CHAPTER 1 | ~*Ayat and Ahadith about the hour*~ |
|||
|
Allah SWT said: "They ask thee about the Hour, 'When will be its appointed time?' Wherein art thou (concerned) with the declaration thereof? With thy Lord is the Limit fixed therefor. Thou art but a Warner for such as fear it. The Day they will see it, (it will be) as if they had tarried but a single evening, or (at most till) the following morn!" (al-Nazi'at 79:42-46) "They ask thee about the (final) Hour - when will be its appointed time? Say: 'The knowledge thereof is with my Lord (alone): none but He can reveal as to when it will occur. Heavy were its burden through the heavens and the earth. Only, all of a sudden will it come to you.' They ask thee as if thou wert eager in search thereof: say: 'The knowledge thereof is with God (alone), but most men know not.'" (al-A'raf 7:187) There are many Ayat and Ahadith concerning this subject: Allah SWT said: "The Hour (of Judgement) is night, and the moon is cleft asunder." (al-Qamar 54:1 ) The Prophet (S) said, whilst pointing with his index and middle fingers, "The time of my advent and the Hour are like these two fingers." In another report he said, "The Hour almost came before me." This indicates how close we are, relatively speaking, to the Hour. Allan SWT said: "Closer and closer to mankind comes their Reckoning: yet they heed not and they turn away." (al-Anbiya' 21:1) "(Inevitable) cometh (to pass) the Command of God: seek, ye not then to hasten it.. ." (al-Nahl 16:1) "Only those wish to hasten it who believe not in it: those who believe hold it in awe, and know that it is the Truth . . ." (al-Shura 42: 18) In Sahih al-Bukhari there is a Hadith which states that a Bedouin asked the Prophet (S) about the Hour. He said, "It will surely come to pass. What have you prepared for it?" The man said, "O Messenger of Allah, I have not prepared much in the way of prayer and good works, but I love Allah and His Messenger." The Prophet (S) said, "You will be with those you love." The Muslims had never rejoiced as much as they did when they heard this Hadith. Some Ahadith report that the Prophet (S) was asked about the
Hour. He looked towards a young boy and said, "If he lives, he will not grow
very old before he sees your Last Hour coming to you." By this he meant
their death and entering the Hereafter, because everyone who dies enters the Hereafter;
some people say that when a person has died, his judgement has begun. This hadith with
this meaning is "correct" (Sahih). When Gabriel (AS) came to the Prophet (S) in the guise of a Bedouin, he asked him about Islam, Iman (faith) and lhsan (excellence of faith), and the Prophet (S) answered his questions. But when he asked him about the Hour, he (S) said, "The one questioned about it knows no better than the questioner." Gabriel said, "Tell me about its signs." Then the Prophet (S) described them, as we shall see later when we quote this Hadith and others in full. Hudhayfah said: "The Prophet (S) stood up one day to speak to
us, and told us everything that was going to happen until the Hour, and left nothing
unsaid. Some of the listeners learnt it by heart, and some forgot it; these friends of
mine learnt it. I do not remember it completely, but sometimes it springs to mind, just as
one might remember and recognize the face of a man whom one had forgotten, when one sees
him." (Abu Dawud, Muslim.) Imam Ahmad reported via Abu Nudrah that Abu Sa'id said: "One day the Prophet (S) led us in praying the afternoon prayer (Salat al-'Asr). Then he stood and addressed us until sunset. He mentioned everything that was to happen until the Day of Resurrection, and left nothing unsaid. Some of us remembered it, and some of us forgot it. One of the things he said was: 'O people, this world is full of attractive temptations. Allah has appointed you as vicegerents (Khalifah) in this world, and He will see how you will act. So guard yourselves against the temptations of this world and of women.' Towards the end of this speech, he said, 'The sun is about to set, and what remains of this world, compared to what has passed, is like what remains of this day compared to what has passed.' 'Ali ibn Zayd ibn Jad'an al-Timi narrated some Gharib and Munkar Ahadith -
which could bring into question the validity of this Hadith. But there are some reports
which are similar to this Hadith, and which were transmitted with different isnads. Part
of this Hadith is reported in Sahih Muslim, through Abu Nudrah on the authority of Abu
Sa'id. This Hadith refers to something which is beyond any doubt: what remains of this
world, compared to what has passed, is very little. In spite of that, no-one can know
exactly how much time is left except Allah SWT, and no-one can know exactly how much time
has passed, except Allah. |