Muḥammad b. ꜤAbdullah; Mecca shall be his birthplace, he shall migrate to Ṭayba, and his kingdom shall be in Syria.”^[1]

Dear Islamic brothers! Let’s understand what this means.

1.      مَوْلِدُہٗ بِمَکَّۃَ - Muhammad صَلَّى اللهُ عَلَيْهِ وَاٰلِهٖ وَسَلَّم will be born in Mecca. This is simple to understand.

2.      مُہَاجَرُہٗ بِطَیْبَۃَ – This means the Prophet صَلَّى اللهُ عَلَيْهِ وَاٰلِهٖ وَسَلَّم will migrate from Mecca to Medina.

3.      وَ مُلْکُہٗ بِالشَّامِ - His kingdom and rule will be over Syria.  

Yet, during the Prophet’s entire visible lifespan, Syria was always under the rule of non-Muslims. He was of course made mālik and mukhtār over the entire universe by Allah Himself, but from outwardly visible means, he did not rule over Syria during his blessed life. If this is the case, why did the Torah say Syria will be his kingdom?

Let’s look at historical records to answer this question. The Prophet       صَلَّى اللهُ عَلَيْهِ وَاٰلِهٖ وَسَلَّم took up stay Medina. Later, Abū Bakr al-Ṣiddīq رَضِىَ اللّٰهُ عَـنْهُ became the Muslim’s first caliph, and Medina became the capital of the Islamic world. Then came ꜤUmar b. al-Khaṭṭāb رَضِىَ اللّٰهُ عَـنْهُ as second caliph, and ꜤUthmān b. ꜤAffān رَضِىَ اللّٰهُ عَـنْهُ was the third. They too ruled from Medina.

When the fourth Caliph of Islam, ꜤAlī b. Abī Ṭālib رَضِىَ اللّٰهُ عَـنْهُ was in power, he made Kufa the capital. Imam Ḥasan رَضِىَ اللّٰهُ عَـنْهُ also continued the caliphate of his father there.

The Rightly Guided Caliphs ruled for a total of 30 years. After that, the concept of kings began in Islam, and the first of them was none other