بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم
In a narration attributed to the Messenger of Allāh ﷺ, he says: “If the people of al-Shām[1] become corrupt, then there is no good left in you”[2]. al-Shām is a blessed region that the Prophet ﷺ prayed for and praised, and from its virtues is that it is a land of Jihād.
Abū al-Dardāʾ, may Allāh be pleased with him, was a judge in al-Shām, when he wrote to Salmān al-Fārisī, may Allāh be pleased with him: “Come to the blessed land, the land of Jihād![3]”.
There is a famous narration in which the Prophet ﷺ said: “A group of my Ummah will remain triumphant on the truth, dominant over their enemies. They will not be harmed by those who oppose them, except what they will experience of discomfort in living, until Allāh’s Command arrives (i.e. the Day of Judgement), and they will remain as such.”[4] They said: “O Messenger of Allāh, where are they?” He said: “In Bayt al-Maqdis, and around Bayt al-Maqdis”[5].
The group mentioned in the above narration are sometimes mentioned ambiguously, but it is clear from a holistic reading of the primary sources that this refers to a group in al-Shām. In a variant of the narration, they were explicitly described. He ﷺ said: “They are the people of al-Shām”, and he pointed with his finger towards al-Shām[6].
The great companion Muʿādh Ibn Jabal, may Allāh be pleased with him, said about the group: “They are the people of al-Shām”[7].
Qatādah (d. 118( said: “I do not think they are anyone other than the people of al-Shām”[8].
Ibn Hajar al-ʿAsqalānī (d. 852) said regarding this narration: “These people will be in Bayt al-Maqdis, which is part of al-Shām, and they will have strength in Jihād against their enemy, as well as sharpness and diligence”[9].
In a similar narration, he ﷺ said: “A group of my Ummah will remain fighting upon the truth, triumphant on those who oppose them, until the last of them fight al-Dajjāl”[10]. Mutarrif (d. 95) said regarding this: “I examined this group and found them to be the people of al-Shām”[11].
Some scholars interpreted these narrations to be referring to the people of Hadīth, to which Ibn Rajab (d. 795) says: “As for those who said that this refers to the people of Hadīth, that does not contradict what we have mentioned; because Islām will settle in al-Shām in the end times, so the Prophetic heritage will definitely be there. The people with knowledge of the Prophetic Sunnah in al-Shām are of this group, the upholders of the truth, who are not harmed by those who oppose them”[12].
And because of their plentiful Jihād, they became extremely knowledgeable of the rulings related to it. As such, many scholars used to say: “If you wanted to learn the Fiqh of Jihād then accompany the people of al-Shām”, as was said by al-Shāfiʿī[13] (d. 204) and Ibn ʿUyaynah[14] (d. 198). In another narration, the Prophet ﷺ said: “The most virtuous Jihād is Ribāt[15], and the most virtuous Ribāt is in ʿAsqalān”[16].
It was for this reason that scholars would go to ʿAsqalān for Jihād, like Sufyān al-Thawrī (d. 161) who stayed in ʿAsqalān for 40 days doing Ribāt[17]. Ibn Taymiyyah (d. 728) said: “The righteous from among the Muslims used to inhabit ʿAsqalān for the purpose of Ribāt”[18].
The Prophetic insight on Jihād in ʿAsqalān remains to our very day. Ghazza has been under siege by the Zionists for years on end, and the Muslims’ Jihād against them is ongoing, especially since the blessed attack on the 7th of October. Their Jihād falls under his saying ﷺ: “The most virtuous Ribāt is in ʿAsqalān”.
Now you may ask: The narration of the Prophet ﷺ mentions ʿAsqalān and not Ghazza? Ghazza was historically part of ʿAsqalān after the Islāmic inquisition into al-Shām, and it would be called: “Ghazzat ʿAsqalān”[19]. The Messenger of Allāh ﷺ also said: “May Allāh have mercy on the people of the graveyard”. ʿAʾisha, may Allāh be pleased with her asked: “The people of al-Baqīʿ?” He said: “May Allāh have mercy on the people of the graveyard”. ʿĀʾisha asked: “The people of al-Baqīʿ?” Until he repeated it thrice, then he ﷺ said: “The graveyard of ʿAsqalān”.[20]
This is expanded upon in another disputed narration, where he ﷺ is narrated to have said: “There is no graveyard in the east nor the west that is more favored by Allāh except the one I have seen (i.e. al-Baqīʿ), other than the graveyard of ʿAsqalān”. ʿAʾisha asked: “And what is the graveyard of ʿAsqalān?” He ﷺ said: “Ribāt of the Muslims, by which Allāh chooses 70,000 martyrs”.[21]
In light of the past narrations on the virtues of Jihād in al-Shām, as well as specifically Bayt al-Maqdis and ʿAsqalān, I find it fitting to mention a brief timeline of the many efforts to conquer, defend, and liberate Jerusalem:
The Muslims first set sight on Jerusalem in the 15th year after the Hijrah (636 AD) when the Siege of Jerusalem began, led by Abū ʿUbaydah Ibn al-Jarrāh, may Allāh be pleased with him. After 6 months of siege, Sophronius of Jerusalem agreed to surrender on the condition that he is to do so directly to ʿUmar Ibn al-Khattāb, may Allāh be pleased with him, the Caliph at the time. Thus ʿUmar travelled to Jerusalem, and received the keys to the city.
In the year 493 (1100 AD), the Fātimids, who had gained control over the region, lost the First Crusade, losing Jerusalem in the process. The Christians began spreading their wings, and formed the Kingdom of Jerusalem, which would go on to last about 90 years. During those 90 years, the neighboring Zengids, spearheaded by al-Sultān Nūr al-Dīn Zengī, did not give the Christians much room to breathe, launching many attacks, counterattacks, and foiling much of their plans like the Second Crusade. This eventually paved the path for al-Sultān Salāh al-Dīn al-Ayyūbī to crush the crusaders in the battle of Hittīn, returning Jerusalem to the Muslims.
Jerusalem remained under Muslim rule until the year 1335 (1917 AD), when the Ottomans lost against the British Empire. And with the introduction of the Balfour Declaration, came the beginning of the Zionist state of Israel. In 1348 (1930 AD), the Palestinian scene saw the introduction of the Syrian scholar, ʿIzz al-Dīn al-Qassām. Al-Qassām is considered to be the first to have put up armed resistance against the Zionists, leading to his martyrdom at their hands. His actions inspired and lead to the Great Palestinian Revolt. Fast-forward to the 21st century AD, after both Nakbas in 1948 and 1967, Ghazza and portions of what is known as the West Bank have become the last regions not under Zionist occupation (on paper). As many have said: People began to lose hope and the Palestinian cause started fading into history. In comes the Palestinian resistance on the 7th of October 2023 to deal Israel a blow unlike we have ever seen, in the shape of the “al-Aqsā Flood”.
We ask Allāh to facilitate their efforts, to make them victorious over their enemies, and to raise the ranks of their martyrs.
والحمد لله رب العالمين
[1] The region of al-Shām mostly covers what is now known as Syria, Jordan, Palestine, and Lebanon.
[2] Narrated by al-Tirmidhī (2192) and Ahmad (15596).
[3] Muwattaʾ Mālik (1459).
[4] Narrated by al-Bukhārī (3462) and Muslim (1037).
[5] This addition was narrated by Ahmad (22320) and al-Tabarānī (7643).
[6] Narrated by al-Fasawī (12/296).
[7] Narrated by al-Bukhārī (3461).
[8] Tārīkh Dimashq (1/125).
[9] al-Ajwibah al-Mardiyyah (3/1027).
[10] Narrated by Abū Dāwūd (2484) and Ahmad (19895).
[11] Mustakhraj Abū ʿAwānah (4/509).
[12] Fadāʾil al-Shām (Pg. 67-68).
[13] Tārīkh Dimashq (1/330).
[14] Tārīkh Dimashq (1/329).
[15] Ribāt: Jihād in places under siege or threat by the enemy.
[16] Narrated by al-Tabarānī (11138).
[17] Hilyat al-Awliyāʾ (7/25), Siyar Aʿlām al-Nubalāʾ (7/260).
[18] Majmūʿ al-Fatāwā (27/141).
[19] See: Ahsan al-Taqāsīm fī Maʿrifat al-Aqālīm (Pg. 54, 174).
[20] Musannaf ʿAbd al-Razzāq (9635).
[21] See: Tanzīh al-Sharīʿah al-Marfūʿah (2/48).