There is a hadith: “The Hour will not be established until a fire comes out from Ruman or Rakubah that will illuminate the necks of camels at Busra.” (At-Tabarani). Where is Ruman/Rakubah? Is this hadith authentic and did it come true? Is there mass transmitted reports of the people of Busra witnessing this event?

All perfect praise be to Allah, The Lord of the Worlds. I testify that there is none worthy of worship except Allah, and that Muhammad is His slave and Messenger.

The Hadith mentioned with the wording “The Hour will not come until a fire comes out of Ruman or Rakubah that will illuminate the necks of camels in Busra,” was narrated by At-Tabarani with the same wording as the questioner mentioned, but we did not find anyone from the people of knowledge who judged its chain of transmission as authentic or weak. As for the location of Ruman or Rakubah, Al-Hafizh said in Al-Fat'h when he mentioned this Hadith: “I say that Rakubah is a bendy mountain trail on the Madinah-Levant road by which the Prophet passed during the Battle of Tabuk. Al-Bakri mentioned it, although he did not mention Ruman. Perhaps, by Ruman it is meant the famous well in Madina.

Therefore, this Hadith mentioned the two fires to break out in the future, indicating that one of them will take place before the Hour. In addition, the Hadith mentioned some other events foretold by Prophet . The other fire is the one followed by the Hour without any intervening event. The fact that the second fire was mentioned before the first one in the Hadith does not affect the statement. Allah knows best.”

As for the issue of whether there are narrations and testimonies from the people of Busra confirming the occurrence of this event, you should know that a Hadith was narrated by Al-Bukhari and Muslim with the wording: “The Hour will not be established until a fire will come out of the land of Hejaz that will throw light on the necks of the camels at Busra.” In the commentary on Sahih Muslim, An-Nawawi  said: “Busra is a well-known city in the Levant, which is the city of Huran.”

It was said that this event took place in 654 AH, and the people of the Levant witnessed it. Commenting on this Hadith, Al-Hafidh cited Al-Qurtubi in Al-Tadhkirah as saying, “It [the fire] already broke out in Hejaz in Madinah, commencing with a great earthquake at the night of Wednesday, on the third of Jumada Al-Akhira, 654 AH…” An-Nawawi said, “The people of the Levant agree that this fire broke out.”

Ibn Katheer, may Allaah have mercy upon him, in Al-Bidayah wa An-Nihayah and Ad-Dhahabi in Tareekhul-Islam also discussed the details of this fire and its breaking out. Their quotations could be consulted on this topic.

Allah knows best.