The portents and signs of the Hour

It is narrated from Sayyiduna Abdullah bin Amr bin al-As (may Allah be pleased with them both) that the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "A time will certainly come upon the people when the state of their hearts will become like the hearts of the non-Arabs." It was asked: What is meant by the hearts of the non-Arabs? He (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "(It means) an excessive love of the world. Their way of life and conduct will be like that of the Bedouins; whatever wealth, goods and provision Allah Almighty gives them, they will put only into livestock (raising and multiplying it). They will regard striving in the way of Allah (jihad) as sheer loss, and giving zakah and charity as a forced penalty and a burden."
Also, Imam al-Harith reported it with his chain from Sayyiduna Abdullah bin Amr (may Allah be pleased with them both) in the same way as his own statement (mawquf), and I (Ibn Hajar) say: this (being mawquf) is more correct.

It is narrated from Sayyiduna Abu Hurayrah (may Allah be pleased with him) that the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "The Hour will not be established until some people of my Ummah return to the worship of the idols which they used to worship besides Allah, the Mighty and Majestic."
Imam Abu Dawud al-Tayalisi narrated this hadith in his Musnad; its chain contains a narrator named Musa bin Mutayr, who is matruk (abandoned) and da'if (weak). However, there are other sahih hadith on this subject which establish the meaning that near the Hour some people will incline towards shirk (associating partners with Allah).

It is narrated from Sayyiduna Abu Hurayrah (may Allah be pleased with him) that the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "The Hour will not be established until the Arabs once again worship those (false deities) which their forefathers worshipped (in the Age of Ignorance) for one hundred and fifty years."
The chain of this report is severely weak and unreliable, because it contains narrators such as Dawud bin al-Muhabbar and Muhammad bin al-Sa'ib al-Kalbi, who are regarded by the hadith scholars as severely discredited and matruk (abandoned) in hadith.

It is narrated from Sayyiduna Hudhayfah bin al-Yaman (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 you wage war against your leader and ruler, strike one another with your swords, and the worst and most wicked of you become the inheritors of your world and power."
Imam al-Tirmidhi graded this hadith hasan (good), and Imam Ahmad also narrated it in his Musnad, while this report is also found in the Musnad of Abu Dawud al-Tayalisi and in al-Matalib al-'Aliyah.

Kharijah bin al-Salt al-Burjumi (may Allah have mercy on him) narrates: We came out of his house with Sayyiduna Abdullah bin Mas'ud (may Allah be pleased with him), and (when we reached the mosque) the imam was in the state of bowing (ruku'). We also bowed and, (in that state,) walked until we joined the row. Meanwhile a man passed by and said: "As-salamu 'alayka ya Aba Abd al-Rahman" (Peace be upon you, O Abu Abd al-Rahman). At this Ibn Mas'ud (may Allah be pleased with him) said: 'Allahu akbar, sadaqa Allahu wa rasuluh' (Allah is the Greatest; Allah and His Messenger have spoken the truth). When we had completed the prayer, we said: "O Abu Abd al-Rahman! It seems that this man's greeting startled you?" He replied: "Yes. In fact it used to be said that among the signs of the Hour are that the mosques will be taken as passageways (instead of places of worship), that a man will greet another only on the basis of acquaintance, that men and women will trade together, and that women (in terms of dowry) and horses (in terms of price) will become very expensive, then they will become so cheap that they will never become expensive again."
Al-Nadr narrated it from Shu'bah, from Husayn, with the same chain and similar to it.
Imam al-Tayalisi reported the like of it from Shu'bah, from Husayn.
Ahmad bin Mani' narrated it in the same way from Hushaym, from Husayn.
Al-Harith narrated from Dawud, from Hammad bin Salamah, from Abu Hamzah, from Ibrahim, from Alqamah, who said: Sayyiduna Ibn Mas'ud (may Allah be pleased with him) was (walking) between me and Masruq when a Bedouin passed by and said: "As-salamu 'alayka ya Ibn Umm Abd" (Peace be upon you, O son of Umm Abd). At this Ibn Mas'ud (may Allah be pleased with him) smiled, and when he was asked about it, he mentioned a hadith like it.
Abu Ya'la narrated the like of it from Muhammad bin al-Khattab, from Mu'ammal, from Sufyan, from Husayn.
Imam Ahmad narrated it through al-Aswad bin Yazid from Ibn Mas'ud (may Allah be pleased with him) in abridged form, and also through Tariq from Ibn Mas'ud (may Allah be pleased with him) with the same meaning.

It is narrated from Sayyiduna Abdullah bin Mas'ud (may Allah be pleased with him) that he said: "Everything (of victory, help and future events) that Allah Almighty and His Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) promised us, we have seen, except four major signs: the rising of the sun from its west (the direction of its setting), the appearance of the Beast of the Earth (Dabbat al-Ard, a special creature that will emerge from the earth), the trial of the Dajjal, and the emergence of Gog and Magog (Ya'juj and Ma'juj)."
There is a break (inqita', a missing link between narrators) in the chain of this report.

It is narrated from Sayyiduna Salamah bin al-Akwa' (may Allah be pleased with him) that the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "Just as the stars are a means of safety and security for the inhabitants of the heavens, likewise the people of my household (Ahl al-Bayt) are a cause of protection, safety and security for my Ummah."
The chain of this hadith is weak.

Abu Bakr bin Abi al-Jahm al-Qurashi narrates: I, Zayd bin al-Hasan and Ibn Rummanah, the freed slave of Abd al-Aziz bin Marwan, were coming together. We had stretched out our hands and arms to support Ibn Rummanah, and he was walking leaning on us. When we entered the mosque of the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him), the eminent Companion of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him), Sayyiduna Ibn Niyar (may Allah be pleased with him), was present there. He sent a message to Abu Bakr (the narrator): Come to me. So when he came to him, he said: "I saw the two of you, with Ibn Rummanah between you, walking (very proudly) leaning on you and on Zayd bin al-Hasan, whereas I heard the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) say: 'The Hour will not be established until the reins of worldly power pass into the hands of a contemptible son of a contemptible man (that is, an utterly unworthy and mean-spirited person).'"
Imam al-Hakim narrated this hadith and said that it is sahih (authentic) on the condition of Imam Muslim, but he did not record it; and al-Dhahabi also agreed with him in al-Talkhis.

It is narrated from Sayyidah Buqayrah (may Allah be pleased with her), the wife of Sayyiduna al-Qa'qa' bin Abi Hadrad al-Aslami (may Allah be pleased with him), that she heard the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him), seated on the pulpit, say: "O people! When you hear the news that an army has been swallowed up by the earth somewhere nearby, then (know that) the Hour has certainly come upon you (or has cast its shadow over you)."
Takhrij: This hadith is found in Musnad al-Humaydi (4501) and Musnad Ahmad (27103); al-Haythami declared its narrators thiqat (trustworthy) in Majma' al-Zawa'id, and its chain is of the hasan (good) grade.

It is narrated from Sayyiduna Abu Zayd al-Ansari (may Allah be pleased with him) that the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "A time will certainly come upon this Ummah when, as the people reach the evening, they will be asking one another (because of earthly punishments occurring on a large scale): 'With whom did the swallowing up by the earth happen tonight?' that is, whom has the earth swallowed? Just as they (in normal circumstances today) ask: 'Who is now left of the family of so-and-so? And who of the household of so-and-so is still alive and safe?'"
Imam al-Harith bin Abi Usamah narrated this hadith in his Musnad (Bughyat al-Bahith); however, its chain is severely weak, because its narrators Dawud bin al-Muhabbar and Aban bin Abi Ayyash are both regarded by the hadith scholars as matruk (abandoned) and unreliable.

Yahya bin Sa'id narrates from an elder that the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "Soon a swallowing up of the earth (khasf) will take place in the East." It was asked: Will the earth swallow up a land in which Muslims also live? He (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "Yes, that will happen when wickedness (sin, immorality and evil) prevails in their deeds."
The chain of this hadith is weak; the imams of narrator criticism declared its narrator Dawud bin al-Muhabbar matruk (abandoned), and the elder from whom Yahya bin Sa'id narrates in its chain is also unnamed (unknown).

It is narrated from Sayyiduna Abdullah bin Amr (may Allah be pleased with them both) that the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "The Hour will not be established until you mount one another on the roads (in fornication), (that is, commit fornication openly,) just as donkeys mount one another." I said: Will this really happen? He (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "Yes, it will certainly happen."
Imam Abu Ya'la narrated this hadith; its narrators are thiqat (trustworthy), and al-Albani declared the reports with this meaning sahih (authentic).

It is narrated from Sayyiduna Abu Hurayrah (may Allah be pleased with him) that he said: I heard the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) say: "By the One in whose Hand is the soul of Abu al-Qasim (peace and blessings be upon him)! Isa bin Maryam (peace be upon him) will certainly descend (to the earth)." (Then the narrator mentioned the full hadith,) in which there are also these words: "And he will certainly set right the mutual relations of the people, remove hatred, rancour and enmity from the hearts, and present wealth (for distribution). Then, if he stands at my grave and calls out to me, 'Ya Muhammad' (O Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him)), I will certainly answer him."
Imam Abu Ya'la narrated this hadith in his Musnad; its narrator Abu Sakhr Humayd bin Ziyad is saduq (truthful), and its chain is jayyid (good).

It is narrated from Sayyiduna Anas (may Allah be pleased with him) that the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "Some people of my Ummah will certainly live to see the time of Isa bin Maryam (peace be upon him), and they will certainly take part in the battle against the Dajjal."
This report was recorded by Imam al-Hakim in al-Mustadrak 'ala al-Sahihayn (no: 4506); al-Hakim declared it sahih (authentic) on the condition of the two Shaykhs, but al-Dhahabi objected to it on account of the weakness of its narrator Abbad bin Mansur. However, the subject of the descent of Isa (peace be upon him) and his fighting the Dajjal is established by other sahih reports.

It is narrated from Abdullah bin Abi al-Hudhayl (may Allah have mercy on him) that Sayyiduna Sa'd bin Abi Waqqas (may Allah be pleased with him) dispatched Sayyiduna Nadlah bin Amr al-Ansari (may Allah be pleased with him) on an expedition with three hundred men of the Muhajirun and the Ansar. They attacked Hulwan and conquered it, and obtained abundant spoils and many captives. They were coming back with all of this when, between two mountains, the time of Asr came upon them. So Sayyiduna Nadlah (may Allah be pleased with him) said to them: "Turn towards the foot of the mountain," and they did so. Then Sayyiduna Nadlah (may Allah be pleased with him) stood up and gave the call to prayer (adhan). When he said "Allahu akbar, Allahu akbar," an unseen voice, whose form could not be seen, came from the mountain: "O Nadlah! You have declared the greatness of a truly Great One." When he said "Ashhadu an la ilaha illallah," the voice said: "O Nadlah! You have expressed the purest sincerity." When he said "Ashhadu anna Muhammadan rasulullah," the voice said: "He is a Prophet who was sent, and there is no prophet after him." When he said "Hayya 'ala al-salah," the voice said: "This is an obligation that has been made obligatory." When he said "Hayya 'ala al-falah," the voice said: "Successful is the one who performed this prayer and remained constant upon it." When he said "Qad qamat al-salah," the voice said: "Continuance is decreed for the Ummah of Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him), and upon its last people the Hour will be established." When they had finished praying, Sayyiduna Nadlah (may Allah be pleased with him) stood up and called out: "O you of beautiful, pure and excellent speech! We have heard very good words from you. Are you one of the angels of Allah, or a jinn, or a dweller of this place? Appear before us and speak to us, for we are the delegation of Allah, the Mighty and Majestic, and of His Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him)." The narrator says: Then from one of those mountain ravines an old man appeared, the hair of whose head and beard was white. His head was large like a millstone, his beard was long, and he was wrapped in two worn-out sheets of white wool. He came and said: 'As-salamu 'alaykum wa rahmatullah' (Peace and the mercy of Allah be upon you). The people returned his greeting. Then Sayyiduna Nadlah (may Allah be pleased with him) asked him: 'Yarhamuk Allah' (May Allah have mercy on you), who are you? He replied: "I am Zarnab bin Tharmala, the appointed successor (wasi) of the righteous servant of Allah, Isa bin Maryam (peace be upon him). He supplicated for me that I remain alive until his descent from the heaven, so my abode is in this mountain. Convey my greetings to the Commander of the Believers, Sayyiduna Umar bin al-Khattab (may Allah be pleased with him), and tell him to remain steadfast, to judge rightly and to adopt moderation, for the matter has drawn very near. And O Umar! Beware of the time when such traits appear in the Ummah of Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him) while you are among them; then flee, flee (that is, keep away from the trials)." Sayyiduna Nadlah (may Allah be pleased with him) said: 'Ya Zarnab, rahimak Allah' (O Zarnab, may Allah have mercy on you), tell us about these traits so that through them we may recognise the passing of our world and the approach of our Hereafter. He said: "Those signs are these: when your men satisfy their needs with men, and your women with women; when grain becomes very plentiful among you, yet despite that prices only rise; when your rule passes into the hands of children; when the preachers of your pulpits are your slaves; when your jurists incline towards your rulers, making the unlawful lawful and the lawful unlawful for them and giving them rulings according to their desires; when people recite the Qur'an as melodies and tunes in their voices; when you decorate your mosques with ornamentation and make your pulpits very high; when you begin to adorn the copies of the Qur'an with gold and silver; when your women begin to ride on saddles; when the advisers of your rulers are eunuchs; when an innocent person is killed so that the common people may be made to take a lesson from it; when rain becomes a cause of heat and children become a cause of anger and grief; when stipends are withheld from you and slaves and base people obtain them; and when zakah and charity become so scarce that a poor man goes around for a whole year and does not get even ten dirhams. So when this begins to happen, disgrace and calamity will descend upon you." Then that figure vanished and was not seen; the people called out to him but received no answer. When Sayyiduna Nadlah (may Allah be pleased with him) reached Sayyiduna Sa'd (may Allah be pleased with him), he informed him about the spoils and about the incident of Zarnab. Sayyiduna Sa'd (may Allah be pleased with him) wrote to Sayyiduna Umar bin al-Khattab (may Allah be pleased with him) informing him, and Sayyiduna Umar (may Allah be pleased with him) wrote in reply: "O Sa'd! Well done to you! Ride yourself until you reach that mountain." So Sayyiduna Sa'd (may Allah be pleased with him) went there and called out for forty mornings, but no answer came. Then he wrote to Sayyiduna Umar (may Allah be pleased with him) informing him of this, and they returned.
This report, with this chain, is mawquf (stopping at a Companion) and gharib (unusual); I have seen it at this length only with this chain.
Abd al-Rahman bin Ibrahim al-Rasi also narrated it from Imam Malik, from Nafi', from Sayyiduna Ibn Umar (may Allah be pleased with them both); he too mentioned this incident, but it is not as long, and in it the name of the commander is given as Nadlah bin Mu'awiyah. Imam al-Daraqutni narrated it with his chain in Ghara'ib Malik.
It has also reached us through another chain in which the name is mentioned as Ja'wanah bin Nadlah, and Allah knows best. I have explained his matter in the biography of Ja'wanah, under the letter Jim, in my book on the Companions (may Allah be pleased with them).

It is narrated from some elder Companions of the Ansar (may Allah be pleased with them) that they heard the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) say: "I have been sent in the very first breezes of the Hour (that is, in the time of its extreme nearness)." Imam Sufyan (may Allah have mercy on him) explained this, saying: "What is meant by it is the breaths of the Hour (that is, its appearance and nearness)."
Ibn Abi Umar narrated this hadith; its chain includes Companions of the Ansar, and this report eloquently points to the nearness of the Hour.

It is narrated from some elder Companions of the Ansar (may Allah be pleased with them) that the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "I and the Hour have been sent (as close to one another in occurrence) as these two fingers (the index and the middle finger), and I was sent ahead of the Hour only by the span of one breath of it (that is, by an extremely small and slight interval of time)."
The basis of the text of this hadith is found in the two Sahihs, and it indicates that he (peace and blessings be upon him) is the Seal of the Prophets and that the Hour is near.

Abu al-Julas narrates: I heard Sayyiduna Ali bin Abi Talib (may Allah be pleased with him) say to Abdullah bin Saba' al-Saba'i (warning him): "Woe to you! By Allah, the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) did not confide to me exclusively anything which he (peace and blessings be upon him) kept hidden from other people. And by Allah, I heard him (peace and blessings be upon him) say: 'Before the Hour is established, thirty great liars (arch-liars stirring up trials) will appear.' And you are certainly one of them."
Imam Abu Ya'la al-Mawsili said: Abu Bakr narrated this hadith to us with the same chain.
And Abu Kurayb narrated this same hadith to us through Muhammad bin al-Hasan al-Asadi.

It is narrated from the father of Ata bin al-Sa'ib (al-Sa'ib bin Malik al-Thaqafi) (may Allah have mercy on him) that the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "The Hour will not be established until, before the Hour occurs, seventy great liars (extreme liars, stirrers of trials and claimants to prophethood) appear."
Imam al-Harith bin Abi Usamah narrated this hadith in his Musnad (Bughyat al-Bahith); its chain contains a narrator named Ali bin Asim, who is da'if (weak) because of his many mistakes. However, other sahih hadith with this meaning about the signs of the Hour are also found in the books of authentic hadith, which support it.

It is narrated from Sayyiduna Anas (may Allah be pleased with him) that the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "Before the emergence of the Dajjal, seventy-odd dajjals (liars and deceivers) will appear."
Imam Abu Ya'la narrated this hadith in his Musnad; criticism has been made of its narrator Layth bin Abi Sulaym on account of his memory. However, mention of the appearance of false dajjals near the Hour is also found in other sahih hadith, which support this meaning.