…he said: “The Messenger of Allah ﷺ said:

‘There will come a tribulation(1) in which the one who remains seated is better than the one who stands, the one who stands is better than the one who walks, and the one who walks is better than the one who rushes toward it. Whoever deliberately looks out for it will be overtaken by it, and whoever finds a refuge or a place of safety, let him seek shelter there.’(2)

Ibn Shihāb further related: Abū Bakr ibn ʿAbd al-Raḥmān ibn al-Ḥārith told me, from ʿAbd al-Raḥmān ibn Muṭīʿ ibn al-Aswad, from Nawfal ibn Muʿāwiyah, a report identical to that of Abū Hurayrah.(3)

Muslim also transmitted Abū Hurayrah’s narration through the route of Ibrāhīm ibn Saʿd exactly as al-Bukhārī recorded it, and he likewise reported the ḥadīth of Nawfal ibn Muʿāwiyah with the same chain and wording as al-Bukhārī.(4)

Al-Bukhārī then said: “Muḥammad ibn Kathīr related to us; Sufyān informed us, from al-Aʿmash, from Zayd ibn Wahb, from Ibn Masʿūd, from the Prophet ﷺ, who said:

‘There will be favoritism and matters you will find objectionable.’ They asked, ‘O Messenger of Allah! What do you command us to do?’ He replied, ‘Discharge the rights that are due from you and ask Allah for the rights that are due to you.’”(5) Muslim recorded this ḥadīth as well through al-Aʿmash with the same chain.(6)

Imām Aḥmad said: “Rūḥ narrated to us; ʿUthmān al-Shaḥḥām narrated to us; Salamah ibn Abī Bakrah narrated to us, from Abū Bakrah, from the Messenger of Allah ﷺ, that he said:

‘Indeed, there will be a tribulation, and then another tribulation. Listen! During it the one who walks is better than the one who hastens toward it; the one who sits is better than the one who stands; and the one who lies down is better than the one who sits. So when it descends, whoever owns sheep should join his sheep, whoever owns land should stay with his land, and whoever owns camels should join his camels.’

A man from the people asked, ‘O Prophet of Allah, may Allah make me your ransom, what about one who has neither sheep, land, nor camels—what should he do?’ He replied:

‘Let him take his sword, place its edge upon a rock, and strike it with a stone until it is blunted; then let him flee if he is able to flee. O Allah, have I conveyed?’

Another man said, ‘O Messenger of Allah, may Allah make me your ransom, suppose I am seized by force and led to one of the two ranks— or one of the two factions (ʿUthmān was uncertain)—and a man strikes me with his sword and kills me. What then concerning me?’ He answered:

‘He will bear your sin and his own, and he will be among the people of the Fire.’”(7)

Muslim likewise narrated it from ʿUthmān al-Shaḥḥām with similar wording.(8)

This constitutes a forewarning of the onset of tribulations, and many other aḥādīth convey the same meaning.