The Messenger of Allah ﷺ said, "There will always remain a group from my nation upholding the command of Allah , unharmed by those who oppose them, fighting their enemies. Whenever one war ends, another war with a different people breaks out. Allah will turn the hearts of certain peoples astray so that He may grant this group provision through them, until the Hour comes upon them like patches of dark night. They will be alarmed by it, so much so that they will don the bodies of armor for it."Then the Messenger of Allah ﷺ said, "They are the people of Sham," and the Messenger of Allah ﷺ poked with his finger, pointing toward Sham, until he hurt it.
أن رسول الله ﷺ قال: لا تزال من أمتي عصابة قوامة على أمر الله عز وجل لا يضرها من خالفها تقاتل أعداءها، كلما ذهب حرب نشب حرب قوم آخرين، يزيغ الله قلوب قوم ليرزقهم منه حتى تأتيهم الساعة كأنها قطع الليل المظلم فيفزعون لذلك حتى يلبسوا له أبدان الدروع. وقال رسول الله ﷺ: هم أهل الشام ونكت رسول الله ﷺ بأصبعه يوميء بها إلى الشام حتى أوجعها.
Fasawi narrated it in Maarifa wal-Tarikh (2/296-297) - and this is his wording -, and Ibn Majah (7), both through the route of Yahya bin Hamza, who said, Abu Alqama Nasr bin Alqama narrated to us, from Umayr bin Aswad and Kathir bin Mura Hadrami, from Abu Hurairah, and he mentioned it.Its chain is hasan because of Abu Alqama Nasr bin Alqama, for his hadith is hasan. Duhaym deemed him trustworthy, and Ibn Hibban mentioned him among the trustworthy narrators.