Fath al-Rabbani

It is narrated from Sayyiduna Abu Hurairah, may Allah be pleased with him, that the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, said: The Hour will not be established until the sun rises from the west, and when it rises from the west and people see it, then all people will believe. But that will be a time when the belief of any person will not benefit him if he did not believe before that, or he did not do any good deed in his faith.

It is narrated from Sayyiduna Ibn Sa'di (may Allah be pleased with him) that the Noble Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: As long as fighting with the enemy continues, migration cannot be discontinued. And Sayyiduna Mu'awiyah, Sayyiduna Abdur Rahman bin Awf, and Sayyiduna Abdullah bin Amr bin Aas narrated that the Noble Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: There are two types of migration; one is that you abandon evil deeds, and the other is that you migrate towards Allah Almighty and His Messenger. As long as repentance is accepted by Allah Almighty, the process of migration will not be discontinued, and repentance will continue to be accepted until the sun rises from the west. When the sun rises from the west, then whatever is in every heart (in the form of disbelief or faith and deeds), a seal will be set upon it, and at that time, people will be made independent of action.

It is narrated from Sayyiduna Abu Hurairah, may Allah be pleased with him, that the Noble Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, said: Whoever repents before the sun rises from the west, Allah Almighty will accept his repentance.

It is narrated from Sayyiduna Abu Dharr (may Allah be pleased with him), he says: I was riding on a donkey with the Noble Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him), and on that donkey was a blanket (which is placed under the saddle of the animal). It was the time of sunset. The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said to me: Abu Dharr! Do you know where this sun sets? I said: Allah and His Messenger know best. The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: It sets in a spring of muddy water, then it continues on until it prostrates beneath the Throne of Allah Almighty. When its time to rise comes, Allah Almighty gives it permission to rise, and it goes and rises. But when Allah Almighty wills that it should rise from the west, Allah Almighty will stop it. The sun will say: O Lord! My journey is very long. Then Allah Almighty will say to it: Rise from where you have set. That will be a time when believing will not benefit anyone.

It is narrated from Sayyiduna Abdullah bin Amr bin Aas (may Allah be pleased with him) that the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said: The sun will rise from its place of setting, and at the time of forenoon a beast will appear. Whichever of these signs appears first, the other will soon follow after it. Sayyiduna Abdullah (may Allah be pleased with him) said: I think that the rising of the sun from the west will happen first; this will be the first sign.

Abu Zar’ah bin Amr says: In Madinah Munawwarah, three Muslims were sitting with Marwan. They heard Marwan describing the signs of the Hour. He said that the first sign of the Hour is the emergence of Dajjal. Then these people went to Sayyiduna Abdullah bin Amr bin al-As (may Allah be pleased with him) and mentioned to him the signs of the Hour they had heard from Marwan. Sayyiduna Abdullah (may Allah be pleased with him) said: Marwan did not say anything based on knowledge. Regarding this, I remember a hadith of Allah’s Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) which I have not forgotten till now. The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said: The very first signs that will appear are the rising of the sun from the west and the emergence of the beast at forenoon. Whichever of these signs appears first, the other will soon follow after it. Since Sayyiduna Abdullah (may Allah be pleased with him) used to read the heavenly books, he said: I think the very first sign will be the rising of the sun from the west. The reason is that when the sun sets, it goes and prostrates under the Throne of Allah Almighty, then seeks permission to return, and it is granted permission to return. When Allah Almighty wills that it should rise from the west, it will perform all its usual tasks, and after prostrating under the Throne as usual, it will seek permission to return, but Allah Almighty will not give it any answer. It will ask for permission again, but still will not be given any answer. It will ask for permission a third time, but still will not be given any answer, until a part of the night passes and the sun becomes certain that even if it is granted permission to return, it will not be able to reach the east at its appointed time. Then it will say: O my Lord! How far the east is! Now what will become of me and the people? Until the horizon becomes like a round circle, then it will once again seek permission to return. This time it will be said: Rise from here today. Thus, it will rise upon the people from the west. After this, Sayyiduna Abdullah (may Allah be pleased with him) recited this verse: {یَوْمَ یَاْتِیْ بَعْضُ آیَاتِ رَبِّکَ لَا یَنْفَعُ نَفْسًا اِیْمَانُہَا لَمْ تَکُنْ آمَنَتْ مِنْ قَبْلُ اَوْ کَسَبَتْ فِیْ اِیْمَانِہَا خَیْرًا۔} (Surah Al-An’am: 158) (On the day when some of the signs of your Lord come, no soul will benefit from its faith if it had not believed before or had not earned some good through its faith.)

It is narrated from Sayyiduna Safwan bin Assal Muradi, may Allah be pleased with him, that the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, said: "In the west, there is a great door open for repentance, spanning a distance of seventy years; that door will not be closed until the sun rises from the west."

(Second chain) The Noble Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, said: Allah Almighty has made a gate for repentance in the direction of the west, its width is seventy years’ journey, it will not be closed until the sun rises from the west. This is the meaning of Allah Almighty’s statement: {یَوْمَ یَاْتِیْ بَعْضُ آیَاتِ رَبِّکَ لَایَنْفَعُ نَفْسًا اِیْمَانُہَا} (On the day when some of the signs of your Lord come, no soul will benefit from its faith if it had not believed before.) (Al-An’am: 158).

. (Third chain) There is a similar hadith, except that in it is: On the day Allah Almighty created the heavens and the earth, He opened this door for repentance, and He will not close it until the sun rises from that side, that is, from the west.