Praise be to Allah.
There is no hadith that says that, as far as we know. What is proven is contrary to that, which is that the Muslims will conquer the Romans and kill many of them in a great battle. There are several saheeh reports which mention that:
-1-
Muslim (2900) narrated from Naafi‘ ibn ‘Utbah who said: The Messenger of Allah (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him) said: “You will fight in the Arabian Peninsula, and Allah will enable you to prevail over it, then (you will fight in) Persia, and Allah will enable you to prevail over it, then you will fight in Byzantium and Allah will enable you to prevail over it, then you will fight the Dajjaal, and Allah will enable you to prevail over him.”
It was also narrated by Ibn Maajah (4091), as follows: “You will fight the Arabian Peninsula and Allah will enable you to conquer it. Then you will fight the Romans and Allah will enable you to conquer them. Then you will fight the Dajjaal and Allah will enable you to conquer him.”
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Muslim (2897) narrated from Abu Hurayrah that the Messenger of Allah (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him) said: “The Hour will not begin until the Byzantines camp at al-A’maaq or Daabiq (( [1] Al-A’maaq and Daabiq – two places in Syria near Aleppo.)) (( [1] Al-A’maaq and Daabiq – two places in Syria near Aleppo.)) (( [1] Al-A’maaq and Daabiq – two places in Syria near Aleppo.)) , and an army composed of the best people on earth at that time will go out from Madeenah to meet them. When they arrange themselves in ranks, the Byzantines will say: Do not stand between us and those who took prisoners from us; let us fight them. The Muslims will say: No by Allah, we will never let you reach our brothers. Then they will fight them, and one third will flee, whose repentance will never be accepted by Allah; one third will be killed, and they are the best of martyrs before Allah; and one third will prevail and will never succumb to any fitnah, and they will conquer Constantinople.”
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Ahmad (21981) narrated from ‘Abdullah ibn Hawaalah al-Azdi that the Messenger of Allah (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him) said: “You will be enabled to conquer Syria, Byzantium and Persia, or Byzantium and Persia, until one of you will have such and such number of camels, and such and such number of cattle and of sheep, until one of you will be given one hundred dinars and will not be content with it.”
It was also narrated by al-Haakim (8309); he classed it as saheeh, and adh-Dhahabi agreed with him.
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Muslim (2899) narrated that ‘Abdullah ibn Mas‘ood said: The Hour will not begin until shares of inheritance are not distributed and there is no rejoicing over war booty. An enemy will gather against the people of Islam and the people of Islam will gather against them. Then he gestured with his hand like this in the direction of Syria. I said: Do you mean the Byzantines? He said: Yes. He said: During this fighting there will be a great retreat. The Muslims will send out a detachment to fight to the death and not return unless they are victorious. They will fight until night intervenes, then both sides will go back, neither having prevailed, and that detachment will have been wiped out. Then the Muslims will send out a detachment to fight to the death and not return unless they are victorious. They will fight until night intervenes, then both sides will go back, neither having prevailed, and that detachment will have been wiped out. Then the Muslims will send out a detachment to fight to the death and not return unless they are victorious. They will fight until evening comes, then both sides will go back, neither having prevailed, and that detachment will have been wiped out. Then on the fourth day, the rest of the Muslims will charge at them (the enemy), and Allah will decree that the enemy be routed, and they will fight a battle the like of which has never been seen. If a bird were to fly over their flanks, it would not reach the end of them before falling down dead.
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Abu Dawood (4294) narrated that Mu‘aadh ibn Jabal said: The Messenger of Allah (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him) said: “Jerusalem will flourish when Yathrib is in ruins, and Yathrib will be in ruins when the great war occurs. The great war will occur when Constantinople is conquered, and Constantinople will be conquered when the Dajjaal appears.”
Classed as hasan by al-Albaani.
Ibn Katheer (may Allah have mercy on him) said:
When Allah sent Muhammad (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him), those who believed in him believed in Allah, His angels, His Books, and His Messengers in the correct manner. They were followers of every Prophet on the face of the earth, because they had believed the Messenger, the unlettered Arab Prophet, the final Messenger and the leader of all the sons of Adam, who called them to believe in the entire truth. So they were closer to each Prophet than his own nation who claimed to be following his way and path even though they had distorted and altered (the teachings). Moreover, even if that was not the case, Allah had abrogated the laws of all the Messengers by means of that with which He sent Muhammad (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him), namely the true religion which will not be changed or altered until the onset of the Hour, and which will remain and continue victorious, prevailing over all other religions. Hence Allah enabled his Companions to conquer the east and the west of the earth, and they conquered all kingdoms, and all states yielded to them; they defeated Chosroes and Caesar, and they captured their wealth and spent it in Allah’s cause, as their Prophet had told them that they would, based on the revelation of his Lord, may He be glorified and exalted, Who said (interpretation of the meaning):
“Allah has promised those among you who believe, and do righteous good deeds, that He will certainly grant them succession to (the present rulers) in the earth, as He granted it to those before them, and that He will grant them the authority to practise their religion, that which He has chosen for them (i.e. Islam). And He will surely give them in exchange a safe security after their fear (provided) they (believers) worship Me and do not associate anything (in worship) with Me”
[an-Noor 24:55].
Hence, because they were true believers in the Messiah, they captured greater Syria from the Christians and drove them to Byzantium, so they sought refuge their city Constantinople, and Islam and its people will continue to prevail over them until the Day of Resurrection. The most truthful one, namely the Prophet (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him), told his ummah that the last of them would conquer Constantinople and would seize the wealth it contains as booty, and they would kill the Byzantines in a huge battle, the like of which people had never seen before and would never see again afterwards, and I [Ibn Katheer] have compiled a book on this issue. Hence Allah, may He be exalted, says (interpretation of the meaning):
“And (remember) when Allah said: ‘O ‘Eesa (Jesus)! I will take you and raise you to Myself and clear you (of the forged statement that ‘Eesa (Jesus) is Allah’s son) of those who disbelieve, and I will make those who follow you (Monotheists, who worship none but Allah) superior to those who disbelieve (in the Oneness of Allah, or disbelieve in some of His Messengers, e.g. Muhammad (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him), ‘Eesa (Jesus), Moosa (Moses), etc., or in His Holy Books, e.g. the Taurat (Torah), the Injeel (Gospel), the Quran) till the Day of Resurrection. Then you will return to Me and I will judge between you in the matters in which you used to dispute.
‘As to those who disbelieve, I will punish them with a severe torment in this world and in the Hereafter, and they will have no helpers’”
[Aal ‘Imraan 3:55, 56].
Allah did the same to those among the Jews who disbelieved in the Messiah, and those among the Christians who exaggerated about him or went to extremes in praising him: He punished them in this world by causing them to be killed or taken captive, and causing their wealth to be seized and their worldly power to be removed. And in the hereafter their punishment will be even worse, and they will have no one to protect them from Allah.
End quote from Tafseer Ibn Katheer (2/40)
And Allah knows best.
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