The Signs Before The Day Of Judgement

Author: Al-Haafidh Ibn Katheer

Published: Thursday 14th January, 2016



A Hadeeth narrated from Abu Umaamah Al-Baahilee

Abu Umaamah al-Baahilee said,

"The Prophet (صلى الله علیه وسلم) delivered a speech to us, most of which dealt with the Dajjaal and warned us against him. He said, 'No tribulation on earth since the creation of Adam will be worse than the tribulation of the Dajjaal. Allaah has never sent a Prophet who did not warn his Ummah against the Dajjaal. I am the last of the Prophets, and you are the last Ummah. The Dajjaal is emerging among you and it is inevitable. If he appears while I am still among you, I will contend with him on behalf of every Muslim. But if he appears after I am gone, then every person must contend with him on his own behalf. He will appear on the way between Syria and Iraq, and will spread disaster right and left. O servants of Allaah adhere to the path of Truth. I shall describe him for you in a way that no Prophet has ever done before.

He will start by saying that he is a Prophet, but there will be no Prophet after me. Then he will say, "I am your Lord," but you will never see your Lord until you die. The Dajjaal is one-eyed, but your Lord, glorified be He, is not one-eyed. On his forehead will be written the word Kaafir, which every Muslim, literate or illiterate, will be able to read. Among that which he will bring will be the Paradise and Hell he will offer; but that which he calls Hell will be Paradise, and that which he calls Paradise will be Hell. Whoever enters his Hell, let him seek refuge with Allaah and recite the opening Ayaat of Surat ul-Kahf, and it will become cool and peaceful for him, as the fire became cool and peaceful for Abraham.

"He will say to a Bedouin, What do you think if I bring your father and mother back to life for you? Will you bear witness that I am your lord? The Bedouin will say Yes, so two devils will assume the appearance of his father and mother, and will say, "O my son, follow him for he is your lord."

"He will be given power over one person, whom he will kill and cut in two with a saw. Then he will say, Look at this slave of mine, now I will resurrect him, but he will still claim that he has a Lord other than me. Allaah will resurrect him, and this evil man (the Dajjaal) will say to him, Who is your Lord? The man will answer, 'My Lord is Allaah, and you are the enemy of Allaah. You are the Dajjaal. By Allaah, I have never been more sure of this than I am today.'
"


Aboo Sa'eed said,

"The Prophet (صلى الله علیه وسلم) said, 'That man will have the highest status among my Ummah in Paradise.' "


Abu Sa'eed said,

"By Allaah, we never thought that that man would be any other than 'Umar ibn al-Khattab, until he passed away."


Al-Muhaaribee said:

"Then we referred to the Hadeeth of Abu Raafi'ee, which said, 'Part of his Fitnah will be the fact that he will pass through an area whose people will deny him, and none of their livestock will remain alive. Then he will pass through a second area whose people will believe in him; he will order the sky to rain and the earth to bring forth crops, and their flocks will return from grazing fatter than they have ever been, with their flanks stretched, their udders full. He will pass through every place on earth - except Makkah and Madeenah, which he will never enter, for there are angels guarding every gate of them with unsheathed swords - until he reaches al-Zareeb al-Ahmar and camps at the edge of the salt-marsh. Madeenah will be shaken by three tremors, after which every Munaafiq (hypocrite) will leave it, and it will be cleansed of evil, as iron is cleansed of dross. That day will be called Yawm al-Khalaas (The Day of Purification).' "


Umm Shareek bint Abee'l-'Akr said,

"O Messenger of Allaah, where will the Arabs be at that time?" He said, "At that time they will be few; most of them will be in Bayt al-Maqdis (Jerusalem), and their Imaam will be a righteous man. Whilst their Imaam is going forward to lead the people in praying Salaat al-Subh (themorning prayer), Jesus son of Mary will descend. The Imaam will step back, to let Jesus lead the people in prayer, but Jesus will place his hand between the man's shoulders and say, 'Go forward and lead the prayer, for the Iqaamah was made for you.' So the Imaam will lead the people in prayer, and afterwards Jesus (alayhi-salam) will say, 'Open the gate.' The gate will be opened, and behind it will be the Dajjaal and a thousand Jews, each of them bearing a sword and shield. When the Dajjaal sees Jesus, he will begin to dissolve like salt in water, and will run away. Jesus will say, 'You will remain alive until I strike you with my sword.' He will catch up with him at the eastern gate of Ludd and will kill him. The Jews will be deflated with the help of Allaah. There will be no place for them to hide; they will not be able to hide behind any stone, wall, animal or tree - except the boxthorn (al-Gharqarah) - without it saying, 'O Muslim servant of Allaah! here is a Jew, come and kill him!' " The Prophet (صلى الله علیه وسلم) said, "The time of the Dajjaal will be forty years; one year like half a year, one year like a month, and one month like a week. The rest of his days will pass so quickly that if one of you were at one of the gates of Madeenah, he would not reach the other gate before evening fell."


Someone asked,

"O Messenger of Allaah, how will wepray in those shorter days?" He said, "Workout the times of prayer in the same way that you do in these longer days, and then pray." The Prophet (صلى الله علیه وسلم) said, "Jesus son of Mary will be a just administrator and leader of my Ummah. He will break the cross, kill the pigs, and abolish the Jizyah (tax on non-Muslims). He will not collect the Sadaqah, so he will not collect sheep and camels. Mutual enmity and hatred will disappear. Every harmful animal will be made harmless, so that a small boy will be able to put his hand into a snakes mouth without being harmed,a small girl will be able to make a lion run away from her, and a wolf will go among sheep as if he were a sheepdog. The earth will be filled with peace as a container is filled with water. People will be in complete agreement, and only Allaah will be worshipped. Wars will cease, and the authority of Quraysh will be taken away. The earth will be like a silver basin, and will produce fruits so abundantly that a group of people will gather to eat a bunch of grapes or on epomegranate and will be satisfied. A bull will be worth so much money, but a horse will be worth only a few dirhams."


Someone asked,

"O Messenger of Allaah, why will a horse be so cheap?" He said, "Because it will never be ridden in war." He was asked, "Why will the bull be so expensive?" He said, "Because it will plough the earth. For three years before the Dajjaal emerges, the people will suffer severe hunger. In the first year, Allaah will order the sky to withhold a third of its rain, and the earth to withhold two-thirds of its fruits. In the third year, He will order the sky to withhold all of its rain, and the earth to withhold all of its fruits, so that nothing green will grow. Every cloven-hoofed creature will die except for whatever Allaah wills." Someone asked, "How will the people live at that time?" He said, "By saying Laa ilaaha illaa Allaah, Allaahu Akbar, Subhaan Allaah and Al-Hamdu-lillaah. This will be like food for them." [1]


The Prophet (صلى الله علیه وسلم) said,

"The Dajjaal will come forth, and one of the Believers will go towards him. The armed men of the Dajjaal will ask him, 'Where are you going?' He will say, 'I am going to this one who has come forth.' They will say, 'Kill him!' Then some of them will say to the others, 'Hasn't your lord [ie the Dajjaal] forbidden you to kill anyone without his permission?' So they will take him to the Dajjaal, and when the Believer sees him, he will say, 'O People, this is the Dajjaal whom the Prophet (صلى الله علیه وسلم) told us about.' Then the Dajjaal will order them to seize him and wound him in the head; they will inflict blows all over, even in his back and stomach. The Dajjaal will ask him, 'Don't you believe in me?' He will say, 'You are a false Messiah.' The Dajjaal will order that he be sawn in two from the parting of his hair to his legs; then he will walk between the two pieces. Then he will say 'Stand!' and the man will stand up. The Dajjaal will say to him, 'Don't you believe in me?' The believer will say, 'It has only increased my understanding that you are the Dajjaal.' Then he will say, 'O people! he will not treat anyone else in such a manner after me.' The Dajjaal will seize him to slaughter him, but the space between his neck and collar-bone will be turned into copper, and the Dajjaal will not be able to do anything to him. He will take the man by his arms and legs and throw him away; the people will believe that he has been thrown into Hell, whereas in fact he will have been thrown into Paradise." The Prophet (صلى الله علیه وسلم) said, "He will be the greatest of martyrs in the sight of Allaah, the Lord of the Worlds." [Muslim] [2]


Footnotes

[1] Ibn Maajah, Kitaab al-Fitan, (Hadeeth 4077), 2:1363.

"He will break the cross and kill pigs", i.e. Christianity will be annulled.

"He will not collect the Sadaqah" (i.e. Zakaat) - because there will be so much wealth, and no-one will be in need of Sadaqah.

Checker's Note: Da`eef. Da`eef Ibn Maajah: 884. Parts are supported.

[2] Muslim, Kitaab al-Fitan wa Ashtaar al-Saa'ah, 8/199, 200.


 

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