Hadith #256

Arabic Text

English Translation

ʿAbdullāh narrated to us, he said: Abū Aḥmad al-Haytham ibn Khārijah narrated to us, he said: Ismāʿīl ibn ʿAyyāsh narrated to us, from Isḥāq ibn ʿAbdillāh ibn Abī Farwah, from Yūsuf ibn Sulaymān, from his grandmother Maymūnah, from ʿAbd al-Raḥmān ibn Sannah, that he heard the Prophet ﷺ say: 'Islam began as something strange, and it will return to being strange as it began. So ṭūbā (glad tidings, or a tree in Paradise) is for the strangers.' It was asked, 'O Messenger of Allāh, who are the strangers?' He said: 'Those who rectify when the people have become corrupt.' And by the One in Whose Hand is my soul, faith will surely retreat to Madīnah as a torrent retreats, and by the One in Whose Hand is my soul, Islam will surely retreat to what is between the two mosques as a snake retreats to its hole.'