History of this ummah as told by our prophet

[Ibn Masud]

:sl:

Timeline: History of this ummah as told by our prophet

In the following paragraphs I will attempt to give a timeline of events as the prophet told us about them. The Prophet gave news about events from the past to the future, Covering the Span of Time until the Coming of the Hour (i.e. The End Of This World).

'Umar ibn Al-Khattaab said, "Once, the Prophet stood before us and informed us about the beginning of the creation (and he spoke of what will occur) until the inhabitants of Paradise entered their final abodes and the people of the Hellfire entered their final abodes. Some memorized (that information) while others have forgotten it."

632 AD, Death of the Prophet [may Allah bless him]. Abu Bakr is chosen as caliph.

The Prophet, said regarding the types of muslim nations that would rise up after him, "Indeed Allah has commenced this matter upon Prophethood and mercy; it will become Khilaafah and mercy; it will become honor and sanctity; it will become kingdoms, great oppression, and corruption in the nation - people will deem private parts, alcohol, and silk to be lawful. They will be supported upon that and they will be given provision continuously until they meet Allah 'Azza Wa jall (to Him belongs Might and Majesty)." [Abu Dawud]

The Messenger of Allah said, "The Prophets will be followed by the Khaleefahs, who will apply Allah's Book and who will be just with Allah's slaves. The Khaleefahs will be followed by kings, who will take their revenge, kill men, and choose wealth (for themselves). (At that time) one can change (evil) with his hand, with his tongue, and with his heart; and there is no Eemaan beyond that." [Al-Baihaqee]

The Prophet (sallallaahu alayhi wasallam) said: The Prophethood will remain amongst you for as long as Allah wills it to be. Then Allah will raise it when He wills to raise it [meaning the prophet will die]. Then there will be the khilafah upon the Prophetic methodology. And it will last for as long as Allah wills it to last. Then Allah will raise it when He wills to raise it. Then there will be biting kingship, and it will remain for as long as Allah wills it to remain. Then Allah will raise it when He wills to raise it. Then there will be tyrannical (forceful) kingship and it will remain for as long as Allaah wills it to remain. Then He will raise it when He wills to raise it. Then there will be a khilafah upon the Prophetic methodology. Then he (the Prophet) was silent. (Musnad Imam Ahmad (v/273)

The Prophet (may Allah bless him) said: “The Khilafah in my Ummah after me will be for thirty years. Then there will be Mulkan ‘aduudan (hereditary rule) after that.” [Tirmidhi]

The First khilafah Abu Bakr (radiallaahu anhu) his rule lasted for two years, and that of Umar ibn al Khatab (radiallaahu anhu) was ten years, and that of Uthmaan Ibn Affan (radiallaahu anhu) twelve years, and that of Ali Ibn Abi Talib (radiallaahu anhu) six years. That is a total of 30 years and these are the four who ruled according to the sunnah of the prophet and the entire Muslim world loved them for it.

The Prophet Foretold The End Of The Persian And Roman Empires

The Messenger of Allah said, "When Caesar [romans] is destroyed, there will be no Caesar after him, and when Kisra (a title designated to the emperor of Persia) is destroyed, there will be no Kisra after him. And by the One Who has my soul in His Hand, you will spend their treasures in the way of Allah." This prophecy was fulfilled during the caliphates of Abu Bakr , 'Umar , and 'Uthmaan , Caesar (the name of this particular Caesar was Haraql) lost control of countries in Sham (Syria and surrounding regions) and the Arabian Peninsula. His dominion was then limited to the countries of Rome.

As for Kisra, he lost control of most of his dominion during the caliphate of 'Umar, and then he lost everything during the caliphate of 'Uthmaan. According to one narration, - this occurred in the year 32 H. When the Prophet, sent a letter to Kisra, inviting him to Islam, the latter tore it up. The Prophet supplicated against him, invoking Allah to completely tear apart his empire, and that is in fact what happened.

The Messenger of Allah Prophesized 'Umar's Murder

Shafeeq Ibn Salamah reported that Hudhaifah said, "As we were seated in the company of 'Umar, he said, 'Who among you has memorized the Hadeeth of the Messenger of Allah regarding the Fitnah (tribulation)?' I said, 'I.' He said, 'Tell it, you are indeed bold.' I said, 'He mentioned the Fitnah of a man in his family, his wealth, his self, his child, and his neighbour - which are all expiated for by prayer, charity, the ordering of good, and the forbidding of evil.' He said, 'That is not what I meant; I am referring to (the Fitnah) which will become agitated like the agitation of the sea (i.e. when people will become submersed in discord).' I said, 'O leader of the believers, indeed between it and you is a closed door.' He said, 'Woe unto you! Will the door be opened or will it break?' I said, 'Rather, it will break.' He said, 'Then it will never be closed again.' I said, 'Indeed.' " Shafeeq Ibn Salamah said, "We said to Hudhaifah, 'It is as if 'Umar knows who that door is?' " Hudhaifah answered, "Yes, I related to him a Hadeeth that was not false." Shafeeq later said, "We were afraid to ask Hudhaifah who the door was, so we asked Masrooq to ask." Hudhaifah answered, "'Umar." And this is exactly what occurred. After 'Umar was killed in the year 23 H, people became engulfed in trials; `Umar was the closed door between the Prophet’s Community and the onset of dissension. His death is one of the earliest signs of the Hour.

The Prophet Foretold The Trials That 'Uthman Was To Undergo

The Prophet . said that 'Uthmaan Ibn 'Affaan was from the inhabitants of Paradise but that he would first be afflicted by a trial. This happened when he was besieged in his own home. Throughout that trial until its culmination - when he was murdered - he was patient and was hoping for his reward from Allah and he became a martyr.

661 AD, Ali is murdered; Mu'awiya becomes caliph, Beginning of Umayyad Caliphate (661-750).

The Kingship the prophet mentioned are the various Islamic dynasties that where established throughout history beginning with the Umayyad Khalifah until the last one to exist the Ottoman Turks in 1924. Although each of these rulers was called a khalif, similar to the first four, when he died one of his descendants took his place hence it was a kingship. The first four khalif’s of Islam where elected to their position by the Muslim community.

Some of these rulers where good others where bad, The Prophet said "The affair of this nation will continue to remain upright and it will continue to be victorious over its enemy until it goes through twelve Khaleefahs, all of whom are from the Quraish." [Tribe of the Prophet] The Companions asked, "Then what will happen?" He, said, "Then there will be Faraj (holes and gaps through which seep factors that lead to division and weakness in the ranks and in souls)." Meaning troubles that will affect people’s Iman, these are not the first twelve who came after each other in history but twelve rulers in the general sense similar to saying in 1300 years of Khalifah, twelve of its rulers will be exceptionally good.

Here are the names of these dynasties and the period in which they ruled.

Umayyads, 7th–8th centuries: It was one of the largest unitary states in history and one of the few states to ever extend direct rule over three continents (Africa, Europe, and Asia).

Abbasids, 8th–13th centuries : The Umayyad dynasty was overthrown by another family of Meccan origin, the Abbasids, in 750 AD.

Fatimids, 10th-12th centuries: The Fatimid Caliphate was an Arab Shi'a dynasty that ruled over varying areas of the Maghreb, Egypt, Sicily, Malta and the Levant from 909 to 1171. They existed alongside the Sunni Khalifah.

Mamluk Sultanate, 13th–16th centuries.

Ottomans, 16th-20th century: The Ottoman Caliphate [whose capital was Constantinople in modern day turkey] inherited the responsibility of the Caliphate from the Mamluks of Egypt. The Ottoman Empire defeated the Mamluk Sultanate in 1517 and took control of most Arab lands. By the eve of the First World War 1914, the Ottoman state, represented the largest and most powerful independent Islamic political entity. The demise of the Ottoman Caliphate took place in part because of a slow erosion of power in relation to Europe and an end of the state came in consequence of partitioning the Ottoman Empire into smaller countries by the Allies [United Kingdom, France, and the Russian Empire ] who defeated them by the end of World War one, 1918.

Sokoto, 19th century: The Sokoto Caliphate was an Islamic spiritual community in Nigeria.

In the famous hadith of Jibril, Jibril asked the messenger, ‘Tell me about the Hour.’ The Messenger of Allah said, ‘The one asked about it knows no more than the one asking.’

Jibril said, ‘Then tell me about its tokens.’ The Messenger of Allah said, ‘That the female slave should give birth to her mistress [Muslim]

Ibn Rajab al-Hanbali explains “What is meant by mistress is her lady and her female owner. In the hadith of Abu Hurairah, may Allah be pleased with him, there is, "her lord". This is an indication of the conquest of the lands and the great number of slaves gained so that female slaves and their children are in great numbers. The female slave is owned by her master, but his children by her are of his status, for the child of a master has the status of the master, and thus the female slave's child's status is that of her [his mother's] lord and master.

This hadith is one of the most important in islam and the prophet chose to mention two signs out the many Allah had shown him, the first was the increase in female slaves due to the vast number of lands the Muslims where to conquer and the extent that Islam would reach. The prophet once said "Seek knowledge even unto China" and 'From this Nation there will be an expedition to Sindh and India.'

1924 AD, End of the Caliphate by the Allied nations.

On March 3, 1924, the first President of the Turkish Republic, Mustafa Kemal Atatürk [who was supported by the Allied nations], as part of his reforms, constitutionally abolished the institution of the Caliphate. Its powers within Turkey were transferred to the Grand National Assembly of Turkey, the parliament of the newly formed Turkish Republic.

A summit was convened at Cairo in 1926 to discuss the revival of the Caliphate, but most Muslim countries did not participate and no action was taken to implement the summit's resolutions. All the Muslim countries by then where under the power of the Allied nations and hence powerless to act.

When the last Caliphate was defeated in the first world war all the lands of the Ottoman Khalifah where divided up among the allied nations, so countries like Lebanon, Syria, Jordan, Iraq, Iran, Saudi Arabia virtually all the Muslim countries you see in the world today where created after the first world war these allied nations [United Kingdom, France, and the Russian Empire ] installed in them tyrannical rulers who they could manipulate to rule the local populations on their behalf.

To This day the current state has not changed much. In most of the Muslim world the leaders are either dictators or self-proclaimed kings, so we are currently in the third phase of the prophecy being ruled by “tyrannical (forceful) kingship”.

"After me there will be caliphs, and after the caliphs, princes and after princes, kings, and after kings, tyrants. Then, a man from the Family of my House will come and fill the earth with justice just as it had been filled with transgression. “(Tabarani, Ibn Mandah, Nuaim ibn Hammad, and Ibn Asakir)

A scholar said regarding this hadith: “The caliphs spoken of in the hadiths are “the Rightly-Guided Ones”?arrashidun: Abu Bakr, ‘Umar, ‘Uthman and ‘Ali, may Allah be pleased with them all. The princes are the Ummayad Caliphs of Damascus and the Abbasid Caliphs of Baghdad. As for the kings, they are the Ottoman Sultans of Istanbul. Following the kings, are tyrants, and that is what is commonly seen today. Finally, what for us is a prediction: the appearance of a man from the family of the Prophet who will rule with justice.”…The Mahdi.

Beyond the signs of the changing of leadership we have another clear sign which we can see has been fulfilled in our life time.

Jibril said in his famous hadith, ‘Tell me about the Hour.’ The Messenger of Allah said, ‘The one asked about it knows no more than the one asking.’

Jibril said, ‘Then tell me about its tokens.’ The Messenger of Allah said, ‘That the female slave should give birth to her mistress, and you see poor, naked, barefoot shepherds of sheep and goats competing in making tall buildings.’ [Muslim]

“and you see poor, naked, barefoot shepherds of sheep and goats competing in making tall buildings.”

The scholars have said the prophet was describing the Bedouin Arabs who will hail from the desert area of Najd, east of Mecca and Medina [present day Riyadh, Dharan, Dammam, Khobar and the gulf region] before the oil boom the people of Najd lived in tents. Another version of the hadith in bukhari states, “when barefoot and the naked are the heads of the people.” Another version in Muslim says “when the naked and barefoot are the top leaders of the people.” A third version in Bukhari and Muslim states “when you see that the barefoot and naked, the deaf and dumb are the kings of the earth.”

Ibn hajar said in commenting on this hadith in Fath al bari. “It was said that “barefoot and naked,” “Deaf and dumb” are their attributes by way of hyperbole, showing how coarse they are. That is, they did not use their hearing or sight in anything concerning their religion even though they are of perfectly sound senses. The prophets words: “ The heads of people” means the kings of the earth. Abu Farwa’s narration names the kings explicitly. What is meant by them is the people of the desert country, as was made explicit in Sulayman al-Tayimi’s and other narations:”who are the barefoot and naked? He answered the Bedouin Arabs.”

Imam Nawawi further explains: “The people of badia [the desert Bedouins] and their like are indigent. There will come a time in which they become rich and build structures to demonstrate their wealth.

Tabarani relates through Abu Hamza, on the authority of Ibn Abbas from the prophet, that “one of the signs of the change of the religion is the affectation [pretention or something that is not part of your natural personality] of eloquence by the rabble and their betaking to palaces in big cities.”

Qurtubi said: What is meant here is the prediction of a reversal in society whereby the people of the desert country will take over the conduct of affairs and rule every region by force. They will become extremely rich and their primary concern will be to erect tall buildings and take pride in them.

Al hafiz Ibn hajar said in the explanation of this hadith, “everyone tries to build a higher building than the other.” Imam Ahmad from Abu Amir that the people who construct tall buildings will keep building them higher and higher [musnad 4:129]. That is if one builds a structure three stories tall, the next person builds four stories, the next person builds five, etc.

We can only imagine how this must have sounded from the perspective of the Ulumah who lived hundreds of years ago, but we know better now, the Saudi Bedouins of najd did take control, they declared themselves kings became extremely rich and created the country known as Saudi Arabia.

In the 1400 years since this hadith was mentioned there have been no sky scrapers in any desert Muslim country. Then on April 24 2000 the tallest building was built in the desert. The Faisaliah building in Riyadh is 269 meters [882 feet] tall. Then in 2003 a new high rise, the kingdom centre was built also in Riyadh and is 311m [1020 feet] making it the 55th tallest building in the world, taller than any building in Najd. It may also be of interest that the once Bedouin Arabs of the United Arab Emirates have now built the world’s tallest building not just in the region, the Burj Khalifah at 828 m (2,717 ft) also fulfilling the conditions of this hadith.

Present Day.

Since 1924 until now 2012, the past 88 years we have been in this state but a look at the affairs of the Muslims throughout the world and you will see that the era of tyrants itself is coming to an end and the next phase of the prophecy is coming true as these rulers allow more and more freedoms to their peoples the governments themselves will take on a new form and change from being kingships and dictators to something more liberal [most dictators have been overthrown subhanallah] as all Muslims are waiting for the last part of the prophet’s prophecy to come true and that is for all these lands to once more return to khalifah rule based on the prophetic methodology under the Mahdi or the one who guides, this will be the rule until Allah sends Isa ibn Maryam to rule over us for 40 years.

The Messenger of Allah said, "Even if there remains from this world a single day, Allah will send a man from us who will fill it with justice, just as it was filled with oppression." (Ahmad) And in another narration, 'Ali related that the Messenger of Allah said, "The Mahdi is from us — the family of the Prophet, Allah will rectify him in a single night." (Ahmad) And "The world will not pass away before the Arabs are ruled by a man (referring to the Mahdi) of my family whose name will be the same as mine" (Abu Dawood)

Abu Huraira narrated that Prophet Mohammad said: "There is no prophet between me and him (Jesus Christ). He shall descend so, recognize him when you see him. He is a man of medium height, (his complexion) is between reddish and white; he will be between (or dressed in) two slightly yellowish garments; His head looks as if it is dripping water even though it is not wet. He will fight people in the cause (for the sake) of Islam, will break the Cross and kill the swine (pig) and abolish Jizya (tax on Christians and Jews); and Allah will put an end to all religious sects except Islam during his (Jesus') time. He (Jesus) will slay the Antichrist (Dajjal) and he will stay in the World for 40 years. Then, he will die and the Muslims will perform the funeral prayer for him." (Abu Dawud and Musnad Ahmad)

The situation we are in.

So how close are we to seeing actual events.

Abu Nadhrah says: "We were sitting in the company of Jabir bin Abdullah (R.A.) when he said: 'Soon the people of IRAQ will neither receive any food (grain) nor any money.'" We asked, "Why would such a thing happen?" He replied, "Because of the non-Arabs." (i.e they will prevent food from going into Iraq, in the form of "sanctions" to this day.) He then said: "Soon the people of Shaam (SYRIA) will neither receive any money nor grain." We asked as to why this would happen. He replied: "Because of the Romans (christians)." Reported by Imam Muslim in his Saheeh, Volume 2, page 395, ( The book of tribulations and signs of the final hour)

Abu Hurairah related that the Messenger of Allah said, "Iraq will be prevented from its dirham (a currency) and its measurement; Sham will be prevented from its dinar (a currency) and its measurement; and Egypt will be prevented from its dinar and its measurement' . You will have returned from whence you began; you will return from whence you began; you will return from whence you began." Abu Hurairah said, "The flesh and blood of Abu Hurairah bore witness to that." (Muslim)

Narrated Abdullah ibn Umar: The Prophet (peace_be_upon_him) said: The Muslims will soon be besieged up to Medina, so that their most distant frontier outpost will be Salah. [Book 35, Number 4237A: sunan abu dawud]

we are living through them now and everyone is watching syria, again these ahadith indicate we are on the timeframe foretold by rasul allah, soon after syria will be egypt and not long after that the mahdi.

[greenhill]

Thank you, very informative and far reaching.

I have come across some of what is said but many are new to me. Your perception is interesting and has merits. In 'history of the ummah', really you're 'navigating the charts' left in the sunnah in relation to what has come to pass to see where we are now relative to where we are going. Man, this has twisted my head... (But it is a subject I am interested in).

I have this question on a point you made,

the last part of the prophet’s prophecy to come true and that is for all these lands to once more return to khalifah rule based on the prophetic methodology under the Mahdi or the one who guides, this will be the rule until Allah sends Isa ibn Maryam to rule over us for 40 years.

I have been under the impression that when Isa (pbuh) descends, he will have a specific duties and to kill Dajjal is one of them. But he won't be assigned to lead a nation as he is no longer here as a prophet. He will enjoy the rest of his life as an 'ordinary' man which he never had the opportunity to be (unlike other prophets) as he was speaking from birth, preaching, already a prophet. So, this bit is a bit of an 'outlier'..

Peace

[sea]

and where do you expect the guided one to stand? in which region? do you think he will stand in the Middle East?