A Prophetic Allusion to the Era of ʿUmar ibn ʿAbd al-ʿAzīz, the Crown of the Umayyads

The ḥadīth of Abū Idrīs al-Khawlānī, transmitted from Ḥudhayfa, has already been cited. Ḥudhayfa said: “I asked the Messenger of Allah ﷺ, ‘Will there be evil after this good?’ He replied, ‘Yes.’ I asked, ‘And will there be good after that evil?’ He said, ‘Yes, though it will be tainted.’ I asked, ‘What will its taint be?’ He answered, ‘People who follow something other than my Sunnah and adopt guidance other than my guidance; some of what they do you will approve of and some you will denounce.’ …” Al-Bayhaqī and others understood this second portion of the report to refer to the days of ʿUmar ibn ʿAbd al-ʿAzīz.

Al-Bayhaqī also narrated—through al-Ḥākim, al-Aṣamm, al-ʿAbbās ibn al-Walīd ibn Mazīd, from his father—that al-Awzāʿī was asked about the meaning of Ḥudhayfa’s question to the Messenger of Allah ﷺ concerning the evil that would follow the first good. Al-Awzāʿī replied, “It is the apostasy that occurred after the death of the Messenger of Allah ﷺ.” As for Ḥudhayfa’s further question, “Will there be good after that evil?” and the Prophet’s reply, “Yes, but it will be tainted,” al-Awzāʿī said, “The good is the united community; among their governors are some whose conduct is recognized and others whose conduct is rejected. The Messenger of Allah ﷺ did not permit fighting them so long as they establish the prayer.”

Abū Dāwūd al-Ṭayālisī recorded—through Dāwūd al-Wāsiṭī, who was trustworthy—from Ḥabīb ibn Sālim, from Nuʿmān ibn Bashīr ibn Saʿd, from Ḥudhayfa—that the Messenger of Allah ﷺ said:

“You will remain under Prophethood for as long as Allah wills; then Allah will remove it when He wills. There will then be a caliphate upon the prophetic model for as long as Allah wills; then He will remove it when He wills. Next will come coercive kingship for as long as Allah wills; then He will remove it when He wills. After that there will again be a caliphate upon the prophetic model.”

Later, when ʿUmar ibn ʿAbd al-ʿAzīz arrived accompanied by Yazīd ibn al-Nuʿmān, I wrote him a letter reminding him of this ḥadīth, saying, “I hope you will be the Commander of the Believers after the era of coercive rule.” Yazīd took the letter in to ʿUmar, and he was delighted by it.

Nuʿaym ibn Ḥammād reported—Rawḥ ibn ʿUbādah narrated to us, from Saʿīd ibn Abī ʿArūbah, from Qatādah—that ʿUmar ibn ʿAbd al-ʿAzīz said: “I saw the Messenger of Allah ﷺ, with ʿUmar, ʿUthmān, and ʿAlī standing beside him. He said to me, ‘Come closer.’ I approached until I was standing before him. He raised his gaze to me and said, ‘Indeed, you will assume authority over this ummah, and you will deal justly with them.’”

In another ḥadīth, which will be cited later, God willing, it is stated: “Allah will raise up for this ummah, at the head of every hundred years, someone who will renew its….”