Qurtubi in his At-Tadhkirah reports from a ĥadith narrated by Hudhayfah ibn al-Yamān from the Prophet şallAllāhu álayhi wa sallam that he said:
Destruction shall happen around the world so much that even Egypt will be destroyed though Egypt should be safe from ruination; Basrah will be ruined, and it will be ruined by flood. Egypt will be ruined because the Nile will run dry. Makkah and Madinah will be ravaged by hunger [1]. Yemen will be ruined by [swarms of] locusts. Uballah [2] will be destroyed by a seige. Persia will be destroyed by poverty [3] Turkey will be ruined by Deylam [4]. Deylam will be ruined by Armenia. Armenia will be destroyed by Khazar[5] and Khazar will be destroyed by Turkey. Turkey will also be ruined by thunderbolts [6] and Sind [7] will be destroyed by India and India will be destroyed by China;[8] and China will be ruined by Rumul [9]; Ethiopia will be ruined by quakes; Az-Zawrā’a [10] will be ruined by Sufyāni [11] and Ar-Rawĥā’a [12] will be ruined by land collapses [13] and Iraq will be destroyed by killings[14]
And then he said: This is narrated by Abu’l Faraj ibn al-Jawzi and he said: ‘Andalus will be destroyed by a barren wind.’
This ĥadīth is captioned: ‘Signs attributed to RasūlAllāh şallAllāhu álayhi wa sallam regarding the destruction of certain cities and the causes of such destruction; [description] of such signs in the ĥadīth indicate forgery’
[An-Nihāyah fi’l Fitani wa’l Malāĥim, Ibn Kathīr, vol.1, pg.64]
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Footnotes:
- Though the word Kharāb is used, I dare not translate ‘ruination’ for Madinah or Makkah; they may be ravaged but never shall they be ruined. May Allāh preserve them forever.
- Uballah may be Baghdad. Or may be in Yemen since it is mentioned right away. http://tinyurl.com/awcrg However, the footnote in the book puts it near Basrah, and I searched for it in Iraq and I could only find Ubaylah – which incidentally is found in Saudi Arabia and Oman as well!
- şálūk; şáālīk: means dirt poor, those who have absolutely nothing. Hence the contextual translation.
- Deylam in Khuzestan province borders Turkey; in February 2005, there were explosions reported here. There is another Daylam, in Daghestan which could also be possible, considering that it will be destroyed by Armenia.
- Khazar is in Iraq and close to Turkey. Given the conditions, Turkey can overrun Khazar anytime.
- As-Şawāyiq or ‘Thunderbolts’; another meaning is ‘blitzkreig’ which in turn means ‘heavy aerial bombardment’.
- Sind is what is today’s Pakistan and given the conditions it is a quite obvious and possible scenario. Notice that this is said when Pakistan did not exist and consequently the current acrimony between the two nations! Sub’ĥānAllāh, if this is really true, then this is among the many proofs of Prophethood. [dalāyil an-nubuwwah]
- Again, in today’s political environment it is highly possible that China can destroy India – neither are they close allies; infact, the two states have already gone to war in the past and are suspicious and uneasy neighbors today.
- Rumul is a tricky one. Is it a place or something else? Frankly, I don’t know. When I searched for this in the Atlas, the closest matches are mostly in United States! (and one in Israel). It could have been Ramal in Arabic meaning sand; sandstorms, maybe?
- Az-Zawrā’a is a place in Madinah close to the Grand Mosque.
- Sufyāni is a ruler named in the ĥadīth, a descendant of Abū Sufyān who will oppress Muslims. Some said this points to Saddam, but it now seems obvious that it is incorrect.
- Ar-Rawĥā’a is a place between Makkah and Madinah, approximately 30 miles from Madinah.
- Khasf is the word used in the ĥadīth: meaning ‘the land caves in’.
- Qatl is the word used in ĥadīth: meaning ‘killing’.
Allāh táālā knows best.