“A military force will attack the Kaʿbah, and when they reach an open plain of the earth, the first of them and the last of them (all of them) will be swallowed up by the ground.”
She said: “O Messenger of Allah, how will they all be swallowed up—the first and the last of them—while among them are their marketplaces (marketeers) and those who are not of them?”
He said: “They will all be swallowed up—the first and the last of them—then they will be resurrected according to their intentions.”
Reported by al-Bukhārī (no. 2118, with this wording) and Muslim (no. 2884), from the narration of ʿĀʾishah — may Allah be pleased with her.
And in another narration by Muslim (no. 2883), from Ḥafṣah — may Allah be pleased with her: “None will remain except a lone survivor who will inform people about them.”
Brief Explanation of the Hadith
Allah, the Exalted, has magnified His Sacred House and protected it from all who intend it with evil. It is the first House established for mankind, and He made it a place of safety, as He, the Exalted, said: {Have they not seen that We made a secure sanctuary while people are being snatched away all around them?} al-ʿAnkabūt: 67.
In this hadith, the Prophet — may Allah’s peace and blessings be upon him — informs that an army will march against the Kaʿbah. When they reach a baydāʾ—a vast, barren land with no structures, located between Makkah and Madinah—Allah, the Exalted, will cause the earth to swallow up the first of them and the last of them, leaving none except a lone survivor who will inform others about them.
When ʿĀʾishah — may Allah be pleased with her — heard the hadith of the Messenger of Allah — may Allah’s peace and blessings be upon him — she asked in astonishment: How can the punishment encompass all of them, while among them are those who are not of them, such as traders, captives, or others whose presence with them was without any intent to commit destruction or harm?
The Prophet — may Allah’s peace and blessings be upon him — informed her that the punishment will encompass both the righteous and the wicked among them; however, they will be resurrected on the Day of Judgment according to their intentions. Each will be judged in accordance with his purpose: whoever’s intention was righteous will be resurrected upon his righteousness, and whoever’s intention was corrupt will be destroyed.
The hadith indicates the impact of intention, and that it holds the weight of action itself—whoever intends good will have good, and vice versa. It also contains a warning against accompanying or sitting with the people of wrongdoing.
It also shows that whoever intends evil toward the Sacred House will be destroyed by Allah. Furthermore, it contains the Prophet’s — may Allah’s peace and blessings be upon him — foretelling of an unseen event that will occur near the end of time, the fulfillment of which will confirm the truth of his prophethood, just as other matters he foretold have been fulfilled.