The narrator, in his Mustadrak, narrated from Ali, may God be pleased with him, that when the Mahdi appears, he will seek refuge in the Sacred House with a group whose number is unknown and cannot be counted. They will pledge allegiance to him between the Rukn and the Maqam. An army from Sham will set out to fight him, but it will be swallowed by the earth in a desert in the East.

The seven preceding hadiths (8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14) indicate that the Mahdi will seek refuge in the Sacred House with an uncountable group, and they will pledge allegiance to him between the Rukn and the Maqam. An army from Sham will set out to fight him, but it will be swallowed by the earth in a desert in the East.

Ahmad narrated in his Musnad and Abu Dawud in his Sunan, from Aisha, may God be pleased with her, that the Messenger of God, may God's blessings and peace be upon him, said: "A group from my Ummah will fight at the House, and they will be an army. When they are in the middle of the desert, they will be swallowed by the earth."

This hadith (15) indicates that after people learn of the swallowing of the army that intended to fight the one seeking refuge in the Sacred House, they will become certain that the one seeking refuge is the Mahdi, and they will come to him from different places to pledge allegiance to him.

Abu Nu'aym narrated in his book Al-Fitan, from Tabi'i, that a man will seek refuge in Mecca, and an army will be sent against him. When they reach the desert of Medina, they will be swallowed by the earth.

This narration (16) was narrated by Abu Nu'aym from Al-Walid bin Muslim, from Sadaqah bin Khalid, from Abd al-Rahman bin Hamid, from Mujahid, from Tabi'i. In its chain is Al-Walid bin Muslim, and Sadaqah bin Al-Fadl Al-Marwazi said about him: "I was in Mecca when Al-Walid bin Muslim was there, and I did not see anyone more knowledgeable about the hadiths of the prophets and the hadiths of the battles than him."