the Prophet's name) and that his father's name is Abdullah (the Prophet's father's name), he descends from Hasanbin Ali, has a broad forehead, an aquiline nose, replacing tyranny, oppression and injustice with equity and justice, and then rules the world for 7 years.

Ka'b al-Ahbar says,

"He will be called 'Mahdi' because he will guide to something hidden and will bring out the Torah and Gospel from a town called Antioch."

(Abu Nu'aym)

Al-Suyuti mentioned in al-Hawi that the Messenger of Allah, upon whom be blessings and peace, said,

"He is called the Mahdi because he will guide people to a mountain in Syria from, which he will bring out the volumes of the Torah to refute the Jews. At the hands of the Mahdi, the Ark of the Covenant will be brought forth at Lake Tiberias and taken and placed in Jerusalem."

Ad-Dani said that he is called the Mahdi because he will be guided to a mountain in Syria from, which he he will bring forth the volumes of the Torah with which to argue against the Jews and at his hand a group of them will become Muslim.

Sulaiymanbin 'Isa said, :"I have heard that it is at the hands of the Mahdi that the Ark of the Covenant will be brought from Lake Tiberias and will be carried and placed before him in Jerusalem. When the Jews see it, they will become Muslim except for a few of them."

Note: Based on the above mentioned hadeeths, we can see that upon the Mahdi's arrival in Jerusalem, that he would bring forth volumes of the Torah to argue against the Jews, and would bring the Ark of the Covenant, and place it in Jerusalem.

The Prophet said, "There have been four great kings on the Earth: Two were believers and two were unbelievers. The believers were Dhu'l-Qarnayn and Sulaiyman (Solomon), and the unbelievers were Nimrod and Bakhtinasr. There will be a fifth king to rule the world will be from the people of my House."

(Ibn al-Jawzi, Mektubat-i Rabbani, 2/1163)

"The Mahdi will rule the world like the Prophet Dhu’l-Qarnayn and the Prophet Sulaiyman."

(Ibn Hajar al-Haythami, Al-Qawl al-Mukhtasar fi 'Alamat al-Mahdi al-Muntazar, p. 29)

Note: These two hadeeths demonstrate that the Mahdi's rule is comparable to the rule of "Dhu'l-Qarnayn" and Prophet Sulaiyman. Prophet Sulaiyman is obviously King Solomon and "Dhu'l-Qarnayn" is said by some to be Cyrus or Dairus I, the emperor of Persia.

Note: The Great Imam of Islam, Imam al-Suyuti is considered by many to have been one of the reformers of Islam that the Prophet Muhammad (upon whom be blessings and peace) said God would send every one hundred years to renew the religion. He lived  more than 400 years ago at a time of the 1000 year millennial year of the Hijra when for subjective reasons, many common Muslims thought the Imam Mahdi was to come to usher in the Kingdom of God. The Imam wrote a book refuting any significance to the year 1000 A.H (Hijri on the Islamic calendar). He also wrote that according to his knowledge and all his understanding of the Ahadeeth and the Qur'an the year of the Imam Mahdi will be some time in the 15th Islamic century . We are now in the early part of the 15th Islamic century. What is also significant is that the Mahdi is expected to appear in the 2nd or 3rd decade of this Islamic century (which is now). It should also be noted however that according to the Qur'an no one can predict when the Day of Judgment itself will exactly occur.  

The Rise of the Comet with a Tail

"A star with a luminous tail will rise from the east before the Mahdi emerges."

(Muhammad bin `Abd al-Rasul Barzanji, Al-Isha`ah li Ashrat as-Sa`ah, p. 200)

"The rise of that star will occur after the eclipse of the Sun and the Moon."

(Al-Muttaqi al-Hindi, Al-Burhan fi `Alamat al-Mahdi Akhir az-Zaman, p. 32)

"When this comet first appeared, the people of Prophet Noah perished, Prophet Abraham was cast into fire, Pharaoh and his people who fought against Prophet Moses perished, and John [Yahya] passed away. When you see that comet, take refuge in God from the evil of fitna."

(Al-Muttaqi al-Hindi, Al-Burhan fi `Alamat al-Mahdi Akhir az-Zaman, p. 32)

"A big flame will occur in the east for 3 or 7 days in a row, followed by darkness in the sky and a brand new redness unlike the usual color of red spreading over the sky. A proclamation will be heard in a language Earth can understand."

(Muhammad bin `Abd al-Rasul Barzanji, Al-Isha`ah li-Ashrat as-Sa`ah, p. 166)

In its section on the signs of the Mahdi's emergence, the book Iqd al-Durar states:

"The emergence of a big flare, which is seen in the east, in the sky for three nights. Sighting of an extraordinary redness, not as red as the usual color of the dawn, and its spread over the horizon."

(Al-Muttaqi al-Hindi, Al-Burhan fi `Alamat al-Mahdi Akhir az-Zaman, p. 32)

Narrated by Abu Ja`farbin Muhammad bin Ali:

"When you see a flame rise in the east for three or seven days, then wait for the emergence of Al-i Muhammad; God will proclaim from the sky uttering the name of the Mahdi and everybody, whether in the east or the west, will hear that voice."

(Al-Muttaqi al-Hindi, Al-Burhan fi `Alamat al-Mahdi Akhir az-Zaman, p. 32)

Note: Although the latter 3 hadiths describe a "flame" as opposed to a comet/star in the first 3, both can be argued to be the same, as they're both objects that rise from the east, as a sign of the Mahdi. Also, a comet that passes close, would appear as a flame/flare in the sky. This can also be said to be referring to the same event, in that a comet crashing to Earth would cause such a large flame to happen, which would turn the sky red.

Black Banners from Khurasan (Afghanistan) to Jerusalem

Abdullah bin al-Harith,bin Juz' al-Zubaydi said,

"The Prophet (S) said, 'A people will come out of the East who will pave the way for the Mahdi.'"

(Ibn Majah.)

"Pity poor Taliqan (a region in Afghanistan) that at that place are treasures of Allah, but these are not of gold and silver. There are people who have recognized Allah as they should have. They are the supporters of the Mahdi in the End Times."

(Al-Muttaqi al-Hindi, Al-Burhan fi Alamat al-Mahdi Akhir al-zaman, p.59)

On the authority of Thawban, the Messenger of Allah (upon whom be blessings and peace) said:

The Prophet Sallallahu ‘Alaihi Wa Sallam said: "Before your treasure, three will kill each other -- all of them are sons of a different caliph but none will be the recipient. Then the Black Banners will appear from the East and they will kill you in a way that has never before been done by a nation." Thawban, a companion said: 'Then he said something that I do not remember by heart' then continued to say that the Prophet, praise and peace be upon him, said: "If you see him give him your allegiance, even if you have to crawl over ice, because surely he is the Caliph of Allah, the Mahdi. If you see the black (meaning war) flags coming from Khurasan (Afghanistan), join that army, even if you have to crawl over ice, for this is the army of the Caliph, the Mahdi and no one can stop that army until it reaches Jerusalem."

(Ibn Majah, Al Busiri, Al Hakim, Ahmad Nuaym, Ad-Daylami,  Hasan,bin Sufyaan, and Abu Nuaym.)

Note: This hadith is considered to be weak by some, partly due to one of its transmitters as well as because of its use to give support to Abu Muslim's Abbasid revolution in 749 CE, when he raised armies, carrying black banners from Khurasan. It's use was hence used to support the idea that the Mahdi would come from the family of Abbas. This has led others to doubt its authenticity, or at least believe that it was tampered with in support of the Abbasid cause.

However, as there are other hadiths, which say pretty much the same thing, it must therefore be regarded as "tampered with in support of the Abbasid cause". Based on other hadiths, we can see that the nature of this tampering, is that it was made to say that the Mahdi himself would come from Khurasan, when in fact, it was only his main army of supporters that are said to. As we shall see later, there are other hadiths that distinguish between the Abbasid's black banner army from Khurasan, and the Mahdi's black banner army from Khurasan. They also specify that the one who leads the Mahdi's army.

In more recent times, we see others in Khurasan region, who carry black flags in Khurasan, such as Usama bin Ladin's fighters over there, as well as the former Taliban regime:

Mullah Muhammad Umar has stated: "The crusaders have changed this this plan by calling for their own destruction. Insha'Allah first we will see America's end and then the black flags will march to Philasteen!..."  

This is obviously a reference to this very hadith, and although it may just be for the Taliban's morale in light of the American invasion of Afghanistan (which is also part of Khurasan), it may also prove to be a fulfillment of it, as the characteristics, and circumstances, are consistent with the black banner army that supports the Mahdi (as we shall see later).

The treasure in which they fight over, can be said to be the Euphrates' treasure. This would put that Battle of the Euphrates in the context of happening just before the black flags from Khurasan, led by the Mansoor, appear.

Related by Abu Hurayrah:

The Prophet Sallallahu ‘Alaihi Wa Sallam said: "(Armies carrying) black flags will come from Khurasan (Afghanistan). No power will be able to stop them and they will finally reach Jerusalem where they will erect their flags."

(Tirmidhi)

Narrated 'Ali bin Abu Talib:

“The Prophet said, ‘A man named al-Harith bin Hirath will come from Transoxania (Tajikistan). His army will be led by a man named Mansoor. He will be pave the way for and establish the government of the family of Muhammad, just as the Quraysh established the government of the Messenger of Allah. Every believer will be obliged to support them.’”

(Sunan Abu-Dawud, Book 36, No. 4277)

Note: The two above sayings (as well as the third one, narrated by Thawban) are claimed by some to be of weak/fabricated narrations, while others claim they have reliable chains of narration. However, their consistency with other related narrations (as well as current events), have prompted me to endorse them.

Most notably, the latter narration regarding al-Harith and the Mansoor, is of particular interest. Earlier, there was a quote, that mentioned 3 Mahdis. These individuals can be said to be the among the second. Later, we shall see them mentioned in more detail. This hadith compares the situation to being similar to that of Prophet Muhammad's. As we know, when the followers of the Prophet arrived in Yathrib during his time, as his forerunners, the Prophet had already been a Prophet and receiving revelation for several years.

If we apply this to the Mahdi's situation, we'd also have to conclude that when the black flags appear in the east, preparing the minds of the Muslims to accept the Mahdi before he comes, that the Mahdi would also have already been the Mahdi for several years.

This also means that those first few years before his Caliphate, his mission, like the Prophet's, would be largely spiritual, while when he becomes the Caliphate, it would also, like the Prophet's, become largely political.

So when we see his forerunners coming from Taliqan in Khurasan with black flags to accomplish this task for him, we'll know that the Mahdi is already here as the Mahdi. Or else, why would they come in his support, unless they knew for a fact that he was already here? And how would they know for a fact he was already here, unless he had already been inspired as the Mahdi by that time?

And so, based on that, it can be surmised that the Mahdi would live 40 years after his emergence, the last 20 of which he would be the Caliph, and ruling the world with equity and justice for the last 7 with Prophet 'Esa :saws: to help and succeed him in doing so.

In his first 20 years, we would have forerunners ruling in his place; among them would be al-Harith bin Hirath the Hashimite with Mansoor; Shu'ayb bin Salih al-Tamimi leading his army.

Reported by Abu Said Al Khudri:

"A man from my nation will come who speaks with my Sunnah and Allah, the Mighty, the Glorified will send showers of rain from the heavens so that the earth will produce its blessing. Through him the earth will be filled with fairness and justice just as it had been filled by oppression and injustice. He will govern this nation for seven years, and go to Jerusalem."

(Abu Dawud, Al Hakim, At-Tirmizi, Ahmad,bin Hibban, Muslim, Al Tabarani, Al Barudi and Abu Nuaym)  

Note: Following that immigration to Jerusalem, Medina will be destroyed and become the shelter of the savage people.

Az-Zuhri said:

"The black banners will meet in battle with the yellow banners, and they will fight each other up to Palestine. Then the Sufyaani will come out against the people of the east, and when the people of the Maghrib settle in Jordan, their ruler will die. So they will split into three groups; one group that will return to where they came from, one group that will go to the Hajj, and one group that will stay and against whom the Sufyaani will fight. He will defeat them, and they will enter his obedience."

(Nu'aym bin Hammad, Kitab al-Fitan, No. 54)

Note: Both of those ahadith talk about the black flags and yellow flags fighting each other. If they are referring to the same conflict, then this takes place before Shu'ayb leads them to Jerusalem to establish his power for the Mahdi, as they appear after the Sufyaani and not before. Here, the people of the east, are those of the black banners, and the "people of Maghrib" are those of the yellow banners.

Hudhayfah bin al-Yaman said to a group of people from Egypt:

"When there comes to you a document from the east that will be read out to you as: "From the slave of Allah, 'Abdullah, Amir al-Mu'minin," then await another document coming to you from the west that will be read out to you as: "From the slave of Allah, 'Abd ar-Rahman, Amir al-Mu'minin," then by He in Whose Hand is Hudhayfah's soul, you will fight them near al-Qantarah, and they will expel you far, far away from the land of Egypt and the land of ash-Sham, and an Arabian woman will be sold at the stairs of Damascus for twenty-five dirhams."

(Nu'aym bin Hammad, Kitab al-Fitan, No. 52)
 

Narrated from Ka'b:

"There will be, after the fitnah in ash-Sham, the eastern one which will be the destruction of the kings and the humiliation of the Arabs, until the people of the Maghrib come out."

(Nu'aym bin Hammad, Kitab al-Fitan, No. 53)

Note: The two ahadith above could be referring to the yellow flags vs. black flags conflict. In which case, these black flags are not the ones that support the Mahdi, and therefore, cannot come from Afghanistan, but may come from Iraq or Iran.

Narrated Abdullah bin Hawalah al-Azdi:

"The Apostle of Allah (peace be upon him) sent us on foot to get spoil, but we returned without getting any. When he saw the signs of distress on our faces, he stood up on our faces and said: 'O Allah, do not put them under my care, for I would be too weak to care for them; do not put them in care of themselves, for they would be incapable of that, and do not put them in the care of men, for they would choose the best things for themselves.'  

He then placed his hand on my head and said: 'Ibn Hawalah, when you see the caliphate has settled in the holy land (i.e., Palestine), earthquakes, sorrows and serious matters will have drawn near and on that day the Last Hour will be nearer to mankind than this hand of mine is to your head.' 

(Translation of Sunan Abu-Dawud, Jihad (Kitab Al-Jihad), Book 14, Number 2529)

Ammar, thebin Yasir, may Allah be pleased with both of them, said:

"When the Sufyaani reaches Kufa and kills the supporters of the family of Muhammad, praise and peace be upon him, the Mahdi will come and the bearer of his Banner will be Shu'ayb bin Salih."

(Nu'aym bin Hammad, Kitab al-Fitan)

Muhammad,bin Al Hanaffia, said:

"The Black Banners will come out for the children of Al Abbas. The other black banners will come from Khurasan. Their turbans will be black and their clothes white. At their front will be a man named Shuayb bin Salih, from Tamim. They will defeat the companions of The Sufyaani until he comes to the House of Jerusalem where he will establish his power for the Mahdi, and he will be supplied with three hundred (men) from Syria after his arrival and the matter will be settled for the Mahdi in seventy-two months (six years)."

(Nu'aym bin Hammad, Kitab al-Fitan)

Note: Here it says that the matter will be settled for the Mahdi in 6 years. The "matter" that is settled, is quite possibly in reference to the establishment of his Caliphate. Th 6-year period mentioned here, is the time between when the Black Banners arrive in Jerusalem, to when the Mahdi becomes the Caliph.  The Mansoor mentioned earlier, is again mentioned here, with the name of "Shu'ayb bin Salih", descending from the Banu Tamim (Tamim tribe). However, we see no mention of Al-Harith, and so we must conclude that at this point, he would have been martyred.

'Abdullah, thebin Abbas, may Allah be pleased with both of them, said to Mujahid: "If I had not heard that you are like the people of this House I would never tell you this."  

Whereupon Mujahid said: "It is surely in secret, I will not mention it to someone you hate." 

So Ibn Abbas told him: "There are four people from the House, from us is As-Saffah, and from us Al Mundhir, and from us the Mansoor, and from us is the Mahdi."  

So Mujahid said: "Clarify these four for me." 

He answered: "As for As-Saffah, perhaps he will kill his supporters and forgive his enemy. Al Mundhir will give away plenty of wealth, he will be humble and keep but a little of his rights. The Mansoor, will be given victory over his enemy and part of what was given to the Messenger of Allah, praise and peace be upon him, and that is that his enemies were frightened away from him the traveling distance of two months, whereas the enemy of the Mansoor will be frightened away from him the traveling distance of one month. The Mahdi will fill the earth with justice just as it has been filled with transgression -- livestock and foxes will live together peacefully. And the earth will bring forth that which is hidden from its depths -- they look like cylinders of gold or silver."

(Ibn Abu Shaybah)

Note: In the above narration, it mentions the Mansoor as being from the Prophet's household, whereas the Mansoor; Shu'ayb bin Salih, isn't even from the Qur'aysh, but descends from Banu Tamim. Therefore, we must conclude that there are two different Mansoors. This Mansoor can be said to be the Mansoor from the Ahl ul-Bayt, is the same as the one that is given bayah long after the Mahdi (as we shall see later).

Said bin Al Musayyab reported:

"The Black Banners will come from the East from the children of Al Abbas. Then there will remain whatsoever Allah wishes. Then, small Black Banners will come to fight a man from the children of Abu Sufyaan from the East. They will give their allegiance to the Mahdi."

(Nuaym bin Hammad, Kitab al-Fitan)  

Al Hasan Al Basri said:

"A man of medium stature will come from Ar-Ray (a far-eastern town). He will be dark and from the children of Tamim -- a Wasaj, named Shuayb bin Salih with four thousand men. Their clothes will be white and Banners black, and at his front is the Mahdi. He meets no one that he does not defeat and scatter."

(Nu'aym bin Hammad, Kitab al-Fitan)

Note: The children of Al Abbas have indeed carried black banners in revolt against the Umayyad dynasty. This occurred in 749 CE.

Today, the Taliban wear black turbans and white clothes, and do carry Black Banners in wartime. These characteristics are consistent with the above narrations of Muhammad,bin Al-Hanaffa, and Hasan al-Basri.

Here are pictures of the Taliban with their black turbans and white clothes:

The base network of Usama descendant of Ladin also carries Black Banners, although their attire isn't consistent with the black banner army that supports the Mahdi.

Abdullah bin Shuraykh, said:

"With the Mahdi is the marked banner of the Messenger of Allah, praise and peace be upon him. If only I could live to meet him while I was still young!"

(Nu'aym bin Hammad, Kitab al-Fitan)

Note: According to the website http://islamicweb.com/history/mahdi.htm Allah has said that the Jews will master the world two times (It states we are currently living in the first one) and the Mahdi will appear between those two periods and will rule through the last one, though it does not list it’s references.

Ammar, thebin Yasir, may Allah be pleased with both of them, said:

"The bearer of the Banner of the Mahdi is Shuayb bin Salih."

(Nu'aym bin Hammad, Kitab al-Fitan)

Narrated by Umm Salamah:

The Prophet said, "Disagreement will occur at the death of a ruler and a man from the people of Medina will flee to Mecca. Some of the people of Mecca will come to him, bring him out against his will and swear allegiance to him between the Corner and the Maqam. An army will then be sent against him from Syria but will be swallowed up in the desert between Mecca and Medina. When the people see that, the eminent saints (Al-Abdal) of Syria and the best people of Iraq will come to him and swear allegiance to him.

Then a man from Quraysh whose mother is from Kalb will appear and send against them an army which will be overcome by them, and that is the Battle of Kalb. Disappointed will be the one who does not receive the booty of Kalb. He will divide the property, and will govern the people by the Sunnah of the Prophet. He will remain seven years, then die, and the Muslims will pray over him."

(Sunan Abu Dawud, Book 36, No. 4273)

Note: In this hadeeth, it suggests that the ruler of Syria at the time, and the Sufyaani are two different people. This hadeeth is considered to be "weak", so the actual differentiation between the ruler of Syria and Sufyaani may not be accurate. However, prior to the Mahdi it mentions a "disagreement" occurring after the death of a ruler. This is significant, as we have seen in other hadeeths, that people would be fighting over the (Saudi???) kingdom/Caliphate before the Mahdi comes, so this part of the hadeeth has some  merit to it, especially in relation to current events. So the weakness of this hadeeth may not mean it is "fabricated" as much as it simply not being narrated correctly. 

Narrated by Hudhayfah:

The Messenger of Allah said, 

"There will be a battle at az-Zawra'." 

They said: "O Messenger of Allah, what is az-Zawra'?" 

He said: "A city in the east, between rivers, in which reside the worst of Allah's creation, the tyrants of my Ummah. It will be afflicted with four kinds of punishment: The sword, swallowing by the earth, being pelted with stones, and transformation into animals. When the dark people come after the Arabs they will be defeated and thrown into the lowest part of the earth. While these circumstances exist, The Sufyaani will come with three hundred and sixty riders until he reaches Damascus. After a month, he will be followed by thirty thousand from Kalb, so he will send an army to Iraq and kill a hundred thousand in Az-Zawra. Then they will go to Kufa and pillage. When this occurs a banner will come from the east led by a man from Tamim called Shuayb, thebin Salih who will restore what is in their hands from the captured people of Kufa and he will kill them. Then, another army from The Sufyaani will go to Medina and pillage it for three days and thereafter proceed towards Mecca until they find themselves at al-Bayda'. Then, Allah will send Gabriel and say to him, 'O Gabriel, Chastise them!' So he will beat them with his leg once and Allah will cause them to be swallowed up into the earth. None will remain except two men who will return to the Sufyaani to inform him of the swallowing-up of his army, but this will not scare him. Several men from the Quraysh will escape to Istanbul and the Sufyaani will send a message to the leader of the Romans: "Send them all back to me", who will then return them to him and he will slit their throats together with their followers/behead them at the gate of the city of Damascus. It will be such that a woman wearing a single garment will be taken around in the main masjid of Damascus in full view of everyone, until she comes and sits on the thigh of the Sufyani while he is sitting in the mihrab. So a man from the Muslims will stand up and say: "Woe to you! Have you disbelieved after you had faith? This is not allowed!" So he [i.e. the Sufyani] will stand up and behead him in the masjid of Damascus, and he will kill everyone who sympathized with what that man had done. At that time a voice will come from Heaven saying:  'O people, surely Allah prevents dictatorship, tyrants and their followers for you and gives leadership to the best of the nation of Muhammad. So join him in Mecca for he is the Mahdi and his name is Ahmad bin Abdillah!'"

Then, Hudhayfah said: "'Imranbin Husayn stood up and asked: 'O Messenger of Allah, how shall we know him?'

He replied: "He is a man from my children, he looks like the men from the children of Israel, upon him are two white cloaks with frayed edges. His face is like a colorful, glittering star, upon his right cheek there is a black mole and he is forty years old. The Abdal and those looking like them will come to him from Syria. An-Nujaba will come to him from the dwellers of Egypt and groups of dwellers from the east, and those looking like them until they all gather together in Mecca and so they will pledge their allegiance to him between Al Rukn and Al Makam. Then he will direct himself towards Syria with Gabriel at his front and Michael at his middle and the dwellers of Heaven and Earth will be joyful because of him. Water will be plentiful in his country and the river will be spread and treasures found. When he reaches Syria he will slay the Sufyaani under the tree, the branches of which grow in the direction of Lake Tiberias and he will kill Kalb. So the loser of that Day of Kalb is he who does not gain even a rein."

Hudhaybah asked: 'O Messenger of Allah, praise and peace be upon him, how is it permitted to kill them when they believe in the Oneness?'

The Messenger of Allah, praise and peace be upon him, replied: "O Hudhayfah, they are at that time apostates, they claim that wine is permitted and do not pray."

(Abu Nuaym, At-Tabarani, and Abu Amru Ad Dani.)  

'There will be a city called Zawra between the Tigris and the Euphrates. There will be a great battle there. Women will be taken prisoner, and men will have their throats cut like sheep.'

 (Muntakhab Kanzul Ummal, vol. 5, p. 38)

7-year Peace Agreement with the Romans

Hadhrat Abu Umamah says that the Messenger of Allah (upon whom be blessings and peace) said:

"There will be four peace agreements between you and the Romans. The fourth agreement will be mediated through a person who will be from the progeny of Hadhrat Aaron and will be upheld for seven years." The people asked: "O Messenger of Allah, who will be the Imaam of the people at the time?" The Messenger of Allah said: "He will be from my progeny and will be forty years of age. His face will shine like a star and he will have a black spot on his left cheek. He will don two "Qutwaani" cloaks and will appear exactly as a person from the Children of Israel. He will rule for 20 years and will conquer the cities of the Mushrikeen (Idolators)"

(Tabrani, Ref: Kanz-ul-Aamal, Page 268, Hadith No. 3868)

Note: In the above hadith, it says that the Mahdi rules for 20 years, instead of the traditional 7 years. The hadiths which mention the 7 year rule, are far more numerous, and more authentic than this one, so, if the 20 year rule cannot be reconciled with the 7 year rule, then the 7 year rule should be the accepted term.

However, it is possible to reconcile them, as it can be argued, based on other ahadith, that he spends the first 13 years as a Caliph ruling only one region, while fighting and conquering, and then, after gaining victory over his adversaries, only rules the world for 7 years, then dies.

It can also be argued, that he spends the first 6 years fighting to establish his Caliphate, the next 7 years ruling the region, and the 7 years after that, fighting again, then dies.

Comparing the two, either one could potentially work. However, if he is really going to rule the world, as other ahadith suggest, then the former would make more sense. His conquests and invasions beyond the Middle East happen no more than a year before the Dajjal appears. To only rule the world for less than a year doesn't make much sense. If he rules the world for 7 years, it would make a lot of sense, and if he does, it could only happen after the Dajjal has been killed by the Messiah, 'Eyssa,bin Maryam.

For my website, as it is a very inclusive one in terms of Islamic literature, I'm going to use the former scenario.

The 7-year peace agreement here, refers to the peace-treaty that the Romans make with the Hashimite to "invade an enemy beyond Rome". This takes place before the Mahdi becomes the Caliph.

Medina

Fierce Battle (Great War)

When comes the Help of Allah and Victory, And thou dost see the People enter Allah's Religion in droves, Celebrate the Praises of thy Lord, and pray for his forgiveness; For he is Oft-Returning (In forgiveness). (Surah 110(An-Nasr))

Narrated Abu Hurayrah (?):

"...He (the Mahdi) fights the whole world and both the ones who have gone astray (Christians) and the ones who have earned Allah's anger (Jews) join against him with the hypocrites in the land of Isra and Miraj at Mount Megiddo. And there comes out against him the Queen of the world and deception, an adulteress called (America), who incites the world to deviation and infidelity...and the Jews of the world at that time would have the upper hand , ruling Quds and the holy city. And all nations come to fight by sea and air except those in the land of extreme cold and the land of extreme heat. And the Mahdi sees that all the world does plot against him, but he also sees that Allah's plan is stronger than all, and he sees that the World belongs to Allah and to Him it will return, and that the World is but a tree that Allah wills him to rule from its roots to its branches.......and Allah throws down on them (unbelievers) with a disastrous punishment, burning their lands and seas and skies. And the sky rains down a harmful shower, with the people of the Earth cursing the infidels, and Allah wills the defeat of the unbelievers."

(Asmal Masalik Lieyyam Mahdiyy Maliki Li Kull-id Dunya Biemrillah-il Malik, Qalda bin Zayd, p. 216)

Note: In this prophecy, it says that the battle between the Mahdi and the Romans, takes place at Mount Megiddo, which implies that it may be the same as the battle of Armageddon, mentioned in Biblical prophecy. If this is the case, then the leader of the Romans, at this time, would be the Dajjal, as other Hadith say that the Dajjal would spread everywhere except Mecca and Medina. This also means that their defeat is where the Messiah  'Eyssa descends, as according to other ahadith, he brings an end to the Dajjal and his followers.

'Abd Allah bin 'Amr said,

"I went to the Prophet (S) one day whilst he was performing Wudu' (ablution) slowly and carefully. He raised his head, looked at me and said, 'Six things will happen to this Ummah: the death of your Prophet - 'and when I heard that I was aghast,' - this is the first. The second is that your wealth will increase so much that if a man were given ten thousand, he would still not be content with it. The third is that tribulation will enter the house of every one of you. The fourth is that sudden death will be widespread. The fifth is a peace-treaty between you and the Romans; they will gather troops against you for nine months - like a woman's period of childbearing then they will be the first to break the treaty. The sixth is the conquest of a city.'  

I asked, 'O Messenger of Allah, which city?' 

He said, 'Constantinople.'"

(Ahmad, Muslim, Ibn Kathir Page No: 34)

Narrated Mu'adh bin Jabal:

The Prophet (peace be upon him) said: "The greatest war, the conquest of Constantinople and the coming forth of the Dajjal (False Messiah) will take place within a period of seven months."

(Sunan Abu Dawud: Book 37, Number 4282)

Note: The above hadeeth is considered to be fabricated, due to the hadeeth, which appears immediately after it, below. This is due to the discrepancy between the length of time being 7 months or 7 years.

Narrated Abdullah bin Busr:

The Prophet Sallallahu ‘Alaihi Wa Sallam said: "The time between the Great War and the conquest of the city will be six years, and the Dajjal (False Messiah) will come forth in the seventh."

(Sunan Abu Dawud: Book 37, Number 4283)

Note: The "city" mentioned in this hadeeth is not specifically identified as referring to either Rome or Constantinople. If it is neither city, then it is possible that both narrations above are compatible with each other. It is possible that the city mentioned in the latter hadeeth above may well be Jerusalem. In that case, the “Great War” referred to here  could be “The Day of Wrath” referred to in the prophecy of Daniel (another Biblical source). It puts the time between Jerusalem’s “distress” and “relief” as 45 years. Its distress would be its occupation in 1387/1967 and thus its relief would therefore be in 1432/2011 according to this source.

However, other hadiths specify that the "Great war" is with the Romans, so the former hadith cannot be entirely correct. What the former hadith may mean, is that the greatest war (a final battle perhaps) is the end of the Great war, and would thus take place, with the conquest of Istanbul, and the appearance of the Dajjal, in a period of 7 months. It can simply be said that the final battle and city's conquest, takes place in the middle to end of the sixth year, and the Dajjal would appear in the early to middle of the seventh year. This is probably the more correct way of reconciling the two ahadith.

Also, there was another hadith narrated by Ibn al-Hanaffa (mentioned earlier), which says that the matter would be settled for the Mahdi in 6 years. That hadith, however, was talking about the establishment of the Mahdi's power as the Caliph, immediately upon emergence, and not the Great War with the Romans mentioned above. Therefore, it must be concluded, that the 6-7 year "Great war" takes place after the 6 year period of establishing the Caliphate against the opposing establishments in the region. At the beginning of this establishment phase, he would make the 7-year peace agreement with the Romans (as mentioned above). After it is accomplished, however, the Romans (as it says in other ahadith) would break their treaty, and then the "Great war" mentioned here, would begin.

Narrated Ibn Hawalah:

The Prophet said: "It will turn out that you will be armed troops; one in Syria, one in the Yemen and one in Iraq.bin Hawalah said: Choose for me, Messenger of Allah, if I reach that time. He replied: Go to Syria, for it is Allah's chosen land, to which his best servants will be gathered, but if you are unwilling, go to your Yemen, and draw water from your tanks, for Allah has on my account taken special charge of Syria and its people."

(Sunan Abu-Dawud, Book 14, No. 2477)

Prophet Muhammad said, "A section of my community will continue to fight at the gates of Damascus and around it and at the gates of Jerusalem and around it. It does not effect them the desertion of people who deserted them. They (will continue to) hold The Truth till the Judgment Day occurs."

(al-Hafiz al-Haithami)

Narrated Abu Darda':

The Prophet (upon whom be blessings and peace) said: "The place of assembly of the Muslims at the time of the Great war (Armageddon) will be in al-Ghutah near a city called Damascus, one of the best cities in Syria."

(Sunan Abu Dawud, Book 37, No. 4285)

Narrated Abu Hurayrah:

Allah's Apostle (peace be upon him) said: "The Last Hour will not come until the Romans land at al-A'maq or in Dabiq. An army consisting of the best (soldiers) of the people on Earth at that time will come from Medina (to oppose them). When they arrange themselves in ranks, the Romans will say: 'Do not stand between us and those (Muslims) who took prisoners from among us. Let us fight them.' The Muslims will say: 'Nay, by Allah, we shall never turn aside from you and from our brethren so that you may fight them.'

They will then fight and a third (part) of the army, whom Allah will never forgive, will run away. A third (part of the army), which will be constituted of excellent martyrs in Allah's eyes, would be killed. The third who will never be put on trial will win and they will be the conquerors of Constantinople."

As they are busy in distributing the spoils of war (amongst themselves) after hanging their swords by the olive trees, Satan will cry: The Dajjal has taken your place among your families. They will then come out, but it will be of no avail. When they reach Syria, he will come out while they are still preparing themselves for battle, drawing up the ranks."

Certainly, the time of prayer will come and then ‘Eyssa (peace be upon him),bin Maryam, descends and will lead them in prayer. When the enemy of Allah sees him, it will (disappear) just as salt dissolves in water and if he (‘Eyssa) were not to confront them at all, even then it would dissolve completely. Allah would kill them by his hand and he would show them their blood on his lance." 

(Muslim Book No: 40 No: 6924)

Reported by Abu Hurayrah:

The Messenger of Allah (upon whom be blessings and peace) said, "The Romans will surround a leader from my descendents whose name will be the same as mine. They will fight each other at a place called Al-Amuq and one third, or thereabouts, of the Muslims will be killed. They will fight again on another day and again one third or thereabouts of the Muslims will be killed. On the third day they will fight again and the Romans will be defeated. And they will remain there until they open Constantinople. It is whilst they are distributing the spoils of war that a messenger will come informing them that the false messiah is in their home town with their children."

(Al-Khatib - al-Muttafaq wal-Muftaraq, Ibn Hibban, At-Tirmizi, Abuya'li, At-Tabarani, Al Bazaar, Abu Nuaym and Al Hakim.)

Note: The above can be seen as evidence supporting the fact that during the Mahdi's reign, the Romans will be defeated and Istanbul along with Rome, will be conquered, the Dajjal will appear and 'Eyssa will descend. This further supports the fact that the Dajjal emerges after the Mahdi and not before.

'Awf bin Malik al-Ashja'i narrated that the Messenger of Allah said:

Abdullah bin Masud said that the Prophet said: 

"Between the Muslims and the Romans, there will be a Hudna (truce) and reconciliation treaty to the extent that they will fight together an enemy for Romans (non-Muslim nation) and they will split the war acquisitions. Then, the Romans with the Muslims will invade Persia (Iran). 

The Romans will say: 'Split with us the war booties (spoils) like we did.' 

So, Muslims will split with the Romans the war booties and children of Polytheists. 

The Roman will say: 'Split what you got of the (Persian) Muslim children.' 

The Muslims will say: 'We cannot split with you the the children of Muslims. ...' 

The Romans will invade and take over all of Al-Sham, except Damascus and Ma'taq mountain near Homs (in Syria) where Muslims will keep their children. Victory will be withheld until one third of the Muslims dies, one third flees and one third remains fighting. Each of the martyrs of the third who are killed is equal to 10 of those martyred in Badr (at the time of Prophet Mohammad). Each of Badr's martyrs can intercede for 70 people, thus each of the martyrs in this battle (with the Romans) can intercede for 700 people. The third will flee can be divided into groups: one third will join the Romans and say, 'If Allah had anything to do with this religion (Islam), he would have supported Muslims', one third will say, 'We'd better go back to the lands of our parents' and they are the Bedouins, the last third say, 'Al-Sham is ominous like its name sounds', so they will leave Al-Sham. Then, the Romans will say: 'The Cross has won.' Allah will become angry and say: 'O Gabriel, help my worshippers!' and Gabriel will descend with one hundred thousand angels. Allah will say: 'O Michael, help my worshippers!' and Michael will descend with two hundred thousand angels. Allah will say: 'O Israfeel, help my worshippers!' and Israfeel, will descend with three hundred thousand angels and Allah will descend victory on the believers (Muslims) and descend his wrath on the disbelievers, so they get defeated and killed. Muslims will reach Amoria and the Romans there will offer to pay Jizya (penalty tax) in exchange for security. Muslims will accept this offer. However, the Romans will attack the remaining Arabs in their lands and kill all of them, to the extent that there will not remain in the land of Romans any Arab adult or child who has not been killed. The Muslims will be able to conquer any city or fort in no more than 3 days. They will reach the bay (where Constantinople is located) and the water will expand (making it difficult to reach the city). So, in the morning, the people of Constantinople will say: 'the Cross expanded our sea and Messiah supported us.' However, in the next morning, they will find the bay has dried up and the sea will recede away from Constantinople. The Muslims will besiege the City of Kufr (Disbelief) on a Friday night and keep on chanting Tahmeed (Al-Hamd li Allah, meaning Praise to God), Takbeer (Allah Akbar, meaning God is Greater), Tahleel until the morning. At dawn, the Muslims will say one Takbeer, what is between the two towers collapses. The Romans will say: We were fighting the Arabs, but now we are fighting our God and God has destroyed for them (Arabs or Muslims) our city. The Muslims will grab the booties of war and gold. The Muslims will distribute among themselves the progenies of the Romans to the extent that each man will get 300 virgins to enjoy. Then, the Dajjal actually appears..." 

(Nu'aym bin Hammad, Kitab al-Fitan)

Abdullah bin 'Amr talking about the third war with the Romans said:

"A boy will appear among the Romans who will age in a year as a boy would age in ten years. He will live in the lands of the Romans, and the Romans will make him their king.

So he will say: 'For how long will we allow these people to overcome us in part of our own land? I will certainly go out and fight them until I overcome them in the lands they have taken, or they overcome me in what remains under my feet.'

So he will go out with seventy thousand ships until he lands between Akka (Acre) (in Palestine) and Al-Arish (in Egypt),  then he will set his ships on fire. The people of Egypt will leave Egypt, and the people of Al-Sham (Greater Syria) will leave Al-Sham, and they will all go to the Arabian Peninsula. That is the day about which Abu Hurayrah used to say: 'Woe to the Arabs from an evil that has approached.' A rope and a well-fed riding animal will be dearer to a man on that day than his family and his wealth.

So the Arabs will seek help from the bedouins, then they will march until they reach the Amaq (valleys) of Antioch where the greatest of the battles will occur, until the horses are soaked in blood up to their flanks. 

Allah will withhold victory from all, until the angels will say: 'O Lord, will You not help Your believing slaves?'

So, He will say: 'Not until they have had many martyrs.'

So, one third will be killed, one third will retreat, and one third will remain patient (keep fighting). Allah will cause the retreating third to be swallowed by the earth.

The Romans will say: 'We will keep fighting you until you bring out to us every one among you whose origin is not from you.' 

So, the Ajam (non-Arab Muslims) will come out and say: 'May Allah forbid that we should go back to Kufr (unbelief) after Al-Islam!'

That is when Allah (God) will show his wrath, strike with His sword and stab with His spear. None of them (Romans) will remain alive, not even someone to tell about what happened.

And they (the Muslims) will not pass any city without conquering it by chanting Takbir (saying Allah Akbar, meaning is Greater), until they arrive to the City of the Romans, and they will find that its gulf has dried up. So Allah [ta'ala] will make them conquer it, and on that day, there will be an over-supply of virgins, and the spoils will be distributed using large scoops."

(Nu'aym bin Hammad, Kitab al-Fitan)

Ka'b said: " Two branches of the descendants of Israel will fight in the Great War and they will support Islam and its people." 

Then Ka'b recited verse 104 of Sura 17 of the Quran:  وَقُلْنَا مِنْ بَعْدِهِ لِبَنِي إسْرائيلَ اسْكُنُوا الأرضَ فَإِذَا جَاءَ وَعْدُ الآخِرَةِ جِئْناَ بِكُمْ لَفِيفاً  [And we said thereafter to the Israelites: Dwell in the Land (of promise) but when the Promise of the End comes, We gather you as a mixed crowd.]. " 

(Nu'aym bin Hammad, Kitab al-Fitan) 

Narrated Yusair bin Jabir:

Once there blew a red storm in Kufah and there came a person who had nothing to say but (these words): "Abdullah bin Mas'ud, the Last Hour has come." 

He (Abdullah bin Mas'ud) was sitting reclining against something, and he said: "The Last Hour will not come until the people do not divide inheritance and rejoice over booty."  

Then He said pointing towards Syria, with a gesture of his hand like this: "The enemy will muster strength against the Muslims and the Muslims will muster strength against them."  

I said: "You mean Rome?" 

He said: "Yes, and there will be a terrible fight. The Muslims will prepare a detachment (for fighting unto death), which will not return unless victorious. They will fight until darkness intervenes. Both sides will return without being victorious and both will be wiped out. The Muslims will again prepare a detachment for fighting unto death so that they may not return unless victorious. When it is the fourth day, a new detachment from the remnant of the Muslims will be prepared and Allah will decree that the enemy will be routed. They would fight such a fight the like of which has not been seen, so fierce that even if a bird were to pass their flanks, it would fall down dead before reaching the other end. (There will be such a large scale massacre) that when counting will be done, (only) one out of a hundred men related to one another would be found alive. So what can be the joy at the spoils of such war and what inheritance can be divided? They will be in this very state when they will hear of a calamity more horrible than this. A cry will reach them: 'The Dajjal has taken your place among your offspring.' They will therefore throw away what is in their hands and go forward, sending ten horsemen as a scouting party. Allah's Apostle (peace be upon him) said: 'I know their names, the names of their forefathers and the color of their horses. They will be the best horsemen on the surface of the Earth on that day or among the best horsemen on the surface of the Earth on that day.'"

(Sahih Muslim, Book 41, No. 6927)

Abdullah bin Amr bin Al-'Aas that he said:

"When the two old men rule: the old man of the Arabs , and the old man of the Romans , then at their hands will be the (beginning of) Malahim (Battles) ."

(Nuaim bin Hammad's Kitab al-Fitan)

Arta said: 

"The First War (with the Romans) according to (Prophet) Daniel (in the Bible) will be in Alexandria. They (Romans) will come in their ships. The people of Egypt will ask the people of Al-Sham for help. They (Romans and Muslims) will meet and fight fiercely. The Muslims will defeat the Romans after exerting a tremendous effort. Then, they (Romans) amass a big army and disembark in Yafa (Jaffa) in Palestine and advance 10 miles (in Palestine). Its people (Palestinians) will seek refuge with their children in the mountains. The Muslims will meet the Romans, defeat them and kill their (Romans') king. 

In the Second War, they (Romans) after their defeat (in the first Battle) will amass an army larger than their first army. Then, they will head to and disembark in Akka (Acre) (in Palestine). They will have chosen as a king, the son of their king who was killed. He will meet the Muslims (in the battlefield) in Akka. Victory for the Muslims will be withheld for 40 days. So, the people of Al-Sham will ask for help from the people of all Muslim lands. There will be slowness in sending support armies. (On the Romans' side), There will not be a Christian free man or slave who will not go to help the Romans. So, one third of people of Al-Sham will flee and one third will be killed and Allah will grant victory to those remaining third. They (Muslims) will defeat the Romans such a defeat that has never been heard of before and they will kill the king of the Romans.

 In the Third War, whoever left by sea will return and will join them whoever from them fled by land. They will chose the son of their killed king who will be so young that he has not reached puberty yet. They will love him so much. He will send armies with troops in much larger numbers than the two previous kings. They will disembark in the valley of Antioch. The Muslims will gather across from them. They will fight for 2 months. Then, Allah will grant victory to the Muslims so they will defeat the Romans. Muslims will fight them as they are fleeing. Support armies will arrive to help the Romans. Muslims will kill their king and the rest are defeated.... Immigrant Muslims will continue fighting the fleeing Romans until the Cross is abolished. The Romans will leave to nations behind them. The Immigrants will split into two halves. Half of them will march in land and the other half will sail by sea. The Immigrants who are in land will meet their enemies in land and defeat them even more severely than the previous defeats. They (Immigrants) will send someone to tell the good news to their (Muslim) brothers in the sea that their destination should be the City. Allah will support them in their sailing until they embark in the City. They will conquer it and devastate it...." 

(Nu'aym bin Hammad, Kitab al-Fitan)

3-Year Drought

Narrated by Ibn Majah, Ibn Khuzaimah, and ad-Dhiyaa’, and attributed to Abu Umamah, that the Prophet of Allah (upon whom be blessings and peace) said,

“There will be three hard years before the Dajjal (appears). During them, people will be stricken by a great famine. In the first year, Allah will command the sky to withhold a third of its rain, and the earth to withhold a third a third of its produce. In the second year, Allah will command the sky to withhold two thirds of its rain, and the earth to withhold two thirds of its produce. In the third year, Allah will command the sky to withhold all of its rain, and it will not rain a single drop of rain. He will command the earth to withhold all of its produce, and no plant will grow. All hoofed animals will perish, except that which Allah wills.”

He (sallallahu `alaihi wa sallam) was asked, ‘What sustains people during that time?’

He said, “Tahlil, takbir and tahmid (Saying, la ilaha ill Allah, Allahu Akbar and al-hamdulillah). This will sustain them just as food does.”

(Sahih Al-Jami` as-Saghir, no. 7875)

Note: The Dajjal appears the year after the conquest of Istanbul and Rome. This would mean that the "Great War" mentioned earlier overlaps with the 3-year drought.

Conquest of India

Thawban - may Allah be pleased with him - reported that the Messenger of Allah (sallallahu 'alaihi wa sallam) said,

"Two groups of my Ummah Allah has protected from the hellfire: a group that will conquer India and a group that will be with 'Eyssa bin Maryam - 'alaihimas- salat was-salaam."

(Ahmad, an-Nisa'i, and at-Tabarani.)

Abu Hurayrah - may Allah be pleased with him - said that the Messenger of Allah (sallallahu 'alaihi wa sallam) mentioned India and said:

"A group of you will conquer India, Allah will open for them [India] until they come with its kings chained - Allah having forgiven their sins - when they return back [from India], they will find Ibn Maryam in Syria."

(Nu'aym bin Hammad - Kitab al-Fitan)

While Abu Hurayrah said, "The Messenger of Allah (sallallahu 'alaihi wa sallam) promised us the conquest of India. If I was to come across that I will spend my soul and wealth. If I am killed then I am among the best of martyrs. And if I return then I am Abu Hurayrah the freed."

(Ahmad, an-Nisa'i, and al-Hakim.)

Conquest of Istanbul and Rome

Reported by Abu Hurayrah: 

The Prophet said: "If there only remains but one day left in the world, Allah will prolong it until a man from my house governs. He will open Constantinople (Istanbul) and the Mountain of Al-Daylam."

(Ibn Hibban, At-Tirmizi, Abuya'li, At-Tabarani, Al Bazaar, Abu Nuaym and Al Hakim.)

Nafi’, thebin ‘Utbah said,

“The Prophet said, ‘you will invade the Arabian Peninsula and Allah will grant it (to you). Then (you will invade) Persia and Allah will grant it (to you). Then, you will invade Rome and Allah will grant it (to you). Then, you will invade The Dajjal and Allah will grant him (to you).’”

"When the Great War occurs, a group from the masters will come from Damascus. They are the most honorable horses (horse is the symbol of honor) among Arabs and they have the best weapons among them (Arabs). Allah will support The Religion (Islam) with them."

 (Ibn Majah, Hakem, Ibn-'Asakir)

Narrated Abu Hurayrah:

Allah's Apostle (peace_be_upon_him) said: "You have heard of the city, one side of which is inclined and the other is on the coast."  

They said: "Yes, Allah's Apostle (peace be upon him)." 

Thereupon he said: "The Last Hour will not come until 70,000 people from the children of Israel attack it. When they land there, they will neither fight with weapons nor shower arrows but will only say: 'There is no god but Allah and Allah is the Greatest,' and one side of it will fall." - Thawr (one of the narrators) said: I think that he said: "The area on the coast." - "Then they will say for the second time, 'There is no god but Allah and Allah is the Greatest,' and the other side will also fall. They will say, 'There is no god but Allah is the Greatest,' and the gates will be opened for them and they will enter. They will be collecting spoils of war and distributing them among themselves when a noise will be heard and it will be said: 'Verily, the Dajjal has come.' Thus they will leave everything there and turn to (confront) him."

(Sahih Muslim, Book: 40, No: 6979)

Note: Some believe that the city of Constantinople, in these narrations, is actually referring to the city of Rome as it's descriptions and other narrations indicate, that before the Dajjal's appearance, the city of Rome would be conquered. However, it can also be said (and this is probably more correct) that Constantinople would be conquered for a second time, because the Romans would've gained control of it from the Muslims. So it would in fact be that there would be a second conquest of Constantinople, immediately followed by the conquest of Rome.

"The Mahdi will own the entire world."

(Al-Muttaqi al-Hindi, Al-Burhan fi 'Alamat al-Mahdi Akhir al-Zaman, p. 10)

"The Mahdi will invade all the places between East and West"

(Ibn Hajar al-Haythami, Al-Qawl al-Mukhtasar fi 'Alamat al-Mahdi al-Muntazar, p. 56)

"A small group of Muslims will rise and conquer the White House."

(Musnad al-Imaam Ahmad)

Note: The above two ahadeeth demontrate that the Mahdi's rule would span the entire world, and previous hadeeth show that his rule would be like that of Prophet Sulaiyman, (King Solomon). If he rules the entire world, it could only be after the the Great war, which would also mean after the Dajjal.

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The Dajjal (False Messiah/"Antichrist")

Are they waiting to see if the Angels come to them, or thy Lord (Himself), or certain of the Signs of thy Lord! The day that certain of the Signs of the Lord come, no good will it do to a soul to believe then, if it believed not before nor earned righteousness through its Faith. Say: “Wait ye: we too are waiting” (Qur’an 6:158) 

It was reported from Abu Hurayrah that the Prophet said,

"There are 3 things, which, if they appear, 'No good will it do to a soul to believe them then, if it believed not before nor earned righteousness through its faith'. They are: the rising of the sun from the west, the Dajjal, and the Beast from the Earth."

(Ahmad, Musnad, 2/455 - Muslim, Kitab al-Iman 1/96 - Tirmidhi, Abwab al-Tafsir (Hadeeth 5097), 8/449,450)

Note: Although the Dajjal is not mentioned specifically in the Qur'an, the above hadeeth clearly makes ayat 6:158 as a reference to the Dajjal's appearance as one of the signs that will appear when faith will not be accepted of anyone who did not have it before. For that reason, I have decided to add that ayat in reference to the Dajjal as well as in reference to the sun's rise from the west.

Narrated Umm Sharik:

I heard Allah's Apostle (peace be upon him) said: "The Dajjal would be followed by 70,000 Jews of Isfahan (in Iran) wearing Persian shawls."

(Muslim.)

Anas bin Malik reported that Allah's Messenger (may peace be upon him) said:

"The Dajjal would be followed by 70,000 Jews of Isfahan wearing Persian shawls"

(Sahih Muslim, Book 41, No. 7034)

‘Armies of the Dajjal will carry blue helmets’

Note: Is it a coincidence that Israel and UN has soldiers with blue helmets? Or that some countries police forces and/or military forces start using blue helmets lately?

The Jassasah (Spy)

THE HADITH OF FATIMAH DAUGHTER OF QAYS:

'Amirbin Sharahil Sha'bi Sha'b Hamdan reported that he asked Fatimah daughter of Qays, the sister of Dahhakbin Qays, who was one of the first Muhajirat, "Tell me a Hadith which you heard directly from the Prophet with no narrator in between." 

She said, "I can tell you if you like." 

He said, 'Yes, please tell me," 

She said, "I married Ibn al-Mughirah, who was one of the best of the youth of Quraysh in those days. But he fell in the first Jihad on the side of the Prophet.

"When I became a widow, 'Abd al-Rahmanbin 'Awf, one of the companions of the Prophet sent me a proposal of marriage. The Prophet also sent me a proposal of marriage on behalf of his freedman Usamah bin Zayd. I had been told that the Prophet had said, 'He who loves me should also love Usamah.' When the Prophet spoke to me, I said, 'It is up to you: marry me to whomever you wish.' "The Prophet said, 'Go and stay with Umm Sharik.' Umm Sharik was a rich Ansari (Muslim originally from Madinah) woman, who spent much in the way of Allah and entertained many guests. I said, 'I will do as you wish.' Then he said, 'Don't go. Umm Sharik has many guests, and I would not like it if your head or leg were to become uncovered accidentally and people saw something you would not wish them to see. It is better if you go and stay with your cousin 'Abullah bin 'Amrbin Umm Maktum' (Abdullah was of the Banu Fihr of Quraysh, the same tribe as that to which Fatima belonged).

"So I went to stay with him, and when I had completed my 'Iddah (period of waiting), I heard the Prophet's announcer calling for congregational prayer. I went out to the mosque, and prayed behind the Prophet. I was in the women's row, which was at the back of the congregation. When the Prophet had finished his prayer, he sat on the pulpit, smiling, and said, 'Everyone should stay in his place.'  

Then he said, 'Do you know why I had asked you to assemble?'  

The people said, 'Allah and His Messenger know best.'

"He said, 'By Allah, I have not gathered you here to give you an exhortation or a warning. I have kept you here because Tamim al-Dari, a Christian man who has come and embraced Islam, told me something which agrees with that which I have told you about the Dajjal. He told me that he had sailed in a ship with 30 men from Banu Lakhm and Banu Judham. The waves had tossed them about for a month, then they were brought near to an island, at the time of sunset. They landed on the island, and were met by a beast who was so hairy that they could not tell its front from its back. 

They said, "Woe to you! What are you?" 

It said, "I am al-Jassasah." 

They said, "What is al-Jassasah?" 

It said, "O people, go to this man in the monastery, for he is very eager to know about you." 

Tamim said that when it named a person to us, we were afraid lest it be a devil.

"Tamim said, 'We quickly went to the monastery. There we found a huge man with his hands tied up to his neck and with iron shackles between his legs up to the ankles. 

We said, "Woe to you, who are you?" 

He said, "You will soon know about me. Tell me who you are." 

We said, "We are people from Arabia. We sailed in a ship, but the waves have been tossing us about for a month, and they brought us to your island, where we met a beast who was so hairy that we could not tell its front from its back. We said to it, "Woe to you! What are you? and it said , "I am al-Jassasah." We asked, "What is al-Jassasah?" and it told us, "Go to this man in the monastery, for he is very eager to know about you." So we came to you quickly, fear in that it might be a devil.'

"The man said, "Tell me about the date-palms of Baysan.' 

We said, 'What do you want to know about them?" 

He said, 'I want to know whether these trees bear fruit or not.' 

We said, 'Yes.' 

He said, 'Soon they will not bear fruit.' 

Then he said, "Tell me about the lake of al-Tabariyyah [Tiberias, in Palestine].' 

We said, 'What do you want to know about it?" 

He asked, 'Is there water in it?' 

We said, 'There is plenty of water in it.' 

He said, 'Soon it will become dry.' 

Then he said, 'Tell me about the spring of Zughar.' 

We said, 'What do you want to know about it?' 

He said, 'Is there water in it, and does it irrigate the land?" 

We said, 'Yes, there is plenty of water in it, and the people use it to irrigate the land.'

"Then he said, "Tell me about the unlettered Prophet ' what has he done?' 

We said, 'He has left Makkah and settled in Yathrib.' 

He asked, 'Do the Arabs fight against him?' 

We said, 'Yes.' 

He said, 'How does he deal with them?' 

So we told him that the Prophet had overcome the Arabs around him and that they had followed him. 

He asked, 'Has it really happened?' 

We said, 'Yes.' 

He said, 'It is better for them if they follow him. Now I will tell you about myself. I am the Dajjal. I will soon be permitted to leave this place: I will emerge and travel about the earth. In 40 nights I will pass through every town, except Makkah and Madinah, for these have been forbidden to me. Every time I try to enter either of them, I will be met by an angel bearing an unsheathed sword, who will prevent me from entering. There will be angels guarding them at every passage leading to them.'

Fatimah said, "The Prophet striking the pulpit with his staff, said: 'This is Tayyibah, this is Tayyibah, this is Tayyibah, [ie Madinah]. Have I not told you something like this?'  

The people said, 'Yes.' 

He said, 'I liked the account given to me by Tamim because it agrees with that which I have told you about the Dajjal, and about Makkah and Madinah. Indeed he is in the Syrian sea or the Yemen sea. No, on the contrary, he is in the East, he is in the East, he is in the East' and he pointed towards the East.' "

Fatimah said: "I memorized this from the Prophet."

(Sahih Muslim, Book 41, No. 7028)

Narrated Jabirbin Abdullah:

The Apostle of Allah (peace be upon him) said one day from the pulpit: "When some people were sailing in the sea, their food was finished. An island appeared to them. They went out seeking bread. They were met by the Jassasah (the Dajjal's spy)."

 I said to Abu Salamah: "What is the Jassasah?" 

He replied: "A woman trailing the hair of her skin and of her head. She said: 'In this castle.' 

He then narrated the rest of the (No. 4311) tradition. He asked about the palm-trees of Baysan and the spring of Zughar. He said: 'He is the Dajjal.' " 

Ibn Salamah said to me: "There is something more in this tradition, which I could not remember." 

He said: "Jabir testified that it was he who was Ibn Sayyad." 

I said: "He died". 

He said: "Let him die." 

I said: "He accepted Islam." 

He said: "Let him accept Islam." 

I said: "He entered Medina." 

He said: "Let him enter Medina."

(Sunan Abu-Dawud, Book 37, Number 4314)

Details of the Dajjal

The wife of the Messenger of Allah, Hafsah daughter of 'Umar, said that the Messenger of Allah said, "He (the Dajjal) will appear driven by a fit of rage." He also said, "He (the Dajjal) will first appear to people, driven in a fit of rage" 

(Muslim)

Jabirbin Abdullah said,

“The Prophet said, ‘The Dajjal will appear at the end of time, when religion is taken lightly. He will have 40 days in which to travel throughout the earth. One of these days will be like a year, another will be like a month, and another will be like a week, and the rest will be like normal days. He will be riding a (white) donkey (this could possibly an airplane) (made of iron); the width between its ears (possibly wings) will be 40 cubits (60 feet). He will say to the people: “I am your lord.” He is one eyed, but your Lord is not one eyed. On his forehead will be written the word Kaffir, and every believer, literate or illiterate, will be able to read it. He will go everywhere except Makkah and Madinah, which Allah has forbidden to him; angels stand at their gates. He will have a mountain of bread, and the people will face hardship, except for those who follow him. He will have 2 rivers, and I know what is in them. He will call one Paradise and one Hell. Whoever enters the one he calls Paradise will find that it is Hell, and whoever enters the one he calls Hell will find that it is Paradise. Allah will send with him devils that will speak to the people. He will bring a great tribulation; he will issue a command to the sky and it will seem to the people as if it is raining. Then he will appear to kill someone and bring him back to life. After that he will no longer have this power. The people will say, “Can anybody do something like this except the Lord?” The Muslims will flee to Jabal al-Dukhan in Syria, and the Dajjal will come and besiege them. The siege will intensify and they will suffer great hardship.

Then ‘Eyssa bin Maryam will descend, and will call the people at dawn: “O people, what prevented you from coming out to fight this evil liar?” 

They will answer, “He is a jinn.”  

Then they will go out, and find ‘Eyssa bin Maryam. The time for prayer will come, and the Muslims will call on ‘Eyssa to lead the prayer, but he will say, “Let your Imam lead the prayer.” Their Imam will lead them in praying (the morning prayer), and then they will go out to fight the Dajjal. When the liar sees ‘Eyssa, he will dissolve like salt in water. ‘Eyssa will go to him and kill him, and he will not let anyone who followed him live.’”

(Ahmad.)

Note: In the above narration we are informed of a "white donkey" that's made of iron, and the width between it's ears is 40 cubits. Undoubtedly one can say this is a white airplane made of iron and the width between it's wings is 60 feet. If this were true, then we need to determine what airplane is white and has a wingspan of 60 feet. Fortunately, I have located only one plane that matches this description:

This jet is both white, and has a 60 ft. wingspan, and it is the only one I could find that matches this description. Therefore, it is very possible that this is indeed the exact type of aircraft the Dajjal will ride.

‘Abdullah bin Masood narrates that the Prophet said, “The distance between the ears of Dajjal’s donkey is 40 cubits and its single step is equal to 3 days journey. He will board his donkey and enter the seas like you enter a narrow pipe riding upon a horse…”

(Nu’aym bin Hammad, Kitab al-Fitan)

The Prophet said:

"The Dajjal uses a special kind of donkey possessing two enormous ears, each of which is at least 30 arms-lengths, moving in the skies, with the clouds so near he can reach them with his hand and it travels faster than the sun going to its sunset."

(Mentioned in Kanz ul-`Ummal and `Uqd ad-Durrar, Imam al-Maqdisi.)

The Prophet said, regarding the Dajjal's donkey:

"He eats rocks and a mountain of smoke precedes him and people ride inside him, and not on his back."

Another version has:

"In front of him is something like a mountain of smoke and behind him something like a green mountain, calling to men in a loud voice, 'come to me, my sincere ones, my saints, come to me my lovers, come to me I am going to create for you everything good.'"

(al-Hakim and Ibn Asakir)

Abu Hurayrah narrated that the Messenger of Allah said,

"The False Messiah will appear from the east heading towards Medina until it reaches (the area) behind (the mount of) 'Uhud. Afterwards the Angels will (force him to) turn his face towards al-Sham, and there he will perish."

(Ahmad and Sahih Muslim, Book 7, No. 3187)

Abu Hurayrah narrated that the Messenger of Allah said,

"On every pass near Medina there are Angels (guarding it). Plagues and the Dajjal will not enter Medina."

(Malik, Ahmad, Bukharai, Muslim; see mukhtasar sahih Muslim, no. 781)

Anas bin Malik said that the Messenger of Allah said,

"There is not a city but will be overwhelmed by the Dajjal, except Mecca and Medina. Every pass that leads to them will be surrounded and guarded by Angels. He (Dajjal) will make camp close to the Sabkhah (salty marsh). Then, Medina will experience 3 earth tremors, after which every disbeliever and hypocrite will leave it to join him."

(Bukhari and al-Nasa, Ibid. No. 2055)

Reported by Imran,bin Hussain in the reference of Nawawi, "Gardens of Righteousness", the Messenger of Allah said:

"When the Dajjal appears, a believer will set out towards him and encounter his guards. 

They will ask: 'Where are you going?' 

He will reply: 'I am going to the one who has appeared.' 

They will ask him: 'Don't you believe in our lord!' 

He will reply: 'Our Lord has no secrecy.' 

Then some will say to the other: 'Let us kill him!' 

But they will say: 'Hasn't your lord forbidden you to kill anyone without his order?' 

So they will take him to the Dajjal. 

When the believer sees him he will call out: 'O people, this is the Dajjal who was mentioned by the Messenger of Allah!' 

Upon this the Dajjal will command them to kill him, and inflate his back and stomach. 

Then he will ask the man: 'don’t you still believe in me?" 

But he will reply: 'You are the Dajjal.' 

Then the Dajjal will order him to be sawn in half, through his skull to the top of his legs. After this the Dajjal will step between the two parts of his body and address them saying: 'Rise up!' whereupon the man will become whole and stand up. 

The Dajjal will question him again: 'Do you believe in me?' 

But the man will answer: 'I have only learned more about you!' 

And he will turn to the people and say: 'Now, he will be unable to do anything to anyone!' 

So the Dajjal will seize him in order to kill him but Allah will make his neck from its base upwards to be as if it were made of brass and the Dajjal will be rendered incapable of killing him. Thereafter he will take hold of his arms and legs and throw him. People will think that the Dajjal has thrown him into the fire, but instead he will be thrown into Paradise."

The Messenger of Allah, praise and peace be upon him, added: "This man will be the one of the greatest martyr in rank before the Lord of the Worlds."

(Abu Sa'id Khudri)

Note: This believer is said to be the Khidr.

Narrated Umm Sharik:

I heard Allah's Apostle (peace be upon him) said: "The people would run away from the Dajjal seeking shelter in the mountains." 

She said: "Where would be the Arabs then on the day?" 

He said: "They would be small in number."

(Sahih Muslim, Book 41, No. 7035)

It was reported that Ibn ‘Umar (may Allah be pleased with him) said:

The Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) said: “The Dajjal will come to this pond in Marriqanaat – a valley in Madinah – and most of those who go out to him will be women, until a man will come to his mother in law, his mother, his daughter, his sister and his aunt, and will tie them up strongly for fear that they will go out to him.”

(Narrated by Ahmad, no. 5099)

Abu Umamah al-Bahili said, "The Prophet (S) delivered a speech to us, most of which dealt with the Dajjal and warned us against him. He said, 'No tribulation on earth since the creation of Adam will be worse than the tribulation of the Dajjal. Allah has never sent a Prophet who did not warn his Ummah against the Dajjal. I am the last of the Prophets, and you are the last Ummah. The Dajjal is emerging among you and it is inevitable. If he appears while I am still among you, I will contend with him on behalf of every Muslim. But if he appears after I am gone, then every person must contend with him on his own behalf, and Allah will take care of every Muslim on my behalf. He will appear on the way between Syria and Iraq, and will spread disaster right and left. O servants of Allah, adhere to the path of Truth. I shall describe him for you in a way that no Prophet has ever done before.

He will start by saying that he is a Prophet, but there will be no Prophet after me. Then he will say, "I am your Lord," but you will never see your Lord until you die. The Dajjal is one-eyed, but your Lord, glorified be He, is not one-eyed. On his forehead will be written the word Kafir, which every Muslim, literate or illiterate, will be able to read. Among the tribulations he will bring will be the Paradise and Hell he will offer; but that which he calls Hell will be Paradise, and that which he calls Paradise will be Hell. Whoever enters his Hell, let him seek refuge with Allah and recite the opening Ayat of Surat al-Kahf, and it will become cool and peaceful for him, as the fire became cool and peaceful for Abraham.

"He will say to a Bedouin, What do you think if I bring your father and mother back to life for you? Will you bear witness that I am your lord? The Bedouin will say Yes, so two devils will assume the appearance of his father and mother, and will say, "O my son, follow him for he is your lord."

"He will be given power over one person, whom he will kill and cut in two with a saw. Then he will say, Look at this slave of mine, now I will resurrect him, but he will still claim that he has a Lord other than me. Allah will resurrect him, and this evil man (the Dajjal) will say to him, Who is your Lord? The man will answer, My Lord is Allah, and you are the enemy of Allah. You are the Dajjal. By Allah, I have never been more sure of this than I am today."

Abu Sa'id said, "The Prophet (S) said, 'That man will have the highest status among my Ummah in Paradise. ' " 

Abu Sa'id said, "By Allah, we never thought that that man would be any other than 'Umarbin al-Khattdb, until he passed away."

Al-Muhdribi said: 'Then we referred to the Hadith of Abu Rafi'i, which said, "Part of his Fitnah 'will be the fact that he will pass through an area whose people will deny him, and none of their livestock will remain alive. Then he will pass through a second area whose people will believe in him; he will order the sky to rain and the earth to bring forth crops, and their flocks will return from grazing fatter than they have ever been, with their flanks stretched, their udders full. He will pass through every place on earth - except Makkah and Madinah, which he will never enter, for there are angels guarding every gate of them with unsheathed swords until he reaches al-Zarib al-Ahmar and camps at the edge of the salt-marsh. Madinah will be shaken by three tremors, after which every Munafiq (hypocrite) will leave it, and it will be cleansed of evil, as iron is cleansed of dross. That day will be called Yawm al-Khalas (The Day of Purification)."'

Umm Sharik bint Abi'l-'Akr said , "O Messenger of Allah, where will the Arabs be at that time?" 

He said, "At that time they will be few; most of them will be in Bayt al-Maqdis (Jerusalem), and their Imam will be a righteous man. Whilst their Imam is going forward to lead the people in praying Salat al-Subh (the morning prayer), 'Eyssa bin Maryam will descend. The Imam will step back, to let 'Eyssa lead the people in prayer, but 'Eyssa will place his hand between the man's shoulders and say, 'Go forward and lead the prayer, for the Iqamah was made for you.' So the Imam will lead the people in prayer, and afterwards 'Eyssa (AS) will say, 'Open the gate.' The gate will be opened, and behind it will be the Dajjal and a thousand Jews, each of them bearing a sword and shield. When the Dajjal sees 'Eyssa, he will begin to dissolve like salt in water, and will run away. 'Eyssa will say, 'You will remain alive until I strike you with my sword.' He will catch up with him at the eastern gate of Ludd and will kill him. The Jews will be deflated with the help of Allah. There will be no place for them to hide; they will not be able to hide behind any stone, wall, animal or tree - except the boxthorn (al-Gharqarah) - without it saying, 'O Muslim servant of Allah! here is a Jew, come and kill him!"' 

The Prophet (S) said, "The time of the Dajjal will be forty years; one year like half a year, one year like a month, and one month like a week. The rest of his days will pass so quickly that if one of you were at one of the gates of Madinah, he would not reach the other gate before evening fell."

Someone asked, "O Messenger of Allah, how will we pray in those shorter days?" He said, "Work out the times of prayer in the same way that you do in these longer days, and then pray."  

The Prophet (S) said, "'Eyssa bin Maryam will be a just administrator and leader of my Ummah. He will break the cross kill the pigs, and abolish the Jizyah (tax on non-Muslims). He will not collect the Sadaqah, so he will not collect sheep and camels. Mutual enmity and hatred will disappear.

Every harmful animal will be made harmless, so that a small boy will be able to put his hand into a snake's mouth without being harmed, a small girl will be able to make a lion run away from her, and a wolf will go among sheep as if he were a sheepdog. The earth will be filled with peace as a container is filled with water. People will be in complete agreement, and only Allah will be worshipped. Wars will cease, and the authority of Quraysh will be taken away. The earth will be like a silver basin, and will produce fruit so abundantly that a group of people will gather to eat a bunch of grapes or one pomegranate and will be satisfied. A bull will be worth so much money, but a horse will be worth only a few dirhams."

Someone asked, "O Messenger of Allah, why will a horse be so cheap?" 

He said, "Because it will never be ridden in war."  

He was asked, "Why will the bull be so expensive?" 

He said, "Because it will plough the earth. For three years before the Dajjal emerges, the people will suffer severe hunger. In the first year, Allah will order the sky to withhold a third of its rain, and the earth to withhold two-thirds of its fruits. In the third year, He will order the sky to withhold all of its rain, and the earth to withhold all of its fruits, so that nothing green will grow. Every cloven-hoofed creature will die except for whatever Allah wills."  

Someone asked, "How will the people live at that time?" 

He said, "By saying La ilaha illa Allah, Allahu Akbar, Subhan Allah and Al-Hamdu-li'llah. This will be like food for them."

(Ibn Majah, Kitib al-Fitan, (Hadith 4077), 2: 1363.)

is is the answer to the question.]

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The Messiah 'Eyssa  ("Jesus")bin Maryam (Mary)

"Since the world came into existence, at the beginning of every century an important event occurred. At the beginning of one century, the Dajjal will emerge and 'Eyssa, thebin Maryam will descend and kill him."

(Ibn Abi Hatem)

Allah’s Apostle said: "After his descent on earth, Hadhrat ‘Eyssa will marry. He will have children, and he will remain on earth 19 years after marriage. He will pass away and Muslims will perform his (funeral prayers) and bury him next to the Messenger of Allah (Muhammad; referring to himself)."

(Tirmidhi)

Allah’s Prophet said: "Hadhrat Messiah will die after completing the duration he was destined to pass in the world and that Muslims would offer his funeral prayers and bury him next to the grave of the holy Prophet, Hadhrat Abu Bakr and Hadhrat Umar."

(Mishkat, P. 480)

 to the question.]

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Yajuj and Majuj (Gog and Magog)

"Until the Yajuj and Majuj (people) Are let through (their barrier), And they swiftly swarm From every hill.  Then will the True Promise Draw nigh (of fulfillment): Then behold! the eyes Of the Unbelievers will Fixedly stare in horror: 'Ah! Woe to us! we were indeed Heedless of this; nay; we Truly did wrong!'  (21:96-97) 

Narrated from Ka'b:

"The Mahdi will die a normal death. Then the people will be ruled after him by a man from his household who has both good and evil in him, but whose evil is more than his good. He will make the people angry, and call them to division after their unity. He will remain a short while, for a man from his household will rise up against him and kill him. After him, the people will fight each other fiercely, and the one who killed him will remain a short while and then die a normal death. Then they will be ruled by a man from Mudhar, from the east. He will make the people commit kufr, and cause them to go out of their religion. He will fight the people of Yemen fiercely between the two rivers, but Allah will defeat him and those who are with him."

Narrated from Artah:

"He will live long and become oppressive. He will be heavily guarded towards the end of his time. He and those with him will become so wealthy that the thinnest of them is as fat as the fattest of the rest of the Muslims. He will abolish ways that were known, and innovate things that were unknown. Adultery will be openly committed, and wine will be drunk in public.

He will intimidate the scholars until a man will ride his horse and travel to a town and not find a single man that will relate a hadith of knowledge. Al-Islam will become in his time something strange, as it was when it began. On that day, the one who holds onto his religion will be like one grasping a burning coal.

His situation will become such that he will send a slave girl to the markets, walking in gold slippers accompanied by guards, and wearing a garment that does not conceal her from the front or the back. If a man were to speak a single word against that, he would be beheaded."

(Nu'aym bin Hammad, Kitab al-Fitan, No. 118-119)

The Makhzumi

Narrated from az-Zuhri:

"The Mahdi will die a normal death, then after him the people will fall into trials. A man from Banu Makhzum will come to them, be given the bay'ah, and he will remain for some time. Then he will withhold people's provision, and will find no-one daring to object. Then he will withhold people's pensions, and will again find no-one daring to object.

He will settle in Bayt al-Maqdis, and he and his companions will become very immoral and disreputable. Their women will walk in sandals decorated with gold and in garments that do not cover them, and no-one will dare object to it.

He will order the expulsion of the people of Yemen: Qudha'ah, Mudhhaj, Hamdan, Himyar, al-Azd, Ghassan, and everyone else who is said to be from Yemen. He will drive them out until they settle in the woods of Palestine, where groups from Judays, Lakhm, Judham, and the people from those mountains will bring them food and drink and provide relief for them, as Yusuf was a means of relieving his brothers.

Then a caller from the sky, neither human nor jinn, will announce: "Give the bay'ah to so-and-so, and do not turn back on your heels after emigrating." So they will look, but they will not know who called. He will announce it again three times. Then they will give the bay'ah to the Mansoor, who will send a delegation of ten men to the Makhzumi, who will kill nine of them and leave one. Then he will send five, and he will kill four and let one go. Then he will send three, and he will kill two and leave one. Then he [i.e. the Mansoor] will go to him [i.e. the Makhzumi], and Allah will make him victorious over him. Allah will cause him [i.e. the Makhzumi] to be killed as well as those with him, and none will escape except those who flee. He will not leave a single Qurashi without killing him, so that if one were to look for a single Qurashi he would not find one, as today one might look for a man from Jurhum and similarly no find him. Likewise will Quraysh be killed, until none of them are found afterwards."

(Nu'aym bin Hammad, Kitab al-Fitan, No. 121)

Note: This mentions the Mansoor as taking power after the Mahdi. However, in another hadith (as mentioned earlier), it says that the Mansoor is the one who helps establish the Mahdi's government. We've already established that the Mansoor is the same as Shu'ayb bin Salih in that narration. In this case, it cannot be the same person, as it takes place a while after the Mahdi's death, and likewise after 'Eyssa bin Maryam's death as well. Therefore, this Mansoor cannot be the same Mansoor that helped the Mahdi, and therefore, must be a completely different person. This Mansoor may be the Mansoor that descends from the Prophet's household (as mentioned in another hadith), whereas the one with the Mahdi, descended from people of Tamim.

Narrated from Ka'b:

"He will fight the people of Yemen very fiercely between the two rivers, but Allah will defeat him and those with him. The people of the east [i.e. the followers of the Makhzumi] and those with him will be terrified at the sight of all of the dead bodies thrown into the river, and they will realize that they have been defeated.

So their [i.e. the people of Yemen's] rider will go to Yemen, while they are camped between the two rivers, and Allah [ta'ala] will give victory to him and those with him. So the people's affairs will be righted, and they will enjoy a happy unity. Then they will go until they settle in ash-Sham, where they will remain for a long time under a righteous rule.

Then Qays will rise up against them, so the people of Yemen will kill them until one would think that no-one from Qays is left alive, then a man from the people of Yemen will stand up and say: "Fear Allah regarding your brothers! Fear Allah regarding those who are left!"

Then the remnants of Qays will go until they settle between the two rivers, where they will assemble a great gathering, and appoint as their ruler a man from Banu Makhzum. Then the ruler of Yemen will die, and Qays will rejoice at his death. The Makhzumi will go forward, until when the last of them has crossed the Euphrates, the Makhzumi will die.

So Yemen will go back to its borders, and Qays to its borders. The mawali will be angry about that, and on that day, they will be the majority of people. So they will say: "Come, let us appoint as our ruler a man from the people of the religion." So they will send a group from the people of Yemen, a group from Mudhar, and a group from the mawali to Bayt al-Maqdis, where they will recite the Book of Allah and ask Him to guide them to the correct choice. So that group will return, having appointed as their ruler a man from the mawali, and woe to the people of ash-Sham and its land from his rule!

So he will go to Mudhar, intending to fight them. Then he will send a man from the people of the west, heavily built and broad shouldered, who will kill whoever he meets in battle until he enters Bayt al-Maqdis. Then he will be injured by a horse and die. At that time, the world will be in the worst state that it has ever been.

Then a man will rule after him from the people of Mudhar who will kill the righteous people, an accursed and evil man. Then, al-Mudhari al-'Umani al-Qahtaani will rule. He will live by the example of his brother the Mahdi, and at his hands the city of the Romans will be conquered."

Abu 'Abdullah Nu'aym bin Hammad said: "He will come from a town called Yakla, a short distance behind San'a'. His father is from Quraysh and his mother is from Yemen."

(Nu'aym bin Hammad, Kitab al-Fitan, No. 122)

Note: It mentions the conquerer of the Romans' city not being the Mahdi, but by another individual altogether, describing him as being half-Qurayshi, and half-Yemeni. This individual appears to be the Qahtaani, as in another hadith, it says the Qahtaani lives by the Mahdi's example (as seen below). However, that hadith says, the conquerer is from the Ahl ul-Bayt (household of the Prophet), and comes after the Qahtaani. The more authentic and widely reported ahadith, however, say it is the Mahdi who conquers. Sine this disagreement cannot be reconciled, the more authentic version takes precedence, which says that is is the Mahdi who does these things.

(Nu'aym bin Hammad, Kitab al-Fitan)

Reported by Jabir bin Majid As Sadafi:

The Prophet, upon whom be blessings and peace, said: "After me there will be caliphs, and after the caliphs, princes and after princes, kings, and after kings, tyrants. Then, a man from the Family of my House will come and fill the earth with justice just as it had been filled with transgression. Then, the Prince after him is the Qahtaani and by He who sent me with the Truth he is not lesser than him."

(At-Tabarani (in his large dictionary), Ibn Mandah, Abu Nuaym and Ibn Asakir.)

Note: The above narration clearly establishes that the Qahtaani appears and rules after the Mahdi, and thus, after the bin Maryam. This should remove any doubts about when the Qahtaani would appear and rule in relation to the other events.

Reported from the hadeeth of Dhi Mikhbar, the son of the brother of an-Najaashi, from the Prophet (SAW) that he said,

"This matter used to be amongst the red-skinned people but Allah removed it from them and placed it amongst the Quraysh but it shall return to them."

(Ahmad.)

 

Narrated from Artah:

"It has reached me that the Mahdi will live for forty years, then he will die on his bed. Then a man from Qahtaan will come, with pierced ears, who will live according to the example of the Mahdi. He will remain for twenty years and then he will die, killed by the sword. Then a man will come from the household of the Prophet [sallallahu 'alayhi wa-sallam], rightly guided and of good example, who will conquer the city of Caesar. He will be the last leader from the Ummah of Muhammad [sallallahu 'alayhi wa-sallam]. During his time, the Dajjal will come out, and during his time, 'Eyssa bin Maryam ['alayhis-salam] will descend."

(Nu'aym bin Hammad, Kitab al-Fitan, No. 122)

Note: Although the Qahtaani does come after the Mahdi, it is not correct that there is another after him, who 'Eyssa descends upon. This is confirmed in other more authentic ahadith, with regards to the Mahdi (mentioned earlier), which confirm it is him who 'Eyssa descends upon, and not someone afterwards. Also note that the individual here, has the same description that other ahadith give to the Mahdi. It may be that they were mistaken to be two different people, and were in fact the same person.

To be correct (i.e. in accordance with the more correct ahadith), there are two ways of interpretting this hadith:

1) "The Mahdi" we are familiar with, is the 3rd individual, and the first individual referred to as "the Mahdi" is someone else.

2) They're both the same, and the correct interpretation of this should be that: "The Mahdi will come from the household of the Prophet, live for 40 years, and of good example, who will conquer the city of Caesar. He will be the last leader from the Ummah of Muhammad. During his time, the Dajjal will come out, and during his time, 'Eyssa bin Maryam will descend. Then a man from Qahtaan will come, with pierced ears, who will live according to the example of the Mahdi. He will remain for 20 years and then"

It appears that (2) is the more correct one, as both share a lot of similarities with each other, as is demonstrated in other ahadith, that discuss the first one, as different from the last.

The fact that it says he lives for 40 years is also an important detail, one which I have already included into my scenario, as well as his 20-year rule, and his 7-year rule. He lives for 40 years after he appears. He rules as the Caliph for the last 20 of those years, the last 7 of which he rules the entire world with 'Eyssa bin Maryam to help and succeed him in doing so.

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Destruction of the Ka’bah

Abdullah bin ‘Amr said,

“I heard the Prophet say, ‘Dhu’l-Suwayqatayn from Abyssinia will destroy the Ka’bah and steal its treasure and Kiswah (cloth covering). It is as if I could see him now: he is bald-headed and has a distortion in his wrists. He will strike the Ka’bah with his spade and pick-axe’.”

(Ahmad, Musnad, 2/220)

Ibn ‘Abbas narrated that the Prophet said,

“It is as if I can see him now: he is black and his legs are widely spaced. He will destroy the Ka’bah stone by stone.”

(Ahmad, Musnad, 1/227)

It is reported from Abdullah bin ‘Umar that the Prophet said,

“Leave the Abyssinians alone so long as they do not disturb you, for no one will recover the treasure of the Ka’bah except Dhu’l-Suwayqatayn from Abyssinia.”

(Abu Dawud, Kitab al-Malahim, (Hadeeth 4287), 11/423)

‘Umar bin al-Khattab reported that he heard the Prophet say:

“The people of Makkah will leave, and only a few people will pass through it. Then it will be resettled and rebuilt; then the people will leave it again, and no one will ever return.”

Narrated Shu'ba extra:

"The Hour (Day of Judgment) will not be established till the Hajj (to the Ka'bah) is abandoned."

(Bukhari.)

Hudhayfah bin al-Yamdn said,

"The Prophet (S) said, 'Islam will become worn out like clothes are, until there will be no-one who knows what fasting, prayer, charity and rituals are. The Qur’an will disappear in one night, and no Ayah will be left on earth (in the hearts of the people). Some groups of old people will be left who will say, "We heard our fathers saying La ilaha illa Allah, so we repeat it."'

Silah asked Hudhayfah, "What will saying La ilaha illa Allah do for them when they do not know what prayer, fasting, ritual and charity are?" Hudhayfah ignored him; then Silah repeated his question three times, and each time Hudayfah ignored him. Finally he answered, “O Silah, it will save them from Hell” and said it three times.

(Ibn Majah.)

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Sun rising in the West

Are they waiting to see if the Angels come to them, or thy Lord (Himself), or certain of the Signs of thy Lord! The day that certain of the Signs of the Lord come, no good will it do to a soul to believe then, if it believed not before nor earned righteousness through its Faith. Say: “Wait ye: we too are waiting” (Qur’an 6:158)

Abu Hurayrah said,

“The Prophet said, ‘The Hour will not come until the sun rises from the West. When the people see it, whoever is living on earth will believe, but that will be the time when, ‘No good will it do to a soul to believe in them then, if it believed not before.’”

(Bukhari, Kitab al-Tasfir, 6/73)

It is also reported that Abu Hurayrah said,

“The hour will not be established till the sun rises from the West; and when it rises (from the West) and the people see it, they all will believe. And that is (the time) when ‘No good will it do to a soul to believe in them then.’”

(Bukhari, ibid)

Note: Before the rising of the sun in the west, there is the “Night of three nights”, which the narration has not been located yet.

"The hijra wiill not stop until the end of tauba (repentance).. and tauba (repentance) will not stop until the sun rises in the west." 

("Al-Musnad", Vol.4/99, Abu Dawud, Kitab al-Jihad, Vol.3/7, Hadith 2479, and ad-Darami, Kitab as-Siyyar, Vol.2/239. Albani classifies it as Sahih. See: "Sahih al-Ja'mi' as-Sagheer", Vol.6/186, Hadith 7346.)

Abdullah bin ‘Amr said,

“I memorized a saying from the Prophet, which I have not forgotten since. I heard the Prophet say, ‘The first of the signs (of the Hour) to appear will be the rising of the sun from the West and the appearance of the Beast before the people in the forenoon. Which ever of these two events happens first, the other will follow immediately.’”

(Muslim, Kitab al-Fitan, 8/202)

Note: This is to say, these will be the first of the extraordinary signs to appear.

Note: It is also possible, that the Sun rising from the west is the first of the major signs to appear, which would mean it would appear before the Dajjal. 

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The Beast

And when the Word is fulfilled against them (the unjust), We shall produce from the earth a Beast to (face) them: it will speak to them because mankind had no faith in our Signs. (27:82)

Note: The Beast is also a Biblical prophecy figure, and is also given the title "Antichrist" in a some passages, however, the characteristics between the two seem to be very different, as the Biblical Beast, the "Antichrist", is very much like the Dajjal mentioned in the prophetic hadeeths. The similarity between the two is that they both lay claim to divinity at some point. At the same time, the other Biblical figure, the "False Prophet" is also very much like the Dajjal, as they both travel through the Earth, performing miracles to mislead the people. 

If the Beast mentioned in the Qur'an and prophetic hadeeths is the same Beast mentioned in the Bible, then this would place it's advent, as well as the Sun's rise from the west (which is directly connected to it) BEFORE the other major events, such as the appearance of the Dajjal, and the descent of the Messiah and NOT after.

Baridah said:

“The Prophet took me to a place in the desert, near Makkah. It was a dry piece of land surrounded by sand. The prophet said, ‘The Beast will emerge from this place.’ It was a very small area.”

(Ibn Majah, Kitab al-Fitan, (Hadeeth 4267), 2/1352)

Note: In an unknown saying, it says the Beast would emerge 7 days after the Sun initially started rising in the West and setting in the East.

It was reported from Abu Hurayrah that the Prophet said,

“The Beast of the Earth will emerge and will have with it the rod of Moses and the ring of Solomon.”

It was also reported that he said, “(The Beast) will destroy the noses of the unbelievers with the ring, so that people seated around one table will begin to address one another with the words “O Believer!” or “O Unbeliever!”

(Similar Hadeeth narrated by Ibn Majah in Kitab al-Fitan, (Hadeeth 4061), 2 - 1351, 1352 and Ahmad, Musnad, 2 - 295)

Note: It should be noticed, with the very brief description of the Beast in the Prophetic narrations above, that the actual fate of the Beast is not mentioned and there seems to be a similarity between the beast in the Bible and in the Qur'an - that they both seem to mark people on their foreheads. The Dajjal, according to some narrations, also has this mark on his forehead, which says "Kaffir" (Disbeliever).

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The Smoke

Then watch thou for the Day that the sky will Bring forth a kind of Smoke (or mist) Plainly visible. Enveloping the people: This will be a Chastisement Grievous. (44:10-11) 

"Smoke will appear all over the earth which will cause believers to catch something similar to a slight cold, whereas the unbelievers will be hit harder by it. Finally, a cold wind will come and kill all believers, leaving only unbelievers on the earth who will then witness the last hour. The angel Israfil will blow a trumpet, and the resurrection of all human beings will begin."

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Breeze from the South (The "Rapture")

It was reported from Abdullah bin ‘Amr that the Prophet said,

“The Hour will not come until Allah takes away the best people on earth; only the worst of people will be left; they will not know any good or forbid any evil.”

(Ahmad)

Narrated Uqbah bin Amir:

It has been narrated on the authority of AbdurRahman bin Shamasah al-Mahri who said: I was in the company of Maslamah bin Mukhallad, and Abdullah bin Amr bin 'As was with him. Abdullah said: "The Hour shall come only when the worst type of people are left on the earth. They will be worse than the people of pre-Islamic days. They will receive whatever they ask of Allah."

While we were still sitting, Uqbah bin Amir came and Maslamah said to him: "Uqbah, listen to what Abdullah says." 

Uqbah said: "He knows better so far as I am concerned." 

I heard the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) say: "A group of people from my Ummah will continue to fight in obedience to the Command of Allah, remaining dominant over their enemies. Those who oppose them shall not do them any harm. They will remain in this condition until the Hour overtakes them."

(At this) Abdullah said: "Yes. Then Allah will raise a wind, which will be fragrant like musk and whose touch will be like the touch of silk; (but) it will cause the death of all (faithful) persons, not leaving behind a single person with an iota of faith in his heart. Then only the worst of men will remain to be overwhelmed by the Hour."

(Muslim.)

 Abdullah bin 'Amr said,

“The Prophet (S) said, 'The Dajjal will appear in my Ummah, and will remain for forty - "I cannot say whether he meant forty days, forty months or forty years." - Then Allah will send ‘Eyssa bin Maryam, who will resemble 'Urwah bin Masud. He will chase the Dajjal and kill him. Then the people will live for seven years during which there will be no enmity between any two persons. Then Allah will send a cold wind from the direction of Syria, which will take the soul of everyone who has the slightest speck of good or faith in his heart. Even if one of you were to enter the heart of a mountain, the wind would reach him there and take his soul. Only the most wicked people will be left; they will be as careless as birds, with the characteristics of beasts, and will have no concern for right and wrong. Satan will come to them in the form of man and will say, "Don't you respond?" They Will say, "What do you order us to do?" He will order them to worship idols, and in spite of that they will have sustenance in abundance, and lead comfortable lives…’”

(Muslim.)

Note: In Christian Prophecy, there is something similar to this, that is referred to as the "Rapture", which is almost identical to what the "cold wind from Syria" does, except that Christians believe the rapture to occur upon the believers to save them from the tribulation of the antichrist before the return of "Jesus", while Muslim s believe the rapture to occur upon the believers to save them from the destruction of the world on the Day of Judgment after the return of "Jesus". 

Narrated by Aisha:

I heard Allah's Apostle (peace be upon him) said: "The (system) of night and day would not end until the people have taken to the worship of Lat and Uzza."

I said: Allah's Apostle (peace be upon him) I think when Allah has revealed this verse: "He it is Who has sent His Messenger with right guidance, and true religion, so that He may cause it to prevail upon all religions, though the polytheists are averse (to it)" (Qur’an 9:33), it implies that (this promise) is going to be fulfilled.

Thereupon he said: "It would happen as Allah would like. Then Allah would send the sweet fragrant air by which everyone who has even a mustard grain of faith in Him would die and those only would survive who would have no goodness in them. And they would revert to the religion of their forefathers."

(Muslim.)

Hafiz Ibn-i-Hajar has alluded to a tradition from the Prophet, saying:

"The Doomsday shall not come until things come to such a pass that a woman shall pass through a crowd of men and one of the men will rise and lift her undergarment (as a tail of a she-lamb is lifted) and engage in copulation with her. Seeing such a happening one of the men will say: "It would have been better if you had engaged in intercourse with her in privacy behind a wall." "Then", said the Prophet, "such a man will be as virtuous among those people as Abu Bakr and 'Umar are the most righteous among you."

(Tabrani in Fath-ul-Bari)

Note: A similar incident of "copulation in public" has in fact occurred.

Narrated Abu Hurayrah: Allah's Apostle said,

"The Hour will not be established till the buttocks of the women of the tribe of Daus move while going round Dhi-al-Khalasa."

(Bukhari)

Note: Dhi-al-Khalasa was the idol of the Daus tribe, which they used to worship in the Pre Islamic Period of ignorance.

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3 Landslides and the Fire in Yemen

Narrated Hudhayfah bin Usayd Ghifari:

Allah's Apostle (peace be upon him) came to us all of a sudden as we were (busy in a discussion) 

He said: "What do you discuss about?" 

(the Companions) said: "We are discussing about the Last Hour."

Thereupon he said: "It will not come until you see ten signs before and (in this connection) he made a mention of the smoke, Dajjal, the beast, the rising of the sun from the west, the descent of ‘Eyssa bin Maryam (Allah be pleased with him), The Gog and Magog, and landslides in three places, one in the east, one in the west and one in Arabia at the end of which fire would burn forth from the Yemen, and would drive people to the place of their assembly."

(Muslim.)

Narrated Abu Hurayrah: Allah's Apostle said,

"The Hour will not be established till a fire will come out of the land of Hijaz, and it will throw light on the necks of the camels at Busra."

(Sahih Bukhari)

Narrated Abu Hurayrah:

The Apostle of Allah (peace_be_upon_him) said: "The best day on which the sun has risen is Friday; on it Adam was created, on it he was expelled (from Paradise), on it his contrition was accepted, on it he died, and on it the Last Hour will take place. On Friday every beast is on the lookout from dawn to sunrise in fear of the Last Hour, but not jinn and men, and it contains a time at which no Muslim prays and asks anything from Allah but He will give it to him."  

Ka'b said: "That is one day every year." 

So I said: "It is on every Friday." 

Ka'b read the Torah and said: "The Apostle of Allah (peace be upon him) has spoken the truth." 

Abu Hurayrah said: "I met Abdullah bin Salam and told him of my meeting with Ka'b." 

Abdullah bin Salam said: "I know what time it is." 

Abu Hurayrah said: "I asked him to tell me about it. 

Abdullah bin Salam said: "It is at the very end of Friday." 

I asked: "How can it be when the Apostle of Allah (peace be upon him) has said: 'No Muslim finds it while he is praying....' and this is the moment when no prayer is offered." 

Abdullah bin Salam said: "Has the Apostle of Allah ((peace be upon him) not said: 'If anyone is seated waiting for the prayer, he is engaged in the prayer until he observes it.'" 

I said: "Yes, it is so."

(Abu Dawud.)

It was narrated that Sahl bin Sa’d said:

“I heard the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) say, ‘The people will be gathered on the Day of Resurrection on reddish white land like a pure loaf of bread (made from pure fine flour).'" Sahl or someone else said, “It will have no landmarks for anyone (to make use of).”

(Bukhari, 6521)

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