بَابُ أَشْرَاطِ السَّاعَةِSigns of the Hour

¹ His statement: “knowledge will be lifted” means it will be removed, either by the death of scholars or by their humiliation before rulers. His statement: “adultery will increase” is due to a lack of modesty. His statement: “one man will be responsible” means solely responsible for their affairs, not that they are his wives, but includes mothers, grandmothers, sisters, aunts, and maternal aunts. (As stated in Al-Mirqat)

¹ His statement: “voices are raised in mosques” has become common in this era. Some of our scholars have stated that raising voices in the mosque, even in remembrance, is forbidden. His statement: “the wicked lead the tribe” and even more so the oppressors, has also become widespread. The apparent sign is their prevalence, though no era has been free of such things. (As stated in Al-Mirqat) ² His statement: “the last of this nation curses its first” indicates that this sign is unique to this nation and did not occur in previous nations, making it fitting as a sign of the Hour. It is supported by the fact that if Jews or Christians were asked who the best of their nation are, they would say the companions of Moses or Jesus (peace be upon them). A cursed and accursed group has emerged, either disbelieving or insane, not content with cursing and slandering them but accusing them of disbelief based on their corrupt delusions, despite the Quran and Sunnah being filled with their virtues. They supported their Prophet in his efforts, strove in Allah’s cause, conquered the lands of Islam, preserved its rulings and sciences from the Master of Mankind, and benefited the great scholars and noble sheikhs. Allah taught us in His Book to say about them: Our Lord, forgive us and our brothers who preceded us in faith (Al-Hashr: 10). Ibn Asakir narrated from Ali, with a raised chain: “My companions will have a slip, but Allah will forgive them due to their precedence with me. Despite our many minor and major sins, we hope for our Lord’s mercy and our Prophet’s intercession (ﷺ). So how about the great ones of this nation and the supporters of this religion? Blessed is he whose own faults preoccupy him from others’ faults.” The Prophet (ﷺ) said: “Do not mention your dead except with good,” and “When my companions are mentioned, refrain.” Ibn Asakir narrated from Jabir, with a raised chain: “Love for Abu Bakr and Umar is from faith, and hatred for them is disbelief. Love for the Ansar is from faith, and hatred for them is disbelief. Love for the Arabs is from faith, and hatred for them is disbelief. Whoever curses my companions, upon him is Allah’s curse. Whoever preserves me regarding them, I will preserve him on the Day of Resurrection.” (As stated in Al-Mirqat)

¹ His statement: “to those unfit for it” refers to those lacking the qualifications for leadership, such as women, children, the ignorant, the wicked, the miserly, the cowardly, or those not from Quraysh, even if they are from the lineage of the era’s sultans. This applies to the caliph. Similarly, it applies to all those in authority, such as teachers, muftis, imams, preachers, and others who take pride in such roles. (As stated in Al-Mirqat)

¹ His statement: “liars”: Al-Mudhir said it refers to the abundance of ignorance, the scarcity of knowledge, the fabrication of hadiths, and attributing falsehoods to the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ). It may also refer to those claiming prophethood, as occurred in his time and after, or to groups promoting corrupt beliefs and attributing their false convictions to him, such as all innovators. (As stated in Al-Mirqat)

¹ His statement: “time draws near” means the days and nights become shorter, which fits with “a year will be like a month.” Al-Turbishti said it refers to the lack of blessing in time and its loss of benefit everywhere, or that people, due to their preoccupation with calamities and tribulations, do not realize how their days and nights pass. Al-Sayyid said: This does not contradict the prolongation of days during hardships, as prolongation occurs with awareness, while this occurs with confusion and bewilderment. Al-Khattabi said: This will occur in the time of the Mahdi or Jesus, or both. I say: The latter is more likely, as this becomes evident during the Dajjal’s emergence, in their time. (As stated in Al-Mirqat and Al-Sayyid’s commentary)

¹ His statement: “The dwellings will reach Ihab or Yahab”: Al-Turbishti said it means Medina’s population will grow until its dwellings connect to Ihab or Yahab, the narrator was uncertain of the name, or it was known by both names, so “or” was used to indicate a choice between them. (As stated in Al-Mirqat)

¹ His statement: “there will be a caliph” refers to the Mahdi, though it may refer to someone else. (As stated in Al-Lama’at)

¹ His statement: “Would that I were in the place of the occupant of this grave” is due to the abundance of tribulations and fear of losing faith because of the dominance of falsehood and the prevalence of sins and evils. (As stated by Al-Kirmani) ² His statement: “not due to religion but due to tribulation” means, it is said, that “religion” here refers to habit, meaning rolling on the grave and wishing for death is not his habit but is driven by tribulation and hardship. Alternatively, it means this act is not due to a religious matter but due to worldly hardships. (As stated by Al-Sayyid and summarized from Al-Mirqat)

¹ His statement: “a fire emerges from the land of Hijaz”: Al-Qurtubi said in At-Tadhkirah that this fire emerged in Hijaz, in Medina. It began with a great earthquake on the night of Wednesday after the Isha prayer on the third of Jumada al-Akhirah in the year 654 AH, continuing until mid-morning on Friday. It subsided, and a fire appeared at Qurayzah on the edge of the Harrah. Its light revealed a great city with a surrounding wall, with sparks like castle battlements, towers, and minarets. Men were seen leading it, and it did not pass a mountain without leveling and melting it. From it emerged a red river and a blue river, with a sound like thunder, carrying rocks and mountains before it, reaching the Iraqi caravan route, forming a mound like a great mountain. The fire came close to Medina, but a cool breeze came to the Prophet’s city (ﷺ). Its boiling was like the sea’s, and it reached a village in Yemen, burning it. Some of our companions said: I saw it rising in the air about five days’ distance from Medina, and I heard it was seen from Mecca and the mountains of Busra. An-Nawawi said: The emergence of this fire is well-known among the people of Sham. It appears to me that the fire mentioned in this hadith is the one that appeared near Medina, as understood by Al-Qurtubi and others. The fire that gathers people is a different fire. (As stated in Fath al-Bari and Umdat al-Qari)

¹ His statement: “the first of the signs of the Hour” means its signs. If you ask: How can it be the first when the Prophet’s mission and other events are among the signs? I say: It refers to the signs immediately preceding the Hour. Al-Kirmani said: Ibn at-Tin said it means a fire emerging from Yemen, driving them to Jerusalem. If you ask: Hudhayfah ibn Usayd’s hadith states the Hour will not come until ten signs appear, listing the Dajjal first and the fire from Yemen last, driving people to their gathering place. In At-Tawdih, it is said that a hadith states the fire is the last sign. I say: It is possible to call each a “first” due to their proximity to one another, or “first” is relative, applied to what follows it in sequence. (As stated in Umdat al-Qari)

¹ His statement: “O Allah, do not entrust them” etc.: This means do not delegate their affairs to me, for I would be too weak to provide for their needs and fulfill their wants; nor to themselves, for they would be overcome by their desires and evils; nor to others, for they would favor themselves over them and neglect them. Rather, they are Your servants, so treat them as masters treat their servants. His statement: “when you see the caliphate has descended to the Holy Land” means from Medina to the land of Sham, as occurred during the rule of Banu Umayyah. (As stated in Al-Mirqat)

¹ His statement: “after two hundred” refers to after two hundred years from the Hijrah, the establishment of Islam, or his death. It is possible that the definite article in “two hundred” refers to a specific period, meaning after twelve hundred years, which is the time of the Mahdi’s appearance, the emergence of the Dajjal, the descent of Jesus (peace be upon him), and the succession of signs such as the sun rising from the west, the emergence of the Beast of the Earth, the appearance of Gog and Magog, and the like. (As stated in Al-Mirqat)

¹ His statement: “until a man rules the Arabs” etc.: Al-Tayyibi said the non-Arabs are also intended, though not mentioned, because if the Arabs are ruled and united as one, they would overpower other nations. This is supported by the hadith of Umm Salamah that follows. It could be that the Arabs are mentioned due to their prominence in his time, their nobility, or as a form of brevity, intending both Arabs and non-Arabs, like Allah’s statement: Shirts that protect you from heat (An-Nahl: 81), meaning also from cold. The clearer explanation is that he specified the Arabs because they will all obey him, unlike non-Arabs, who may differ in obeying him. Allah knows best. (As stated in Al-Mirqat) ² His statement: “from my household”: There is disagreement about whether he is from the descendants of Al-Hasan or Al-Husayn. It is possible he combines both lineages. The more likely view is that he is Hasanid through his father and Husaynid through his mother, analogous to the sons of Ibrahim, Ishmael, and Isaac, where the prophets of the Children of Israel were from Isaac’s descendants, while our Prophet (ﷺ), from Ishmael’s lineage, stood in place of all and was a noble substitute, becoming the Seal of the Prophets. Similarly, since most imams and great figures of the nation came from Husayn’s descendants, it is fitting that Al-Hasan is compensated with a descendant who is the Seal of the Saints, standing in place of all the chosen ones. It is said that when Al-Hasan relinquished the formal caliphate, as mentioned in his virtues in prophetic hadiths, he was granted the banner of spiritual guardianship of the highest degree. Thus, it is fitting that the Mahdi’s lineage, associated with the prophetic mission of Jesus, belongs to this rank. Both will unite to elevate the word of the prophetic religion, upon its bearer be thousands of greetings and salutations. A hadith from Abu Ishaq, narrated by Ali, which follows, explicitly supports this meaning. Allah knows best. (As stated in Al-Mirqat)

¹ His statement: “resembling him in character” with the “kha” and “lam” vocalized, and “not in appearance” means not in physical form, as some of his described traits align with his character. (As stated in Al-Mirqat)

¹ His statement: “the living will wish for the dead” with “dead” in the accusative. Al-Turbishti said: The living are the subject, and the phrase implies an omission, meaning they wish for the life of the dead or that they were alive to see the goodness and safety and share in it. Whoever claims it means “reviving” in the accusative, with the dead as the subject of wishing, is mistaken. (As stated in Al-Mirqat) It is said in Al-Lama’at: The “living” is the verbal noun of “to revive,” in the accusative as the object, with “the dead” as the subject, meaning the dead wish for Allah to revive them. This is an exaggeration and metaphor for the joy of living in that revival. If the narration is authentic, otherwise it is merely a possibility not to be relied upon.

¹ His statement: “a man will flee” refers to the Mahdi, as evidenced by Abu Dawud including this hadith in the chapter on the Mahdi. (As stated in Al-Mirqat) ² His statement: “the righteous substitutes of Sham”: Al-Jawhari said: The substitutes (abdal) are righteous people whom the world is never devoid of. When one dies, Allah replaces him with another. Ibn Duraid said the singular is badil. I say: This is supported by the fact that they are also called budala, similar to sharif, ashraf, and shurafa. It is said they are called abdal because they may travel to a place while a figure resembling them remains in their original place as a substitute. In Al-Qamus: The abdal are those by whom Allah, the Mighty and Exalted, sustains the earth. They are seventy, forty in Sham and thirty elsewhere. The apparent meaning is that Sham refers to its region and what lies beyond, not specifically Damascus. Allah knows best. It is possible they are called abdal because they replaced base traits with noble qualities, or because Allah turned their evil deeds into good ones. Al-Qutb al-Haqqani, Sheikh Abdul Qadir al-Jilani, said: They are called abdal because they have annihilated their own will, which has been replaced by the will of the Truth, the Mighty and Exalted. They act by the will of the Truth until their death. Their sins, for these masters, are associating their will with the Truth’s will through oversight, forgetfulness, or overwhelming states, but Allah reaches them with His mercy through awakening and reminder, so they repent and seek forgiveness from their Lord, the Mighty and Exalted. (As stated in Al-Mirqat) ³ His statement: “elite of Iraq” means their best, as in the saying “the elite of a people are their best.” The meaning is that the substitutes and elite come to the Mahdi. (As stated in Al-Mirqat) ⁴ His statement: “Islam will be firmly established” means, it is said, Islam is likened to a firm knot, free of tribulation, with its rulings following the Sunnah, uprightness, and justice. (As stated in Al-Mirqat)

¹ His statement: “led by a man called Mansur”: It is narrated from Khwaja Ubaydullah Samarqandi Naqshbandi (may Allah have mercy on him) that he said: Mansur is Al-Khidr, and such a statement from him would only come through transmission or spiritual insight. (As stated in Al-Mirqat) ² His statement: “prepare or enable for the family of Muhammad” means for his descendants and household in general, or the Mahdi specifically. Alternatively, “family” is additional, meaning Muhammad the Mahdi. (As stated in Al-Mirqat) ³ His statement: “support him” means supporting Al-Harith, which is the apparent meaning, or supporting Mansur, which is more profound, or supporting either of them, or the Mahdi, given the context, as their support is for the people of their lands and those they pass by, as they are among the Mahdi’s supporters. (As stated in Al-Mirqat)

¹ His statement: “black banners” may metaphorically refer to the large number of Muslim armies from Khurasan, likely the armies of Al-Harith and Mansur. (As stated in Al-Mirqat) ² His statement: “among them is Allah’s caliph, the Mahdi” refers to his support and response, not contradicting that the Mahdi’s initial appearance will be in the two sacred cities. (As stated in Al-Mirqat)