The religion of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) prevailing over all religions

Imam al-Shafi'i (may Allah have mercy on him) says that Allah says: "It is He who sent His Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) with guidance and the religion of truth, to make it prevail over all religions, even though the polytheists dislike it" [Surah al-Tawbah: 33].

Sayyiduna Abu Hurayrah (may Allah be pleased with him) says that the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "When Kisra perishes, there will be no Kisra after him, and when Caesar perishes, there will be no Caesar after him. By the One in whose hand my soul is! You will spend the treasures of both of them in the path of Allah."

Sayyiduna Jabir bin Samurah (may Allah be pleased with him) narrates from the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) a hadith like the hadith of Sayyiduna Abu Hurayrah (may Allah be pleased with him).

Adi bin Hatim (may Allah be pleased with him) mentioned a hadith in the presence of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him), in which he (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "If your life is prolonged, you will conquer the treasures of Kisra." I asked: Of Kisra bin Hurmuz? He (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "Yes, Kisra bin Hurmuz." Adi (may Allah be pleased with him) says: I too was among those who conquered the treasures of Kisra bin Hurmuz.

Imam al-Shafi'i (may Allah have mercy on him) says: When the letter of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) reached Kisra, he tore it up, and he (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "His kingdom will come to an end." And we have preserved that Caesar honoured his (peace and blessings be upon him) letter and placed it in musk, and he (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "His rule will remain."

Sayyiduna Abdullah bin Abbas (may Allah be pleased with them both) says that the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) sent a man with his letter to Kisra and ordered him: "Give it to the governor of Bahrain so that he delivers it to Kisra." When he read the noble letter, he tore it up. Ibn al-Musayyib (may Allah have mercy on him) said that the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) supplicated against them that "they be torn to pieces."

Sayyiduna Abdullah bin Abbas (may Allah be pleased with them both) says that the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) sent Sayyiduna Dihyah al-Kalbi (may Allah be pleased with him) to Caesar of Rome with a letter inviting him to Islam, and said to him: "Deliver it to the governor of Busra so that he delivers it to Caesar of Rome." When Allah, the Lord of Might, had driven the Persian armies away from Caesar, he walked from Hims to Iliya' in gratitude for the success that Allah, the Lord of Might, had granted him. When the letter of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) came to Caesar and he read it, he said: Search for a man of his people and bring him to me, so that I may ask him about the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him). Sayyiduna Abdullah bin Abbas (may Allah be pleased with them both) says: Sayyiduna Abu Sufyan (may Allah be pleased with him) told me that he was in Syria with some men of Quraysh. Sayyiduna Abu Sufyan (may Allah be pleased with him) says: Caesar's messenger found us, and he brought me and my companions to his king in the city of Iliya', who wore the crown of kingship, with the great nobles of Rome around him. He said to his interpreter: Ask them which of them is closest in lineage to the man who considers himself a prophet. Sayyiduna Abu Sufyan (may Allah be pleased with him) said: I am the closest to him in lineage. The interpreter asked: What is the kinship between you? Sayyiduna Abu Sufyan (may Allah be pleased with him) says: I said: He is my cousin, for on that day there was no one from Banu Abd Manaf in the caravan except me. Caesar said: Bring him close to me. Then he had my companions stand behind me at my shoulder, and said to the interpreter: Tell his companions that I am going to ask him about this man who considers himself a prophet; if he lies, you are to declare him a liar. Sayyiduna Abu Sufyan (may Allah be pleased with him) says: By Allah! Had it not been for the shame that my companions would declare me a liar, I would certainly have lied when he questioned me, but I was ashamed that they would attribute a lie to me, so I told him the truth. Then Caesar said to his interpreter: What is this man's lineage among you? He says: I said: He is of noble lineage among us. He said: Has anyone among you said such a thing before, that is, claimed prophethood? I said: No. He said: Did you accuse him of lying before this? I said: No. He said: Was there any king among his forefathers? I said: No. He said: Are his followers the wealthy or the weak? He says: I said: Rather, the weak. He said: Are they increasing or decreasing? He says: I said: Rather, they are increasing. He said: Has any of them, after entering the religion, apostatised out of dislike for the religion? He says: I said: No. He said: Does he break promises or betray? I said: No, but we now have a treaty with him, and we fear that he will betray. Sayyiduna Abu Sufyan (may Allah be pleased with him) said: It was not possible for me to insert anything of my own anywhere without fearing that it would be attributed to me. He said: Have you fought one another? I said: There has been fighting. He said: How did your fighting with him go? He says: I said: It is like a bucket: sometimes he prevailed over us and sometimes we prevailed over him. He said: What does he command you? I said: He commands us to worship Allah alone and not to associate anyone with Him, he forbids us from worshipping those whom our forefathers used to worship, and he commands us to pray, to be truthful, to be chaste, to fulfil promises and to discharge trusts. The narrator says: Caesar said to his interpreter: Tell him: When I asked you about his lineage among you, you held that he is of noble lineage, and messengers are likewise sent from the noble lineage of their people. I asked you whether anyone among you had said such a thing before, and you said: No. Had anyone among you said this before, I would have said that he is following something said before him. I asked you whether you accused him of lying before he claimed prophethood, and you said: No, so I recognised that one who does not lie about people would not lie about Allah. I asked you whether there was any king among his forefathers, and you said: No, so I understood that had there been a king among his forefathers, I would have said that perhaps he is seeking the kingdom of his forefathers. I asked you whether his followers are the nobles or the weak, and you said that his followers are the weak, and such are the followers of the prophets. I asked you whether they are increasing or decreasing, and you held that they are increasing, and so is faith until it is complete. I asked you whether any of them, after entering the religion, had left it and apostatised out of dislike for it, and you held that none had; when the light of faith enters the hearts, no one dislikes it. I asked you whether he has betrayed, and you said that he is not a betrayer, and messengers indeed do not betray. I asked about your fighting with him, and you said that your fighting is like a bucket: sometimes you prevailed over him and sometimes he defeated you; messengers are tested in this way, and the best final outcome is theirs. I asked you what he commands you, and you said that he commands the worship of Allah and forbids associating partners with Him, forbids the worship of those whom your forefathers used to worship, and commands you to pray, to be truthful, to be chaste, to fulfil promises and to discharge trusts; and these are the qualities of a prophet. I knew that he was going to appear, but I did not think he would be from among you. If he is as you have said, then soon he will own the place where my feet stand. If I could reach him, I would love to meet him, and if I were with him, I would wash his feet. Sayyiduna Abu Sufyan (may Allah be pleased with him) says: Then he called for the letter of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) and ordered that it be read before him. In the letter was written: "In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful. From Muhammad, the servant of Allah and His Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him), to Heraclius, the ruler of Rome. Peace be upon whoever follows the guidance. To proceed: I invite you to Islam. Accept Islam and you will be safe. Believe, and Allah Almighty will give you a double reward. If you turn away from Islam and people do not believe because of you, their sin will also be upon you. 'Say: O People of the Book! Come to a word that is common between us and you: that we worship none but Allah, that we associate nothing with Him, and that none of us take others as lords besides Allah. And if they turn away, then say: Bear witness that we are Muslims' [Surah Al Imran: 64]." Sayyiduna Abu Sufyan (may Allah be pleased with him) says: When he finished his speech, the voices and clamour of the great men of Rome around him rose. I could not understand what they said, and we were turned out of the court. When I was alone with my companions, I said to them: The affair of Ibn Abi Kabshah has reached the point that the king of Banu al-Asfar fears him. Sayyiduna Abu Sufyan (may Allah be pleased with him) says: By Allah! I remained humbled, certain that his religion would soon prevail, until Allah put Islam into my heart, though before that I disliked it.
Imam al-Shafi'i (may Allah have mercy on him) says: Sayyiduna Abu Bakr (may Allah be pleased with him) sent armies to Syria, confident of its conquest because of the saying of the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him), and part of it was conquered; its conquest was completed in the time of Sayyiduna Umar (may Allah be pleased with him), and Sayyiduna Umar (may Allah be pleased with him) conquered Iraq and Persia. Imam al-Shafi'i (may Allah have mercy on him) says: Allah made His religion, with which He sent the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him), prevail over all religions by making it clear to everyone who heard it that it is the truth and that the religions opposed to it are false; and He made it prevail in that shirk as a whole consists of two religions: the religion of the People of the Book and the religion of the unlettered. The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) subdued the unlettered until they accepted Islam willingly or unwillingly, and he fought the People of the Book and took captives until some of them embraced Islam and some paid the jizyah in humiliation, and his (peace and blessings be upon him) rule was enforced over them; and this was the complete prevalence of the religion. Imam al-Shafi'i (may Allah have mercy on him) says: It may also be said that Allah will make His religion prevail over all religions until He is worshipped only through it, and that will be whenever Allah wills.

Umayr bin Ishaq (may Allah have mercy on him) says that the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) wrote to Kisra and Caesar. Caesar kept the letter respectfully, whereas Kisra tore it up. The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "As for these (the people of Kisra), they will be torn to pieces, and as for those (the people of Caesar), they will have a remnant."
Imam al-Shafi'i (may Allah have mercy on him) said: The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) gave the people the good news of the conquest of Persia and Syria.

Sayyiduna Abdullah bin Hawalah (may Allah be pleased with him) says: We were with the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him), and we complained of nakedness, poverty and scarcity of things. He (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "By Allah! I fear abundance of things for you more than their scarcity. By Allah! This state of yours will continue until Allah conquers Persia, Rome and Himyar, and you are divided into three armies: one army in Syria, another in Iraq and a third in Yemen, and until a man is given a hundred and is displeased with it." Ibn Hawalah (may Allah be pleased with him) says: I said: O Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him)! Who will have the strength to conquer Syria and Rome? He (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "Allah will certainly grant you victory and make you successors there, until a band of them, with white shirts and fleshy napes, will stand in attendance upon a little shaven-headed black man of yours, doing whatever he commands them; while there are men there today in whose eyes you are more contemptible than the ticks on the hindquarters of camels." Ibn Hawalah (may Allah be pleased with him) said: O Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him)! If that time reaches me, choose for me. He (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "I choose Syria for you, for it is among the chosen lands of Allah, and the chosen servants of Allah will take refuge in it. O people of Yemen! Hold fast to Syria, for the land of Syria is chosen by Allah. Beware! Whoever refuses this, let him go to Yemen, for Allah has given a guarantee for the people of Syria."
(b) Abd al-Rahman bin Jubayr (may Allah have mercy on him) says: The Companions recognised the description in this hadith in Hurr bin Suhayl al-Sulami (may Allah be pleased with him), who at that time was the commander over the non-Arabs. When he came to the mosque, the people would stand around him to see him, and the Companions marvelled at seeing the description given by the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) in him and his companions. Abu Alqamah says that the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) swore oaths three times.
(c) Sayyiduna Abdullah bin Hawalah (may Allah be pleased with him) relates from the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) that he (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "Allah will grant the conquest of Syria, and you will divide the treasures of Persia and Rome."

Muhammad bin Ishaq bin Yasar mentions the story of Khalid bin al-Walid (may Allah be pleased with him) after the Battle of Yamamah was over: Sayyiduna Abu Bakr al-Siddiq (may Allah be pleased with him) wrote to Khalid bin al-Walid (may Allah be pleased with him) while he was still in Yamamah: From Abu Bakr al-Siddiq (may Allah be pleased with him), the successor (khalifah) of the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him), to Khalid bin al-Walid (may Allah be pleased with him), the Muhajirun and the Ansar (may Allah be pleased with them) and those who follow them. Peace be upon you. I praise Allah, besides whom there is no god. To proceed: All praise is for the One who fulfilled His promise, helped His servant, gave might to His friend, humiliated His enemy and alone overcame the confederates. Indeed, Allah is the One besides whom there is no god: "Allah has promised those of you who believe and do righteous deeds that He will surely make them successors in the land, just as He made those before them successors, and that He will surely establish for them their religion which He has approved for them" [Surah al-Nur: 55].
He recited the entire verse and wrote it. It is a promise from Him that is never broken and a word in which there is no doubt. And He has made jihad obligatory upon the believers; He said: "Fighting has been prescribed for you, though it is hateful to you" [Surah al-Baqarah: 216]. When he had finished the verses, he said: Seek the fulfilment of Allah's promise to you, and obey Him in what He has made obligatory, even if it involves severe hardship and the distance is far. You have been tried in your lives and your wealth; that is little compared with the great reward of Allah. May Allah have mercy on you! Go forth to fight in the path of Allah, "light and heavy, and strive with your wealth and your lives" [Surah al-Tawbah: 41]. Beware! I have ordered Khalid bin al-Walid (may Allah be pleased with him) to march to Iraq; remain there until my order comes. You are to go with him and not lag behind, for this is the path of Allah in which the reward is great for one whose intention is good and whose desire for good is great. When you reach Iraq, remain there until my order comes. May Allah suffice us and you in the important affairs of this world and the Hereafter. Peace, the mercy of Allah and His blessings be upon you.
The Shaykh (may Allah have mercy on him) says: Then it is explained in the histories that he wrote (to Khalid) to march to Syria and wrote to the commanders of the other armies to assist him; then the victory the Muslims were granted on the day of Ajnadayn in the time of Sayyiduna Abu Bakr al-Siddiq (may Allah be pleased with him), the departure of Heraclius towards Rome, the conquests that took place there and in Iraq and Persia, the destruction of Kisra, and the carrying of Kisra's treasures to Madinah in the time of Sayyiduna Umar (may Allah be pleased with him).

Sayyiduna Jabir bin Abdullah (may Allah be pleased with them both) says that the words of Allah Almighty, "so that He may make it prevail over all religions" [Surah al-Tawbah: 33], refer to the coming forth of Sayyiduna Isa bin Maryam.

Ibn Abi Najih narrates from Mujahid (may Allah have mercy on him) concerning the words of Allah Almighty, "until the war comes to an end" [Surah Muhammad: 4], that it means: Isa bin Maryam (peace be upon him) will descend, every Jew and Christian will believe, the sheep will be safe from the wolf, the mouse will not gnaw a bag, enmity will disappear from all things, and Islam will prevail over all religions.

Ibn Abi Najih narrates from Mujahid (may Allah have mercy on him) concerning the words of Allah Almighty, "so that Allah may make it prevail over all religions, even though the polytheists dislike it" [Surah al-Tawbah: 33], that he said: When Sayyiduna Isa (peace be upon him) descends, only the religion of Islam will remain.

Sa'id bin al-Musayyib (may Allah have mercy on him) heard Sayyiduna Abu Hurayrah (may Allah be pleased with him) say that the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "By the One in whose hand my soul is, soon Isa bin Maryam will descend as a just ruler. He will break the cross, kill the swine and abolish the jizyah. Wealth will become abundant, and no one will be willing to accept it, until a single prostration will seem better than the world and everything in it." Then Sayyiduna Abu Hurayrah (may Allah be pleased with him) said: If you wish, recite this verse: "And there is none of the People of the Book but will surely believe in him before his death, and on the Day of Resurrection he will be a witness against them" [Surah al-Nisa: 159]: no one of the People of the Book will remain who does not believe in Sayyiduna Isa (peace be upon him) before death.

Sayyiduna Jabir bin Abdullah (may Allah be pleased with them both) says that the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "A group of my Ummah will continue to fight for the truth and will remain dominant until near the Day of Resurrection." Then he (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "Isa bin Maryam will descend, and the leader of the Muslims will say: 'Come and lead us in prayer.' Isa will say: 'No, some of you are leaders over others; Allah Almighty has honoured this Ummah.'"

Sayyiduna Abu Hurayrah (may Allah be pleased with him) says that the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "The Hour will not be established until the sun rises from the west, and when the sun rises from the west, all the people will see it and believe; and that is the time when 'no soul will benefit from its faith if it had not believed before or earned good through its faith' [Surah al-An'am: 158]."

Sayyiduna Thawban (may Allah be pleased with him) says that the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "Allah, the Lord of Might, folded up the earth for me, so I saw its east and its west. Allah, the Lord of Might, granted me the two treasures, the red and the white, and the dominion of my Ummah will reach as far as the earth was folded up for me. I implored Allah, the Lord of Might, not to destroy my Ummah through famine or by giving an enemy power over them, and that they not split into factions and harm one another. Allah, the Lord of Might, said: O Muhammad! When I grant something, there is no one who can turn it back. Your Ummah will not be destroyed by famine or by another enemy being given power over them, even if enemies gather against them from every side, until they themselves destroy one another, take one another captive and fight one another. Tribes of my Ummah will go back to shirk and the worship of idols. What I fear most is misguiding leaders, and once fighting begins among them it will not end until the Day of Resurrection. Soon nearly thirty lying dajjals will appear in my Ummah. I am the last Prophet; there will be no prophet after me. A group of my Ummah will always remain upon the truth until the command of Allah comes."

Sayyiduna al-Miqdad bin al-Aswad al-Kindi (may Allah be pleased with him) says: I heard the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) say: "No dwelling, of town or of desert, will remain on the face of the earth but Allah, the Lord of Might, will bring the word of Islam into it, either with the honour of the honoured or with the humiliation of the humiliated: those whom Allah, the Lord of Might, honours, He will make among its people, and through it they will gain honour; or He will humiliate them, and they will submit to it."

Sayyiduna Tamim al-Dari (may Allah be pleased with him) says that the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "This religion will certainly reach wherever the night reaches. Allah will not leave any house, whether of a town or of the desert, but that He will make this religion enter it, through the honour of an honoured one by which Allah will honour Islam, or through the humiliation of a humiliated one by which Allah will humiliate disbelief."

Sayyidah Aishah (may Allah be pleased with her) says that the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "Night and day will not come to an end until al-Lat and al-Uzza are worshipped." I said: "O Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him), I used to think that when Allah, Lord of Might, revealed this verse: "He it is who sent His Messenger with guidance and the religion of truth, that He may make it prevail over all religion" [Surah al-Tawbah: 33], that this was complete." He (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "There will be of that whatever Allah wills. Then Allah, Lord of Might, will send a pure wind, and through it everyone who has in his heart even the weight of a mustard seed of faith will die. Those in whom there is no good will remain, and they will return to the religion of their forefathers."
Imam al-Shafi'i (may Allah have mercy on him) says: Quraysh used to travel to Syria very frequently, and much of their livelihood came from it, and they also used to go to Iraq. It is said that when they entered Islam, they mentioned to the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) their fear that their livelihood from trade with Syria and Iraq would be cut off once they left disbelief and entered Islam, since the kingship of Syria and Iraq was opposed to the people of Islam. So he (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "When Kisra perishes, there will be no Kisra after him." And after him there was no Kisra in the land of Iraq whose rule was established. And he said: "When Caesar perishes, there will be no Caesar after him." And after him there was no Caesar in the land of Syria. He answered them regarding what they had said to him, and it was as he (peace and blessings be upon him) had told them: Allah cut off the Kisras from Iraq and Persia, and cut off Caesar and those who took charge after him from Syria. The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said about Kisra: "His kingdom has been torn to pieces," and no kingdom remained for the Kisras; and he said about Caesar: "His kingdom has been made firm," and a kingdom remained established for him in the lands of the Romans until today, while his kingdom withdrew from Syria. All of this is consistent, each part confirming the other.

Imam al-Shafi'i (may Allah have mercy on him) mentioned this statement and what precedes it in this chapter.
The Shaykh (may Allah have mercy on him) said: Another interpretation of this verse has been narrated from Ibn Abbas.

Sayyiduna Abdullah bin Abbas (may Allah be pleased with them both), regarding the saying of Allah: "That He may make it prevail over all religion" [Surah al-Tawbah: 33], said: Allah, Lord of Might, will make His Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) prevail over the whole matter of the religion; He will give it to him and will not keep anything of it hidden from him. And the polytheists disliked that.