Book 27: Fitan

'Auf b. Malik said : I came to the Prophet (ﷺ) at the expedition to Tabuk when he was in a leather tent, and he said, "Count six signs before the last hour comes: my death, then the conquest of Jerusalem, then a mortal disease which will affect you like qu'as[*] in sheep, then a superabundance of wealth so that when a man is given a hundred dinars he will remain displeased, then a civil strife which will leave no house of the Arabs without entering it, then a truce between you and the Greeks who will act treacherously and come to you under eighty banners with twelve thousand under each." *A disease affecting sheep and goats which causes an exudation from the nose and results in speedy death. Bukhari transmitted it.

Abu Huraira reported God's messenger as saying, "The last hour will not come before the Byzantines alight in al-A`maq or in Dabiq[1], and an army consisting of the best people in the earth at that time will come forth from Medina against them. When the lines are drawn up the Byzantines will say, `Let us get at those who took captives from us and fight them,' but the Muslims will reply, `We swear by God that we will not let you get at our brethren.' They will then fight and a third whom God will never forgive will be routed, a third who will be the most excellent martyrs in God's sight will be killed, and a third who will never be subjected to trials will be victorious. They will then conquer Constantinople, but while they are dividing the spoils, having hung their swords on olive-trees, the devil will cry among them, `The dajjal has taken your place among your families;' so they will go out, but that will prove to be false. Then when they come to Syria he will come forth, and while they are preparing for battle and arranging the ranks the time for prayer will come and Jesus, son of Mary will descend and lead them in prayer. When God's enemy sees him, he will dissolve like salt in water, and if he[2] were to leave him he would dissolve completely; but God will kill him by his hand and he will show them his blood on his spear." Mirqat, 5:159. quotes the view that al-A'maq is on the outskirts of Medina and that L'abiq (or Dabaq) is a market-place in Medina. Yaqut, iii, 513. says Dabiq is a village near Aleppo, and (1:316) al-A'maq is a district near Dabiq between Aleppo and Antioch. i.e., Jesus. Muslim transmitted it.

Abdallah b. Mas'ud said: The last hour will not come before an inheritance cannot be divided and people do not rejoice over spoil. Then an enemy will equip itself against the people of Syria and the Islamic people will equip themselves against them, meaning the Byzantines. The Muslims will then prepare a suicide squad which will return only if victorious and they will fight till the night intervenes. Both sides will return not having gained the victory, but the squad will be wiped out. The Muslims will again prepare a suicide squad which will return only if victorious and they will fight till the night intervenes. Both sides will return not having gained the victory, but the squad will be wiped out. The Muslims will again prepare a suicide squad which will return only if victorious and they will fight till the evening. Both sides will return not having gained the victory, but the squad will be wiped out. On the fourth day the remainder of the people of Islam will arise against them and God will decree that the enemy should be routed. They will then fight such a battle as has never been seen before, so that if a bird were to pass their flanks it would fall down dead before reaching the end of them. When count is taken of a hundred men who were related it will be found that only one has survived; so over what spoil can there be rejoicing, and what inheritance can be divided? Then when things are so they will hear of a war greater than that and a cry will reach them, "The dajjal has taken your place among your offspring." They will therefore cast away what is in their hands and go forward sending ten horsemen as a scouting party. God's messenger said, "I know their names, their fathers' names, and the colour of their horses. They will be the best horsemen (or, among the best horsemen) on the face of the earth at that time." Muslim transmitted it.

Abu Huraira reported the Prophet (ﷺ) as saying, "Have you heard of a city part of which is on the land and part in the sea?" On receiving the reply, "Yes, messenger of God," he said, "The last hour will not come before seventy thousand of the descendants of Isaac attack it. When they come to it, they will dismount and will not fight with weapons or shoot arrows, but will say, `There is no god but God' and `God is most great,' whereupon one of its sides will fall down. (Thaur b. Yazid the transmitter remarked that he thought he said the part which was in the sea.) Then they will say a second time, `There is no god but God' and `God is most great,' whereupon the other side will fall down. A third time they will say, `There is no god but God' and `God is most great,' whereupon a breach will be made for them and they will enter it and take booty; but while they are dividing the spoils a cry will reach them to the effect that the dajjal has come forth, and they will abandon everything and go back." Muslim transmitted it.

Mu'adh b. Jabal reported God's messenger as saying, "The flourishing state of Jerusalem will be when Yathrib is in ruins, the ruined state of Yathrib will be when the great war comes, the outbreak of the great war will be at the conquest of Constantinople, and the conquest of Constantinople when the dajjal comes forth." Abu Dawud transmitted it.

He reported God's messenger as saying, "The greatest war, the conquest of Constantinople, and the coming forth of the dajjal will take place within a period of seven months." Tirmidhi and Abu Dawud transmitted it.

`Abdallah b. Busr reported God's messenger as saying, "The time between the great war and the conquest of the city[*] will be six years, and the dajjal will come forth in the seventh." * This could be Medina, but is more probably a reference to Constantinople. Abu Dawud transmitted it, saying this is sounder.

Ibn `Umar said: The Muslims will soon be besieged up to Medina, so that their most distant frontier outpost will be Salah which is near Khaibar. Abu Dawud transmitted it.

Dhu Mikhbar told that he heard God's messenger say, "You will make a secure peace with the Byzantines, then you and they will fight an enemy behind you, and you will be victorious, take booty, and be safe. You will then return and alight in a meadow with mounds and one of the Christians will raise the cross and say, `The cross has conquered!' One of the Muslims will become angry and smash it, and the Byzantines will act treacherously and prepare for battle." Some transmitters added, "The Muslims will then make for their weapons and will fight, and God will honour that band with martyrdom." Abu Dawud transmitted it.

`Abdallah b. `Amr reported the Prophet (ﷺ) as saying, "Leave the Abyssinians alone as long as they leave you alone, for it is only the Abyssinian with short legs who will seek to take out the treasure of the Ka'ba." Abu Dawud transmitted it.

One of the Prophet's companions said: Let the Abyssinians alone as long as they let you alone, and leave the Turks alone as long as they leave you alone. Abu Dawud and Nasai transmitted it.

Buraida told that in the tradition telling that people with small eyes, i.e. the Turks, would fight with them, the Prophet (ﷺ) said, "You will drive them off three times till you catch up with them in Arabia. On the first occasion when you drive them off those who fly will be safe, on the second occasion some will be safe and some will perish, but on the third occasion they will be extirpated," or words to that effect. Abu Dawud transmitted it.

Abu Bakra reported God's messenger as saying, "Some of my people will alight in low-lying ground which they will call al-Basra beside a river called the Tigris over which there is a bridge. Its people will be numerous and it will be one of the capital cities of the Muslims. At the end of time the descendants of Qantura'[*] will come with broad faces and small eyes and alight on the bank of the river. The town's inhabitants will then separate into three sections, one of which will follow cattle into the desert and perish, another of which will seek security for themselves and perish, but a third will put their children behind their backs and fight with the invaders, and they will be the martyrs." Abu Dawud transmitted it. * The common explanation by Arabic writers is that Qantura' was a slave girl of Abraham from whom the Turks were descended. (Cf. Genesis, 25:1, which says that Abraham took a wife named Keturah -- in Hebrew Qeturah.) Ibn al-Athir, an-Nihaya fi gharib al-hadith, 3:314, says the Turks and Chinese were descended from the offspring of Qanturs'. Lisan al-'Arab, 6:432, says her offspring were the Turks, and some say the negroes. Mirqat, 5:166 f., finds a difficulty because Abraham was a descendant of Shem and the Turks were descended from Japheth. It suggests that Qantura' was a descendant of Abraham who married a descendant of Japheth. Dr. J.A. Boyle of Manchester University has drawn my attention to an article in the Harvard Journal of Asiatic Studies, 12:287, which quotes an Armenian historian, Grigor of Akner (1250-1335 A.D.), as saying that Kendura, a handmaiden of Abraham, bore Imran who became the ancestor of the Parthians.

Anas reported God's messenger as saying, "The people will establish cities, Anas, and one of them will be called al-Basra. If you should pass by it or enter it, avoid its salt-marshes, its river front, its palm trees, its market, and the gate of its commanders, and keep to its environs, for the earth will swallow some people up, pelting rain will fall and earthquakes will take place in it, and there will be people who will spend the night in it and become apes and swine in the morning." . . . transmitted it. (The name of the source is omitted in the text. The tradition is in Abu Dawud, Malahim, 10).

Salih b. Dirham said: We went on pilgrimage and met a man who asked whether there was a town near us called al-Ubulla. On our replying that there was he asked if any of us would undertake to pray two or four rak'as on his behalf in the mosque of al- `Ashshar, stating that they were on behalf of Abu Huraira, for he had heard his friend Abul Qasim say, "On the day of resurrection God who is great and glorious will raise martyrs from the mosque of al-'Ashshar who will be the only ones to rise along with the martyrs of Badr." Abu Dawud transmitted it, saying this mosque is near the river.

Shaqiq quoted Hudhaifa as saying: When we were with `Umar he asked which of us remembered the tradition of God's messenger about the fitna, and I replied that I remembered it just as he had uttered it. Telling me to relate it, and remarking that I was daring, he asked how he had spoken and I replied that I had heard God's messenger say, "A man's fitna concerns his family, his property, his person, his children and his neighbour for any shortcoming in which atonement made by fasting, prayer, sadaqah recommending what is reputable and reproving what is disreputable.[1] `Umar said that this was not what he meant, for he was thinking of the fitna which swells like the waves of the sea.[2] I asked the commander of the faithful what he had to do with it, for between him and it there was a closed door. He asked whether the door would be broken down or opened, and when I replied that it would be broken down, he said it would never likely be closed. Hudhaifa was asked if `Umar knew who the door was and he replied that he knew it as well as he knew that a night comes before tomorrow, adding that he had told him a tradition which included no misleading language. They were afraid to ask Hudhaifa who the door was, so they asked Masruq to ask him, and when he did so he replied that it was `Umar.3 A man who has these responsibilities may fall short of what is due from him, but can make atonement for his shortcoming. Contention which leads to strife and warfare. The point of the tradition is that the fitna would not occur in `Umar's lifetime, but that as he was to be assassinated there was no hope of peaceful conditions ever returning. The opening of the door indicates a natural death and the breaking down of the door a violent death. (Bukhari and Muslim.)

Anas said the conquest of Constantinople would be associated with the coming of the last hour. Tirmidhi transmitted it, saying this is a gharib tradition.

Anas told that he heard God's messenger say, "Among the signs of the last hour will be the removal of knowledge, the abundance of ignorance, the prevalence of fornication, the prevalence of wine-drinking, the small number of men and the large number of women, so that fifty women will have one man to look after them." A version has "the small amount of knowledge and the presence of ignorance." (Bukhari and Muslim.)

Jabir b. Samura told that he heard the Prophet (ﷺ) say, "Before the last hour there will be great liars, so beware of them." Muslim transmitted it.

Abu Huraira told that while the Prophet (ﷺ) was talking a nomadic Arab came and asked when the last hour would come, to which he replied, "When the practice of honouring a trust is lost expect the last hour." He asked how it could be lost and he replied, "When rule is given to people who are unworthy of it, expect the last hour." Bukhari transmitted it.