an instant, whereupon all creatures will die at a single blast (1).

The Signs of the Hour are the signs of the Resurrection that precede it and indicate that it is near. It has also been said that they are the lesser events preceding it which people find unfamiliar before the Hour comes. Another view is that they are the causes leading to it, short of its greatest event and actual commencement (2).

The Hour is used in three senses:

A — The minor Hour: the death of an individual. Whoever dies, his own resurrection has begun, for he has entered the realm of the Hereafter.

B — The intermediate Hour: the death of the people of a single generation. This is supported by what Aisha—may Allah be pleased with her—reported. She said: Whenever the Bedouins came to the Messenger of Allah—peace and blessings be upon him—they would ask him about the Hour: “When will the Hour come?” He would look at the youngest person among them and say: “If this man lives, old age will not overtake him before your Hour comes upon you” (3)—meaning their death; the Hour intended was that of those he was addressing (4).