—not even a single verse of it on the earth. Only small bands of people will survive—an aged man and an elderly woman—who will say: “We found our forefathers upon this statement, la ilaha illa Allah (there is no god but Allah), so we utter it as well.” Ṣilah then said to Hudhayfah, “Of what avail will la ilaha illa Allah be to them when they know nothing of prayer, fasting, sacrificial worship, or charity?” Hudhayfah turned away from him. Ṣilah repeated the question three times, and each time Hudhayfah turned aside. The third time Hudhayfah faced him and said, “O Ṣilah, it will save them from the Fire,”—he said it three times. (1)

This shows that, at the end of time, knowledge may be removed from people’s hearts, so much so that the Quran itself will be taken away, lifted from both the written muṣḥafs and memorized recitations, leaving mankind without knowledge or Quran. Only a very old man and woman will remain, recounting that they once found the people saying, “la ilaha illa Allah,” and they too will say it, seeking closeness to Allah. The phrase will benefit them even though they possess no other righteous deed or useful knowledge.

His words, “It will save them from the Fire,” may mean that the statement will protect them entirely from entering the Fire, for in that era their sole religious duty will be the utterance itself, without deeds, since they are not charged with acts for which no revelation has reached them—Allah knows best. It could also mean that it will rescue them after they have first entered the Fire, and that la ilaha illa Allah will be the reason for their deliverance from an eternal, unceasing punishment.

Accordingly, they may be among those of whom Allah says in the ḥadīth qudsī: “By My might and My majesty, I shall bring out of the Fire whoever has ever, on any day, said: la ilaha illa Allah,” as will be clarified in the reports concerning intercession. (2) It is also possible that the ḥadīth refers to a different group altogether; Allah knows best.

The gist is that knowledge will be removed at the end of time and ignorance will abound. Another wording states, “Ignorance will descend,” meaning that the people of that era will be inspired with ignorance as a form of Allah’s subjugation and abandonment—may Allah protect us. They will continue in ever-increasing ignorance and misguidance until their appointed terms expire,

as stated in another ḥadīth: “The Hour will not be established while anyone still says: Allah, Allah.” (3) And: “The Hour will rise only over the worst of people.” (4)

Al-Ṭabarānī narrates—through Muṭṭariḥ ibn Yazīd, from ʿAlī ibn Yazīd, from al-Qāsim, from Abū Umāmah—that the Messenger of Allah ﷺ said:

“This religion will experience both advance and decline. Among the signs of its advance is that an entire tribe will become learned, so that only one sinner—or two sinners—remain among them, and those two will be humiliated and oppressed; if they speak, they will be overpowered, disgraced, and persecuted. Among the signs of the religion’s decline is that an entire tribe will become estranged from it, leaving in it only one jurist—or two jurists—and they will be despised…"