What is the authenticity of the hadith about Assufyani?

Question

The hadith is in Al-Hakim, and Mustadrak, by Ali may Allah be pleased with him. It basically says that the sufyani will be descendant of Khalid bin Yazid bin Abi Sfyan, he will emerge in Damascus, and he will kill many and the killing will be so bad that it will get to a point were women will be sliced open and the infants in them will be killed. The Hadith goes on, it is long, but I wonder what is the authenticity of it.

Answer 1

There are two hadiths in Al-Mustadrak about As-Sufyani that I could find attributed to the Prophet (ﷺ):

1. Narrated by Abu Huraira in hadith 8633
2. Narrated by 'Abdullah ibn Mas'oud in hadith 8551.

The hadith that resembles what you are asking about seems to be Abi Huaraira's hadith.

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Al-Mustadrak 'Ala Al-Sahihain

In Al-Mustadrak 'Ala Al-Sahihain (Arabic: المستدرك على الصحيحين) by Al-Hakim Nisapuri,

حدثنا أبو محمد أحمد بن عبد الله المزني، ثنا زكريا بن يحيى الساجي، ثنا محمد بن إسماعيل بن أبي سمينة، ثنا الوليد بن مسلم، ثنا الأوزاعي، عن يحيى بن أبي كثير، عن أبي سلمة، عن أبي هريرة رضي الله عنه، قال قال رسول الله صلى الله عليه وآله وسلم: يخرج رجل يقال له السفياني في عمق دمشق، وعامة من يتبعه من كلب، فيقتل حتى يبقر بطون النساء، ويقتل الصبيان، فتجمع لهم قيس فيقتلها حتى لا يمنع ذنب تلعة، ويخرج رجل من أهل بيتي في الحرة فيبلغ السفياني، فيبعث إليه جندا من جنده فيهزمهم، فيسير إليه السفياني بمن معه حتى إذا صار ببيداء من الأرض خسف بهم، فلا ينجو منهم إلا المخبر عنهم

Narrated through Abu Huraira, the Prophet (ﷺ) said: A man called As-Sufyani will com out from deep in Damascus, and most of his followers will be from Kalb [tribe's name]. He will kill to the extent of ripping [babies] out of women's wombs, and will murder children. Qais [tribe's name] will gather many [to confront him], but he will kill them and nothing will stop him, not even the tail of hills [i.e., he will kill like a flood coming from atop a hill]. Then a man from my lineage will come out in Al-Harra and will reach As-Sufyani. He [As-Sufyani] will send his troops, until they reach a desert in which the land will swallow them, and no one will be saved except for those who informed about them.

_{Footnote by Al-Dhahabi: By Al-Bukhari and Muslim criteria}

_{— Al-Mustadrak 'Ala Al-Sahihain Hadith 8633 (NOTE: My own translation, so treat with care.)}

The chain of narration of this hadith is:

1. Abu Huraira
2. Abu Salama
3. Yahya ibn Abi Kathir
4. 'Abdul-Rahman Al-Awza'i
5. Al-Waleed ibn Muslim
6. Muhammad ibn Isma'il ibn Abi Sameena
7. Zakaria ibn Yahya Al-Sagi
8. Abu Muhammad Ahmad ibn 'Abdullah Al-Mozani

There are two issues with this chain of narration:

1. Muhammad ibn Isma'il ibn Abi Sameena — Muslim did not actually narrate any hadith from Ibn Abi Sameena, so the hadith in question could not be fulfill Muslim's criteria.
2. Al-Waleed ibn Muslim was mudallis, and in specific narrations through Al-Awza'i were considered weak as per Al-Daraqutni and others.

This hadith is not authentic.

There are other hadiths in Al-Mustadrak, and other books, that refer to As-Sufyani. It is worth noting that Dr. Al-Sharif Hatim ibn 'Arif Al'Awni conducted a study on these hadiths, and concluded that all of them were weak. Other scholars (e.g., Muhammad ibn Al-'Uthaymeen, Abdulaziz al-Tarefe, and Hammoud ibn 'Abdullah Al-Twaigri) reached the same conclusion that there is no hadith about As-Sufyani that is authentic.

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Kitab Al-Fitan

There are hadiths in other books. This one below seems to resembles the hadith you are referring to as it is attributed to 'Ali ibn Abi Talib, and it has the lineage of As-Sufyani. It is in Kitab Al-Fitan (Arabic: كتاب الفتن) by Naim ibn Hammad (Arabic: نعيم بن حماد المروزي):

حدثنا عبد القدوس وغيره عن ابن عياش عمن حدثه عن محمد بن جعفر عن علي قال: السفياني من ولد خالد بن يزيد بن أبي سفيان رجل ضخم الهامة، بوجهه آثار جدري، وبعينه نكتة بياض. يخرج من ناحية مدينة دمشق من واد يقال له وادي اليابس. يخرج في سبعة نفر، مع رجل منهم لواء معقود يعرفون في لوائه النصر يسيرون بين يديه على ثلاثين ميلا لا يرى ذلك العلم أحد يريده إلا انهزم

Narrated by 'Abdul-Quddus and others through Ibn 'Ayyash through whoever told him that Muhammad ibn Ja'far through 'Ali [ibn Abi Talib] that he ['Ali] said: As-Sufiani is from the lineage of Khalid ibn Yazid ibn Abi Sufian; a man with a huge frame, in his face are signs of smallpox, and his eye has a white spot. He comes out from the vicinity of the city of Damascus, from a valley called Wadi Al-Yabis [valley of dry land]. He comes out among seven men, with one of them is a knotted flag. They recognize the victory under his flag. They walk with him for thirty miles; no one sees his flag and comes out for it, except get defeated.

_{— Kitab Al-Fitan by Naim ibn Hammad
(NOTE — Scan included as I could not find an on-line reference. My own translation, so treat with care.)}

Naim ibn Hammad was not considered reliable in terms of hadith narration: honest but makes mistakes. In specific, about this book, Al-Dhahabi said that he included in this book lots of strange stories and hadiths munkar (Arabic: وصنف كتاب الفتن فأتى فيه بعجائب ومناكير) (see IslamWeb fatwa 22043).

Without even referring to scholarly opinions about this hadith, it can be seen from the chain of narration that it is severed and unreliable: Narrated by 'Abdul-Quddus and others through Ibn 'Ayyash through whoever told him that Muhammad ibn Ja'far through 'Ali (Arabic: حدثنا عبد القدوس وغيره عن ابن عياش عمن حدثه عن محمد بن جعفر عن علي)

Answer 2

Yes, this one is in Al-Mustadrak by Hakim.

• According to Al-Dhahabi (d. 1347 CE), this hadith satisfies the criteria of Bukhari and Muslim.
• However, Nasiruddin al-Albani (d. 1999 CE) has declared this hadith as Munkar (a type of Weak) because الوليد بن مسلم would commit Tadlees i.e. hide a weak narrator from the chain of narrators.

حدثنا أبو محمد أحمد بن عبد الله المزني، ثنا زكريا بن يحيى الساجي، ثنا محمد بن إسماعيل بن أبي سمينة، ثنا الوليد بن مسلم، ثنا الأوزاعي، عن يحيى بن أبي كثير، عن أبي سلمة، عن أبي هريرة رضي الله عنه، قال: قال رسول الله صلى الله عليه وسلم: يخرج رجل يقال له: السفياني في عمق دمشق، وعامة من يتبعه من كلب، فيقتل حتى يبقر بطون النساء، ويقتل الصبيان، فتجمع لهم قيس فيقتلها حتى لا يمنع ذنب تلعة، ويخرج رجل من أهل بيتي في الحرة فيبلغ السفياني، فيبعث إليه جندا من جنده فيهزمهم، فيسير إليه السفياني بمن معه حتى إذا صار ببيداء من الأرض خسف بهم، فلا ينجو منهم إلا المخبر عنهم

التعليق: (من تلخيص الذهبي) على شرط البخاري ومسلم

Translation:

A person called The Sufyani will emerge from the pits of Damascus. Most of those who follow him will be from Bani-Kalb. He will start killing to the extent that he will rip open the stomachs of women, and kill babies. Bani-Qase will gather to counter them but he will kill them until the tail of a hill stops him. A person from my household will emerge in al-Harrah and (the news of his arrival) will reach the Sufyani. He will send one of his armies towards him which he will defeat. The Sufyani will march towards him along with his comrades until they reach a desert where they will be swallowed. Thus, none of them will survive except the one who will narrate their story.

Footnote: (from Al-Dhahabi's summarization) on the criteria of Bukhari and Muslim