Hadith Text and Context

This profound narration is recorded in Sahih al-Bukhari (Hadith 7077) and serves as a critical warning from the Prophet Muhammad (ﷺ) to his Ummah. It was delivered during his Farewell Pilgrimage, a moment of immense religious significance, underscoring the gravity of the message.

Primary Prohibition: Civil Strife

The explicit prohibition is against Muslims fighting and killing one another. The phrase "striking (cutting) the necks of one another" is a powerful metaphor for civil war, internecine conflict, and mutual destruction within the Muslim community.

This command establishes the sanctity of a Muslim's life and property against aggression from another Muslim, a principle fundamental to Islamic law and social order.

The Spiritual Consequence: Reverting to Disbelief

The hadith frames this internal fighting not merely as a major sin, but as an act that can lead to disbelief (Kufr). Scholars explain that this does not automatically expel the perpetrator from the fold of Islam, but it is a characteristic of pre-Islamic ignorance (Jahiliyyah) and a path that leads towards it.

Ibn Hajar al-Asqalani, in his commentary Fath al-Bari, states that such fighting is a "gateway to disbelief" because it dismantles the brotherhood and unity that are pillars of the faith, reviving the tribal warfare of the Age of Ignorance.

Scholarly Elaboration

Classical scholars, including Imam An-Nawawi, emphasized that this hadith is a definitive proof for the prohibition of rebelling against a legitimate Muslim ruler and for initiating fighting between Muslim groups without a just Islamic cause.

The warning is specifically against "reverting" after having accepted Islam, highlighting that such internal conflict is a betrayal of the very principles of peace, unity, and submission to God that the religion is built upon.

Relevance to "Afflictions and the End of the World"

This hadith is a cornerstone in the chapter concerning trials and tribulations (Fitan). It prophesies one of the greatest afflictions that will befall the Muslim Ummah: internal division and civil strife.

It serves as an eternal directive for Muslims to prioritize unity, resolve conflicts through dialogue and Islamic jurisprudence, and avoid the path of mutual enmity and violence, which the Prophet (ﷺ) equated with the spiritual state of pre-Islamic disbelief.