Trials and Fierce Battles (Kitab Al-Fitan Wa Al-Malahim)

Uthman ibn Abi Shaybah narrated to us: Jarir narrated to us, from al-Amash, from Abu Wa il, from Hudhayfah, who said: The Messenger of Allah ﷺ stood among us and told us everything that would happen from then until the Hour, leaving nothing out. Some remembered it and some forgot it. These companions knew it. When something from it occurs, I may have forgotten it, but then remember it, just as a person remembers another person face while he is away and recognizes him when he sees him again.

Harun ibn Abd Allah narrated to us: Abu Dawud al-Hafari narrated to us, from Badr ibn Uthman, from Amir, from a man, from Abd Allah, from the Prophet ﷺ, who said: “There will be four trials among this community; the last of them will be annihilation.”

Yahya ibn Uthman ibn Said al-Himsi narrated to us: Abu al-Mughirah narrated to us: Abd Allah ibn Salim narrated to me: al-Ala ibn Utbah narrated to me, from Umayr ibn Hani al-Ansi, who said: I heard Abd Allah ibn Umar say: We were sitting with the Messenger of Allah ﷺ as he spoke at length about the trials, until he mentioned the Trial of the Saddlebags. Someone asked, “Messenger of Allah, what is the Trial of the Saddlebags?” He said, “It is flight and war. Then comes the Trial of Ease, whose smoke rises from beneath the feet of a man from my household who claims to be of me, though he is not. My allies are only the God-fearing. Then people will unite around a man who is like a hip-bone resting on a rib. Then comes the Dark Trial, which will strike everyone in this community. When people say it has ended, it will continue. A man will be a believer in the morning and an unbeliever in the evening, until people divide into two camps: a camp of faith with no hypocrisy in it, and a camp of hypocrisy with no faith in it. When that happens, expect the Antichrist that day or the next.”

Muhammad ibn Yahya ibn Faris narrated to us: Ibn Abi Maryam narrated to us: Ibn Farrukh informed us: Usamah ibn Zayd informed me: A son of Qabisah ibn Dhuwayb informed me, from his father, who said: Hudhayfah ibn al-Yaman said, “By God, I do not know whether my companions forgot or pretended to forget. By God, the Messenger of Allah ﷺ did not leave out any leader of a trial, up until the world ends, whose followers number three hundred or more without naming him to us—his own name, his father name, and his tribe name.”

Musaddad narrated to us: Abu Awanah narrated to us, from Qatadah, from Nasr ibn Asim, from Subay ibn Khalid, who said: I came to Kufa when Tustar was conquered to bring back mules. I entered the mosque and saw a gathering of men, including a man whom one could recognize as being from the people of the Hijaz. I asked who he was. The people frowned at me and said, “Do you not know him? This is Hudhayfah ibn al-Yaman, Companion of the Messenger of Allah ﷺ.” Hudhayfah said: People used to ask the Messenger of Allah ﷺ about good, while I asked him about evil. The people fixed their gaze on him. He said, “I can see what you find objectionable. I asked: Messenger of Allah, will evil follow this good God has given us, as evil followed good before it?” He said, “Yes.” I asked, “What will protect us from it?” He said, “The sword.” I asked, “Messenger of Allah, then what?” He said, “If God has a caliph on earth who strikes your back and takes your property, obey him; otherwise, die clinging to the trunk of a tree.” I asked, “Then what?” He said, “Then the Antichrist will emerge, with a river and a fire. Whoever falls into his fire will earn his reward and have his burden removed; whoever falls into his river will have his burden remain and his reward removed.” I asked, “Then what?” He said, “Then comes the Hour.”

Muhammad ibn Yahya ibn Faris narrated to us: Abd al-Razzaq narrated to us, from Mamar, from Qatadah, from Nasr ibn Asim, from Khalid ibn Khalid al-Yashkuri, with this report. He said: I asked, “After the sword, will anything remain?” He replied, “A remnant with specks in it, and a truce with rancor beneath it.” Then he related the rest of the report. Qatadah applied this to the apostasy that occurred during the time of Abu Bakr. He explained aqdha as specks, hudnah as truce, and dakhan as rancor.

Abd Allah ibn Maslamah al-Qanabi narrated to us: Sulayman, meaning Ibn al-Mughirah, narrated to us, from Humayd, from Nasr ibn Asim al-Laythi, who said: We came with a group of Banu Layth to al-Yashkuri. He asked, “Who are these people?” We said, “Banu Layth. We have come to ask you about Hudhayfah report.” He related the report and said: I asked, “Messenger of Allah, will evil follow this good?” He said, “Trial and evil.” I asked, “Will good follow this evil?” He said, “Hudhayfah, learn the Book of God and follow what it contains,” repeating this three times. I asked, “Will good follow this evil?” He said, “A truce with rancor beneath it, and a community with specks in it.” I asked, “What is a truce with rancor beneath it?” He said, “The hearts of some people will not return to the state they were in before.” I asked, “Will evil follow this good?” He said, “A blind, deaf trial, with callers at the gates of the Fire. Hudhayfah, if you die clinging to a tree trunk, that is better for you than following any of them.”

Musaddad narrated to us: Abd al-Warith narrated to us: Abu al-Tayyah narrated to us, from Sakhr ibn Badr al-Ijli, from Subay ibn Khalid, with this report from Hudhayfah, from the Prophet ﷺ. He said: “If you do not find a caliph at that time, flee until you die, even if you die clinging to something.” At the end he said: I asked, “What will come after that?” He replied, “If a man were to try to make a mare give birth to a foal, it would not give birth before the Hour comes.”

Musaddad narrated to us: Isa ibn Yunus narrated to us: al-Amash narrated to us, from Zayd ibn Wahb, from Abd al-Rahman ibn Abd Rabb al-Kabah, from Abd Allah ibn Amr: The Prophet ﷺ said, “Whoever pledges allegiance to an imam, giving him his handclasp and the devotion of his heart, let him obey him as much as he can. If another comes challenging him, strike the neck of the other man.” I asked, “Did you hear this from the Messenger of Allah ﷺ?” He said, “My two ears heard it, and my heart retained it.” I said, “This is your cousin Muawiyah; he orders us to do this and that.” He said, “Obey him in what is obedience to God, and disobey him in what is disobedience to God.”

Muhammad ibn Yahya ibn Faris narrated to us: Ubayd Allah ibn Musa narrated to us, from Shayban, from al-Amash, from Abu Salih, from Abu Hurayrah, from the Prophet ﷺ, who said: “Woe to the Arabs because of an evil that has drawn near! Successful is the one who restrains his hand.”

Abu Dawud said: I was informed from Ibn Wahb, who said: Jarir ibn Hazim narrated to us, from Ubayd Allah ibn Umar, from Nafi, from Ibn Umar, who said: The Messenger of Allah ﷺ said, “The Muslims will soon be besieged as far as Medina, so that their farthest military outpost will be Salah.”

Ahmad ibn Salih narrated from Anbasah, from Yunus, from al-Zuhri, who said: Salah is near Khaybar.

Sulayman ibn Harb and Muhammad ibn Isa narrated to us; they said: Hammad ibn Zayd narrated to us, from Ayyub, from Abu Qilabah, from Abu Asma, from Thawban, who said: The Messenger of Allah ﷺ said, “God folded the earth for me”—or he said, “My Lord folded the earth for me”—“and I saw its eastern and western reaches. My community dominion will extend as far as what was folded for me. I was given the two treasures, the red and the white. I asked my Lord that He not destroy my community with a general famine, nor let an enemy from outside them gain power over them and violate their heartland.” My Lord said to me, “O Muhammad, when I decree something, it cannot be turned back. I will not destroy them with a general famine, nor let an enemy from outside them gain power over them and violate their heartland, even if those across all its regions gather against them; rather, some of them will destroy others and some will capture others.” I fear for my community the leaders who lead people astray. When the sword is drawn among my community, it will not be removed until the Day of Resurrection. The Hour will not come until some tribes of my community join the polytheists and some tribes worship idols. There will be thirty great liars in my community, each claiming to be a prophet, though I am the Seal of the Prophets and there is no prophet after me. A group of my community will remain upon the truth”—Muhammad ibn Isa added, “prevailing”—“and those who oppose them will not harm them until God command comes.”

Muhammad ibn Awf al-Ta i narrated to us: Muhammad ibn Ismail narrated to us: My father narrated to me—Awf said, “I read this in Ismail original”—saying: Damdam narrated to me, from Shurayh, from Abu Malik, meaning al-Ashari, who said: The Messenger of Allah ﷺ said, “God has protected you from three things: that your Prophet invoke against you and you all perish; that the people of falsehood prevail over the people of truth; and that you all unite upon error.”

Muhammad ibn Sulayman al-Anbari narrated to us: Abd al-Rahman narrated to us, from Sufyan, from Mansur, from Ribi ibn Hirash, from al-Bara ibn Najiyah, from Abd Allah ibn Masud, from the Prophet ﷺ, who said: “The mill of Islam will turn until the years thirty-five, thirty-six, or thirty-seven. If they perish, it will be the way of those who perished; but if their religion stands firm, it will stand for seventy years.” I asked, “Seventy years remaining, or already passed?” He replied, “Already passed.” Abu Dawud said: Whoever gives the narrator name as Khirash has made an error.

Ahmad ibn Salih narrated to us: Anbasah narrated to us: Yunus narrated to me, from Ibn Shihab, who said: Humayd ibn Abd al-Rahman narrated to me that Abu Hurayrah said: The Messenger of Allah ﷺ said, “Time will draw close, knowledge will diminish, trials will appear, miserliness will be cast into people hearts, and harj will increase.” They asked, “Messenger of Allah, what is harj?” He said, “Killing, killing.”

Uthman ibn Abi Shaybah narrated to us: Waki narrated to us, from Uthman al-Shahham, who said: Muslim ibn Abi Bakrah narrated to me, from his father, who said: The Messenger of Allah ﷺ said, “There will be a time of turmoil when the one lying down is better than the one sitting, the one sitting better than the one standing, the one standing better than the one walking, and the one walking better than the one hurrying toward it.” He asked, “Messenger of Allah, what do you command me to do?” He replied, “Whoever has camels should stay with his camels; whoever has sheep should stay with his sheep; whoever has land should stay with his land.” He asked what one should do if he had none of those. He replied, “Let him take his sword, strike its edge against a hard black stone, then escape as best he can.”

Yazid ibn Khalid al-Ramli narrated to us: Mufaddal narrated to us, from Ayyash, from Bukayr, from Busr ibn Said, from Husayn ibn Abd al-Rahman al-Ashjai, who heard Sad ibn Abi Waqqas relate from the Prophet ﷺ in this report: I asked, “Messenger of Allah, what if someone enters my house and reaches out to kill me?” The Messenger of Allah ﷺ said, “Be like the two sons of Adam.” Yazid recited the verse: “If you stretch out your hand against me…” (Quran 5:28).

Amr ibn Uthman narrated to us: My father narrated to us: Shihab ibn Khirash narrated to us, from al-Qasim ibn Ghazwan, from Ishaq ibn Rashid al-Jazari, from Salim, who said: Amr ibn Wabisah al-Asadi narrated to me, from his father Wabisah, from Ibn Masud, who said: I heard the Messenger of Allah ﷺ mention part of the report of Abu Bakrah, saying, “All those slain in it will be in the Fire.” I asked, “When will that be, Ibn Masud?” He said, “Those are the days of harj, when a man is not safe from his companion.” I asked, “What do you command me to do if I live to see that time?” He replied, “Restrain your tongue and your hand, and stay at home like one of its furnishings.” When Uthman was killed, my heart leapt and I rode until I reached Damascus. I met Khuraym ibn Fatik and told him the report. He swore by God, other than whom there is no god, that he had heard it from the Messenger of Allah ﷺ just as Ibn Masud had related it to me.