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Wars and battles

Romans (al-Rum)

In brief

Al-Rum, the Romans, was the name for the Byzantine Empire in the Prophet's ﷺ time. Many hadith about the end of time are about the Muslims and the Romans: first a truce between them, then a war fought side by side, then the great battle.

One companion, Amr ibn al-As, heard that the Hour will come when the Romans are the most numerous of people. He then listed their good qualities: they are the most patient in hard times, the quickest to recover after a disaster, the kindest to the poor, the orphan and the weak, and they stand up to the oppression of kings.

Their part runs through the whole period before the Dajjal. Surah al-Rum begins with the Romans' defeat by Persia and promises their victory within a few years, which came true. Who 'the Romans' are today is a matter of scholarly opinion, and many say the peoples of Europe and their descendants. It must never become a label for hostility toward any people.

What to do

Amr's words teach fairness: name the good in others even when speaking of conflict.

Where it sits in the sequence

Phase 3 / 7Before the Dajjal

Mu'adh ibn Jabal's narration gives this order: Jerusalem flourishes, Yathrib is in ruins, the great battle, the conquest of Constantinople, then the Dajjal (Sunan Abi Dawud 4294, graded hasan by al-Albani). Sahih Muslim 2897 places the battle at al-A'maq or Dabiq, then Constantinople, then the Dajjal. Sunan Abi Dawud 4292 puts a truce with the Romans before the battle. The narrations on the Mahdi do not state his place in this order.