With the Downfall of Assad in Syria, is this the beginning of the Sign of 'Emergence of Turks' in Al-Jazira?

An image of Turkish & US all military personnel vehicles inside Syria. Source: Daily Sabah

The Green & Light Green is mostly Turkish forces or Turkish backed Syrian rebels including Al-Qaeda linked HTS (Hayya Tahrir Al Shaam)

Sheikh Nuaym Ibn Hammad (d. 843 CE) was one of the early Muslim scholar and muhaddith (hadith expert) who wrote a book called Kitab Al-Fitan where he copied down all the Prophetic ahadith and narrations from the companions that provides us a picture of what will happen in the end of times especially in Syria. A couple of ahadith talk about the sign of "Emergence of Turks in Al-Jazira (Syria & Iraq)" and a "Big war with Turks" in the Arab world. With Turkey’s regional ambitions and its role in bringing a swift downfall of Assad I believe it is time to discuss some of these narrations:

Abdallah bin Amr (r.a) said "The apocalyptic battles for the people are five, so two have passed, but three will happen in this community: the apocalyptic battle of the Turks, the apocalyptic battle of the Byzantines, and the apocalyptic battle of the Dajjal. After the apocalyptic battle of the Dajjal there will not be any other." (Ibn Hammad, Al-Fitan, 1503) 

Background of Assad's downfall in Syria - Who benefits the most?

The Israeli genocide of Gaza has been ongoing for a year, but what just happened in Syria has taken the attention away for many from the genocide to this latest crisis. Syrian Crisis is not new, as we know that opposition protests began in 2011 with parallel to the so called Arab Spring in Algeria. Gradually the protests turned into a violent rebellion which resulted in a similar violent retaliation from Syrian military leading to hundreds and thousands dying and displaced over a decade. The opposition protests that may have started as a genuine movement, in fact got hijacked not too long after by Assad’s regional foes Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Turkey, Jordan, with obvious blessings of US & Israel. Their main concern has been Assad’s refusal to accept Israel and allowing Iran-Hezbollah to operate inside Syria who support the Palestinian Resistance groups, a major threat for Israel. For this reason, Arab Spring was pushed in to Syria through proxy to remove him. Millions worth of weapons and thousands of fighters from across the Muslim world "in the name of Jihad" poured into Syria to topple his rule. To the surprise of many, Assad survived these attempts for almost 15 years where rulers such as Libya’s Gaddafi or Yemen’s Amrullah Saleh couldn’t survive. But this long war obviously weakened Assad’s power. A major contributing factor that impacted his power and weakened the country was sanctions imposed through the 2019 Caesar's Act by the United States, which as per many Islamic scholars a prophecy foretold in the hadith literature: 

Hudhayfa (r.a) said "The people of Iraq are about to not receive either dirham or qafiz further, since the non-Arabs (ajam) will prevent them from receiving it. The Syrians are about to not receive either dinar or bushel (muddan), since the Byzantines (Europeans) will prevent them from receiving it." (Ibn Hammad, Kitab Al-Fitan, 1893, Also narrated from the Messenger ﷺ in Sahih Muslim)

Iraq’s main export is oil and after US invasion in 2003 a law was passed which declared that all revenue from sale of Iraqi oil gets deposited into US Fed Reserve bank in New York and only then disbursed to the Iraqi government hence keeping control over their resources. The Caesar Act was sanctioned by President Trump which has severely impacted the Syrian economy, construction, finance and energy sectors, discouraged foreign investment and complicated the reconstruction efforts. The main exports of Syria is oil, gas and wheat which are also being exploited by the US military inside Syria. 

The latest offensive started on Nov 27th by Takfiri and foreign backed groups led by HTS (Haya Tahrir Al Shaam) formerly called Jubhat al-Nusra, an Al-Qaeda Affiliate and Turkish backed FSA (Free Syrian Army), SNA (Syrian National Army) and their allied groups that have been controlling Northwest Syrian territories such as Idlib and those bordering Turkey. This lightning offensive was quite different than those of previous years by these groups. They were able to move swiftly capturing Aleppo city and countryside, captured Hama, another important city and then finally Damascus on the 11th day! As per journalists & analysts, this sort of major territory loss hasn’t happened since the uprising began in 2011.

Over here its pertinent to mention that Eastern Syria i.e. East of river Euphrates is all Kurdish controlled territory by SDF (Syrian Democratic Forces) who are backed by US which also houses its bases there. 

In this latest fighting Turkey is playing the most active role. All these groups that led the offensive from Idlib are mostly backed by Turkey who provides money, weapons and training. But Turkey hasn’t just gotten involved, in fact Turkey has worked with US, Israel & Arab countries providing support to these groups since 2011. Turkey not only backed these groups but also led its own army into Syria under pretext of fighting Kurdish militants in Kurdish controlled Eastern Syria whose affiliates in Turkey are designated as terrorists such as Turkey’s PKK, or Kurdish Workers Party is considered a terrorist organization. Turkey through its own offensive inside Syria has created a security buffer zone and occupies territory.

Turkey under Erdogan's AK Party postures itself as a successor of the Ottoman (Osmania) Caliphate in the Muslim world. Turkey’s aim is to control Al-Jazira (parts of Syrian and Iraqi) territories on the footsteps of the Empire that once ruled over it. But the Ottomans were independent empire that made its own decisions unlike modern Turkey being part of Western military alliance NATO, cannot go against US and Western interests in the region. One of the main Western interests is protection and safety of Israel. Israel needs to be protected at all costs especially for US. In such case Turkey, being a NATO member, can only flex its power and influence as much. Assad’s support for the Iran-Hezbollah-Palestinian Resistance corridor through Syria irked the US and Israel the most. This support corridor part of Axis of Resistance, which includes Iraqi groups and Yemen’s Houthis, proved vital for Palestinian Resistance groups fighting in Gaza & West Bank. After Oct 7th attack by Hamas against Israeli occupation Hezbollah supported supported Hamas in Gaza by attacking Northern Israel for an entire year inflicting heavy losses on Israel’s military while also sacrificing their own, which forced Israel to accept ceasefire. The simultaneous attacks by Hamas & Hezbollah, Iraqi Resistance and Houthis of Yemen exposed that Israel is a paper tiger only able to slaughter women & children and unable to put up a real fight on ground.

So the plan to initiate this Turkey and US backed offensive in Syria was to start a major infighting in Syria so that Axis of Resistance weakens or to completely cut off Axis’s Syrian support for Palestine which is clear now as many in the rebel leadership are acknowledging for future relations with Israel. After takeover of Damascus by these rebels, Israel launched a massive bombing campaign across Syria targeting strategic military assets of Syrian army and rendered it toothless so that it never threatens Israel again. This strategy will now give Israel breathing space and focus on fighting single front of Gaza rather than worrying about Syrian front. Since Turkey also carries its own ambitions for Syria & Iraq in order to achieve its goals it decided to align itself with US & Israeli Zionist plot to overthrow Assad’s government in Syria. For this reason, Turkey continues to covertly support the Takfiri groups like Haya Tahrir Al Shaam, and others that come under SNA (Syrian National Army). 

What is Turkey's ambitions & why it backs these Takfiri groups?

​HTS (Hayat Tahrir Al Shaam) is the biggest group leading this takeover in Damascus. HTS was formerly called Jabhat al-Nusra formed in 2012 by ISIL (ISIS) and emerged in Syria. After entering Syria it split a year later and declared allegiance to al-Qaeda. It then severed ties with al-Qaeda and joined with other factions to rebrand itself as HTS in 2017. HTS is based in Idlib governorate in Syria and is estimated to have up to 30,000 fighters. The leadership of Al-Nusra, HTS were all associated in past with the US run Iraqi prison camps setup after 2003 invasion of Iraq. These Iraqi prisons were notorious hubs for extremist and sectarian individuals where they were indoctrinated in those notions and later carried on with them. Several Al-Qaeda & ISIS leaders hail from these very prisons. Abu Muhammad Al – Julani, the leader of HTS was arrested by US forces in Iraq in 2006 and held for five years in same prisons. Al-Julani was later tasked with establishing al-Qaeda’s branch in Syria called al-Nusra Front, which grew its influence in opposition-held areas, especially Idlib. Al-Julani coordinated in those early years with Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, head of al-Qaeda’s “Islamic State in Iraq”, which later became ISIL (ISIS). Today these groups are mainly backed by Turkey and even Qatar.

Discussing Turkey's role we notice some end times Prophetic narrations that informs us how they will become powerful and descend upon Syria & Iraq, such as:

Makhul (r.a) said The Prophet ﷺ said "The Turks will have two emergences: one of them in which they will emerge in Azarbayjan (modern Azerbaijan is ethnic Turk & ally of Turkey), and the other one in which they will drink on the shores of the Euphrates (in Syria & Iraq).” In another narration we are informed, Kab (r.a) said "The Turks will descend upon al-jazira (Syria & Iraq) until their horses will drink from the Euphrates [River]. God will send a plague against them, and kill them, without leaving even one man of them.” (Ibn Hammad, Kitab Al-Fitan, 1864) 

The Euphrates is a river that originates from Turkey, passes through Syria, enters Iraq passes through its territory before flowing into the Persian Gulf. It seems that by backing Takfiri rebel groups the Turks plan to not only enter Syria but take more territory and might even enter Iraq through its Northern side. The part of the hadith “they will drink on the shores of the Euphrates” might point to the fact that Turkey continues to build dams on the mouth of this river inside Turkey for its usage. This dam building has caused severe water shortage inside Syria and even more in Iraq along with the natural climate change which is causing the river to gradually dry up. But this could also mean Turkish aim to control the region for natural resources such as the drying up of Euphrates is another sign prophesied in a narration, that may play in to the war in Syria in near future: 

“The Hour will not come to pass before the River Euphrates dries up to unveil the mountain of gold, for which people will fight. Ninety-nine out of one hundred will die (in the fighting) and every man amongst them will say: 'Perhaps I may be the only one to remain alive." (Riyad as Salihin)

After eruption of the war in Syria in 2011, the Euphrates had become a sort of a demarcation line between Syrian rule of Assad in the East and the US backed Kurdish control in the West. As HTS and takfiri groups wage their offensive in the East and take control from Assad’s forces, we notice them also getting closer to Euphrates. An actual revelation of the gold would make all parties to the conflict in Syria and even inside Iraq to fight over this gold  resulting in large casualties as foretold.

Turkey does not only consider itself a major player in the Middle East but also as a leader in the Muslim world especially among all Turks. To achieve this goal Turkey employs pan-Turkism or Turkish nationalism, which aims to bring all nations of Turkistan (Central Asia), under one organization called Organization of Turkic States (OTS). The OTS is a Turkic alliance primarily led by Turkey, composed of Turkic member states of Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and Uzbekistan, alongside observer states Hungary, Turkmenistan. The aim is to create political, economic & military alliance which could be independent and balance between the US led Western alliance & Russian-China alliance. A recent example of this Turkish cooperation was the Karabakh War in 2021 in which Azerbaijan, with military and political support from Turkey, captured territory from Armenia. If and when this organization becomes stronger then we can imagine Turkey leading this alliance into Syria and Iraq as stated in several ahadith on this topic: 

Makhul (r.a) narrates "The Turks will have two emergences: an emergence which will be the destruction of Azarbayjan, and an emergence in which they will appear in al-Jazira (Syria,Iraq) snatching up those with anklets [women]. God will give victory to the Muslims; among them [the Turks] will be God’s greatest slaughter, and there will be no Turks afterwards.” (Ibn Hammad, Kitab al-Fitan, 1867) 

This is one of the Apocalyptic wars that will happen between the Arabs & Muslims against an alliance of Turks which we can possibly see might be led by modern day Turkey whose political interference in region of Azerbaijan, Syria & Iraq, Libya, and other places is obvious. 

Turkey's Kurdish excuse for invasion of Syria & Iraq

In the past few decades the breakouts of the 2003 Iraqi war and 2011 Syrian war has changed the political landscape of these states bordering Turkey. The Kurdish population is concentrated mainly in the region where border of all four states Syria, Iraq, Turkey & Iran meet. In modern history the Kurds have been subject to authority by one of these states but have never had their own independent state. With the breakout of wars and collapse of the governments the Kurds of Syria & Iraq decided carve their territories in Eastern Syria and Northern Iraq. These 2 Kurdish states border Turkey in the Southeast of the country and since Southeast Turkey also has significant Kurdish population, the Kurds under Kurdistan Workers Party called PKK has fought insurgency inside Turkey claiming oppression by the state. Turkey has used this as a pretext to bomb Kurdish states inside Syria & Iraq and led military incursions. Since Turkey’s geopolitical ambitions are quite clear, we can expect further Turkish incursions into these territories and their occupation might be a fulfillment of the prophecies of Turkish takeover in Iraq & Syria:

Kab (r.a) said "The Turks will surely make an appearance; nothing will stop them short of al-Qatia (close to Damascus) God’s greatest slaughter will be among them." Hudhayfa (r.a) said to the people of Kufa "A small-eyed, snub-nosed people, as if their faces were beaten shields, wearing shoes of hair, will expel you from it (kufa), and will fasten their horses on the palm of Jukha [River], and they will drink from the mouth of the Euphrates." (Ibn Hammad, Al-Fitan, 1878)

Iran's Tensions with Turkey, Azerbaijan 

Azerbaijan is a Turkish nation sharing border with Iran and a stanch ally of Turkey. Azerbaijan also has strong diplomatic ties to Israel and the Israeli presence in border region of Iran is considered a major threat by Iran. It’s important to mention that Iranian President Raesi and Foreign minister were killed this year in a helicopter crash that happened in the mountains of Iran bordering Azerbaijan. As per some journalists Israel has built smart villages on the Azeri border to spy on Iran. In North, Iran has 2 provinces called East & West Azerbaijan that share border with Azerbaijan and are home to millions of Turkic-speaking ethnic Azeris. Iran has long accused Azerbaijan of inciting separatist sentiment inside those provinces. The Turkish assistance for US & Israel to topple Assad’s pro-Iran government in Damascus will now cut off Iran’s influence in Syria, a major victory for Israel. But Israel will not stop at that, considering Iran the biggest threat in Middle East, Israel will continue to push and weaken Iran's influence and may even ally with Turkey and Azerbaijan to somehow harm Iran through Azerbaijan:

Abdallah bin Amr (r.a): "The Banu Qantura are about to emerge driving the people of Khurasan and Sijistan before them brutally, until they fasten their mounts at the palm of al-Ubulla (near Basra in Iraq). They will send to the people of Basra: “Either give us your land, or we will descend upon you!” (Ibn Hammad’s, Al-Fitan, 1868)

The Bani Qantura means tribe of Qantura, as per scholars she was a concubine of Prophet Ibrahim (a.s) and the Turks are descended from her. As stated in earlier narrations that Turks will destroy ‘Azerbaijan’ it could be a possible reference to attack on North of Iran and then they (Bani Qantura/Turks) will descend down to ‘Khurasan’ & ‘Sijistan’ which are part of Eastern Iran bordering Afghanistan and then they will go to Iraq. This could either be a US/Israeli backed attack on Iran by an alliance of Turks when that happens. Or it could be a destabilization of Northern Iran via a breakout of rebellion by Azeri Turk proxies backed by Turkey, just as Turkey flamed the fire of rebellion inside Syria through funding and supporting groups in 2011 which finally led to Assad's downfall.

​Sufiyani, Imam Mahdi & The Great Battle of the Turks

The Turkish takeover of Al-Jazira (Syria, Iraq) is a future possibility but there are other narrations that inform us that a time when they will be defeated at the hands of the leading Muslim forces in the Arab world. In the ahadith the defeat of the Turks will be at the Great Battle of Turks or the Apocalyptic Battle of the Turks. This defeat will happen during the time of a character called Sufyani. Apparently we are told that he will be from the lineage of Yazid bin Muawiya bin Abu Sufyan. He appears to be a tyrant who will rule with an iron fist and shed much blood but at the same time he will be a popular Arab leader who will defeat many forces competing for power in the lands of Shaam (greater Syria), Egypt and Iraq. As per several narrations it is Sufyani who will first make an alliance with Ar-Rum (Byzantines or modern Europeans) and then fight the Turks but might not be able to destroy them. After Sufyani their final defeat will be at the hands of Imam Mahdi (a.s) who will take the reign of the Arabs from Sufyani (after defeating him) and then give a final blow to the Turks as mentioned in some of the narrations:

Yunis b. Sayf al-Khawlani (r.a) says “You will make peace with the Byzantines (European Forces), a secure peace, such that you will raid together with them the Turks and the Kirman (Centrals Asian Turks) and God will conquer for you. Then the Byzantines will say: “The Cross is victorious!” but the Muslims will be enraged, so they will each disengage from the other, then fight a fierce battle on a field with hills. Then God will conquer them for you, whereupon the apocalyptic battles will follow.” (Ibn Hammad, Kitab Al Fitan, 1345)

Artat (r.a) says “The Sufyani will fight the Turks, then their final uprooting will be at the hands of the Mahdi. That will be the first flag the Mahdi will commission; he will send it against the Turks.” (Ibn Hammad, Kitab Al-fitan, 563)

We can expect that if big alliance of the Turks succeeds then it will not remain dependent on Europe and if Europeans feel threatened then they might ally with the Arabs & Muslims and support them in their fighting against the Turks in Al-Jazira which would eventually lead to their defeat.

We are not sure how close we are to the occurrence of these events. But one thing is for sure that the Turkish involvement in the Syrian conflict for almost 15 years and with Turkish backed forces gradually taking over Syrian territory with future plans for Iraq, we might not be too far away. 


References:
1. Cook, David, editor. “The Book of Tribulations: The Syrian Muslim Apocalyptic Tradition”: An Annotated Translation by Nu’aym b. Hammad al-Marwazi. Edinburgh University Press, 2017. JSTOR, http://www.jstor.org/stable/10.3366/j.ctt1pwt2c1. Accessed 10 Dec. 2024.
2. Who are Hayat Tahrir al-Sham and the Syrian groups that took Aleppo?
Read more: https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2024/12/2/hayat-tahrir-al-sham-and-the-other-syrian-opposition-groups-in-aleppo#ixzz8u2V3ksTW
3. Sunnah.com - The Hadith of the Prophet Muhammad (صلى الله عليه و سلم) at your fingertips
www.Sunnah.com
4. A Strategic Opportunity for the Organization of Turkic States Amid Great Power CompetitionThe increasing cooperation among Turkic states is a strategic regional response to intensifying great power competition and shifting geopolitical dynamics in Eurasia.
https://thediplomat.com/2024/10/a-strategic-opportunity-for-the-organization-of-turkic-states-amid-great-power-competition/#:~:text=Strategic%20autonomy%20has%20emerged%20as,the%20Euro%2DAtlantic%20security%20framework.
5. Why does the US still control every penny of Iraqi oil revenues?https://thecradle.co/articles/why-does-the-us-still-control-every-penny-of-iraqi-oil-revenues 
Hussein Askary
6. Caesar Act 2019 for Syria
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Caesar_Syria_Civilian_Protection_Act
7. Washington steals over 80 percent of Syria's oil output per day
https://thecradle.co/articles-id/3195 
8. Taking Syria: The opposition’s battles shown in 11 maps for 11 days
https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2024/12/8/taking-syria-the-oppositions-battles-shown-in-11-maps-for-11-days
9. Syrian rebel commander urges Israel to support uprising, strike Iran-backed forces
https://www.timesofisrael.com/syrian-rebel-commander-urges-israel-to-support-uprising-strike-iran-backed-forces/ 
10. Who are the rebels battering Syria’s regime, and do they pose a risk to Israel?https://www.timesofisrael.com/who-are-the-rebels-battering-syrias-regime-and-do-they-pose-a-risk-to-israel/
11. Iraq could have no Rivers by 2040
https://www.thenationalnews.com/mena/iraq/2021/12/02/iraq-could-have-no-rivers-by-2040-government-report-warns/ 
12. Turkistan Islamic Party in Syria
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Turkistan_Islamic_Party_in_Syria#:~:text=The%20Turkistan%20Islamic%20Party%20in,in%20the%20Syrian%20Civil%20War.
13. Isis: the inside story, by Martin Chulov, Thurs 11 Dec, 2015, The Guardian
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/dec/11/-sp-isis-the-inside-story 
14. Analysis: Will Azerbaijan-Iran tensions lead to war?
https://aje.io/zbiuu8