Mapping the Prophecy: A Geographical and Textual Identification of the "Khallah bayna al-Sham wa al-Iraq"
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.61166/ikhsan.v4i2.139Keywords:
Khallah, Al-Jazīrah, Maseeh al-Dajjal, Diyar Rabia, Al-MashriqAbstract
This research analyzes the authentic Hadith on the Maseeh al-Dajjal emerging from a "Khallah bayna al-Sham wa al-Iraq." It argues this is not a vague path, as often assumed, but a specific region, long obscured by modern political geography. The objective is to prove, via textual and geographical-historical evidence, that the "Khallah" is Al-Jazīrah (Upper Mesopotamia) by linking it to prophecies of "Al-Mashriq" (the East) and the tribes of "Rabia and Mudar." The qualitative, interdisciplinary methodology synthesizes textual analysis (tahlil nassi) of Hadith collections with a historical-geographical review of classical geographers to establish the pre-modern, consensus boundaries of Al-Sham, Iraq, and Al-Jazīrah. Classical geographers demarcate Sham's border at the Euphrates and Iraq's at the Tigris, making the "gap" (Khallah/Mahallah) unequivocally Al-Jazīrah. This is corroborated by Hadiths linking "Al-Mashriq" and fitna to the tribes of "Rabia and Mudar," whose lands (Diyar) classical geographers identify as Al-Jazīrah. The Dajjal's trials (controlling rain and livestock) also specifically match this region's demographic (the Faddadin). Scholars of Islamic eschatology should prioritize classical geographical definitions over modern maps. This methodology resolves contradictions and provides a more precise eschatological framework.
Downloads
References
Al-‘Asqalānī, Ibn Ḥajar. (1379 A.H.). Fatḥ al-Bārī Sharḥ Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī. Bayrūt: Dār al-Ma‘rifah.
Al-‘Aynī, Badr al-Dīn. (n.d.). ‘Umdat al-Qārī Sharḥ Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī. Bayrūt: Dār Iḥyā’ al-Turāth al-‘Arabī.
Al-Albānī, Muḥammad Nāṣir al-Dīn. (n.d.). Qiṣṣat al-Masīḥ al-Dajjāl wa Nuzūl ‘Īsā ‘alayhi al-Salām. ‘Ammān: Al-Maktabah al-Islāmiyyah.
Al-Alūsī, Shihāb al-Dīn. (n.d.). Rūḥ al-Ma‘ānī fī Tafsīr al-Qur’ān al-‘Aẓīm wa al-Sab‘ al-Mathānī. Bayrūt: Dār Iḥyā’ al-Turāth al-‘Arabī.
Al-Baghawī, al-Ḥusayn ibn Mas‘ūd. (1403 A.H.). Sharḥ al-Sunnah (2nd ed.). Dimashq: Al-Maktab al-Islāmī.
Al-Bukhārī, Muḥammad ibn Ismā‘īl. (1422 A.H.). Al-Jāmi‘ al-Musnad al-Ṣaḥīḥ (Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī) (1st ed.). M. Z. al-Nāṣir (Ed.). Bayrūt: Dār Ṭawq al-Najāh.
Al-Bukhārī, Muḥammad ibn Ismā‘īl. (n.d.). Al-Tārīkh al-Kabīr. Ḥaydarābād: Dā’irat al-Ma‘ārif al-‘Uthmāniyyah.
Al-Ḥākim al-Naysābūrī. (1411 A.H.). Al-Mustadrak ‘alā al-Ṣaḥīḥayn (1st ed.). Bayrūt: Dār al-Kutub al-‘Ilmiyyah.
Al-Ḥalabī, ‘Alī ibn Burhān al-Dīn. (1427 A.H.). Insān al-‘Uyūn fī Sīrat al-Amīn al-Ma’mūn (Al-Sīrah al-Ḥalabiyyah) (2nd ed.). Bayrūt: Dār al-Kutub al-‘Ilmiyyah.
Al-Hamadānī, Ibn al-Faqīh. (1416 A.H.). Al-Buldān (2nd ed.). Bayrūt: ‘Ālam al-Kutub.
Al-Ḥamawī, Yāqūt. (1995). Mu‘jam al-Buldān (2nd ed.). Bayrūt: Dār Ṣādir.
Al-Ḥanbalī, Aḥmad ibn. (1416 A.H.). Musnad Aḥmad. A. M. Shākir (Ed.). Al-Qāhirah: Dār al-Ḥadīth.
Al-Ḥanbalī, Aḥmad ibn. (1416-1421 A.H.). Musnad Aḥmad (1st ed.). S. al-Arna’ūṭ et al. (Eds.). Bayrūt: Mu’assasat al-Risālah.
Al-Haythamī, ‘Alī ibn Abī Bakr. (1412 A.H.). Majma‘ al-Zawā’id wa Manba‘ al-Fawā’id. Bayrūt: Dār al-Fikr.
Al-Ḥimyarī, Muḥammad ibn ‘Abd al-Mun‘im. (1980). Al-Rawḍ al-Mi‘ṭār fī Khabar al-Aqṭār (2nd ed.). Bayrūt: Mu’assasat Nāṣir lil-Thaqāfah.
Al-Idrīsī, Al-Sharīf. (1409 A.H.). Nuzhat al-Mushtāq fī Ikhtirāq al-Āfāq (1st ed.). Bayrūt: ‘Ālam al-Kutub.
Al-‘Irāqī, Abū al-Faḍl. (n.d.). Ṭarḥ al-Tathrīb fī Sharḥ al-Taqrīb. [n.p.]: [n.p.].
Al-Iṣbahānī, Abū Nu‘aym. (1405 A.H.). Ḥilyat al-Awliyā’ wa Ṭabaqāt al-Aṣfiyā’ (4th ed.). Bayrūt: Dār al-Kitāb al-‘Arabī.
Al-Iṣṭakhrī, Abū Isḥāq. (n.d.). Al-Masālik wa al-Mamālik. [n.p.]: [n.p.].
Al-Jurjānī, Ibn ‘Adī. (1418 A.H.). Al-Kāmil fī Ḍu‘afā’ al-Rijāl (1st ed.). Bayrūt: Dār al-Kutub al-‘Ilmiyyah.
Al-Jawzī, Ibn. (1406 A.H.). Al-Ḍu‘afā’ wa al-Matrūkīn (1st ed.). Bayrūt: Dār al-Kutub al-‘Ilmiyyah.
Al-Marwazī, Na‘īm ibn Ḥammād. (1412 A.H.). Kitāb al-Fitan (1st ed.). S. A. al-Zuhayrī (Ed.). Al-Qāhirah: Maktabat al-Tawḥīd.
Al-Māwardī, ‘Alī ibn Muḥammad. (n.d.). Al-Nukat wa al-‘Uyūn (Tafsīr al-Māwardī). Bayrūt: Dār al-Kutub al-‘Ilmiyyah.
Al-Mizzī, Yūsuf ibn ‘Abd al-Raḥmān. (1413 A.H.). Tahdhīb al-Kamāl fī Asmā’ al-Rijāl (1st ed.). Bayrūt: Mu’assasat al-Risālah.
Al-Mubārakpūrī, Muḥammad ‘Abd al-Raḥmān. (n.d.). Tuḥfat al-Aḥwadhī bi Sharḥ Jāmi‘ al-Tirmidhī. Bayrūt: Dār al-Kutub al-‘Ilmiyyah.
Al-Mawṣilī, Abū Ya‘lā. (1404 A.H.). Musnad Abī Ya‘lā (1st ed.). Ḥ. S. Asad (Ed.). Dimashq: Dār al-Ma’mūn lil-Turāth.
Al-Maqdisī, Shams al-Dīn. (1411 A.H.). Aḥsan al-Taqāsīm fī Ma‘rifat al-Aqālīm. Al-Qāhirah: Maktabat Madbūlī.
Al-Nawawī, Yaḥyā ibn Sharaf. (1392 A.H.). Al-Minhāj Sharḥ Ṣaḥīḥ Muslim (2nd ed.). Bayrūt: Dār Iḥyā’ al-Turāth al-‘Arabī.
Al-Qasṭallānī, Shihāb al-Dīn. (1323 A.H.). Irshād al-Sārī li-Sharḥ Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī (7th ed.). Miṣr: Al-Maṭba‘ah al-Kubrā al-Amīriyyah.
Al-Qazwīnī, Ibn Mājah. (n.d.). Al-Sunan. M. F. ‘Abd al-Bāqī (Ed.). Al-Qāhirah: Dār Iḥyā’ al-Kutub al-‘Arabiyyah.
Al-Qazwīnī, Zakariyyā ibn Muḥammad. (1960). Āthār al-Bilād wa Akhbār al-‘Ibād. Bayrūt: Dār Ṣādir.
Al-Qurṭubī, Muḥammad ibn Aḥmad. (1427 A.H.). Al-Jāmi‘ li-Aḥkām al-Qur’ān (Tafsīr al-Qurṭubī) (1st ed.). Bayrūt: Mu’assasat al-Risālah.
Al-Rāzī, Ibn Abī Ḥātim. (1371 A.H.). Al-Jarḥ wa al-Ta‘dīl (1st ed.). Ḥaydarābād: Majlis Dā’irat al-Ma‘ārif al-‘Uthmāniyyah.
Al-Rāzī, Ibn Abī Ḥātim. (1419 A.H.). Tafsīr Ibn Abī Ḥātim (3rd ed.). Makkah al-Mukarramah: Maktabat Nizār Muṣṭafā al-Bāz.
Al-Ṣan‘ānī, ‘Abd al-Razzāq. (1403 A.H.). Al-Muṣannaf (2nd ed.). Ḥ. R. al-A‘ẓamī (Ed.). Bayrūt: Al-Maktab al-Islāmī.
(Asharq Al-Awsat). "Sahl «Surūj»... Mawṭin al-Khuyūl al-‘Arabiyyah al-Aṣīlah fī Turkīyā." [Retrieved from source text].
(Asharq Al-Awsat). "Shānlī Urfā al-Turkiyya... Madīnat «al-Anbiyā’» wa «Arḍ al-Adyān»." [Retrieved from source text].
Al-Ṭabarānī, Sulaymān ibn Aḥmad. (n.d.). Al-Mu‘jam al-Kabīr (2nd ed.). Al-Qāhirah: Maktabat Ibn Taymiyyah.
Al-Ṭabarī, Muḥammad ibn Jarīr. (1420 A.H.). Jāmi‘ al-Bayān ‘an Ta’wīl Āy al-Qur’ān (Tafsīr al-Ṭabarī) (1st ed.). A. M. Shākir (Ed.). Bayrūt: Mu’assasat al-Risālah.
Al-Tirmidhī, Muḥammad ibn ‘Īsā. (1395 A.H.). Al-Sunan (Jāmi‘ al-Tirmidhī) (2nd ed.). A. M. Shākir et al. (Eds.). Miṣr: Shirkat Maktabat wa Maṭba‘at Muṣṭafā al-Bābī al-Ḥalabī.
Al-Tuwaijirī, Ḥamoud ibn ‘Abd Allāh. (1422 A.H.). Itḥāf al-Jamā‘ah bimā jā’a fī al-Fitan wa al-Malāḥim wa Ashrāṭ al-Sā‘ah (2nd ed.). Al-Riyāḍ: Dār al-Ṣumay‘ī.
Al-‘Utaybī, ‘Umar ibn Sulaymān. (n.d.). Al-Qiyāmah al-Ṣughrā. Al-Riyāḍ: Maktabat al-Rushd.
Ḥawwā, Sa‘īd. (n.d.). Al-Asās fī al-Tafsīr. [n.p.]: [n.p.].
Ḥawwā, Sa‘īd. (1412 A.H.). Al-Asās fī al-Sunnah wa Fiqhihā. Al-Qāhirah: Dār al-Salām.
Ibn ‘Asākir, ‘Alī ibn al-Ḥasan. (1415 A.H.). Tārīkh Dimashq. Bayrūt: Dār al-Fikr.
Ibn ‘Asākir, ‘Alī ibn al-Ḥasan. (n.d.). Faḍā’il al-Shām wa Dimashq. Al-Albānī (Ed.). Dimashq: Al-Maktab al-Islāmī.
Ibn al-Athīr, Majd al-Dīn. (1399 A.H.). Al-Nihāyah fī Gharīb al-Ḥadīth wa al-Athar. Bayrūt: Al-Maktabah al-‘Ilmiyyah.
Ibn Ḥanbān, Muḥammad ibn Ḥibbān. (1393 A.H.). Kitāb al-Thiqāt (1st ed.). Ḥaydarābād: Dā’irat al-Ma‘ārif al-‘Uthmāniyyah.
Ibn Ḥawqal, Muḥammad. (1992). Ṣūrat al-Arḍ. Bayrūt: Dār Maktabat al-Ḥayāh.
Ibn Kathīr, Ismā‘īl ibn ‘Umar. (1986). Al-Bidāyah wa al-Nihāyah. Bayrūt: Dār al-Fikr.
Ibn Kathīr, Ismā‘īl ibn ‘Umar. (1420 A.H.). Tafsīr al-Qur’ān al-‘Aẓīm (Tafsīr Ibn Kathīr) (2nd ed.). Bayrūt: Dār Ṭaybah.
Ibn Sa‘d, Muḥammad. (1968). Al-Ṭabaqāt al-Kubrā. Bayrūt: Dār Ṣādir.
Ibn Taymiyyah, Aḥmad ibn ‘Abd al-Ḥalīm. (1414 A.H.). Al-Jawab al-Ṣaḥīḥ li-man Baddala Dīn al-Masīḥ (1st ed.). Al-Riyāḍ: Dār al-‘Āṣimah.
Ibn al-Wardī, ‘Umar ibn Muẓaffar. (n.d.). Kharīdat al-‘Ajā’ib wa Farīdat al-Gharā’ib. [n.p.]: [n.p.].
Mālik ibn Anas. (1406 A.H.). Muwaṭṭa’ al-Imām Mālik. M. F. ‘Abd al-Bāqī (Ed.). Bayrūt: Dār Iḥyā’ al-Turāth al-‘Arabī.
Muslim ibn al-Ḥajjāj. (n.d.). Al-Musnad al-Ṣaḥīḥ al-Mukhtaṣar (Ṣaḥīḥ Muslim). M. F. ‘Abd al-Bāqī (Ed.). Bayrūt: Dār Iḥyā’ al-Turāth al-‘Arabī.
Downloads
Published
How to Cite
Issue
Section
License
Copyright (c) 2026 Mohammad Daoud Habibzai
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
