like donkeys; as stated in the hadith of al-Nawwās, may Allah be pleased with him: “The worst of people will remain, copulating openly like donkeys. It is upon them that the Hour will come” (1).
Abū Hurayra, may Allah be pleased with him, reported that the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, said: “By Him in whose hand is my soul, this Ummah will not pass away until a man approaches a woman and has intercourse with her in the road. The best of them on that day will be the one who says, ‘If only you had concealed her behind this wall!’” (2).
Commenting on the preceding hadith of Anas in his book al-Mufhim, al-Qurtubī (3) said: “This hadith contains one of the signs of prophethood: it foretold events that would occur, and they did indeed occur—particularly in these times” (4).
If this was the case in al-Qurtubī’s time, it is even more evident in our own;
= sexual intercourse and its frequent occurrence. That is, men will have intercourse with women in the presence of others, as donkeys do. See *al-Nihāya fī Gharīb al-Hadīth*, vol. 5, p. 257; and al-Nawawī’s *Commentary on Muslim*, vol. 18, p. 70.
(1) *Sahīh Muslim*, “Book of Tribulations and Portents of the Hour,” chapter “The Mention of the Dajjāl,” vol. 18, p. 70, with al-Nawawī’s commentary.
(2) Narrated by Abū Ya‘lā. Al-Haythamī said: “Its narrators are those of the *Sahīh*.” *Majma‘ al-Zawā’id*, vol. 7, p. 331.
(3) He was Abū al-‘Abbās Ahmad ibn Umar ibn Ibrāhīm ibn Umar al-Ansārī al-Qurtubī, a Mālikī jurist and hadith scholar. He was the teacher of the Quran commentator al-Qurtubī, Abū Abd Allāh Muhammad ibn Ahmad al-Ansārī, author of *al-Tadhkira fī Ahwāl al-Mawtā wa-Umūr al-Ākhira*. Abū al-‘Abbās was known as Ibn al-Muzayyin. His works include *al-Mufhim li-mā Ashkala min Talkhīs Muslim* and *Mukhtasar Sahīh al-Bukhārī*. He died in Alexandria in 656 AH—may Allah have mercy on him. See *al-Bidāya wa-l-Nihāya*, vol. 13, p. 213; and al-Ziriklī, *al-A‘lām*, vol. 1, p. 186.
(4) *Fath al-Bārī*, vol. 1, p. 179.