One day I was riding behind God's messenger on a donkey, and when we had got beyond the houses of Medina he asked, "How will you do, Abu Dharr, when there is famine in Medina and you get up from your bed but do not reach your mosque before being overcome by hunger?" When I replied that God and His messenger knew best, he said, "Restrain yourself, Abu Dharr." He then asked, "How will you do, Abu Dharr, when there will be death in Medina and a house[1] will reach the value of a slave so that a grave will be sold for a slave?" When I replied that God and His messenger knew best he said, "You must show endurance, Abu Dharr." He then asked, "How will you do, Abu Dharr, when there is slaughter in Medina and. Ahjar az Zait[2] will be covered with blood?" When I replied that God and His messenger knew best he said, "You must go to those who are like-minded with you." I asked whether I should arm myself and replied, "You would then associate yourself with the people." So I asked God's messenger how I should act and he replied, "If you are afraid the gleam of the sword may dazzle you put the end of your garment over your face in order that [the one who kills you may bear the punishment of your sin and his." Used figuratively for a grave, the meaning being made more explicit in the words which follow. Ahjar Az-Zait, an area outside of Al Madinah. Abu Dawud transmitted it.

`Abdallah b. `Amr b. al- `As reported the Prophet as saying, "How will you do when you are left among dregs of mankind whose covenants and guarantees have been impaired, who have disagreed and become thus?" intertwining his fingers. He asked what he ordered him to do and he replied, "Keep to what you approve, abandon what you disapprove, attend to your own affairs and avoid the generality." A version has, "Keep to your house, control your tongue, accept what you approve, abandon what you disapprove, attend to your own affairs and leave alone the affairs of the generality." Tirmidhi transmitted it, calling it sahih.

Umm Malik al-Bahziya told that when God's messenger mentioned civil strife and its nearness she asked him who would be the best of the people during it and he replied, "A man with his cattle who pays the zakat due on them and worships his Lord, and a man who holds his horse's head and causes fear to the enemy while they are causing him fear." Tirmidhi transmitted it.

`Abdallah b. `Amr reported God's messenger as saying, "There will be civil strife which will wipe out the Arabs, and their slain will go to hell. During it the tongue will be more severe than blows of the sword." Tirmidhi and Ibn Majah transmitted it.

Abu Huraira reported God's messenger as saying, "There will be civil strife which will render people deaf, dumb, and blind regarding what is right. Those who contemplate it will be drawn by it, and giving rein to the tongue during it will be like smiting with the sword." Abu Dawud transmitted it.

When we were sitting with the Prophet he mentioned periods of commotion, mentioning many of them, and when he mentioned the one when people should keep to their houses someone asked him the meaning of that and he replied, "It will be flight and plunder. Then will come a testing which is pleasing, its murkiness being due to the fact that it is raised by a man from the people of my house who will assert that he belongs to me whereas he does not, for my friends are only the God-fearing. Then the people will unite under a man who will be like a hip-bone on a rib[*]. Then there will be the little black commotion which will leave none of this people without giving him a slap, and when people say it is finished it will be extended. During it a man will be a believer in the morning and an infidel in the evening, so that the people will be in two camps, the camp of faith which will contain no hypocrisy and the camp of hypocrisy which will contain no faith. When that happens, expect the dajjal that day or the next." *A figure of speech indicating instability. Abu Dawud transmitted it.

Abu Huraira reported the Prophet as saying, "Woe to the Arabs because of evil which has drawn near! He will escape who restrains his hand." Abu Dawud transmitted it.

Al-Miqdad b. al-Aswad told that he heard God's messenger say, "The happy man is he who avoids dissensions; the happy man is he who avoids dissensions; the happy man is he who avoids dissensions; but how fine is the man who is afflicted and shows endurance." Abu Dawud transmitted it.

Thauban reported God's messenger as saying, "When the sword is used among my people it will not be withdrawn from them till the day of resurrection, and the last hour will not come before tribes of my people attach themselves to the polytheists and tribes of my people worship idols. There will be among my people thirty great liars each of them asserting that he is God's prophet, whereas I am the seal of the prophets after whom there will be no prophet; but a section of my people will continue to hold to the truth till God's command comes and will prevail and will not be injured by those who oppose them." Abu Dawud and Tirmidhi transmitted it.

`Abdallah b. Mas'ud reported the Prophet as saying, "The mill of Islam will go round till the year 35, or 36, or 37, then if they perish, they will have followed the path of those who perished before them, but if their religion is maintained for them, it will be maintained for them for seventy years." He asked him whether that meant seventy years more or seventy altogether, and he replied that it meant seventy altogether. Abu Dawud transmitted it.

Abu Waqid al-Laithi told that when God's messenger went out to the battle of Hunain, he passed a tree called Dhat Anwat[*] belonging to the polytheists on which they hung their weapons. The people asked him to appoint a Dhat Anwat for them just as those people had one, to which God's messenger replied, "Glory be to God! This is like what the people of Moses said when they asked him to appoint them a god just as other peoples had gods. By Him in whose hand my soul is, you will certainly follow the practices of your predecessors." *The tree was an object of pagan worship. Its name means that it had things hung on it. Tirmidhi transmitted it.

When the first civil strife occurred, i.e., the assassination of `Uthman, not one of those who had been at Badr remained; when the second occurred, i.e., the Harra, not one of those who had been at al-Hudaibiya remained; and the third [1] one occurred and did not disappear while there was intelligence among the people.[2] 1. Probably a reference to 'Abdallah b. az-Zubair who claimed the Caliphate and was killed in 73 A.H. when al-Hajjaj stormed Mecca. 2. See Bukhari, Maghazi, 12, where the wording is slightly different. Qastallani remarks that tabakh means `intelligence,' but some say 'strength' and also `remains of good in the religion'. I have used the meaning he prefers, but one might use 'strength' which is said to be the basic meaning. Lane gives 'firmness,' 'soundness,' `strength and fatness', 'intelligence' and `good,' Cf. Mirqat. v, 153. Bukhari transmitted it.

Abu Huraira reported God's messenger as saying, "The last hour will not come before two parties which make the same profession fight together and a great slaughter results, before about thirty lying dajjals are sent forth each of them asserting that he is God's messenger, before knowledge is withheld, earthquakes are abundant, the time becomes short, dissensions appear, and there is much harj, which means slaughter, before wealth is abundant and overflowing among you, before one who possesses property is anxious to find someone who will accept his sadaqa, before he offers it and the one to whom it is offered says he has no need of it, before people try to outstrip one another in building, before a man passes another's grave and expresses the desire that he were in his place, and before the sun rises in its place of setting. Then when it rises and people see it, they will all believe, but that is a time when a soul will not be benefited by faith it did not have before, or acquire any good from its faith. The last hour will certainly come when two men have spread out their garment between them, but they will not complete the transaction or fold up the garment; the last hour will certainly come when a man has gone off with the milk of his milch camel, but he will not taste it; the last hour will certainly come when a man is repairing his tank, but he will not water his camels from it; and the last hour will certainly come when one has raised his food to his mouth, but he will not taste it." (Bukhari and Muslim.)

He reported God's messenger as saying, "The last hour will not come before you fight with a people whose sandals are of hair, and before you fight with the Turks who have small eyes, red faces, short noses, whose faces look as if they were shields covered with skin." (Bukhari and Muslim.)

He reported God's messenger as saying, "The last hour will not come before you fight with Khuz and Kirman[*] who are foreigners with red faces, snub noses and small eyes, whose faces look as if they were shields covered with skin and whose sandals are of hair." *Yaqut, Mu'jam, ii, 494, says Khuz is used both of Khuzistan and of its people. The districts mentioned are in what is now Iran. Bukhari transmitted it. A version of his on the authority of `Amr b. Taghlib has ``broad faces."

He reported God's messenger as saying, "The last hour will not come before the Muslims fight the Jews and the Muslims kill them, so that Jews will hide behind stones and trees and the stone and the tree will say, `O Muslim, O servant of God, there is a Jew behind me; come and kill him.' The only exception will be the box-thorn, for it is one of the trees of the Jews." Muslim transmitted it.

He reported God's messenger as saying, "The last hour will not come before a man of Qahtan comes forth driving people with his stick." (Bukhari and Muslim.)

He reported God's messenger as saying, "Days and nights will not pass away before a man called al-Jahjah rules." A version has "Before one of the clients called al-Jahjah rules." Muslim transmitted it.

Jabir b. Samura told that he heard God's messenger say, "A band of the Muslims will certainly gain the treasure of the family of Kisra which is in al-Abyad." * *A fortress in the Persian capital al-Mada'in. Muslim transmitted it.

Abu Huraira reported God's messenger as saying, "Kisra will perish and there will be no Kisra after him, Qaisar will certainly perish and there will be no Qaisar after him, and their treasures will certainly be divided in God's path." He also called war a method of deceit. (Bukhari and Muslim.)

Nafi' b. `Utba reported God's messenger as saying, "You will attack Arabia and God will conquer it; then Persia and God will conquer it; then you will attack the Byzantines and God will conquer them; then you will attack the dajjal and God will conquer him." Muslim transmitted it.

I came to the Prophet 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.

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 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.

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 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.

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 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).

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.

`Abdallah b. Mas'ud reported God's messenger as saying, "The world will not pass away before the Arabs are ruled by a man of my family whose name will be the same as mine.' Tirmidhi and Abu Dawud transmitted it. In a version by the latter he said, "If only one day of this world remained God would lengthen that day till He raised up in it a man who belongs to me (or, to my family) whose name is the same as mine and whose fathers name is the same as my father's, who will fill the earth with equity and justice as it has been filled with oppression and tyranny." Aba Dawud transmitted it.

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 say, "Before the last hour there will be great liars, so beware of them." Muslim transmitted it.

Abu Huraira told that while the Prophet 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.

He reported God's messenger as saying, "The last hour will not come before wealth is abundant and overflowing, before a man brings the zakat on his property and cannot find anyone to accept it from him, and before the land of the Arabs becomes meadows and rivers." In a version by him he said, "the dwellings reach to Ihab or Yihab[*]." *Either two places in the neighbourhood of Medina, or alternative names for the same place. Cf, Yaqut, Mu'jam, 1:408. Muslim transmitted it.

Jabir reported God's messenger as saying, "In the last days there will be a Caliph who will distribute wealth without reckoning it." In a version he said, "Among the last of my people there will be a Caliph who will pour out wealth without counting it." Muslim transmitted it.

Abu Huraira reported God's messenger as saying, "The Euphrates is soon to uncover a treasure of gold, but those who are present must not take any of it." (Bukhari and Muslim.)

He reported God's messenger as saying, "The last hour will not come before the Euphrates uncovers a mountain of gold for which people will fight, ninety-nine out of each hundred of whom will be killed; but every man among them will say that perhaps he will be the one who will escape." Muslim transmitted it.

He reported God's messenger as saying, "The earth will vomit oblong `pieces of its liver like columns of gold and silver, and the murderer will come and say it was for this he committed murder, the breaker of family ties will come and say it was for this he broke them, and the thief will come and say it was for this his hand was cut off. They will then leave it and not take any of it." Muslim transmitted it.

He reported God's messenger as saying, "By Him in whose hand my soul is, the world will not pass away before a man comes by a grave and rolls on it saying he wishes he were, in the place of the occupant of that grave, not for religious reasons, but because of tribulation." Muslim transmitted it.

He reported God's messenger as saying, "The last hour will not come before there issues from the land of the Hijaz a fire which will illuminate the necks of the camels in Busra." (Bukhari and Muslim.)

Anas reported God's messenger as saying, "The least of the signs of the last hour will be a fire which will gather mankind from the East to the West." Bukhari transmitted it.