Sahifah Hammam

Explanation of the Hadith:

In the mentioned hadith, several signs of the Day of Judgment are described:

Abundance of Wealth:
Wealth will become abundant, so much so that it will overflow, to the extent that a wealthy person will be concerned about who will accept his zakat from him. He will search, but he will not find anyone in need to accept charity and zakat.

Knowledge Will Be Taken Away:
This will not happen by knowledge being snatched from people’s hearts or by books disappearing; rather, what is meant by the removal of knowledge is the passing away of the scholars and their deaths, as is mentioned in the hadith of Abdullah ibn Amr ibn al-As radi Allahu anhu, who said: I heard the Messenger of Allah sallallahu alayhi wa sallam say:
«إِنَّ اللَّهَ لَا يَقْبِضُ الْعِلْمَ انْتِزَاعًا يَنْتَزِعُهُ مِنَ النَّاسِ، وَلَكِنْ يَقْبِضُ الْعِلْمَ بِقَبْضِ الْعُلَمَاءِ، حَتَّى إِذَا لَمْ يَتْرُكْ عَالِمًا اتَّخَذَ النَّاسُ رُءُوسًا جُهَّالًا، فَسُئِلُوا فَأَفْتَوْا بِغَيْرِ عِلْمٍ فَضَلُّوا وَأَضَلُّوا .» [صحيح مسلم، كتاب العلم، رقم: 6796]
“Allah will not take away knowledge by snatching it from the people, but He will take away knowledge by taking away the scholars, until when no scholar remains, people will take ignorant leaders; they will be asked and will give religious verdicts without knowledge, so they will go astray and will lead others astray.”

Time Will Become Short:
That is, people will become engrossed in luxury and heedlessness; a year will pass for them as if it were a month, a month as if it were a week, a week as if it were a day. As narrated from our master Abu Hurairah radi Allahu anhu, the Messenger of Allah sallallahu alayhi wa sallam said: “The Hour will not be established until time passes quickly: 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 burning of a palm leaf stalk.” [الاحسان بترتيب صحيح ابن حبان، كتاب التاريخ: 297/9 ، رقم: 6803]
Or it may mean that day and night will become equal, or day and night will become short; this too is a sign of the Hour. Or evil and corruption will come near, so that there will be no one left to say ‘Allah, Allah’. Or wealth and governments will change and disappear rapidly. Or lifespans will become short, or blessings will be removed from time, so that what people used to accomplish in a month, they will not be able to accomplish in a year.

Trials (Fitnah) Will Appear:
Here, fitnah refers to every kind of trial, whether religious or worldly. In the language, fitnah means to put gold into fire to distinguish the genuine from the counterfeit. As Allah the Exalted says:
«إِنَّمَا أَمْوَالُكُمْ وَأَوْلَادُكُمْ فِتْنَةٌ ۚ وَاللَّـهُ عِندَهُ أَجْرٌ عَظِيمٌ» [التغابن: 15]
“Indeed, your wealth and your children are a trial, and with Allah is a great reward.”
Ibn Jarir narrated from Dahhak that some people, after embracing Islam, would leave their wives, children, and parents and go to the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam. Their families would implore them by Allah’s name not to leave everyone behind, so some would be affected and refrain from migrating. Dahhak says that this verse was revealed about such people. [تفسير طبري: 159/28]
But according to the general rule of tafsir, the ruling of the verse is general, and through it all believers are warned that they should not let love for their children and following their desires prevent them from obedience to Allah, worship, migration, and jihad.

Admonition to Beware of the Trial of Wife and Children:
Allah the Exalted says:
«يَا أَيُّهَا الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا لَا تُلْهِكُمْ أَمْوَالُكُمْ وَلَا أَوْلَادُكُمْ عَن ذِكْرِ اللَّـهِ ۚ وَمَن يَفْعَلْ ذَٰلِكَ فَأُولَـٰئِكَ هُمُ الْخَاسِرُونَ» [المنافقون: 9]
“O you who believe! Let not your wealth and your children divert you from the remembrance of Allah. And whoever does that, then those are the losers.”
In another place, He says:
«يَا أَيُّهَا الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا إِنَّ مِنْ أَزْوَاجِكُمْ وَأَوْلَادِكُمْ عَدُوًّا لَّكُمْ فَاحْذَرُوهُمْ ۚ وَإِن تَعْفُوا وَتَصْفَحُوا وَتَغْفِرُوا فَإِنَّ اللَّـهَ غَفُورٌ رَّحِيمٌ» [التغابن: 14]
“O you who believe! Indeed, among your wives and your children are enemies to you, so beware of them. But if you pardon and overlook and forgive, then indeed, Allah is Forgiving, Merciful.”
Imam Mujahid says about this verse that sometimes wives and children prompt a person to sever ties of kinship or to disobey his Lord, and despite love, a person cannot obey Allah the Exalted. [تفسير ابن ابي حاتم: 3358/10]
Sometimes fitnah comes in the meaning of punishment, as in the saying of Allah the Exalted: «ذُوْقُوْا فِتْنَتَكُمْ» “In this noble verse, fitnah means sin, the punishment of which is general, such as remaining silent upon seeing evil, laziness in enjoining good and forbidding evil, discord, disunity, the spread of innovation, and laziness in jihad, etc.
Imam Ahmad and al-Bazzar narrated from Mutarrif ibn Abdullah ibn Shikhkhir: On the day of the Battle of Jamal, I said to Zubair radi Allahu anhu, ‘You people did not save our master Uthman radi Allahu anhu; he was martyred, and now you have come to claim his blood.’ Zubair radi Allahu anhu said: ‘We used to recite this verse during the time of the Messenger of Allah sallallahu alayhi wa sallam:
«وَاتَّقُوا فِتْنَةً لَّا تُصِيبَنَّ الَّذِينَ ظَلَمُوا مِنكُمْ خَاصَّةً ۖ» [الأنفال: 25]
“Fear the trial which does not afflict only the wrongdoers among you (but will afflict everyone, both wrongdoers and others).”
And we did not think that we ourselves would be involved in this trial, until this event occurred.’ [مسند بزار، رقم: 976 - مسند احمد: 165/1 ، رقم: 1414 -]
Shaykh Shu‘ayb has declared its chain to be “authentic.”

Killing Will Become Widespread:
In Sahih Muslim, our master Abu Hurairah radi Allahu anhu narrated that the Messenger of Allah sallallahu alayhi wa sallam said: “By Him in Whose hand is my soul! A time will come upon people when the killer will not know why he killed, and the one killed will not know why he was killed.” (Such blind chaos will occur that people will be killed unjustly.) [صحيح مسلم، كتاب الفتن، رقم: 2908/56]
Our master Abu Musa al-Ash‘ari radi Allahu anhu said to Abdullah radi Allahu anhu: Do you know the hadith which the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam narrated about the days of «هرج» and others? Ibn Mas‘ud radi Allahu anhu said: I heard the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam say:
«مِنْ شِرَارِ النَّاسِ مَنْ تُدْرِكْهُمُ السَّاعَةُ وَهُمْ أَحْيَاءٌ.» “They will be among the most wretched of people in whose lifetime the Hour will be established.” [صحيح بخاري، كتاب الفتن، رقم: 7067]

Arguments of the Hadith Scholars:
Imam al-Bukhari rahimahullah derived the following issues from this noble hadith:
(1) The mufti answering the questioner by moving his hand and head, by gesture. “Book of Knowledge,” Chapter (24)
(2) The mention of earthquakes and the signs of the Hour. “Book of Seeking Rain,” Chapter (27)
(3) Giving charity before the time comes when there will be no one left to accept it. “Book of Zakat,” Chapter (9); Sahih Muslim, Book of Zakat, Chapter (18)
(4) The mention of the miracles of the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam. “Book of Virtues,” Chapter (25)
(5) The last sign before the establishment of the Hour is that the sun will rise from the west, and when this sign appears, faith will not benefit anyone who did not believe before. “Book of Tafsir,” Chapter (9)
(6) One government will attack another, the battlefield will be heated, and people, being engrossed in worldly affairs, will abandon the knowledge of Qur’an and hadith; everyone will be concerned only with amassing wealth. “Book of Manners,” Chapter (39)
(7) For softening the heart, this hadith is brought in “Book of Heart-Softening,” Chapter (40)
(8) Before the establishment of the Hour, two groups of Muslims will fight each other. “Book of Repentance of Apostates,” Hadith number: (6935)
(9) The appearance of trials (fitan) is inevitable. “Book of Trials,” Chapter (5)
(10) Before the Hour, people will envy those in the graves, and idol worship will begin again in Arabia. “Book of Trials,” Chapters (22 and 23)