Summary of Signs

The Prophet (‫ )صلى الله عليه وسلم‬in one narration gave us an account of the summary of
the signs of the Last Hour in a single hadeeth. Aboo Hurayrah (‫ )رضي الله عنه‬narrated that
the Prophet (‫ )صلى الله عليه وسلم‬said, “The Last Hour will not be established till two large
parties fight each other with both of them incurring great casualities and their call [and
claim] will be the same, and till about thirty impostors and liars (dajjaaloon
Kadhdhaaboon) appear, each one of them claiming that he is a Messenger of Allaah, and
till [religious] knowledge is taken away, and till earthquakes becomes more frequent, and
till time becomes contracted and passes rapidly, and till fitan (trials and tribulations)
appear and spread, and till ‘al-Harj’ (killing and bloodshed) increase to a large scale, and
till wealth becomes abundant amongst you, so abundant that a wealthy person will worry
lest nobody should accept his Sadaqah (alms), and till he offers it to someone and the
person to whom it is offered says, ‘I am not in need of it,’ and till the people boast and
compete with one another in erecting lofty structures (edifices), and till a man will pass
by someone’s grave and say, ‘Would that I were in his place,’ and till the sun rises from
its place of setting [i.e., the west]. Then when it rises and the people see it [rising from
the west], they will all believe, but that will be a time when [as Allaah says:]

َ ُ ‫قب ب‬ َ
‫و‬
ْ ‫لأ‬ ْ َ ‫ن‬ ْ ‫مب‬ ِ ‫ت‬
ْ َ ‫من‬
َ ‫نآ‬ ْ َ ‫ها ل‬
ْ ُ ‫م ت َك‬ َ ُ ‫مان‬
َ ‫سا ِإي‬ ْ َ‫ع ن‬
ً ‫ف‬ َ ْ ‫َل ي َن‬
ُ ‫ف‬
‫خي ًْرا‬
َ ‫ها‬َ ِ ‫مان‬َ ‫في ِإي‬ ِ ‫ت‬ ْ َ ‫سب‬َ َ‫ك‬
‘No good will it do to a soul to believe then, if it believed not before,
nor earned good and righteousness through its faith.’1

And the Hour would be established while two men are spreading a garment in front of
them but they would neither be able to complete the transaction, nor fold the garment up;
and the Hour would be established while a man has milked his she-camel and has taken
away the milk but would not be able to drink it; and the Hour would be established while
a man is setting his tank [for his livestock] but would not be able to water his camels
from it; and the Hour would be established while a person has raised a morsel of food to
his mouth but would not be able to eat it.”2

Evidence of the Prophet’s Dissemination of the Last Hour Prophecies

Whatever the case may be, the fact is that the Prophet (‫ )صلى الله عليه وسلم‬communicated
to us the events preceding the Hour, those close to it, and those which are not. Hudhayfah
ibn al-Yamaan (‫ )رضي الله عنهما‬narrated: “Allaah’s Messenger (‫ )صلى الله عليه وسلم‬stood
before us one day and he did not leave anything unsaid [that he had to say] at that very
spot which would come to pass till the coming of the Last Hour. Those who remembered
them preserved them in their minds and those who could not remember them forgot them.
My companions knew them; and there are certain things which slip out of my mind, but I
recapitulated them when anyone makes a mention of them just as a person recalls the face

1
Soorah al-An‘aam [6]:158.

2
Sahih al-Bukhari (Arabic-English), vol. 9, pp. 180-1, no. 237.
of a man when he remains absent from him, but when afterwards he sees him he
remembers him and recognizes him.”3

Aboo Zayd ‘Amr ibn Akhtab al-Ansaaree (‫ )رضي الله عنه‬also narrated: “One day Allaah’s
Messenger (‫ )صلى الله عليه وسلم‬led us in the dawn prayer and then mounted the pulpit and
addressed us till it was time for the noon prayer. He then descended and prayed and then
again mounted the pulpit and addressed us till it was time for the afternoon prayer. He
then descended and prayed and then again mounted the pulpit and addressed us till it was
time for the sunset prayer; and he informed us of that which had come to pass and that
which shall come to pass, and the most learned among us is the one who committed most
to memory.”4

At this point in time, it is over 1400 years that the Prophet (‫ )صلى الله عليه وسلم‬prophesied
the portents of the Last Hour. Some of them had occurred during his time. We are
witnesses to some today, and after us others would still come to pass. The fact that many
of these prophecies and signs are being manifested till date is pointing to the fact that the
Hour is real and imminent.

It was related on the authority of Anas ibn Maalik (‫ )رضي الله عنه‬that Allaah’s Messenger
(‫ )صلى الله عليه وسلم‬stood when the sun had passed the meridian and led them in the noon
prayer and after observing salutations to mark the end of the prayer, he stood upon the
pulpit and talked about the Last Hour and made mention that there would be great events
(umoor ‘izaam) prior to it and then said, “He who desires to ask anything from me let him
ask me about it. By Allaah, I shall not move from this place so long as I do not inform
you about that which you ask.” Anas ibn Maalik said, “People began to shed tears
profusely when they heard this from Allaah’s Messenger (‫)صلى الله عليه وسلم‬.”5

‘Umar ibn al-Khattaab (‫ )رضي الله عنه‬narrated: One day the Prophet (‫)صلى الله عليه وسلم‬
stood up amongst us for a long period and informed us about the beginning of creation
[and what will happen after that] till the inhabitants of Paradise will enter their stations
and the inhabitants of Hell-Fire will enter their stations. Those [among us] who
remembered that [which he said] remembered, and those who forgot it forgot.”6

3
Sahih Muslim (English Trans.), vol. 4, p. 1498, no. 6909.

4
Sahih Muslim (English Trans.), vol. 4, p. 1498, no. 6913.

5
Collected by al-Bukhaaree [Sahih al-Bukhari (Arabic-English), vol. 9, pp. 293-4, no. 397],
Muslim [Sahih Muslim (English Trans.), vol. 4, p. 1258, no. 5825], Ahmad (3/162), Ibn Hibbaan
(no. 106), Aboo Ya‘laa (no. 3601) and others.

6
Sahih al-Bukhari (Arabic-English), vol. 4, pp. 278-9, no. 414.