Is there a hadith that speaks of a trade embargo on Iraq, Syria and Egypt?
Question

                There is a hadith that speaks of a trade embargo on Iraq, Syria and Egypt. Has that actually happened, or is it what we see happening before our eyes?
Praise be to Allah.
	It seems that the hadith referred to in the question is the 
	report narrated by Muslim in his Saheeh (2896) from Abu Hurayrah (may 
	Allah be pleased with him) who said: The Messenger of Allah (blessings and 
	peace of Allah be upon him) said: “Iraq will withhold its dirhams and qafeez 
	(a measurement of grain), Syria will withhold its mudds and dinars, and 
	Egypt will withhold its irdabb and dinars, and you will return to where you 
	started, you will return to where you started, you will return to where you 
	started.” The flesh and blood of Abu Hurayrah bear witness to that.

	Al-Bukhaari (3180) narrated that Abu Hurayrah (may Allah be 
	pleased with him) said: How will you be when you are not able to collect any 
	dinars or dirhams? It was said to him: On what basis do you say that will 
	happen, O Abu Hurayrah? He said: By the One in Whose hand is the soul of Abu 
	Hurayrah, (I learned that) from the words of the most truthful one (i.e., 
	the Prophet (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him)). They said: What did 
	he say? He said: “The covenant granted by Allah and His Messenger (to the 
	dhimmis) will be transgressed, so Allah will make the hearts of ahl 
	adh-dhimmah so bold that they will withhold the jizyah they are supposed to 
	pay.”

	An-Nawawi (may Allah have mercy on him) said:

	There are two views as to what is meant by Iraq and the other 
	regions withholding (money and grains). The first view is that what is meant 
	is that they will become Muslim, so the jizyah will be waived from them, and 
	this is something that already happened.

	The second view – which is more well-known – is that what is 
	meant is that the Persians and Romans (Byzantines) will seize control of 
	these lands at the end of time, and they will prevent the Muslims from 
	obtaining these things. A few pages after this, Muslim narrated that Jaabir 
	said: Soon there will not be brought to the people of Iraq any qafeez or 
	dirham. We said: Why is that? He said: Because the non-Arabs will prevent 
	it. And he mentioned how the Romans would do likewise in Syria. This has 
	happened in our own time in Iraq; it is going on right now.

	And it was said that it is because they will apostatise at 
	the end of time, so they will withhold what is required from them of zakaah 
	and so on. And it was said that what is meant is that the disbelievers from 
	whom jizyah is required will grow stronger at the end of time, so they will 
	withhold what they used to pay of jizyah, kharaaj and so on.

	With regard to the words of the Prophet (blessings and peace 
	of Allah be upon him), “and you will return to where you started”, this 
	means the same as the other hadith, “Islam began as something strange and 
	will go back to being as it began.” End quote.

	Al-Haafiz Ibn Hajar (may Allah have mercy on him) said:

	The words “They will withhold what is in their hands” mean: 
	they will refuse to pay the jizyah. Al-Humaydi said: Muslim narrated a 
	similar hadith via another isnaad from Suhayl from his father from Abu 
	Hurayrah, which was attributed to the Prophet (blessings and peace of Allah 
	be upon him): “Iraq will withhold its dirhams and qafeez…” And he quoted the 
	hadith using the past tense, but what is meant is the future, so as to 
	emphasise that it will surely come to pass. Muslim also narrated from Jaabir 
	in a marfoo‘ report: “Soon there will not  be brought to the people of Iraq 
	any camels or dirhams. We said: Why is that? He said: Because the non-Arabs 
	will prevent it.” This is one of the signs of Prophethood and is advice to 
	fulfil the covenant with ahl adh-dhimmah, in return for the jizyah that is 
	taken from them, which benefits the Muslims. It is also a warning against 
	mistreating them, and indicates that if that happens, then ahl adh-dhimmah 
	will break the covenant and the Muslims will not be able to collect anything 
	from them, which will cause hardship to the Muslims.

	Ibn Hazm stated that some of the Maalikis quoted the words in 
	the hadith of Abu Hurayrah, “Iraq will withhold its dirhams” as evidence 
	that land seized as booty is not to be divided or sold, and that what is 
	meant by withholding is withholding of the kharaaj. But he refuted that by 
	noting that the hadith contains a warning of a bad fate, and that the 
	Muslims will ultimately be deprived of their rights, and this is what 
	happened. End quote.      

	See: Nayl al-Awtaar by ash-Shawkaani (8/118); an-Nihaayah 
	by Ibn al-Atheer (1/262)

	From the above we may conclude that the more likely 
	interpretation of the hadith is that the disbelievers, namely the Romans and 
	Persians, will take authority from the Muslims in these lands, after they 
	had been subject to the Muslims’ authority, and they will withhold its 
	resources and kharaaj from the Muslims. This has happened repeatedly 
	throughout history, the most recent case being the colonisation of these 
	lands and the abolishing of the authority of the Ottoman caliphate over 
	them, and the disbelievers’ domination of their people and resources.

	As for the present situation, where the disbelievers are 
	controlling Iraq and have taken over its resources, we cannot be certain 
	that this is exactly what is meant in the hadith, and to state that this is 
	definitely what is meant by the hadith is risky. Many people are hasty in 
	jumping to conclusions with regard to such matters, but it soon becomes 
	clear that they are mistaken and were too audacious regarding this issue.

	This does not rule out the idea that such a thing could 
	happen repeatedly, and that the present case is one such instance. In fact 
	they have done something that is even worse than that, by preventing the 
	resources of Iraq from reaching the Muslim lands, then besieging Iraq and 
	its people, preventing goods from reaching them, and preventing them from 
	benefitting from their own resources, until many children died, let alone 
	women and men.

	And Allah knows best.