Al-Bidayah wa an-Nihayah - Ibn Kathir - (17/58)

Al-Bidayah wa an-NihayahIbn Kathir

were tending to their livestock (1), while others were practicing archery, when a caller of the Messenger of Allah ﷺ announced, “The congregational prayer!” I went to him and found him addressing the people, saying:

“O people! No prophet was ever sent before me without it being incumbent upon him to guide his community to whatever he knew would benefit them and to warn them against whatever he knew would harm them. Know that the wellbeing of this ummah lies in its first generation, and that the latter part of it will be struck by tribulation and trials, each one making the previous seem slight. A trial will come and the believer will say, ‘This is my destruction,’ then it will pass. Another will come and he will say, ‘This one—this one,’ then it will pass. Yet another will come and he will say, ‘This one—this one,’ and it too will pass. Whoever wishes to be kept away from the Fire and admitted to the Garden, let death overtake him while he believes in Allah and the Last Day, and let him treat people in the way he would love to be treated. Whoever pledges allegiance to an imam, clasping his hand and giving him the sincerity of his heart, let him obey him as far as he is able.” On another occasion he said, “so far as he is able.”

ʿAbd al-Raḥmān said: When I heard this, I pushed my head between two men and said, “Your cousin Muʿāwiyah orders us to consume our wealth among ourselves unjustly and to kill one another, while Allah the Exalted has said: ‘O you who believe, do not consume your wealth among yourselves wrongfully … and do not kill yourselves’ (al-Nisāʾ 4:29).”

He clasped his hands, placed them on his forehead, lowered his head for a moment, then raised it and said, “Obey him in obedience to Allah and disobey him in disobedience to Allah.”

I asked, “Did you hear this from the Messenger of Allah ﷺ?” He replied, “Yes—my ears heard it and my heart retained it.” Muslim, Abū Dāwūd, al-Nasāʾī, and Ibn Mājah also reported it through al-Aʿmash with this chain, and Muslim likewise recorded it through al-Shaʿbī from ʿAbd al-Raḥmān ibn ʿAbd Rabb al-Kaʿbah, from ʿAbd Allah ibn ʿAmr in similar wording (2).

Aḥmad said: Ibn Numayr narrated to us; al-Ḥasan ibn ʿAmr narrated to us, from Abū al-Zubayr, from ʿAbd Allah ibn ʿAmr, who said: I heard the Messenger of Allah ﷺ say, “When you see my ummah fear an oppressor so much that it cannot say to him, ‘You are an oppressor,’ then bid them farewell.” The Messenger of Allah ﷺ also said, “In my ummah there will be calumny, the swallowing up of lands, and transformations of form” (3).

Imām Aḥmad said: Yaḥyā ibn Isḥāq narrated to us; Yaḥyā ibn Ayyūb narrated to us; Abū Qabīl narrated: We were with ʿAbd Allah ibn ʿAmr when he was asked, “Which of the two cities will be conquered first, Constantinople or Rome?” ʿAbd Allah brought forth a box with metal rings, took out a book, and said, “While we were around the Messenger of Allah ﷺ writing, he was asked, ‘Which of the two cities will be conquered first: Constantinople or Rome?’ The Messenger of Allah ﷺ answered, ‘The city of Heraclius will be conquered first’—meaning Constantinople (4).”

(1) al-jashar: animals that graze and spend the night in their grazing area. (2) Narrated by Ahmad in al-Musnad (vol. 2: 191, 161), by Muslim (no. 1844), by Abu Dawud (no. 4248), by al-Nasa’i (vol. 7: 152–153), and by Ibn Majah (no. 3956). (3) Narrated by Ahmad in al-Musnad (vol. 2: 163); its isnad (chain of transmission) is weak, though the second of the two hadiths is ḥasan (good). (4) Ahmad in al-Musnad (vol. 2: 176), and it is a ḥasan (good) hadith.

مَنْ هُو في جَشَرِه (١) ، ومِنا من ينْتَضِلُ، إذ نادى مُنادي رسول اللَّه ﷺ : الصلاةُ جامعةٌ، قال: فانتهيتُ إليه وهو يخطبُ الناس، ويقول: "أيُّها الناسُ، إنّه لَمْ يَكُنْ نبِيٌّ قبْلِي إلّا كَانَ حَقًّا عليْهِ أَنْ يَدُلّ أُمَّتَه على مَا يَعْلَمُه خَيْرًا لهُمْ، ويُنْذِرهُمْ ما يَعْلمُه شَرًّا لَهُمْ، ألا وإنّ عَافيةَ هذه الأمّةِ في أَوّلِهَا، وسَيُصيبُ آخِرهَا بَلاءٌ وفِتَنٌ، يرقِّق بعضها بعضًا، تجيء الفتنة، فيقول المؤمن: هذه مُهْلِكَتي، ثم تنكشف، ثم تجيء فيقول: هذه، هذه، ثم تجيء فيقول: هذه، هذه، ثم تنكشف، فمن أحبّ أن يُزَحْزَحَ عن النار ويُدْخَلَ الجَنةَ فلتُدْرِكْهُ مَنِيَّتُهُ وهو يُؤْمنُ باللَّهِ واليَومِ الآخرِ، ويأتي إلى الَّناسِ ما يُحِبّ أَنْ يُؤتى إلَيْه، ومَنْ بايع إمامًا فأَعطْاهُ صَفْقَةَ يَدِه وثَمرةَ قَلْبِهِ فليطِعْهُ إن اسْتَطَاع" وقال مَرّةً: "ما اسْتَطاعَ" . قال عبد الرحمن: فلمّا سَمعتُها أدْخَلْتُ رَأسي بَيْن رَجُلَيْنِ، قلت: فإنّ ابنَ عَمِّكَ معاويةَ يأمُرنا أن نأْكلَ أمْوالنَا بَيْنَنا بِالباطِلِ، وأنْ نَقْتُلَ أَنْفسَنا، وقد قال تعالى: ﴿يَاأَيُّهَا الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا لَا تَأْكُلُوا أَمْوَالَكُمْ بَيْنَكُمْ بِالْبَاطِلِ. . . وَلَا تَقْتُلُوا أَنْفُسَكُمْ﴾ الآية [النساء: ٢٩] . قال: فجمع يديه، فوضعهما على جبهته، ثم نَكَس هُنَيْهةً ثم رفَع رأسَه، فقال: أطِعْهُ في طَاعِةِ اللَّهِ واعْصِهِ في مَعْصِيَةِ اللَّه، قلت له: أنتَ سمعت هذا من رسول اللَّه ﷺ ؟ قال: نعم، سمعتْهُ أُذُنايَ، ووعاهُ قَلْبي. ورواه مسلم وأبو داود، والنسائي، وابن ماجه، من حديث الأعمش، به، وأخرجه مسلم أيضًا، من حديث الشعبي، عن عبد الرحمن بن عبد ربّ الكعبة، عن عبد اللَّه بن عمرو بنحوه (٢) . وقال أحمد: حدثنا ابن نُمير، حدّثنا الحسن بن عمرو، عن أبي الزُّبير، عن عبد اللَّه بن عمرو قال: سمعت رسول اللَّه ﷺ يقول: "إذا رأيتم أمّتي تَهَابُ الظالمَ أَنْ تَقُولَ لَهُ: إنّك لَظَالِمٌ، فَقَدْ تُوُدِّعَ منْهُمْ" وقال رسول اللَّه ﷺ : "يكون في أمتي قذف وخسف ومسخ" (٣) . وقال الإمام أحمد: حدثنا يحيى بن إسحاق، حدثنا يحيى بن أيوب، حدثنا أبو قبيل، قال: كنا عند عبد اللَّه بن عمرو، وسُئل: أيُّ المَدينَتين تُفْتَحُ أوّلًا، القُسْطنْطِينيَّة أو رُومية؟ قال: فدعا عبدُ اللَّه بصندوقٍ له حِلَق، قال: فأخْرَج منْهُ كتابًا، قال: فقال عبد اللَّه: بيْنما نحنُ حَوْلَ رَسُول اللَّه ﷺ نكتبُ، إذ سئل رسول اللَّه ﷺ : أيُّ المدِينَتَيْن تفتح أولًا: قسطنطينية أو رومية؟ فقال رسول اللَّه ﷺ : "مدينةُ هِرقْلَ تُفْتَحُ أوّلًا" يعني القسطنطينينة (٤) .

(١) الجَشَر: الدواب التي ترعى وتبيت مكانها. (٢) رواه أحمد في المسند (٢/ ١٩١ و ١٦١) ومسلم رقم (١٨٤٤) وأبو داود رقم (٤٢٤٨) والنسائي (٧/ ١٥٢ - ١٥٣) وابن ماجه (٣٩٥٦). (٣) رواه أحمد في المسند (٢/ ١٦٣) وإسناده ضعيف، والحديث الثاني منهما، حسن. (٤) أحمد في المسند (٢/ ١٧٦) وهو حديث حسن.