As-Sufyaani is not a contemporary figure
21-8-2011 | IslamWeb
Question:
Is there a Hadeeth about the so-called As-Sufyaani, who is one of the end of time's Fitnahs (trials), and who will destroy (the state of) Israel?
Answer:
All perfect praise be to Allaah, The Lord of the Worlds. I testify that there is none worthy of worship except Allaah, and that Muhammad, sallallaahu 'alyhi wa sallam, is His slave and Messenger.
There are many narrations about As-Sufyaani, some of which are:
Abu Hurayrah 
narrated from the Prophet, sallallaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, that he said that a man who is called As-Sufyaani will emerge in Damascus. Most of his followers will be from the Kalb tribe. He will cause genocide that will rip women's bellies and kill children. The Qays tribe will ally against him, but he will kill them. A man, who is a descendant of the household of the Prophet, sallallaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, will emerge in Al-Harrah, and his news will be transmitted to As-Sufyaani, who will send some of his soldiers and they will be defeated. Therefore, As-Sufyaani will muster his remaining soldiers and rush to meet him. Once they set out, the earth will swallow all of them, except those who will report what has happened. [Al-Haakim and Ath-Thababi: Saheeh (Authentic)]
Another Hadeeth was narrated by Ibn Mas‘ood that the Prophet, sallallaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, warned of seven Fitnahs (trials) that will occur after his death. He included that of As-Sufyaani. [Al-Haakim: Saheeh (Authentic). Ath-Thababi: Weak. Al-Albaani: Weak]
Another citation is narrated by ‘Ali ibn Abi Taalib in which he said that As-Sufyaani will conquer the people of Ash-Shaam (greater Syria). Afterwards, the battle of Qirqeesa will take place between them, and will continue until the birds and animals are full on human corpses. Then, a phalanx of them will set to Khurasaan. The cavalry of As-Sufyaani will rush in pursuit of people of Khurasaan and they will kill the supporters of the household of the Prophet, sallallaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, in Koofah. Then the people of Khurasaan will set out in search of the Mahdi. [Al-Haakim]. [Ath-Thahabi: weak]
There is also another Hadeeth narrated by Huthayfah that the Prophet, sallallaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, spoke about a trial that will occur between the people of the East and those of the West, in which As-Sufyaani will proceed until he camps at Damascus. He will send two armies, one to the East and another to Madeenah, until it reaches the lands of Babylon. There they will kill more than three thousand people, and rip the bellies of more than one hundred women. Then they will set out to Koofah and destroy the surrounding areas. Afterwards, they will head for Ash-Shaam. An army from Koofah will pursue As-Sufyaani’s army until it reaches it at Ash-Shaam and kills all of its soldiers. As-Sufyaani’s other army will then plunder Madeenah for three days and nights. Then they will head to Makkah until Allaah The Almighty sends Jibreel (Gabriel) 
and orders him to eradicate them. He will strike its land with his leg and Allaah The Almighty will cause the earth to swallow them. [At-Tabari]
The Hadeeths that speak about As-Sufyaani are many, and a great number of them were narrated by Nu‘aym ibn Hammaad and Abu ‘Amr Ad-Daani 
. However, the former's narrations are judged as weak. Studying the level of authenticity for such Hadeeths needs a long time, which we cannot afford.
To conclude, we must point out two matters: first, this character is real according to the collective evidence from the Hadeeths, even though each of them is individually weak to some extent.
Second, some people assume that As-Sufyaani is a contemporary figure. This is a big mistake and contrary to the narrations which state that As-Sufyaani will emerge in Ash-Shaam.
Allaah Knows best.