Introduction

First: The Order of the Major Signs of the Hour

I have found no explicit text establishing the order in which the major signs of the Hour will occur. Rather, the hadiths mention them together without specifying an order. The order in which they are mentioned does not entail the order of their occurrence, for they are joined by the conjunction “and,” which does not indicate sequence.

Indeed, some texts list them in an order different from that found in another text.

To make this clear, I shall give several examples by citing hadiths that mention the major signs collectively or mention some of them:

1 — Imam Muslim narrated from Hudhayfah ibn Usayd al-Ghifārī, may Allah be pleased with him, who said: The Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, came upon us while we were engaged in a discussion and asked, “What are you discussing?” They replied, “We are discussing the Hour.” He said, “It will not come until you see ten signs before it.” He then mentioned the Smoke, the False Messiah, the Beast, the rising of the sun from the west, the descent of Jesus son of Mary, peace and blessings be upon him, Gog and Magog, and three landslides: one in the east, and one