In Saheeh Muslim (2922), it is narrated from the hadith of Abu Hurayrah that the Messenger of Allah (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him) said: “The Hour will not begin until the Muslims fight the Jews and the Muslims will kill them, until a Jew hides behind a rock or a tree, and the rock or tree will say: O Muslim, O slave of Allah, there is a Jew behind me, come and kill him. Except the gharqad (a thorny tree), for it is one of the trees of the Jews.”
In some reports there is an indication that the fighting against the Jews that is mentioned in this hadith will occur at the end of time, when the Dajjal emerges and the Messiah ‘Eesa ibn Maryam (peace be upon him) descends and fights him.
‘Abdullah ibn ‘Umar (may Allah be pleased with him) narrated that the Messenger of Allah (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him) said: “The Dajjal will camp in this salty, barren ground in Marr Qanat [a valley in Madinah], and most of those who go out to him will be women, to the extent that a man will go back to his relative, to his mother, his daughter, his sister and his paternal aunt, and will tie her up for fear that she may go out to him. Then Allah will give the Muslims power over him, and they will kill him and his party, until a Jew will hide beneath a tree or a rock, and the rock or tree will say to the Muslim: ‘Here is a Jew beneath me; kill him.’”
Narrated by Imam Ahmad in al-Musnad (9/255). But there is some weakness in its isnad because of the ‘an‘anah of Muhammad ibn Is-haq [i.e., narration by saying ‘an (from) rather than saying So and so said/told us]. There are other corroborating reports; see the commentary on al-Musnad in the Mu’sasat ar-Risalah edition.
These corroborating reports were quoted by al-Hafiz Ibn Hajar (may Allah have mercy on him) in Fath al-Bari (6/610); he classed as hasan the hadith of Samurah ibn Jundub (may Allah be pleased with him), then he said: What is meant by fighting the Jews is that this will happen when the Dajjal emerges and ‘Eesa descends. End quote.
Ibn al-Mulqin said: What is meant by the words “You will fight the Jews” is that this will happen when ‘Eesa descends; the Muslims will be with him and the Jews will be with the Dajjal.
End quote from at-Tawdeeh li Sharh al-Jami‘ as-Saheeh (17/663).
This is what was stated definitively by a number of commentators on the hadith. In fact Imam at-Tirmidhi (2236) narrated the hadith of ‘Abdullah ibn ‘Umar, which is quoted above, in the chapter entitled The Signs of the Dajjal (‘Alamaat ad-Dajjal).
Shaykh al-Islam Ibn Taymiyah (may Allah have mercy on him) said:
The Jews are in fact awaiting the false messiah (al-maseeh ad-dajjal), for he is the one whom the Jews will follow. Seventy thousand of the Jews of Isfahan wearing tayalisah (a kind of head covering) will emerge with him. The Muslims will fight them with him, to the extent that trees and rocks will say: “O Muslim, here is a Jew behind me; come and kill him.”
End quote from al-Jawab as-Saheeh li man baddala Deen al-Maseeh (2/30).
Ash-Shaykh Ibn Baz (may Allah have mercy on him) said:
‘Eesa (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him) will fight him, supported by the Muslims, and he will kill him at the gate of al-Ludd (Lod), which is in Palestine, near al-Quds (Jerusalem). He will kill him with his spear, as it says in the saheeh hadith, and the Muslims who are with him will kill a great number of the Jews. It says in the hadith from the Prophet (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him) that the Muslims will fight the Jews, and will kill them and gain power over them, and trees and rocks will call out: O Muslim, O slave of Allah, here is a Jew; come and kill him. And ‘Eesa will kill the Dajjal and put an end to him.
End quote from Fatawa Noor ‘ala ad-Darb by Ibn Baz, ed by ash-Shuway‘ir (4/290)
When the Dajjal emerges, thousands of the Jews will follow him and rally around him, aiming to fight the Muslims. Then the Messiah ‘Eesa ibn Maryam (peace be upon him) will descend and the Muslims will rally around him to fight the Dajjal and his followers. ‘Eesa ibn Maryam will call the Jews to Islam, and he will not accept anything from them at that time except Islam. Some of them will become Muslim and some of them will remain followers of Judaism, then will come the battle that the Prophet (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him) mentioned.
