In The Name Of Allah Most Gracious Most Merciful
Assalaamu alaykum wa rahmatuallahi wa barakatuhu

The Sufyaani

Real Name Of Sufyani Is Abdullah

Narrated from Ka'b:
"The name of the Sufyaani is 'Abdullah."(Nu'aym ibn Hammad, Kitab al-Fitan, No. 62)

Note: This is the name of the last Sufyaani.

Al Walid, son of Muslim, said:

"The Mahdi will not come until The Sufyaani is established."

Trials

According to 'Alqama, Ibn Mas'ud said:

 "The Messenger of Allah, upon whom be blessings and peace, told us, 'I warn you of 7 severe trials, which will occur after me: a trial, which will come from Medina, a trial in Mecca, a trial, which will come from Yemen, a trial, which will come from Syria, a trial, which will come from the East, a trial, which will come from the West, and a trial from the valley of Syria, which is the Sufyaani'"

Ibn Mas'ud said, "Some of us have seen the first of them, and some of this community will see the last of them."

Al-Walid, son of 'Ayyash said, "The trial in Medina was that of Talha and az-Zubayr, the trial in Mecca was that of 'Abdullah son of az-Zubayr, the trial of Syria was from the Umayyads, and the trial of the East is from these people."

(al-Hakim and Nu'aym ibn Hammad)

Note: The "trial, which will come from the West", can be said to be the conflict involving the Romans, as mentioned in other hadeeths. This hadeeth also demonstrates that the conflict with the "West" is one that precedes the trial of the Sufyaani, and thus, they are two different conflicts.

Firstly He Rules Egypt

The Prophet, (upon whom be blessings and peace) said, "A man of the Umayyads will take power in Egypt and then his power will be taken from him, or wrested from him, and he will flee to Byzantium and enlist them against the people of Islam; and that will be the first of the battles." (at-Tabarani)

Note: Sufyaani first rules egypt. The Umayyads are from the family and descendants of Abu Sufyaan.

The term "Byzantium" was the original name of an ancient Greek city-state, which is today known as "Istanbul". It was besieged and damaged in 196 CE by Rome. Afterwards, the Roman Emperor Septimius Severus rebuilt it, and then Emperor Constantine after him refounded it as "Nova Roma" in 330 CE. After his death, it was called "Constantinople". It became the capital of the Byzantine Empire/Eastern Roman Empire, of which the term "Byzantium" was sometimes applied to. Muslims had conquered it in 1453 CE under Mehmed 1, and then later the Ottomans, during the fall of Ottoman Empire, renamed it "Istanbul", making it official in 1930 CE.

During the time of the Prophet, the empire had control of both Bilad al-Sham and Egypt. However, in this hadith, he distinguishes between Egypt and Byzantium. It is also likely that he would've distinguished between it and al-Sham as well. All of these were disputed terrritories with the Sassanid empire. They also controlled the Balkans and Eastern Europe at one time, but at the time of the Prophet, their primary stronghold was Turkey, as was their primary territory.

So, in the 7th century CE, Byzantium was primarily Turkey, and so, when this hadith says he flees to Byzantium, it means he flees to Turkey.
 

Secondly Rules Damascus[mainly Syria] & Sufyani Will Be A Decendent Of Abu Sufyan

Kalb Tribe Will Follow Sufyani

Reported by Abu Hurayrah: "A man named the Sufyaani will come from the center of Damascus. The majority of his followers will be from the tribe of Kalb. He will kill until he rips women open and kills children. So the tribe of Kays will rise up in retaliation and he will slaughter all of them! Then a man from the Family of my House will come in Al Hirrah and the news will reach the Sufyaani. Then he will send his army but it will suffer defeat. The Sufyaani will march with his followers to him until they reach a desert and the ground will swallow them up. None will be saved except the one bearing the news." (Son of Hibban, At-Tirmizi, Abuya'li, At-Tabarani, Al Bazaar, Abu Nuaym and Al Hakim.)

Hadhrat 'Ali said, "The Sufyaani will be one of the descendants of Khalid, son of Yazid, son of Abu Sufyaan: a man with a large head, a pockmarked face, and white spots in his eyes. He will emerge from part of Damascus and most of those who follow him will be from the tribe of Kalb. He will kill to the point of slicing open the bellies of women and slaying their unborn children. A man from the people of my House will come out against him in the Haram. The Sufyaani will hear of this and send one of his armies to fight him, which he will defeat. Then the Sufyaani himself will come against him with his people until he crosses some land in the desert, which swallows them up. Only those who are among them under compulsion will be saved."

(al-Hakim, Mustadrak)

Note: The term "Sufyaani" in these hadeeths simply means that he is from the descendants of Abu Sufyaan. The man from the family of the the Prophet's household obviously refers to the Mahdi. From the above hadeeths, we can see that there is one army he sends against the Mahdi that is defeated, before the second sent and is swallowed up by the ground. These hadeeths also indicate he is with the second army, and thus, could mean he is also swallowed up by the ground.

Ali said: "The Sufyaani will overcome Syria, then between them there will be a battle in Qirqisiya until the birds of the air are filled and the savage animals of the earth are filled from their perishing. Then, an opening will occur at their rear, and a group will come from them until they enter the land of Khurasan. The horses of the Sufyaani will come demanding the people of Khurasan, and they will slay the followers of the Family of Muhammad in Kufa, then the people of Khurasan will come seeking the Mahdi."

Narrated from az-Zuhri:
"The people of Syria will give bay'ah to the Sufyaani, and he will fight the people of the east, defeating them from Palestine until they settle at Marj as-Safar. Then they will meet again, and the people of the east will be defeated until they settle at Marj ath-Thaniyyah. Then they will fight again, and the people of the east will be defeated until they come to al-Hiss. Then they will fight again, and the people of the east will be defeated until they reach the ruined city," meaning Qirqisiya. "Then they will fight again, and the people of the east will be defeated until they end up at 'Aqar Quf. Then they will fight again, and the people of the east will be defeated, and the Sufyaani will capture all of their wealth. After that, an abscess will develop in the Sufyaani's throat. Then he will enter Kufa in the morning and leave it in the afternoon accompanied by his armies, and upon entering Syria he will die.

The people of Syria will rise up and give bay'ah to the son of the woman from Kalb, whose name is 'Abdullah ibn Yazid ibn al-Kalbiyyah, a dry-eyed man with a distorted face. The people of the east will hear of the Sufyaani's death, so they will say: "Gone is the state of the people of Syria!" and they will revolt. The son of the woman of Kalb will hear of this, so he will go out with an assembly of soldiers under flags to fight them, and the people of the east will be defeated until they enter Kufa, where he will kill their fighting men, take their women and children as captives, and then he will lay waste to Kufa. Then, from there he will send an army to al-Hijaz."

(Nu'aym ibn Hammad, Kitab al-Fitan, No. 63)

Note: Here we have mention of 2 Sufyaanis. The first Sufyaani appears, and fights the black flags, from Palestine onward, defeating them 6 times, before he conquers them, and then he dies. This cannot be referring to the black flags that give alliegence to the Mahdi, but another group that precedes them.  These may be the ones the remnants that came with al-Harith ibn Hirath, the Hashimite beforehand. The second Sufyaani mentioned here, would be the one mentioned in the previous two ahadith, that the second army of black flags, led by Shu'ayb ibn Salih, defeats.

And he also narrated from Artah that he said:
"The Sufyaani who will die is the one who will first fight against the black banners and the yellow banners in the middle of ash-Sham. He will come out from al-Mandarun, east of Baysan, on a red camel and wearing a crown. He will defeat the united community [al-jama'ah] twice, and then he will die. He will kill the free people, take the women and children as captives, and cut open the bellies of the pregnant women."
(Nu'aym ibn Hammad, Kitab al-Fitan, No. 64)
Note: This is referring to the first Sufyaani mentioned above.
 

Next Rules Iraq & Attacks Khurasan

Hadhrat 'Ali said: "The horses of The Sufyaani will go to Kufa, and he will send his army against the dwellers of Khurasan (Afghanistan). (At that time) the people of Khurasan will demand the Mahdi. He that meets with the Hashimite with the Black Banners at his front is Shuayb, the son of Salih who will engage The Sufyaani at the Gate of Istakhr -- between them there will be a tremendously fierce battle and the Black Banners will win, but the horses of The Sufyaani will escape. It is at that time that the people will wish for the Mahdi, because they need him."

Note: The location of Kufa is in Iraq, and location of the "Gate of Istakhr" is in Iran. The "Hashimite" mentioned here, is referring to al-Harith son of Hirath &   Shuayb son of Salih leading the Black Banners army .

Allah Knows Best