It is stated in an authentic hadith: (A group from my Ummah will continue to fight). Does this group have a specific location?

The questioner : The question is about the location of the group. Is it in Bayt al-Maqdis?

The Shaykh : There is no explicit text traced to the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) on this matter, but there are two narrations. One is authentic but mawquf (stopping at a Companion), and it is in Sahih al-Bukhari. Among the narrators of this hadith about the victorious group is Mu'awiyah ibn Abi Sufyan. When he narrated this hadith publicly, he said to them: "And this is Mu'adh ibn Jabal saying that they are in al-Sham." This is an authentic narration. The other narration is marfu' (traced to the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him)) but it is weak: This is marfu' but its chain is weak. Both of these—that is, this weak narration and that authentic mawquf narration—do not preclude the possibility that the victorious group is in some Islamic lands, rather than being confined to al-Sham, for example. If we assume that this mawquf hadith has the ruling of a marfu' hadith, and if we accept that this mawquf hadith is in the position of a marfu' hadith, then there is no doubt that it will be so. We mentioned earlier that believers exist in every land of Islam, even if they are few, weak, and scattered. However, in the end, when you want to establish the rule of Allah on earth, they must be gathered in a specific place. Accordingly, it is not far-fetched that this place is al-Sham, as Mu'adh ibn Jabal (may Allah be pleased with him) said, as in Sahih al-Bukhari. Then, we do not rule out that the most specific part of al-Sham is Damascus, al-Sham, where he (peace and blessings be upon him) said in the authentic hadith: This is an authentic hadith, but when will this be? Allah knows best. On this occasion, we say that it is obligatory for us to strive to be among that victorious group in terms of knowledge, and then among the victorious group in terms of jihad and fighting. It is not important for us to establish this state before we take the means of establishing it, whether these means are spiritual or material, as I explained to you earlier. This is based on the saying of Allah, Blessed and Exalted is He: to the end of the verse.