and peace be upon him—the Prophet of Mercy, the Prophet of Repentance, the Prophet of Battle, the Last, the Final Successor, and the Gatherer, at whose feet people will be gathered—was nevertheless, despite the authentic report in the Sahih from Anas and Sahl ibn Saʿd—may Allah be pleased with them both—that he said, ‘The Hour and I have been sent like these two’ (1), while holding his index and middle fingers together, commanded by Allah Most High to declare, whenever asked about the Hour, that knowledge of its time rests with Him. Allah said: ‘Say: Its knowledge is only with Allah, but most people do not know.’ [al-Aʿrāf: 187]” (2).

Whoever claims that the Prophet—may Allah bless him and grant him peace—knows when the Hour will occur is ignorant, for the preceding Quranic verses and Prophetic hadiths refute his claim.

Ibn al-Qayyim said, “Some who claim knowledge in our time have openly uttered the lie—pretending to possess what they were not given—that Allah’s Messenger—may Allah bless him and grant him peace—knew when the Hour would occur. It was said to one of them, ‘But in the hadith of Gabriel he said: “The one questioned about it knows no more than the questioner”!’ He wrenched these words from their proper meaning and said, ‘It means: You and I both know it.’

“This is among the grossest forms of ignorance and the vilest distortions. The Prophet—may Allah bless him and grant him peace—knew Allah far too well to say to someone whom he believed to be a Bedouin, ‘You and I know when the Hour will occur’—unless this ignorant man claims that the Prophet knew he was Gabriel. Yet Allah’s Messenger—may Allah bless him and grant him peace—is the one who spoke truth when he said, ‘By Him in Whose hand is my soul, he never came to me in any form without my recognizing him, except in this form’ (3),