This excerpt is taken from Sheikh Hafiz Mubashir Hussain Lahori's book Signs of the Day of Judgment in the Light of Authentic Ahadith.
Sign of the Day of Judgment: There will be a Qahtani ruler
عن أبى هريرة رضى الله عنه أن النبى صلى الله عليه وسلم قال : لا تقوم الساعة حتى يخرج رجل من قحطان يسوق الناس بعصاه
It is narrated from Hazrat Abu Huraira (RA) that the Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) said: The Day of Judgment will not be established until a man from Qahtan emerges who will rule over people with his stick.
Reference: Bukhari: Book of Tribulations: Chapter on the Change of Time Until Idols Are Worshipped (7117) Muslim (2910) Ahmad (2/417) Al-Fitan by Nu'aim ibn Hammad (237) Baghawi (4254)
Benefits:
➊ The emergence of a Qahtani man who will rule over people is a sign of the Day of Judgment.
➋ This Qahtani will govern the people with his stick; this can have two meanings. One is that he will straighten the disobedient and rebellious with his stick and establish peace and order through strictness, and the other is that all people will say لبيك at his command and obey and comply with him.
➌ He will be a righteous king, as narrated from Ibn Abbas (may Allah be pleased with him):
رجل من قحطان كلهم صالح
There will be a Qahtani man, and all Qahtanis are righteous people.
Reference: Fath al-Bari (6/535)
➍ This sign has not yet occurred.
Reference: See Fath al-Bari (6/630)
➎ Why did Amir Muawiyah (may Allah be pleased with him) deny the emergence of the Qahtani? Several answers have been given, for example:
◈ Amir Muawiyah (may Allah be pleased with him) did not deny the hadith but tried to clarify its meaning because some people thought that he would appear in the early days of Islam, whereas his appearance will be near the Day of Judgment.
◈ Amir Muawiyah (may Allah be pleased with him) himself presented the prophetic statement that as long as the Quraysh uphold the religion, Allah will keep them in power, so the religion was established during the rule of the Quraysh, but when this religion left the Quraysh and the caliphate was fragmented, the appearance of the Qahtani became near.
◈ Amir Muawiyah (may Allah be pleased with him) denied it so that no one would think that the caliphate is also permissible for non-Quraysh.
Reference: Fath al-Bari (23/83-115)
◈ It can also mean that the Qahtani leader will not establish a global caliphate but will implement an Islamic emirate in a specific region.
◈ Qahtani and the king named Jahjah will be two different personalities.
