The Prophet (peace_be_upon_him) said: four (majestic)
trials (fitnahs) will take place among this community, and
in their end there will be destruction.
When we were sitting with the Apostle of Allah (peace_be_upon_him),
he talked about periods of trial (fitnahs), mentioning
many of them.
When he mentioned the one when people should stay in
their houses, some asked him: Apostle of Allah, what is
the trial (fitnah) of staying at home?
He replied: It will be flight and plunder. Then will
come a test which is pleasant. Its murkiness is due to the
fact that it is produced by a man from the people of my
house, who will assert that he belongs to me, whereas he
does not, for my friends are only the God-fearing. Then
the people will unite under a man who will be like a
hip-bone on a rib. Then there will be the little black
trial which will leave none of this community without
giving him a slap, and when people say that it is
finished, it will be extended. During it a man will be a
believer in the morning and an infidel in the evening, so
that the people will be in two camps: the camp of faith
which will contain no hypocrisy, and the camp of hypocrisy
which will contain no faith. When that happens, expect the
Antichrist (Dajjal) that day or the next.
I swear by Allah, I do not know whether my companions
have forgotten or have pretended to forgot. I swear by
Allah that the Apostle of Allah (peace_be_upon_him) did
not omit a leader of a wrong belief (fitnah)--up to the
end of the world--whose followers reach the number of
three hundred and upwards but he mentioned to us his name,
his father's name and the name of his tribe.
Subay' ibn Khalid said: I came to Kufah at the time
when Tustar was conquered. I took some mules from it. When
I entered the mosque (of Kufah), I found there some people
of moderate stature, and among them was a man whom you
could recognize when you saw him that he was from the
people of Hijaz.
I asked: Who is he? The people frowned at me and said:
Do you not recognize him? This is Hudhayfah ibn al-Yaman,
the companion of the Apostle of Allah (peace_be_upon_him).
Then Hudhayfah said: People used to ask the Apostle of
Allah (peace_be_upon_him) about good, and I used to ask
him about evil. Then the people stared hard at him.
He said: I know the reason why you dislike it. I then
asked: Apostle of Allah, will there be evil as there was
before, after this good which Allah has bestowed on us?
He replied: Yes. I asked: Wherein does the protection
from it lie? He replied: In the sword. I asked: Apostle of
Allah, what will then happen?
He replied: If Allah has on Earth a caliph who flays
your back and takes your property, obey him, otherwise die
holding onto the stump of a tree.
I asked: What will come next? He replied: Then the
Antichrist (Dajjal) will come forth accompanied by a river
and fire. He who falls into his fire will certainly
receive his reward, and have his load taken off him, but
he who falls into his river will have his load retained
and his reward taken off him.
I then asked: What will come next? He said: The Last
Hour will come.
The tradition mentioned above (No. 4232) has also been
transmitted through a different chain of narrators by Nasr
ibn Asim al-Laythi who said: We came to al-Yashkuri with a
group of the people of Banu Layth.
He asked: Who are these people? We replied: Banu Layth.
We have come to you to ask you about the tradition of
Hudhayfah. He then mentioned the tradition and said: I
asked: Apostle of Allah, will there be evil after this
good?
He replied: There will be trial (fitnah) and evil. I
asked: Apostle of Allah, will there be good after this
evil? He replied: Learn the Book of Allah, Hudhayfah, and
adhere to its contents. He said it three times.
I asked: Apostle of Allah, will there be good after
this evil? He replied: An illusory truce and a community
with specks in its eye. I asked: Apostle of Allah, what do
you mean by an illusory community?
He replied: The hearts of the people will not return to
their former condition. I asked: Apostle of Allah, will
there be evil after this good? He replied: There will be
wrong belief which will blind and deafen men to the truth
in which there will be summoners at the gates of Hell. If
you, Hudhayfah, die adhering to a stump, it will be better
for you than following any of them.
The Prophet (peace_be_upon_him) said: Allah has
protected you from three things: that your Prophet should
not invoke a curse on you and should all perish, that
those who follow what is false should not prevail over
those who follow the truth, and that you should not all
agree in an error.
The Prophet (peace_be_upon_him) said: The mill of Islam
will go round till the year thirty-five, or thirty-six, or
thirty-seven; then if they perish, they will have followed
the path of those who perished before them, but if their
religion is maintained, it will be maintained for seventy
years. I asked: Does it mean seventy years which remain or
seventy years which are gone by? He replied: It means
(seventy years) that are gone by.
The Apostle of Allah (peace_be_upon_him) said: There
will be a period of commotion in which the one who lies
down will be better than the one who sits, and the one who
sits is better than the one who stands, and the one who
stands is better than the one who walks, and the one who
walks is better than the one who runs (to it).
He asked: What do you command me to do, Apostle of
Allah? He replied: He who has camels should remain with
his camels, he who has sheep should remain with his sheep,
and he who has land should remain with his land.
He asked: If anyone has more of these, (what should he
do)?
He replied: He should take his sword, strike its edge
on a stone, and then escape if he can.
I asked: Apostle of Allah! tell me if someone enters my
house and extends his hands to kill me (what should I do?)
The Apostle of Allah (peace_be_upon_him) replied: Be like
the two sons of Adam. The narrator Yazid (ibn Khalid) then
recited the verse: "If thou dost stretch they hand against
me to slay me."
The tradition mentioned above (No. 4243) has also been
transmitted by Ibn Mas'ud through a different chain of
narrators.
Ibn Mas'ud said: I heard the Prophet (peace_be_upon_him)
say: He then mentioned a portion of the tradition narrated
by AbuBakrah (No. 4243).
This version adds: He (the Prophet) said: All their
slain will go to Hell. I (Wabisah) asked: When will this
happen Ibn Mas'ud?
He replied: This is the period of turmoil (harj) when a
man will not be safe from his associates.
I asked: What do you command me (to do) if I happen to
live during that period? He replied: You should restrain
your tongue and hand and stay at home.
When Uthman was slain, I recollected this tradition. I
then rode (on a camel) and came to Damascus. There I met
Khuraym ibn Fatik and mentioned this tradition to him. He
swore by Allah, there was no god but He, he had heard it
from the Apostle of Allah (peace_be_upon_him), as Ibn
Mas'ud transmitted it to me (Wabisah).
The Apostle of Allah (peace_be_upon_him) said: Before
the Last Hour there will be commotions like pieces of a
dark night in which a man will be a believer in the
morning and an infidel in the evening, or a believer in
the evening and infidel in the morning. He who sits during
them will be better than he who gets up and he who walks
during them is better than he who runs. So break your
bows, cut your bowstrings and strike your swords on
stones. If people then come in to one of you, let him be
like the better of Adam's two sons.
AbdurRahman ibn Samurah said: I was holding the hand of
Ibn Umar on one of the ways of Medina. He suddenly came to
a hanging head. He said: Unhappy is the one who killed
him. When he proceeded, he said: I do not consider him but
unfortunate. I heard the Apostle of Allah (peace_be_upon_him)
say: If anyone goes to a man of my community in order to
kill him, he should say in this way, the one who kills
will go to Hell and the one who is killed will go to
Paradise.
The Apostle of Allah (peace_be_upon_him) said to me: O
AbuDharr. I replied: At thy service and at thy pleasure,
Apostle of Allah. He then mentioned the tradition in which
he said: What will you do when there the death of the
people (in Medina) and a house will reach the value of a
slave (that is, a grave will be sold for a slave).
I replied: Allah and His Apostle know best. Or he said:
What Allah and His Apostle choose for me.
He said: You must show endurance. Or he said; you may
endure. He then said to me: What will you do, AbuDharr,
when you see the Ahjar az-Zayt covered with blood?
I replied: What Allah and His Apostle choose for me.
He said: You must go to those who are like-minded.
I asked: Should I not take my sword and put it on my
shoulder? He replied: you would then associate yourself
with the people. I then asked: What do you order me to do?
You must stay at home. I asked: (What should I do) if
people enter my house and find me?
He replied: If you are afraid the gleam of the sword
may dazzle you, put the end of your garment over your face
in order that (the one who kills you) may bear the
punishment of your sins and his.
The Prophet (peace_be_upon_him) said: Before you there
will be commotions like pieces of a dark night in which a
man will be a believer in the morning and an infidel in
the evening. He who sits during them will be better than
he who gets up, and he who gets up during them is better
than he who walks, and he who walks during them is better
than he who runs. They (the people) said: What do you
order us to do? He replied: Keep to your houses.
I swear by Allah, I heard the Apostle of Allah (peace_be_upon_him)
say: The happy man is he who avoids dissensions: happy is
the man who avoids dissensions; happy is the man who
avoids dissensions: but how fine is the man who is
afflicted and shows endurance.
The Prophet (peace_be_upon_him) said: There will be
civil strife (fitnah) which will render people deaf, dumb
and blind regarding what is right. Those who contemplate
it will be drawn by it, and giving rein to the tongue
during it will be like smiting with the sword.
The Prophet (peace_be_upon_him) said: There will be
civil strife which wipe out the Arabs, and their slain
will go to Hell. During it the tongue will be more severe
than blows of the sword.
Khalid ibn Dihqan said: When we were engaged in the
battle of Constantinople at Dhuluqiyyah, a man of the
people of Palestine, who was one of their nobility and
elite and whose rank was known to them, came forward. He
was called Hani ibn Kulthum ibn Sharik al-Kinani. He
greeted Abdullah ibn Zakariyya who knew his rank.
Khalid said to us: Abdullah ibn AbuZakariyya told us: I
heard Umm ad-Darda' say: I heard AbudDarda' say: I heard
the Apostle of Allah (peace_be_upon_him) say: It is hoped
that Allah may forgive every sin, except in the case of
one who dies a polytheist, or one who purposely kills a
believer.
Hani ibn Kulthum ar-Rabi' then said: I heard Mahmud ibn
ar-Rabi' transmitting a tradition from Ubadah ibn as-Samit
who transmitted from the Apostle of Allah
(peace_be_upon_him) who said: If a man kills a believer
unjustly, Allah will not accept any action or duty of his,
obligatory or supererogatory.
Khalid then said to us: Ibn AbuZakariyya transmitted a
tradition to us from Umm ad-Darda' on the authority of
AbudDarda' from the Apostle of Allah (peace_be_upon_him)
who said: A believer will continue to go on quickly and
well so long as he does not shed unlawful blood; when he
sheds unlawful blood, he becomes slow and heavy-footed.
A similar tradition has been transmitted by Hani ibn
Kulthum from Mahmud ibn ar-Rabi' on the authority of
Ubadah ibn as-Samit from the Apostle of Allah
(peace_be_upon_him).
The verse "If a man kills a believer intentionally, his
recompense is Hell to abide therein for ever" was revealed
six months after the verse "And those who invoke not with
Allah any other god, nor slay such life as Allah has made
sacred, except for just cause in Surat al-Furqan.
We were with the Prophet (peace_be_upon_him). He
mentioned civil strife (fitnah) and expressed its gravity.
We or the people said: Apostle of Allah, if this happens
to us it will destroy us. The Apostle of Allah
(peace_be_upon_him) said; No. It is enough for you that
you would be killed. Sa'id said: I saw that my brethren
were killed.
The Prophet (peace_be_upon_him) said: This people of
mine is one to which mercy is shown. It will have no
punishment in the next world, but its punishment in this
world will be trials, earthquakes and being killed.