8/8/2019 Summary of Signs by Dr. Ridwan Kekere-ekun

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Summary of Signs

The Prophet ( ) in one narration gave us an account of the summary of

the signs of the Last Hour in a single hadeeth. Aboo Hurayrah ( ) narrated thatthe Prophet ( ) said, The Last Hour will not be established till two largeparties 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 (dajjaaloonKadhdhaaboon) appear, each one of them claiming that he is a Messenger of Allaah, andtill [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, andtill 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 andcompete with one another in erecting lofty structures (edifices), and till a man will pass

by someones 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:]

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 ofthem 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 whilea 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 Prophets Dissemination of the Last Hour Prophecies

Whatever the case may be, the fact is that the Prophet ( ) communicated

to us the events preceding the Hour, those close to it, and those which are not. Hudhayfahibn al-Yamaan ( ) narrated: Allaahs Messenger ( ) stoodbefore 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 Irecapitulated them when anyone makes a mention of them just as a person recalls the face

1Soorah al-Anaam [6]:158.

2Sahih al-Bukhari (Arabic-English), vol. 9, pp. 180-1, no. 237.

8/8/2019 Summary of Signs by Dr. Ridwan Kekere-ekun

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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 ( ) also narrated: One day AllaahsMessenger ( ) led 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 thenagain mounted the pulpit and addressed us till it was time for the afternoon prayer. Hethen 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 mostto memory.4

At this point in time, it is over 1400 years that the Prophet ( ) prophesiedthe 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( ) that Allaahs Messenger) stood 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 tearsprofusely when they heard this from Allaahs Messenger ( ).5

Umar ibn al-Khattaab ( ) narrated: One day the Prophet ( )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

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

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

5Collected 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 Yalaa (no. 3601) and others.

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