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: Religion will become strange
عن أبى هريرة رضى الله عنه قال قال رسول الله صلى الله عليه وسلم : إن الإسلام بدأ غريبا وسيعود غريبا كما بدأ فطوبى للغرباء
It is narrated from Hazrat Abu Huraira (RA) that the Messenger of Allah (PBUH) said: Islam began as a stranger and soon it will return to being a stranger just as it began. So glad tidings for the strangers (Muslims).
Reference: Ahmad (512/2) Muslim (145/6) Abu Awana (102/15)
عن ابن مسعود رضى الله عنه قال قال رسول الله صلى الله عليه وسلم : إن الإسلام بدا غريبا وسيعود غريبا كما بدأ فطوبى للغرباء ، قيل : ومن الغرباء ؟ قال : النزاع من القبائل
It is narrated from Hazrat Abdullah bin Masood (RA) that the Messenger of Allah (PBUH) said: Islam began as a stranger and it will end as a stranger. So glad tidings for the strangers (Muslims). He (PBUH) was asked: Who are the strangers? He said: Those who have left their tribes (and homelands) for the sake of migration.
Reference: Ahmad (498/1) Tirmidhi (2629) Ibn Majah (4036) Darimi (402/2) Moshkil al-Athar (686) Sharh al-Sunnah (125/1) Ibn Abi Shaybah (134/8) al-Nihayah (33/1) al-Silsilah al-Sahihah (127/3)
It is narrated from Hazrat Abdul Rahman Aslami (RA) that: The Messenger of Allah (PBUH) said: Islam began as a stranger and it will return to being a stranger. So glad tidings for the strangers. It was asked: Who are the strangers? He said: Those who work for reform at the time of corruption among the people. By the One in Whose hand is my soul, faith will flow towards Madinah like a flood. By the One in Whose hand is my soul, Islam will shrink between these two mosques (Kaaba and the Prophet’s Mosque) just as a snake coils into its hole.
Reference: Ahmad (104/4) (228/1) Majma' al-Zawa'id (535/7) al-Iman li Ibn Manda (205/2) Abu Ya'la (756) al-Bazzar (1119) Asad al-Ghabah (457/3) Gharib al-Hadith lil-Khattabi (176/1)
It is narrated from Hazrat Abdullah bin Amr (RA) that: The Prophet (PBUH) gave glad tidings three times for the strangers (Ghuraba). He was asked: O Messenger of Allah, who are the strangers? He said: Those few righteous people living among many disobedient ones, where the disobedient are many and the obedient are few. (So those obedient (strangers) are the strangers).
Reference: Ahmad (235/2 - 292) Tabarani Kabir (122/10) Kitab al-Zuhd (775) al-Jami' al-Saghir (134/2) Majma' al-Zawa'id (535/7) Ibn Abi Shaybah (134/8) al-Silsilah al-Sahihah (153/4)
Benefits:
➊ The becoming of Islam and Muslims as strangers is a sign of the Day of Judgment.
➋ Different definitions of stranger (Ghareeb) have been given in various hadiths. For example:
النزاع من القبائل
"Those who migrate for the sake of Allah."
الذين يصلحون إذا فسد الناس
"Those who reform people on the true religion during times of fitnah and corruption."
أناس صالحون
"A small number of noble, righteous, and pure-charactered people among a large number of corrupt and evil people."
But the common factor in all these definitions is that strangers (Ghuraba) are those people who, during times of fitnah and practical deviation in the Ummah, take up the responsibility of guiding people on the true prophetic path, even if for this noble purpose they have to sacrifice their region, family, tribe, and home and benefit from the blessing of migration. Such people will be very few in number compared to other Muslims, and therefore they are given the title of strangers (Ghuraba).
➌ Islam was a stranger at the beginning, meaning those who accepted Islam were a minority, but gradually this Islam spread over more than half the world, and today Muslims are the majority after Christians. However, before the Day of Judgment, Islam will again become a stranger, so much so that only a few people will remain Muslims who will fight alongside Prophet Jesus (peace be upon him) against the Dajjal. Then, to escape from Gog and Magog, they will take refuge on a mountain (Mount Tur).
