and drinking will still be possible, and men will still be able to ride mounts they have purchased and the like, while the Fire destroys any who lag behind. Had this taken place after the Resurrection blast, there would have been no further death, no mounts to buy, no food to eat, and no water to drink.” End quote.
A number of hadiths affirm that, toward the end of time, a fire will erupt from the depths of ʿAdan and drive people to the place of assembly.
Among them is the narration recorded by Ahmad, Muslim, and the compilers of the Sunan collections: “A fire will burst forth from the depths of ʿAdan and drive (or: gather) the people; it will spend the night where they spend the night and rest where they rest.”
Ibn ʿUmar (may Allah be pleased with them) reported that the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said: “Before the Day of Resurrection, a fire will emerge from Hadramawt—or from the direction of the Sea of Hadramawt—and it will herd the people.” They asked, “O Messenger of Allah, what do you command us to do?” He replied, “Head for al-Sham.” This was related by Ahmad, al-Tirmidhi, and Ibn Hibban in his Sahih; al-Tirmidhi said, “This is a sound, singular hadith.”
Al-Saffarini remarked: “The scholars disagree over whether the gathering of people from the East to the West occurs on the Day of Resurrection itself or before it. Al-Qurtubi and al-Khatabi—an opinion judged correct by Qadi ʿIyad—held that this gathering precedes the Day of Resurrection. The gathering from the graves, however, is as stated in the hadith traced back to Ibn ʿAbbas, found in the two Sahihs and elsewhere: ‘You will be gathered barefoot, naked, and uncircumcised.’
He continued: ‘Qadi ʿIyad championed the view of al-Khatabi and al-Qurtubi on the basis of Abu Hurayrah’s report—“it travels with them, spending the night, the morning, and the evening…”—which supports the idea that the gathering takes place in this world, toward al-Sham, because such descriptions apply only to worldly life.’
He also said: ‘Al-Qurtubi, in his Tadhkirah, stated that the gatherings are four: two in …’