نحمده
ونصلي ونسلم على رسوله الكريم
al-Malhamat-al-Kubra
(The Great War)
The
Prophet Muhammad ﷺ spoke of a
future great war, the Malhamah, which would be faught between the Muslims and a
confederation of eighty banners, under each banner a battalion of twelve
thousand troops (Bukhari sharif). This confederation is described as being that
of Bani al-Asfar, the common Arab reference for the Romans. The Prophet ﷺ said:
سَتُصَالِحُونَ الرُّومَ صُلْحًا آمِنًا فَتَغْزُونَ
أَنْتُمْ وَهُمْ عَدُوًّا مِنْ وَرَائِكُمْ فَتُنْصَرُونَ وَتَغْنَمُونَ وَتَسْلَمُونَ
ثُمَّ تَرْجِعُونَ حَتَّى تَنْزِلُوا بِمَرْجٍ ذِي تُلُولٍ فَيَرْفَعُ رَجُلٌ مِنْ
أَهْلِ النَّصْرَانِيَّةِ الصَّلِيبَ فَيَقُولُ غَلَبَ الصَّلِيبُ فَيَغْضَبُ رَجُلٌ
مِنَ الْمُسْلِمِينَ فَيَدُقُّهُ فَعِنْدَ ذَلِكَ تَغْدِرُ الرُّومُ وَتَجْمَعُ لِلْمَلْحَمَةِ
“You
shall make a peace treaty with Rome, a secure truce, and you and they will
fight an enemy who is behind you, and you will be victorious, seize spoils of
war, and be safe. Then you will return, and camp in a meadow where there are
mounds. A Christian man will raise the cross and will say: ‘The cross has
prevailed’. A man from among the Muslims will be enfuriated and break it [the
cross] at which point Rome will betray (the truce) and gather for the Malhamah
(battle).” (Sunan Abi Dawud: #4292)
Hence
the Great War, spoken of as ‘Armageddon’ in Christian eschatology, will be
faught between the Muslims and Rome, which at the time will gather as a
confederation of eighty banners, under each banner twelve thousand troops,
meaning an army of nearly one million troops!
Now
there has been a great deal of speculation in identifying, especially in modern
times, who exactly “Rome” refers to, and who is the third party, the enemy that
is 'beyond' the Muslims, against whom the Muslims and Romans shall fight as
an alliance?
Our
first clue is that Rome is described as a Christian power or civilization.
Perhaps it is the Christian nations of Europe, but is it Western Europe
(Britain, France, Italy, Germany, Spain) or Eastern Europe (Russia)? If it is
one of these, then perhaps the ‘third party’ is the other. Meaning a Muslim
alliance with Western Europe and perhaps by extension the United States of
America against Russia and her allies, or a Muslim alliance with Russia against
the forces of Western Europe and America. The appelation of ‘Rome’ can
definitely be applied to either of them. Though Rome is literally a city in
Italy, in Islamic terminology it refers to the Christian/Edomite civilization
that was until a few centuries ago based in Constantinople, the last remnant of
the ancient Roman empire.
It
is also possible that the ‘third party’, if it is not either Russia or Western
Europe/America, may refer to the Zionist State ‘Israel’, China, or a renegade
state or confedaration which is ‘Muslim’. For example, Iran, Baathist Syria, or
possibly even Turkey. Perhaps the third power is the United States which is
literally ‘beyond’ the shores of the Old World, in an alliance with the State of
Israel. As events continue to unfold toward fulfilment of this prophecy we will
be able to more accurately identify who the ‘third party’ is and consequently
whether or not ‘Rome’ is referring to the Christian powers of Russia, Western
Europe, or even both, and Allah knows best.
But
the point to remember is that this ‘third party’ will be defeated by the Roman-Muslim
alliance, and that will lead the way for the breakdown of the alliance and a
great and final war between Rome and the Muslims, in which Rome shall gather to
fight the Muslims with a massive army of nearly one million troops.
Rome may very well refer to a city and not Christedom as a whole. In fact, Constantinople has been mentioned separately from Rome in the context of conquest. The Rome in question is what has confused some people. They believe that Constantinople, which became Istanbul, was Byzantium and was conquered and hence, Dajjal should have arrived by now. This misconception is clarified by the Prophet (ﷺ) himself when Abdullah bin Amr bin Al-‘As (رضي الله عنه) asked him:
ReplyDeleteأي المدينتين تفتح أولا قسطنطينية أو رومية؟ فقال النبي صلى الله عليه وسلم لا بل مدينة هرقل أولا ـ يعني القسطنطينية.
“which of the two cities will be conquered first – Constantinople or Rome?” and the Prophet (ﷺ) replied: “The city of Heraclius (Constantinople) will be conquered first”. (Musnad Ahmad)