This excerpt is taken from Sheikh Hafiz Mubashir Hussain Lahori's book Signs of the Day of Judgment in the Light of Authentic Hadiths.
Sign of the Day of Judgment: People will become stingy
عن أبى هريرة رضى الله عنه عن النبى صلى الله عليه وسلم قال : يتقارب الزمان وينقص العمل ويلقى الشح
It is narrated from Hazrat Abu Huraira (may Allah be pleased with him) that the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "(Among the signs of the Day of Judgment) the time will come near, deeds will become deficient, and stinginess will appear."
Reference: Bukhari: Book of Tribulations: Chapter on the Appearance of Tribulations (7061) Muslim (157)
وعن معاوية رضى الله عنه قال سمعت رسول الله صلى الله عليه وسلم يقول : يزداد الأمر اشدة ولا يزداد الناس إلا شحا
It is narrated from Hazrat Muawiya (may Allah be pleased with him) that "I heard the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) say that people will become harsh and stingy."
Reference: Majma' al-Zawa'id (14/8)
Hazrat Abu Huraira (may Allah be pleased with him) says that the prevalence of stinginess is among the signs of the Day of Judgment.
Reference: Majma' al-Zawa'id (327/7) Fath al-Bari (15/13)
Benefits:
(1) The spread of stinginess and miserliness is a sign of the Day of Judgment.
(2) The mentioned sign of the Day of Judgment is rapidly coming into effect.
(3) The scope of stinginess includes stinginess in resources, wealth and property, thought and vision, and heart and actions.
(4) Expressing expansiveness of heart in voluntary and recommended acts is certainly moral courage, but people appear stingy even in obligatory and mandatory duties.
(5) According to the prophetic prediction, the mentioned sign does not exclude the possibility of its increase at the time of the Day of Judgment. We should, by all means, avoid becoming an example of this sign through our pure moral conduct.
