‘Abdullāh Ibn Mas’ūd (radiyallāhu ‘anh)
said, “The Last Hour will not be established
until inheritance is not divided and booty
is not rejoiced over.” Then he said, while
pointing towards Shām, “An enemy will
gather against the people of Islam and the
people of Islam will gather against them.”
He was asked, “You mean the Romans?”
He replied, “Yes, and there will be a severe
retreat. The Muslims will prepare a detachment for fighting unto death that will not
return but victorious. They will fight until
night will intervene between them; both
sides will return without being victorious
and the detachment will be wiped out. The
Muslims will again prepare a detachment
for fighting unto death that will not return
but victorious. They will fight until night
will intervene between them; both sides will
return without being victorious and the detachment will be wiped out. The Muslims
will again prepare a detachment for fighting
unto death that will not return but victorious. They will fight until night comes upon
them; both sides will return without being
victorious and the detachment will be wiped out. On the fourth day, the remnants
of the people of Islam will arise to fight
them and Allah will bring defeat upon their
enemy. They will fight such a fight the like
of which will not be seen (or which has not
been seen), so much so that if a bird were to
pass through their areas, it would fall dead
before passing them. Thereafter, paternal
relatives will count each other and find that
after being one hundred, only one man is
left from them. So what booty can be rejoiced over! And what inheritance can be
divided! While they are in this condition,
they will hear of a danger greater than this.
A cry will reach them, ‘The Dajjāl has taken
your place among your families.’ They will
then abandon what is in their hands, advance, and dispatch ten horsemen as a scouting party. Rasūlullāh (sallallāhu ‘alayhi wa
sallam) said, ‘I know their names, the names of their fathers, and the colors of their
horses. They will be the best horsemen on
the face of the Earth on that day or amongst
the best horsemen on the face of the Earth
on that day’” [Sahīh Muslim].