As for the report that many ordinary people circulate, claiming the Prophet ﷺ said, “lā yuʾallaf taḥta al-arḍ” (no composition will take place beneath the earth), that is nothing but their own wording; it has no foundation whatsoever. It is mentioned in none of the dependable ḥadith compilations, nor have we encountered it in any of the extensive works or the abridged collections. No authentic ḥadith of the Messenger of Allah ﷺ sets a fixed, limited span for the Hour; he merely spoke of some of its portents, tokens, and signs, as we shall explain, if Allah wills.

Report of the fire that emerged from the Ḥijāz, whose glow lit the necks of the camels in Busra, in the year 654 AH

Al-Bukhārī narrated: Abū al-Yamān told us; Shuʿayb related to us, from al-Zuhrī, who said: Saʿīd ibn al-Musayyab informed me, Abū Hurayrah reported that the Messenger of Allah ﷺ said, “The Hour will not come until a fire breaks out in the land of the Ḥijāz whose light will illuminate the necks of the camels in Busra.” Muslim likewise transmitted it through al-Layth, from ʿUqayl, from Ibn Shihāb, with the same wording (1).

Abū Nuʿaym al-Iṣbahānī also narrated it—and I copied it from his own manuscript—through the chain: Abū ʿĀṣim al-Nabīl, from ʿAbd al-Ḥamīd ibn Jaʿfar, from ʿĪsā ibn ʿAlī al-Anṣārī, from Rāfiʿ ibn Bashīr al-Sulamī (2), from his father, who said that the Messenger of Allah ﷺ declared: “A fire will appear whose glow will light up the necks of the camels in Busra. It will move at the pace of a camel’s mount: it travels by day and halts at night; it sets out in the morning and returns in the evening. Then it will be announced, ‘People, the fire has set out—so set out!’ Or the fire itself will say, ‘People, take your midday rest.’ Again, ‘The fire has set out—so depart for the evening.’ Whoever it overtakes, it will consume.”

This is how Abū Nuʿaym reported it. The same ḥadith appears in the Musnad of Aḥmad through the narration of Rāfiʿ ibn Bashīr al-Sulamī (3), from his father, from the Messenger of Allah ﷺ, but without the additional wording—ending simply with, “…whose glow will illuminate the necks of the camels in Busra.” That is the sound version, for the fire mentioned by Abū Nuʿaym is the one that will drive people to the land of the Gathering, as will be clarified shortly (4).

Imām Aḥmad further said: Wahb ibn Jarīr narrated to us; my father related to us; I heard al-Aʿmash narrating from ʿAmr ibn Murrah, from ʿAbd Allah ibn al-Ḥārith, from Ḥabīb ibn Ḥimār (5), from Abū Dharr, who said: “We were travelling with the Messenger of Allah ﷺ. We encamped at Dhū al-Ḥulayfah, and some of the men hastened on to Madinah. The Messenger of Allah spent the night there, and when morning came he asked about them. It was said, ‘They hurried on…’”