The Messenger of Allah ﷺ promised us a military expedition to Hind. If I live to take part in it, I will spend my life and wealth in it. If I am killed, I will be among the best of martyrs, and if I return, I will be Abu Hurairah the freed.
وعدنا رسول الله ﷺ غزوة الهند، فإن أدركتها أنفق فيها نفسي ومالي، فإن أقتل كنت من أفضل الشهداء، وإن أرجع فأنا أبو هريرة المحرر.
Nasai (3173, 3174), Ahmad (7128), and Hakim (3/514) all narrated it through Sayyar, from Jabr bin Ubayda, from Abu Hurairah, who mentioned it. Its chain includes Jabr bin Ubayda, for whom no narrator besides Sayyar Abu Hakam is recorded, and no one is reported to have verified his reliability except that Ibn Hibban mentioned him among the trustworthy. For this reason Hafiz said, "Acceptable," meaning when corroborated, and indeed he was corroborated.Ibn Abu Asim narrated it in Jihad (291) through Hashim bin Saeed, from Kinana bin Nabih, the freedman of Safiyya, from Abu Hurairah, who mentioned it. Its chain includes Kinana bin Nabih, from whom a group of narrators reported, but no one is reported to have verified his reliability except that Ibn Hibban mentioned him among the trustworthy. For this reason Hafiz said in Taqrib, "Acceptable," meaning when corroborated. It also includes Hashim bin Saeed, who is daif.Ahmad (8823) narrated it from Yahya bin Ishaq, who said, Bara informed us, from Hasan, from Abu Hurairah, who said, "My truthful and trusted beloved friend told me that he said, 'There will be an expedition sent to Hind and Sind among this nation.'" Then he mentioned the rest of Abu Hurairah's statement similarly. Bara, who is bin Abdullah Ghanawi, is daif. There is disagreement about whether Hasan heard from Abu Hurairah, and the correct view is that he did not hear from him.Given the totality of these routes and chains, the hadith becomes hasan.The expedition to Hind did take place, just as the Prophet ﷺ said. Muslims began the expedition to Hind during the time of Muawiya, in the year 44 AH, and the expeditions continued one after another at the hands of Muhammad bin Qasim, Mahmud bin Sabuktakin, and others, until Hind became part of the abode of Islam, and it remained under Muslim rule for eight centuries, until British colonialism took control of it in the year 1857 CE, during the reign of the last king of Hind, Bahadur Shah Zafar, who was born in the year 1775 CE and died in the year 1862 CE in his exile in Rangoon, the capital of Burma.