THE BATTLE WITH THE ROMANS:
After the battle with the Romans, which ended with the conquest of Constantinople, the Dajjal will appear, and Jesus son of Mary will descend from Heaven to the earth, to the white minaret in the east of Damascus, at the time of Salat al-Fajr (the morning prayer), as we shall see in the Saheeh Traditions.
Dhu Mukhammar said, "The Prophet (pbuh) said, 'You will make a peace-treaty with the Romans, and together you will invade an enemy beyond Rome. You will be victorious and take much booty. Then you will camp in a hilly pasture; one of the Roman men will come and raise a cross and say "Victory to the Cross", so one of the Muslims will come and kill him. Then the Romans will break the treaty, and there will be a battle. They will gather an army against you and come against you with eighty banners, each banner followed by 10,000 men.' " (Ahmad, Abû Dâwûd, Ibn Majah.)
Yusayr ibn Jabir said, "Once there was a red storm in Kufah. A man came who had nothing to say except, 'O 'Abdullâh ibn Mas'ud, has the Hour come?" 'Abdullâh was sitting reclining against something, and said, 'The Hour will not come until people will not divide inheritance, nor rejoice over booty.' Pointing towards Syria, he said. 'An enemy will gather forces against the Muslims and the Muslims will gather forces against them.' I asked, 'Do you mean the Romans?' He said, 'Yes. At that time there will be very heavy fighting. The Muslims will prepare a detachment to fight to the death; they will not return unless they are victorious. They will fight until night intervenes. Both sides will return without being victorious; then many will be killed on both sides. On the fourth day, the Muslims who are left will return to the fight, and Allâh will cause the enemy to be routed. There will be a battle the like of which has never been seen, so that even if a bird were to pass their ranks, it would fall down dead before it reached the end of them. Out of a family of one hundred, only one man will survive, so how could he enjoy the booty or divide any inheritance? While they are in this state, they will hear of an even worse calamity. A cry will reach them: "The Dajjal has taken your place among your offspring." So they will throw away whatever is in their hands and go forward, sending 10 horsemen as a scouting party. The Prophet said, 'I know their names, and the names of their fathers, and the colours of their horses. They will be the best horsemen on the face of the earth on that day.' " (Ahmad, Muslim).
Abû Hurayrah said, "The Prophet said, 'The Hour will not come until the Romans camp at al-A'mash or Dabiq. An army, composed of the best people on earth at that time, will come out from Madînah to meet them. When they have arranged themselves in ranks, the Romans will say, 'Do not stand between us and those who took prisoners from amongst us. Let us fight with them.' One-third will run away, and Allâh will never forgive them. One-third will be killed, and they will be the best of martyrs in Allâh's sight. One-third, who will never be subjected to trials or tribulations, will win, and will conquer Constantinople. Whilst they are sharing out the booty, after hanging their swords on the olive-trees, Satan will shout to them that the Dajjal has taken their place among their families. When they come to Syria, the Dajjal will appear, while they are preparing for battle and drawing up the ranks. When the time for prayer comes, Jesus the son of Mary will descend and lead them in prayer. When the enemy of Allâh (i.e. the Dajjal) sees him, he will start to dissolve like salt in water, but Allâh will kill him.' " (Muslim.)
Nafi' ibn 'Utbah said, "The Prophet said, 'You will attack Arabia, and Allâh will enable you to conquer it. Then you will attack Persia, and Allâh will enable you to conquer it. Then you will attack Rome, and Allâh will enable you to conquer it. Then you will attack the Dajjal, and Allâh will enable you to conquer him.' " (Muslim)
When Mustawrid al-Qurashi was sitting with 'Amr ibn al-'As, he said, "I heard the Prophet say, 'The Hour will come when the Romans will be in the majority.' 'Amr asked him, "What are you saying?" He said, "I am repeating that which I heard from the Prophet." 'Amr said, "If you say this, it is true, because they have four good characteristics: they are the most able to cope with tribulation, the quickest to recover after disaster and to return to the fight after disaster, and are the best as far as treating the poor, weak and orphans is concerned. They have a fifth characteristic which is very good; they do not allow themselves to be oppressed by their kings." The Prophet said, "You will fight the Romans, and Believers from the Hijaz will fight them after you, until Allâh enables them to conquer Constantinople and Rome with Tasbih and Takbir ("Subhan Allâh" and "Allâhu Akbar"). Its fortifications will collapse, and they will obtain booty the like of which has never been seen, so that they will share it out by scooping it up with their shields. Then someone will cry, 'O Muslims! the Dajjal is in your country, with your families', and the people will leave the wealth. Anyone who takes notice will regret it and anyone who ignores it will regret it. They will ask, 'Who shouted?' but they will not know who he is. They will say, you will hear about his deeds.' So they will go and see, and if they see that everything is normal, they will say, 'No-one would give a shout like that for no reason, so let us go together to Ilya'.' If we find the Dajjal there we will fight him together, until Allâh decides between us and him. If we do not find the Dajjal, we will go back to our country and our families.' "
Mu'adh ibn Jabal said, "The Prophet said, 'The building of Bayt al-Maqdis (in Jerusalem) will be followed by the destruction of Yathrib (Madînah), which will be followed by the conquest of Constantinople, which will be followed by the appearance of the Dajjal.' Then he put his hand on the thigh or the shoulder of the one with whom he was speaking (i.e. Mu'adh), and said, 'This is as true as the fact that you are here (or as true as you are sitting here).' "
This does not mean that Madînah will be destroyed completely before the appearance of the Day, but that will happen at the end of time, as we shall see in some authentic Ahadîth. But the building of Bayt al-Maqdis will be the cause of the destruction of Madînah, as it was proven in the Hadîth that the Dajjal will not be able to enter Madînah. He will be prevented from doing so because it is surrounded by angles bearing unsheathed swords. Abû Hurayrah said, "The Prophet said about Madînah:'Neither plague nor the Dajjal can enter it.' " (al-Bukhârî)
