- “The fitnah of the saddlecloths will be one of flight and war. Then will come the fitnah of prosperity, the smoke of which will arise from beneath the feet of a man from my household. He will claim to be of me, though he is not of me; rather, the God-fearing are my allies. Then the people will unite behind a man like a hip resting upon a rib. Then will come the all-enveloping fitnah, which will not leave anyone in this Ummah without striking him a blow. Whenever it is said, ‘It has ended,’ it will continue. A man will begin the day as a believer and end it as a disbeliever, until people are divided into two camps: a camp of faith containing no hypocrisy, and a camp of hypocrisy containing no faith. When that comes to pass, await the Dajjal that very day or the next.”
Abu Dawud (2/200), al-Hakim (4/467), and Ahmad (2/133) transmitted it through Abu al-Mughirah, who said: ‘Abd Allah ibn Salim narrated to us; al-‘Ala ibn ‘Utbah al-Himsi—or al-Yahsibi—narrated to me from ‘Umayr ibn Hani’ al-‘Ansi, who said: I heard ‘Abd Allah ibn ‘Umar say: “We were sitting with the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, discussing the tribulations. He spoke of them at length, until he mentioned the fitnah of the saddlecloths. Someone said: ‘O Messenger of Allah, what is the fitnah of the saddlecloths?’ He said: ‘It is...’”—the hadith.
This is an authentic chain of transmission. All of its narrators are trustworthy and are among al-Bukhari’s narrators, apart from al-‘Ala ibn ‘Utbah, who is truthful, as stated in al-Taqrib. Al-Hakim said, “Its chain of transmission is authentic,” and al-Dhahabi concurred.
(Ka-warik) is read with the second word vocalized with either a fatḥah or a kasrah.
(Ḍilʿ) is read with a kasrah followed by a fatḥah, though its second consonant may also be unvocalized. It is the singular of the words meaning “ribs.” Al-Khattabi said: “It is a parable, meaning an affair that cannot be firm or properly set right, for a rib cannot support a hip. In short, he means that this man is unfit for rule and incapable of maintaining it independently.”
- “Truly fortunate is the one who is spared the trials, and the one who, when tested, remains patient.”
Abu Dawud transmitted it (4263) from al-Layth ibn Sa‘d, and Abu al-Qasim al-Hanna’i in “The Third of the Benefits” (82/1) from ‘Abd Allah ibn Salih. Both said: Mu‘awiyah ibn Salih narrated to me that