Dabiq, Syria

This article is about the town. For the magazine of the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant, see Dabiq (magazine).
Dabiq
دابق
Village
Dabiq
Coordinates: 36°32′23.2″N 37°16′10.4″E / 36.539778°N 37.269556°E / 36.539778; 37.269556
Country  Syria
Governorate Aleppo Governorate
District A'zaz District
Nahiyah Nahiya Akhtarin
Population (2004 census)[1]
 • Total 3,364
Time zone EET (UTC+2)
 • Summer (DST) EEST (UTC+3)

Dabiq (Arabic: دابق‎) is a town in northern Syria, about 40 km northeast of Aleppo and around 10 km (6 miles) south of Syria's border with Turkey. It is administratively part of the Akhtarin nahiyah (subdistrict) of the A'zaz District of Aleppo Governorate. Nearby localities include Mare' to the southwest, Sawran to the northwest, and Akhtarin town to the southeast. According to the Syria Central Bureau of Statistics, Dabiq had a population of 3,364 in the 2004 census.[1]

The town was the site of the battle of Marj Dabiq in 1516, in which the Ottoman Empire decisively defeated the Mamluk Sultanate.

In Islamic eschatology, it is believed that Dabiq is one of two possible locations for an epic battle between invading Christians and the defending Muslims which will result in a Muslim victory and mark the beginning of the end of the world. The Islamic State believes Dabiq is where an epic and decisive battle will take place with Christian forces of the West, and have named their online magazine after the village.[2]

History

Jayrud was visited by Syrian geographer Yaqut al-Hamawi in the early 13th-century, during Ayyubid rule. He noted that it was "a village of the 'Azaz District lying 4 leagues from Halab (Aleppo). Near it is a green and pleasant meadow, where the Omayyad troops encamped, when they made the celebrated expedition against Al Massissah, which was to have been continued even to the walls of Constantinople. The tomb of Caliph Sulayman ibn Abd al-Malik, who led the expedition, lies here."[3]

In August 2014 the Islamic State conquered the town, destroying the Sulayman ibn Abd al-Malik shrine.[4]

In Islamic eschatology

In Islamic eschatology as found in the Hadith, the area of Dabiq is mentioned as a place of some of the events of the Muslim Malahim (which would equate to the Christian apocalypse, or Armageddon).[5][6] Abu Hurayrah, companion to Muhammad, reported in his Hadith that Muhammad said:

The Last Hour would not come until the Romans land at al-A’maq or in Dabiq. An army consisting of the best (soldiers) of the people of the earth at that time will come from Medina (to counteract them).[7]

Scholars and hadith commentators suggest that the words Romans refers to Christians.[8] The hadith further relates the subsequent Muslim victory, followed by the peaceful takeover of Constantinople with invocations of takbir and tasbih, and finally the defeat of Anti-Christ following the return and descent of Jesus Christ.[9][10]

References

  1. 1 2 General Census of Population and Housing 2004. Syria Central Bureau of Statistics (CBS). Aleppo Governorate. Archived at . (Arabic)
  2. ↑ Wood, Graeme (March 2015). "What ISIS Really Wants". The Atlantic. Retrieved September 6, 2015.
  3. ↑ le Strange, 1890, p. 426
  4. ↑ Why Islamic State chose town of Dabiq for propaganda, BBC, 17 November 2014.
  5. ↑ Giles Fraser (10 October 2014). "To Islamic State, Dabiq is important – but it’s not the end of the world". The Guardian. Retrieved 16 November 2014.
  6. ↑ EMMA GLANFIELD (9 October 2014). "The 1,300-year-old apocalyptic prophecy that predicted a war between an Islamic army and 'infidel horde' in Syria and is fuelling ISIS's brutal killers". MAILONLINE. Retrieved 17 November 2014.
  7. ↑ Sahih-Muslim Hadith, Vol. 41, Chap. 9, Hadith 6924, per Abu Huraira from Quran/ Hadith study site: The Only Quran. Retrieved 16 November 2014
  8. ↑ Farzana Hassan (15 Jan 2008). Prophecy and the Fundamentalist Quest: An Integrative Study of Christian and Muslim Apocalyptic Religion (illustrated ed.). McFarland. p. 41. ISBN 9780786480791.
  9. ↑ Farzana Hassan (15 Jan 2008). Prophecy and the Fundamentalist Quest: An Integrative Study of Christian and Muslim Apocalyptic Religion (illustrated ed.). McFarland. pp. 41–2. ISBN 9780786480791.
  10. ↑ Muhammad Saed Abdul-Rahman (2009). The Meaning and Explanation of the Glorious Qur'an (Vol 2) (2 ed.). MSA Publication Limited. pp. 311–12. ISBN 9781861797667.

Bibliography

This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the Tuesday, April 12, 2016. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.