Bukhari

Hadith Commentary:

That is, people will become engrossed in luxury, pleasure, and heedlessness; for them, a year will pass as if it were a month. A month will seem like a week. A week will seem like a day, or it may mean that day and night will become equal, or the days will become shorter—this too is a sign of the Day of Judgment. Or, evil and corruption will draw so near that there will remain no one to say "Allah, Allah," or it may mean that wealth and governments will change and disappear rapidly, or lifespans will become shorter, or blessings will be removed from time, so that the tasks which earlier people accomplished in a month will not be completed even in a year.

Imam Bukhari has connected Shu‘ayb’s narration in Kitab al-Adab, and Imam Muslim has included Yunus’s narration in his Sahih, and Tabarani has connected Layth’s narration in al-Mu‘jam al-Awsat.

The meaning is that all four of them differed from ‘Umar. They narrated that the shaykh of al-Zuhri in this hadith was Humayd, and Imam Bukhari rahimahullah considered both routes to be authentic, so he mentioned one route here and one in Kitab al-Adab, because it is possible that al-Zuhri heard this hadith from both Sa‘id ibn al-Musayyib and Humayd.

Hadith Commentary:
When the mention of a severe windstorm occurred, the mention of an earthquake was also included, as both are calamities.
In the event of an earthquake, thunder, windstorm, or the sinking of the earth, every person should supplicate and seek forgiveness. During an earthquake, it is also better to perform prayer (salah).
But individually, each on their own.
Congregational prayer is not Sunnah in this matter, and the narration that Ali (radi Allahu anhu) performed prayer in congregation during an earthquake is not authentic.
(Maulana Waheed uz-Zaman, rahimahullah)

Hadith Commentary:
(1)
The occurrence of earthquakes sometimes happens during times of intensity and at the occasion of abundant rainfall; for this reason, Imam Bukhari rahimahullah has mentioned them under the chapter of seeking rain (istisqa’). The frequent occurrence of earthquakes is among the signs of the Day of Judgment, therefore, one should remember Allah with humility and submissiveness. There is no specific supplication (dua) or method of prayer (salah) mentioned in the hadiths for the time of an earthquake.

(2)
In this hadith, it is stated that “time will become short.” Regarding this, the commentators have presented various explanations:
➊ It may be taken literally, that in reality, the days and nights will become shorter.
➋ Their blessings will be removed.
➌ The days and nights will pass in such a way that one will not even notice.
➍ The dominance of pleasures and desires will be such that the sense of day and night will disappear.
➎ Due to the abundance of calamities, the senses will become suspended, and then it will not be known when night has come and when the day has ended.
➏ In the present era, the form of this closeness is that the distances between cities and countries have become very short due to fast vehicles and airplanes; then, through electronic media, i.e., the internet and so on, all the people of the earth are as if gathered in one house, by which they can communicate whenever they wish.
Allah Ta’ala will create such things in the future of which we have no awareness today. The statement of Allah Ta’ala is:
﴿وَيَخْلُقُ مَا لَا تَعْلَمُونَ ﴿٨﴾)
“And He will create (many) things of which you have no knowledge (today).” ()

Hadith Commentary:
The meaning is that one government will attack another government, the battlefield of wars will be heated, and people, becoming entangled in worldly occupations, will abandon the pursuit of knowledge of the Qur’an and Hadith.
Everyone will be preoccupied only with accumulating wealth, and nothing else.

Hadith Commentary:
(1)
In this hadith, miserliness and stinginess are described as among the signs of the nearness of the Hour (the Day of Judgment). The Messenger of Allah (sallallahu alayhi wa sallam) used to seek refuge from miserliness.
(Sahih al-Bukhari, Book of Supplications, Hadith: 6370)
If, along with miserliness, there is also greed for wealth and riches, it is called "shuh" (extreme greed). The Messenger of Allah (sallallahu alayhi wa sallam) has instructed to avoid this greed (shuh) in every circumstance, because in the destruction and ruin of previous nations, this kind of greed, avarice, and stinginess played a central role.
(Sahih Muslim, Book of Birr and Sila, Hadith: 6576(2578))
The Messenger of Allah (sallallahu alayhi wa sallam) also said:
"The miserly person is far from Allah, far from Paradise, far from people, and close to the Fire." (Jami‘ at-Tirmidhi, Book of Birr and Sila, Hadith: 1961)
He also said:
"Traits such as miserliness and bad character cannot be combined in a Muslim."
(Jami‘ at-Tirmidhi, Book of Birr and Sila, Hadith: 1962)

Hadith Commentary:
Commentator Kirmani says that "harj" means turmoil and corruption, and taking it to mean killing is metaphorical, because turmoil and corruption necessarily entail killing and the like.
(Sharh al-Kirmani: 2/66)
However, this is his oversight, because in Sahih al-Bukhari it is stated that in the Abyssinian language, "harj" means killing.
(Sahih al-Bukhari, al-Fitan, Hadith: 7065)
The Messenger of Allah (sallallahu alayhi wa sallam) gestured by tilting his hand, because a sword does not cut until it is tilted.

Hadith Commentary:
Near the Day of Judgment, when the earth will expel its treasures, then this situation will occur.

Hadith Commentary:
(1)
Near the Day of Judgment, all the wealth of the earth will come forth and people will be very few in number; in such circumstances, no one will be in need of wealth.

(2)
Imam Bukhari rahimahullah has mentioned this hadith in detail in the Book of Tribulations (Kitab al-Fitan). Its wording is that knowledge will be taken away, earthquakes will occur frequently, time will contract, tribulations will appear, killing and bloodshed will become widespread, and wealth and riches will become abundant to the extent that they will flow like water. People will construct grand palaces, and such a state of distress will prevail that when a person passes by a grave, he will wish that he were buried in that grave.
(Sahih al-Bukhari, Kitab al-Fitan, Hadith: 7121)
In such circumstances, the era of human self-sufficiency mentioned in the hadith will come.
The purpose is that one should not show reluctance or hesitation in giving charity and alms.

Hadith Commentary:
Benefits and Issues:
Nowadays, killing and bloodshed have become widespread, and the gravity of murder is diminishing day by day; it is no longer considered a major crime.

Hadith Commentary:
Vocabulary of the Hadith:
Al-shuhh: Greed, avarice.
Harj: In the Arabic language, it refers to confusion and turmoil, which results in strife and bloodshed; in the Abyssinian (Habashi) language, it means killing and bloodshed.
Yataqarab al-zaman: Various meanings and interpretations have been mentioned for this.

➊ The occurrence and abundance of the matters mentioned in the hadith will be near the Day of Judgment, because these are among the signs of the Hour.

➋ The conditions, morals, habits, and character of people will become similar; they will have become distant from the religion.

➌ They will resemble each other in ignorance and lack of knowledge, whereas in knowledge there are different ranks. Therefore, there will no longer be anyone fulfilling the duty of enjoining good and forbidding evil (amr bil ma‘ruf wa nahi ‘anil munkar), and immorality and wickedness will prevail.

➍ Blessing (barakah) will be removed from time itself, so it will pass with great speed and swiftness. As narrated from Anas radi Allahu anhu in Jami‘ al-Tirmidhi, a year will be like a month, a month like a week, a week like a day, a day like an hour, and an hour like the time it takes for a piece of wood to burn. According to Qadi ‘Iyad rahimahullah, this is due to the lack of blessing, and according to Imam Khattabi, it is due to the abundance of luxury and ease.

➎ According to Imam Baydawi, governments will fall rapidly and people’s lifespans will become shorter.

➏ And according to Imam Ibn Abi Jamrah, the strength for productivity will decrease; people will not be able to accomplish as much as those before them, but the cause and reason for this will not be known. It is possible that this is the result of weak faith and opposition to the Shari‘ah.

Tazhar al-fitan: Due to the scarcity of knowledge and the abundance of immorality and wickedness, turmoil and strife will become widespread and trials (fitan) will increase. And yulqa al-shuhh, no one will be willing to fulfill rights, and land-grabbing groups will become common, who will seek to seize the wealth, property, and belongings of others.

Benefits and Issues:
(1)
Abundance of wealth is not a cause of peace and tranquility when there is no faith (iman) and piety (taqwa).

(2)
By "trials" (fitan) can also be meant various kinds of prejudices which become causes of bloodshed, as well as those things which pose a danger to faith (iman)—especially when people are also deprived of religious knowledge.

Benefits:
In the aforementioned hadith, several signs of the Day of Judgment are mentioned.
➊... Knowledge will be taken away, as is established from another hadith that knowledge will end with the demise of the scholars. See: [حديث : 318]
In the hadith of Sayyiduna Abdullah bin Amr bin al-As radi Allahu anhu, he states:
I heard the Messenger of Allah sallallahu alayhi wa sallam say: "Allah does not seize knowledge by snatching it away from the people, but He takes away knowledge by taking away the scholars, until when no scholar remains (near the Day of Judgment), people will take the ignorant as leaders. They will be asked for religious verdicts (fatwas) and they will issue them without knowledge. They will go astray themselves and will lead others astray." [مسلم، كتاب العلم، رقم؛6796]

➋... Tribulations (fitan) will become apparent. By tribulations is meant every kind of trial,
whether religious or worldly; sometimes even a wife or children become a tribulation.
And Allah, the Possessor of Majesty, has instructed to seek protection from their tribulation.
As the Exalted says:
«إِنَّمَا أَمْوَالُكُمْ وَأَوْلَادُكُمْ فِتْنَةٌ» [64-التغابن : 15]
"Indeed, your wealth and your children are a trial."
Sometimes, tribulation comes in the meaning of punishment, as the Exalted says:
«ذوقوا فتنتكم۔۔۔»
In this blessed verse, tribulation means sin, the punishment of which becomes widespread. For example, remaining silent upon seeing evil, laziness in enjoining good and forbidding evil, discord and disunity, the spread of innovation (bid‘ah), and laziness in jihad, etc.
It is thus known that among the signs of the Day of Judgment is also the abundance of killing. Sayyiduna Abu Hurairah radi Allahu anhu narrated that the Noble Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam said: "By Him in Whose Hand is my soul, this world will not end until a time comes upon the people when the killer will not know why he killed, and the one killed will not know why he was killed." [مسلم، رقم؛ 2908]

Benefit:
It is established from this hadith that when the Day of Judgment is established, people will be occupied with their respective activities. Furthermore, it is also understood from this that the Day of Judgment will come suddenly, and people will not even have the slightest suspicion or thought of it.

Benefit:
In this hadith, the two groups referred to are the group of Sayyiduna Ali radi Allahu anhu and the group of Sayyiduna Muawiyah radi Allahu anhu, and both claimed to be seeking the truth. There was much bloodshed between the two groups.

Allah Ta'ala is pleased with all the noble Companions radi Allahu anhum. There is no need for any Muslim to comment on their mutual ijtihadi (independent juristic reasoning) matters. Some people sat down to judge between the Companions radi Allahu anhum ajma'in and themselves went astray. Their detailed refutation has been undertaken by Hafiz Salahuddin Yusuf rahimahullah in his book "A Historical and Investigative Review of Khilafah and Monarchy," and my respected teacher Shaykh Irshad-ul-Haq Athari rahimahullah has written in detail the position of all the hadith scholars in his book "The Disputes among the Companions." Salvation lies in this. Studying these two books is extremely necessary so that one may remain established upon the correct methodology.

Benefit:
This hadith proves that the Day of Judgment will come suddenly, and people will not even imagine it; rather, they will be engaged in their own activities.
A very great reality becomes clear from this hadith, from which man is heedless: a person should always remember death and the Day of Judgment, and should not become heedless of Allah Almighty while being occupied with his business. This wealth and property, for the sake of which a person destroys his Hereafter, will remain right here when death or the Day of Judgment arrives. May Allah Almighty grant us death in a state of faith (Ameen) and protect us from the terrors of the Day of Judgment.