Bayda (

Arabic Arabic (, ' ; , ' or ) is a Semitic language spoken primarily across the Arab world.Semitic languages: an international handbook / edited by Stefan Weninger; in collaboration with Geoffrey Khan, Michael P. Streck, Janet C. E.Watson; Walter ...

: بيداء) is a desert between

Mecca Mecca (; officially Makkah al-Mukarramah, commonly shortened to Makkah ()) is a city and administrative center of the Mecca Province of Saudi Arabia, and the holiest city in Islam. It is inland from Jeddah on the Red Sea, in a narrow ...

and

Medina Medina,, ', "the radiant city"; or , ', (), "the city" officially Al Madinah Al Munawwarah (, , Turkish: Medine-i Münevvere) and also commonly simplified as Madīnah or Madinah (, ), is the second-holiest city in Islam, and the capital of the ...

in the

Hejaz region The Hejaz (, also ; ar, ٱلْحِجَاز, al-Ḥijāz, lit=the Barrier, ) is a region in the west of Saudi Arabia. It includes the cities of Mecca, Medina, Jeddah, Tabuk, Yanbu, Taif, and Baljurashi. It is also known as the "Western Provi ...

. The desert is without water/grass and its distance to

Masjid-u-Shajarah The Mīqāt Dhu al-Ḥulayfah (), also known as Masjid ash-Shajarah ( ar, مَسْجِد ٱلشَّجَرَة, lit=Mosque of the Tree) or Masjid Dhu al-Hulayfah (), is a ''miqat'' and mosque in Abyār ʿAlī, Medina, west of ''Wadi al-'Aqiq'', wh ...

is two kilometers towards to the city of Mecca. According to Islamic narration(s), ''Khasf al Bayda'' or swallowing (of the army of Sufyani) in the land of Bayda is among the

signs of the appearance of Mahdi The signs of the appearance of the Mahdi are the collection of events, according to Islamic eschatology, that will occur before the arrival of the Mahdi, The signs differ based on Sunni and Shia branches of Islam. Sunni signs Mahdi will be ...

Etymology

The name of this locality was narrated at the "hadith of Khasf-e-Bayda" (swallowing in Bayda land) by such name. Both of

Shia Shīʿa Islam or Shīʿīsm is the second-largest branch of Islam. It holds that the Islamic prophet Muhammad designated ʿAlī ibn Abī Ṭālib as his successor (''khalīfa'') and the Imam (spiritual and political leader) after him, mo ...

and Sunni Islam sources have mentioned about the event of "''swallowing in the territory of Bayda''" as one of the signs of the appearance of Mahdi; based on Islamic

hadiths Ḥadīth ( or ; ar, حديث, , , , , , , literally "talk" or "discourse") or Athar ( ar, أثر, , literally "remnant"/"effect") refers to what the majority of Muslims believe to be a record of the words, actions, and the silent approval ...

. Bayda means a desert without water and grass, and as an expression it is the name of a vast desert that is located to the 9 kilometer to the southwest of

and after Dhu al-Halifa; it likewise has been divided in two southern and northern parts through the way of Medina to Jeddah and

Islamic eschatology

Regarding the

Khasf al-Bayda Khasf al-Bayda (Arabic: خسف البیداء) (lit. Swallowing in the land of Bayda), in Islamic eschatology, is an upcoming event in which the Earth will swallow the land Bayda which is a desert between Mecca and Medina. According to Islamic ...

, there is a hadith from Muhammad bin 'Ali bin al-Husayn (Muhamad al-Baqir) that says: at Akhar-al-Zaman (End of Time), at the time when the army of Sufyani enters the territory of Bayda, a caller calls: Oh plain, annihilate that nation (of Sufyani army); subsequently the Earth swallows them, and all of them will be swallowed except 3 individuals.

Prayer

Based on Feqhi sources: saying prayers is

Makruh In Islamic terminology, something which is ''makruh'' ( ar, مكروه, transliterated: ''makrooh'' or ''makrūh'') is a disliked or offensive act (literally "detestable" or "abominable"). This is one of the five categories (''al-ahkam al-kham ...

(i.e.: not haram but better not to do) in this desert (of Bayda) and the Divine torment will be come down at this locality.Najafi, Jawaher al-Kalam, Vol. 8, P. 349

References

{{Reflist Islamic eschatology Islamic terminology Hejaz Mahdism

Etymology

Islamic eschatology

Prayer

See also

References