Fitnah

Hudhaifa Narrated from:

God's messenger gave us an address on which occasion he left out nothing that would happen up to the last hour without telling of it. Some remembered and some forgot, and these companions of mine have known it. Some of it I have forgotten, but when I see it, I remember it, just as a man remembers another's face when he is away and recognizes him when he sees him. (Bukhari and Muslim.)

He told that he heard God's messenger say, "Temptations will be presented to men's hearts as a reed mat is woven stick by stick, and any heart which is impregnated by them will have a black mark put in it, but any heart which rejects, them will have a white mark put in it. The result is that hearts will be of two kinds, one white like a white stone which will not be harmed by temptation as long as the heavens and the earth endure, and the other black and dust-colored like a vessel which is upset, not recognizing what is reputable or rejecting what is disreputable, but being impregnated with its passion." Muslim transmitted it.

He said that God's messenger told them two traditions one of which he had seen happen and was looking forward to the other. He told them that faith had come down into the roots of men's hearts, then they gained knowledge from the Qur'an, then gained knowledge from the sunnah. He also told about its removal, saying, "A man will sleep[2] and faith will be taken from his heart, but its mark will remain like the mark of a spot. He will sleep again, and it will be taken away, its mark remaining like the mark of a blister, as when you drop live coals over your foot a water blister is produced and you see it swollen with nothing in it. People will make business agreements with one another and scarcely one will fulfil his trust. It will then be said that among the B. so and so there is a trustworthy man. People will remark how intelligent, excellent, and resolute a man is while he has not as much faith in his heart as a grain of mustard seed." 1. Fitan pl of fitnah. There are different meanings, e.g., temptation, seduction; discord, commotion, civil war; testing, trial; impiety, unbelief. 2. This may either be understood literally, or as a figure of speech for carelessness. (Bukhari and Muslim.)

He said: People used to ask God's messenger about good, but I used to ask him about evil from fear that it might overtake me. I said, "Messenger of God, we were in a state of ignorance and evil, then God brought us this good. After this good will any evil come?" On his replying that there would, I asked whether after that evil any good would come, and he replied that there would but that it would contain some duskiness. I asked what that would consist of and he replied, "People will follow a sunnah other than mine and give guidance other than mine, so you will find in them both something to acknowledge and something to reject." I asked whether there would be any evil after that good and he replied, `Yes, there will be people who summon others at the gates of Jahannam into which they will cast those who respond to them." I asked God's messenger to describe them to us and he said, "They will be of our stock and speak like us." I asked, what command he had to give me if that happened in my time and he replied, "You must adhere to the community and the leader of the Muslims." I asked what I should do if they had neither community nor leader and he replied, "Withdraw from all those factions even though you should have to cleave to the root of a tree till death overtakes you in that state." (Bukhari and Muslim.) In a version by Muslim he said, "After my death there will be leaders who follow neither my guidance nor my sunnah, among whom will arise men whose hearts will be the hearts of devils in human bodies." Hudhaifa said he asked God's messenger how he should act if he reached that time and he replied, "You must hear and obey the ruler, and if he beats your back and takes your property you must still hear and obey." Muslim transmitted it.

Abu Hurairah Narrated from:

Do good deeds before trials come like portions of a dark night when a man will be a believer in the morning and an infidel in the evening, and a believer in the evening and an infidel in the morning, selling his religion for some worldly goods" Muslim transmitted it.

He reported God's messenger as saying, "There will be periods of commotion in which the one who sits will be better than the one who stands, the one who stands better than the one who walks and the one who walks better than the one who runs. He who contemplates them will be drawn by them, so he who finds a refuge or shelter should go to it." (Bukhari and Muslim.) In a version by Muslim he said, "There will be a commotion in which he who sleeps will be better than he who is awake, he who wakes will be better than he who stands up and he who stands up better than he who runs, so he who finds a refuge or shelter should go to it." Muslim transmitted it.

Abu Bakra Narrated from:

Commotions will arise after which other commotions will arise, and then there will be a period of commotion in which the one who sits will be better than the one who walks and the one who walks better than the one who runs to it. When it happens, he who has camels should remain with his camels, he who has sheep should remain with his sheep, and he who has land should remain in his land.A man said, "Tell us, messenger of God, about the one who has no camels, sheep or land," and he replied, "He should go to his sword, strike its edge on a stone, and then escape if he can," adding three times, "0 God, have I conveyed[*] Thy message?" A man then said, "Tell me, messenger of God, suppose I am taken by force and made to join one of the ranks, and a man strikes me with his sword, or an arrow comes and kills me?" He replied, "He will bear the punishment of his sin and yours and go to hell."*This may be translated as "I have conveyed," some grammarians saying that the particle hal is originally equivalent in meaning to qad. Cf. W. Wright, A grammar of the Arabic language, 2:309 C.Muslim transmitted it.

Abu Sa'id Narrated from:

A Muslim's best property will soon be sheep which he will take to the tops of the mountains and the places where the rain falls, fleeing with his religion from civil strife. Bukhari transmitted it.

Usamah bin Zaid Narrated from:

The Prophet looked down on one of the fortresses of Medina and asked, "Do you see what I see?" When his hearers replied that they did not, he said, "I see civil commotions occurring among your houses like rain falling." (Bukhari and Muslim.)

Abu Hurairah Narrated from:

Abu Huraira reported God's messenger as saying, "The destruction of my people will be at the hands of young men of Quraish." Bukhari transmitted it.