The Messenger of Allah, peace be upon him, sent to the Kaaba in Mecca. When they reached that point, he sent an army to Medina, led by a man from [tribe name]. When they reached Al-Baida, they were swallowed by the earth.

Nu'aym ibn Hammad. Al-Fitan.

And so that it is not confusing to some, and they think that the narrations are contradictory, as it is possible to combine them until the confusion is removed and the contradiction disappears, let us say: The army swallowed by the earth is a coalition army, composed of: 1 - The Sufyani army from Sham. 2 - The Sufyani army from Egypt. 3 - The Sufyani army from Al-Jazira.

So the Sufyani army from Sham and Egypt comes from the direction of Sham and enters Medina, plundering it, then heads to the military base in Raqqa, where the forces of the Sufyani army from Al-Jazira are located. Preparations are made to invade the Mahdi, peace be upon him, and his supporters. When they are in Al-Baida, they are swallowed by the earth.

What strengthens this is what is mentioned in the narration that they are people of "attire and intellect," and this is a prominent characteristic of those armies, except for the Sufyani army from Egypt, as they wear military uniforms from the land of intellect. And Allah knows best.

8 - The Political and Cultural Line of the Sufyani: What is mentioned in the narrations and interpretations of the commentators suggests to us that the Sufyani has a Western culture and education, and perhaps he was raised there. It is narrated in the book "Al-Ghaybah" by Sheikh Tusi, from Bishr ibn Ghaleb, in a mursal narration that he said: "The Sufyani will come from the land of Rum, victorious, with a cross around his neck. And he is the leader of the people."

The above narration - which was quoted from the book "The Era of Appearance" by Al-Kurani on pages 116 and 117 - in the Middle Eastern countries, no one matches Abdullah Al-Tal, the Jordanian king, as much as he does. After completing his primary education in Jordan, he moved to Western countries - Britain and America - and completed his studies there.