The Hadith of Najd is a famous hadith with several chains of narration about three geographical locations. While all Sunni Muslims

Sunni Islam

Sunni Islam is the largest branch of Islam. Sunni Muslims are referred to in Arabic as ʾAhl ūs-Sunnah wa āl-Ǧamāʿah or ʾAhl ūs-Sunnah for short; in English, they are known as Sunni Muslims, Sunnis or Sunnites....

 accept the group of hadith as authentic, the exact location of the area referred to as "Najd" is disputed by a small group of notable people.

Text of the hadith

According to two narrations in Sahih Bukhari

Sahih Bukhari

Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī , as it is commonly referred to, is one of the six canonical hadith collections of Islam. These prophetic traditions, or hadith, were collected by the Persian Muslim scholar Muhammad ibn Ismail al-Bukhari, after being transmitted orally for generations. Muslims view this as one of...

, Prophet Muhammad

Muhammad

Muhammad |ligature]] at U+FDF4 ;Arabic pronunciation varies regionally; the first vowel ranges from ~~; the second and the last vowel: ~~~. There are dialects which have no stress. In Egypt, it is pronounced not in religious contexts...

 asks Allah

Allah

Allah is a word for God used in the context of Islam. In Arabic, the word means simply "God". It is used primarily by Muslims and Bahá'ís, and often, albeit not exclusively, used by Arabic-speaking Eastern Catholic Christians, Maltese Roman Catholics, Eastern Orthodox Christians, Mizrahi Jews and...

 to bless the areas of Sham

Sham

Sham, a word found in Arabic, English and Chinese, may refer to:-Arabic use:* Sham, or Alsahm, the Arabic name for the star Alpha Sagittae* Sham, , al-Sham, or Bilad al-Sham, endonym of the region bordering the eastern Mediterranean Sea, usually known as the Levant or Greater Syria, comprising...

 and Yemen

Yemen

The Republic of Yemen , commonly known as Yemen , is a country located in the Middle East, occupying the southwestern to southern end of the Arabian Peninsula. It is bordered by Saudi Arabia to the north, the Red Sea to the west, and Oman to the east....

. When his companions said "Our Najd as well," he replied: "There will appear earthquakes and afflictions, and from there will come out the side of the head (e.g. horns) of Satan

Satan

Satan , "the opposer", is the title of various entities, both human and divine, who challenge the faith of humans in the Hebrew Bible...

." In a similar narration, Prophet Muhammad

Muhammad

Muhammad |ligature]] at U+FDF4 ;Arabic pronunciation varies regionally; the first vowel ranges from ~~; the second and the last vowel: ~~~. There are dialects which have no stress. In Egypt, it is pronounced not in religious contexts...

 again asked Allah to bless the areas Medina

Medina

Medina , or ; also transliterated as Madinah, or madinat al-nabi "the city of the prophet") is a city in the Hejaz region of western Saudi Arabia, and serves as the capital of the Al Madinah Province. It is the second holiest city in Islam, and the burial place of the Islamic Prophet Muhammad, and...

, Mecca

Mecca

Mecca is a city in the Hijaz and the capital of Makkah province in Saudi Arabia. The city is located inland from Jeddah in a narrow valley at a height of above sea level...

, Sham, and Yemen and, when asked specifically to bless Najd

Najd

Najd or Nejd , literally Highland, is the central region of the Arabian Peninsula.-Boundaries :The Arabic word nejd literally means "upland" and was once applied to a variety of regions within the Arabian Peninsula...

, repeated similar comments about there being earthquakes, trials, tribulations, and the horns of Satan.

A hadith related to the three above narrations may also be found in Sahih Muslim specifically addressing the people of Iraq and directly attributing the hadith to that area. "O people of Iraq, how strange it is that you ask about the minor sins but commit major sins? I heard from my father 'Abdullah b. 'Umar, narrating that he heard Allah's Messenger (may peace be upon him) as saying while pointing his hand towards the east: Verily. the turmoil would come from this side, from where appear the horns of Satan...till the end of the hadith".[5]

"O Allaah bestow your blessings on our Shaam. O Allaah bestow your blessings on our Yemen." The people said, "O Messenger of Allaah, and our Najd." I think the third time the Prophet, sallallaahu alayhi wa sallam, said, "There (in Najd) will occur earthquakes, trials and tribulations, and from their appears the Horn of Satan."

Najd not in Iraq

The following hadith show Iraq cannot be interpreted as Najd and it is well known that no expedition was undertaken towards Iraq during prophets time.

Narrated Ibn 'Umar: I took part in a Ghazwa towards Najd along with Allah's Apostle and we clashed with the enemy, and we lined up for them (Bukhari).

Narrated Sinan and Abu Salama: Jabir mentioned that he had participated in a Ghazwa towards Najd in the company of Allah's Apostle (Bukhari).

Also the hadith regarding miqat points clearly mention Iraq and Najd as two different places.

For the people of Medina Dhu'l-Hulaifa is the place for entering upon the state of Ihram, and for (the people coming through the other way, i. e. Syria) it is Juhfa; for the people of Iraq it is Dbat al-'Irq; for the people of Najd it is Qarn (al-Manazil) and for the people of Yemen it is Yalamlam (Muslim).

External links

Ahlus Sunnah believe Najd is in Iraq
http://www.qsep.com/modules.php?name=ilm&d_op=article&sid=217

Puncturing the Devil’s Dream about the Hadiths of Najd and Tamim
http://sunnah.org/aqida/puncturing_the_devil.htm

The "Hadith of Najd" and the Ahlus-Sunnah wal-Jamaa'ah
http://www.archive.org/download/The.Hadith.of.Najd.and.Ahlus.Sunnah.wal.Jamaah/Hadith.of.Najd.and.the.Ahlus.Sunnah.wal.Jamaah.pdf