Question:
Also, Muhammad Taha from Syria has another question, saying: The Prophet ﷺ said: “You will fight the Jews and you will be victorious over them.” He says that he expects that if this Hadith is authentic, the era we are living in now is the era the Prophet ﷺ is talking about, so what is your opinion? Please explain this Hadith to me, because there is always verbal dispute among us regarding it. May Allah grant you success.
Answer:
The Hadith is authentic. It was narrated by the two Shaykhs (Al-Bukhari and Muslim) in their Sahihs (authentic books of Prophetic Hadiths) and others, and its wording is: “Muslims will fight the Jews, and they will be victorious over them, until the tree and the stone will say: O Muslim, O servant of Allah, this is a Jew, come and kill him” or close to this wording.
So the intention is that it is established from the Messenger of Allah ﷺ, and that the Muslims will fight the Jews, and they will be victorious over them to the extent that the stone and the tree will say to the Muslim: “O servant of Allah, come, this is a Jew, come and kill him.”
As for whether this is taking place in our present time, it is open to consideration, because those who are fighting them now—the fighters at present—are not at the complete level with regard to Islam; among them are Muslims and among them are non-Muslims. Furthermore, there is no implementation of the purified Sharia (law) among the Muslims there as it ought to be. Rather, there are the disobedient, there are the disbelievers, and there are the upright Muslims. Therefore, the battle foretold by the Prophet ﷺ will be waged by committed, upright Muslims. It is for this reason that Allah will grant them victory over the Jews due to their adherence to the religion of Islam and their support for the religion of Allah.
It is possible that this will occur after a time when the conditions of the Muslims improve, and they unite upon the truth and guidance, and thus they are victorious over them.
It is also possible that this will take place during the time of Jesus (‘Isa, peace and blessings be upon him), as is known, for indeed during the time of Jesus, the Jews will be killed, and Allah will grant victory to Jesus and the Muslims over them, and the Dajjal (Antichrist) will be killed—this is without a doubt during the time of Jesus (‘Isa, peace and blessings be upon him). However, it is also possible that it may occur before Jesus (‘Isa, peace and blessings be upon him), such that the conditions of the Muslims improve, their affairs are established upon the Sharia (law) of Allah, and they are led by a righteous commander or a righteous Imam who leads them to the truth and guidance, and they adhere strictly to the Sharia (law) of Allah, then they set out to fight the Jews and are victorious over them. All of this is within the realm of possibility.
As for during the time of Jesus (‘Isa, peace and blessings be upon him), there is no doubt that they will be killed, and that victory will be achieved over them—peace and blessings be upon him—alongside the Muslims when he kills the Dajjal.