The Sufyani () is a figure in

Islamic eschatology Islamic eschatology includes the afterlife, apocalyptic signs of the End Times, and final Judgement. It is fundamental to Islam as life after death is one of the six Doctrines of Islam. Resurrection is divided into Lesser Resurrection (''al-q ...

who is usually portrayed in

hadith Hadith is the Arabic word for a 'report' or an 'account f an event and refers to the Islamic oral tradition of anecdotes containing the purported words, actions, and the silent approvals of the Islamic prophet Muhammad or his immediate circle ...

s as a tyrant who will spread corruption and mischief. According to

Shia Shia Islam is the second-largest branch of Islam. It holds that Muhammad designated Ali ibn Abi Talib () as both his political successor (caliph) and as the spiritual leader of the Muslim community (imam). However, his right is understood ...

Hadith Hadith is the Arabic word for a 'report' or an 'account f an event and refers to the Islamic oral tradition of anecdotes containing the purported words, actions, and the silent approvals of the Islamic prophet Muhammad or his immediate circle ...

, the Sufyani will rise in the month of

Rajab Rajab () is the seventh month of the Islamic calendar. The lexical definition of the classical Arabic verb ''rajaba'' is "to respect", which could also mean "be awe or be in fear", of which Rajab is a derivative. This month is regarded as one ...

. Reports about the Sufyani are found also found in

Sunni Sunni Islam is the largest branch of Islam and the largest religious denomination in the world. It holds that Muhammad did not appoint any successor and that his closest companion Abu Bakr () rightfully succeeded him as the caliph of the Mu ...

. The Sufyani is not to be confused with another figure of the end times, the Dajjal. It is said that he: * will kill children and rip out the bellies of women, * murder those from the household of the Prophet, * and will rule over

Syria Syria, officially the Syrian Arab Republic, is a country in West Asia located in the Eastern Mediterranean and the Levant. It borders the Mediterranean Sea to the west, Turkey to Syria–Turkey border, the north, Iraq to Iraq–Syria border, t ...

. It is also said that when the

Mahdi The Mahdi () is a figure in Islamic eschatology who is believed to appear at the Eschatology, End of Times to rid the world of evil and injustice. He is said to be a descendant of Muhammad in Islam, Muhammad, and will appear shortly before Jesu ...

appears, the Sufyani will send an army to seize and kill him, but, when the Sufyani and his army reach the desert of Bayda, they would be swallowed up. However, some mostly Sunni sources claim Hadith describing the Sufyani are unreliable, based on a "garbled version" of a legend "fabricated by traditionists with Shia and pro- 'Abbasid sentiments". Others reverse his role as an evil-doer, describing him as an ally not an enemy of the Mahdi.

Prophecies

Prelude

Before the Sufyani appears, a sedition will arise in the

Maghreb The Maghreb (; ), also known as the Arab Maghreb () and Northwest Africa, is the western part of the Arab world. The region comprises western and central North Africa, including Algeria, Libya, Mauritania, Morocco, and Tunisia. The Maghreb al ...

and spread in every direction such that no party or group could protect itself from it.

Disorder, strife, and fear will emerge in the Magrib (west)... Strife will proliferate.

A kind of corruption will surface from which no party will be able to protect itself, and spread immediately in every direction. This situation will persist until one comes and says: "O people, from now on your leader is Imam Mahdi(as)."

Later the sedition which started in the west will arrive in Shaam (

Levant The Levant ( ) is the subregion that borders the Eastern Mediterranean, Eastern Mediterranean sea to the west, and forms the core of West Asia and the political term, Middle East, ''Middle East''. In its narrowest sense, which is in use toda ...

): two banners will fight for control over the region; fighting until their armies are exhausted.

Arrival

It is said that following these events, the Sufyani will appear in

Damascus Damascus ( , ; ) is the capital and List of largest cities in the Levant region by population, largest city of Syria. It is the oldest capital in the world and, according to some, the fourth Holiest sites in Islam, holiest city in Islam. Kno ...

, and that he will start an uprising in the dry valley of Transjordan and move to seize

; it is said that he will gain much support and that he will advance to capture the rest of Syria, defeating the two other competing forces. It is said that once he captures the five districts of Shaam, he will send armies to

Iraq Iraq, officially the Republic of Iraq, is a country in West Asia. It is bordered by Saudi Arabia to Iraq–Saudi Arabia border, the south, Turkey to Iraq–Turkey border, the north, Iran to Iran–Iraq border, the east, the Persian Gulf and ...

. Abu Hurayrah narrates that the Prophet said:

A man will emerge from the depths of Damascus. He will be called Sufyani. Most of those who follow him will be from the tribe of Kalb. He will kill by ripping the stomachs of women and even kill the children. A man from my family will appear in the Haram, the news of his advent will reach the Sufyani and he will send to him one of his armies. He (referring to the Mahdi) will defeat them. They will then travel with whoever remains until they come to a desert and they will be swallowed. None will be saved except the one who had informed the others about them.

Nu'aym bin Hammad quotes Khalid bin Ma'dan as saying, "The Sufyani will emerge with three staffs in his hand. Anyone whom he strikes with them will die."

Dominance

It is said that the Sufyani will be followed, for the most part, by the tribe of

Banu Kalb The Banu Kalb () was an Arab tribe which mainly dwelt in the desert and steppe of northwestern Arabia and central Syria. It was involved in the tribal politics of the Byzantine Empire's eastern frontiers, possibly as early as the 4th century. ...

, and will fight with anyone daring to oppose him. Injustice will rule the day and the Sufyani's disregard for life will extend to women and children. The tribe of Qays will rise up against him; however, they will not succeed, and he will slaughter all of them. One of the Sufyani’s wonders consists of his staffs, which would kill anyone when he strikes them. It is also said that the Sufyani's army will go to

Kufa Kufa ( ), also spelled Kufah, is a city in Iraq, about south of Baghdad, and northeast of Najaf. It is located on the banks of the Euphrates, Euphrates River. The estimated population in 2003 was 110,000. Along with Samarra, Karbala, Kadhimiya ...

, a city in

, and from there, he will launch an attack against the

Khurasan KhorasanDabeersiaghi, Commentary on Safarnâma-e Nâsir Khusraw, 6th Ed. Tehran, Zavvâr: 1375 (Solar Hijri Calendar) 235–236 (; , ) is a historical eastern region in the Iranian Plateau in West Asia, West and Central Asia that encompasses wes ...

. At the Gate of Istakhr, Shu'ayb bin Salih and the Hashimites will join forces and engage his army. The battle will cost many lives and Sufyani will suffer a temporary defeat. It is at this time that a yearning for the Mahdi's appearance becomes universal. It is also said that the army of the Sufyani will march from the Iraq to seize the Mahdi. However, when they reach the desert near Dhi Hulayfah, the ground will swallow them up. Two will escape to convey the news, but even when he learns of the occurrence, he will not be deterred. Some people from the

Quraysh The Quraysh () are an Tribes of Arabia, Arab tribe who controlled Mecca before the rise of Islam. Their members were divided into ten main clans, most notably including the Banu Hashim, into which Islam's founding prophet Muhammad was born. By ...

escape to

Constantinople Constantinople (#Names of Constantinople, see other names) was a historical city located on the Bosporus that served as the capital of the Roman Empire, Roman, Byzantine Empire, Byzantine, Latin Empire, Latin, and Ottoman Empire, Ottoman empire ...

, which will not be under Muslim control. The Sufyani will ask for their return, and when they arrive, they and their allies will be killed.

Death of Sufyani

According to prophecies, when the Sufyani learns of the

, he and his army will go towards

to attack

. When the army enters the territory of Bayda, the Earth will consume his army except 2 or 3 individuals. In regards to the event of Khasf-al-Bayda, diverse

Hadiths Hadith is the Arabic word for a 'report' or an 'account f an event and refers to the Islamic oral tradition of anecdotes containing the purported words, actions, and the silent approvals of the Islamic prophet Muhammad or his immediate circle ...

describe the size of his army. Some sources say that the army Sufyani will number 12,000; while some say 170,000 and some sources say 300,000 Shia commentator Shaikh Tabarsi interprets Quran verse 34:51 concerning the fate of the army of the Sufyani, referring to it as the army of the desert of Bayda, where the earth will swallow them.

Claimants

At least nine figures revolted in the

using Sufyani as their title between 749 and 1413 CE. The first one was Ziad ibn Abdollah ibn Yazid ibn Muawiah ibn Abi Sufyan who revolted against

Abbasids The Abbasid Caliphate or Abbasid Empire (; ) was the third caliphate to succeed the Islamic prophet Muhammad. It was founded by a dynasty descended from Muhammad's uncle, Abbas ibn Abd al-Muttalib (566–653 CE), from whom the dynasty takes i ...

. The second Sufyani revolted in 754. Abu Harb al-Muburqa claimed the mantle about one hundred years later. In 1413, someone used this title and revolted against the

Mamluk Sultanate The Mamluk Sultanate (), also known as Mamluk Egypt or the Mamluk Empire, was a state that ruled Egypt, the Levant and the Hejaz from the mid-13th to early 16th centuries, with Cairo as its capital. It was ruled by a military caste of mamluks ...

. He tried to exactly follow the Hadiths, but Mamluks suppressed and killed him.

Skepticism

On some of the details of the Sufyani tale, scholar Muhammad Benshili casts doubt, stating,

it is not possible to determine whether he will send two armies against the Mahdi or only one, or if he himself will be swallowed up with his troops or remain in Baghdad.

Going beyond details to essence, at least one source (the Salafi fatwa site IslamQA.info) considers the hadith of Sufyani unsound, quoting

Al-Albani Muhammad Nasir al-Din (19142 October 1999), commonly known as al-Albani, was an Albanian Islamic scholar. A leading figure of Salafism, he is commemorated for his works on revaluation of hadith studies. Born in Shkodër, Albania, to a family ad ...

(1914-1999) as declaring it ''munkar'' (going against another ''

sahih Hadith terminology () is the body of terminology in Islam which specifies the acceptability of the sayings (''hadith'') attributed to the Prophets in Islam, Islamic prophet Muhammad by other early Islamic figures of significance such as the compa ...

'' hadith and reported to have a weak narrator) and citing imperfections in the

isnad In the Islamic study of hadith, an isnād (chain of transmitters, or literally "supporting"; ) refers to a list of people who passed on a tradition, from the original authority to whom the tradition is attributed to, to the present person reciting ...

. Ibn ‘Uthaymeen also considered hadith of Sufyaani as weak narration. حديث السفياني أخرجه الحاكم في مستدركه، وقال: حديث صحيح الإسناد، ولكن الحاكم - رحمه الله - معروف بالتساهل بالتصحيح، Translation: The hadith of as-Sufyaani was narrated by al-Haakim in his Mustadrak, and he said that its isnaad is saheeh. But al-Haakim was known to be lenient in accepting hadiths as saheeh - Shaykh Ibn ‘Uthaymeen (Mansour Leghaei also has his doubts about the veracity of the story. Scholar Wilferd Madelung writes that the prophesy of the Sufyani "as the rival and opponent of the Mahdi, has repeatedly attracted the attention of modern scholars", who trace it not to divine revelation but to enemies of the Abbasid dynasty and their various hopes that some "member of the Sufyinid branch of the house of Umayy" would lead an overthrow of the Abbasids and restore the Umayyad dynasty. Supporters of

Abbasid dynasty The Abbasid dynasty or Abbasids () were an Arab dynasty that ruled the Abbasid Caliphate between 750 and 1258. They were from the Qurayshi Hashimid clan of Banu Abbas, descended from Abbas ibn Abd al-Muttalib. The Abbasid Caliphate is divid ...

then turned this into a prophesy of an

AntiChrist In Christian eschatology, Antichrist (or in broader eschatology, Anti-Messiah) refers to a kind of entity prophesied by the Bible to oppose Jesus in Christianity, Jesus Christ and falsely substitute themselves as a savior in Christ's place before ...

figure who would kill good Muslims.

"... The Syrians refused to admit the death of Abi Muhammad and believed that he was hiding in the mountains of al-Tā'if, from where he would reappear in triumph, a belief presumably patterned upon the Kaysini belief about Muhammad b. ''al-Ḥanafiyya''. They created a legend with purely Syrian elements about him. Some of these are still recognizable in the garbled version fabricated by traditionists with Shi'ite and pro- 'Abbasid sentiments in which he was transformed from a Syrian hero into a figure resembling the Dajjal."

William McCants also finds a connection between

historical anger and the prophecy of an apocalyptic enemy named Sufyani. He writes that the Sufyani is alleged in-hadith to descend from Abu Sufyan, whose son fought Muhammad's son-in-law, Ali, for control of the Islamic empire. Ibn Abu Sufyan eventually became caliph and established the Umayyad dynasty, but followers of "the losing side", who thought Ali should be Caliph Shia and "began circulating words of the Prophet prophesying the new dynasty's downfall at the hands of the Mahdi", quoting one prophecy as saying: "When the Sufyani reaches Kufa city in Iraqand kills the supporters of the family of Muhammad, the Mahdi will come," In contrast, McCants writes that while Sunnis also have prophecies about a Sufyani, some include him in a heroic mode, "fighting on the side of the Mahdi against his enemies: 'The Sufyani and the Mahdi will come forth like two race horses. The Sufyani will subdue (the region) that is next to him, and the Mahdi will subdue (the region) next to him.'" McCants quotes Adnan al-Aroor, a "popular Syrian Salafi cleric", hoping for the appearance of the Sufyani to lead the Sunni rebels to victory in the Syrian civil war: "God willing, all of us will be in the army of the Sufyani, who will appear in (Syria) by the permission of God," prayed Adnan al-Arur, a popular Syrian Salafi cleric and supporter of the rebellion who currently lives in Saudi Arabia.

Footnotes

References

External links

Do we believe in the Sufyani who will allegedly come before the Dajjal?
{{Doomsday Islamic eschatology Shia eschatology Islamic terminology Mahdism