Hadith #103

Arabic Text

English Translation

Abū al-Yamān narrated to us, Shuʿayb informed us saying: ʿAbdullāh ibn Abī Ḥusayn narrated to us, Shahr ibn Ḥawshab narrated to us, from ʿĀmir — or Abū ʿĀmir, or Abū Mālik — that the Prophet ﷺ, while sitting in a gathering with his Companions, was approached by Jibrīl عليه السلام in a form other than his own, thinking him to be a Muslim man. He greeted the Prophet ﷺ, who returned the greeting. Then Jibrīl placed his hand on the knees of the Prophet ﷺ and said: "O Messenger of Allāh, what is Islam?" He said: "That you submit your face to Allāh, testify that there is no god but Allāh and that Muḥammad is His servant and messenger, establish the prayer, and pay the zakāh." He said: "If I do that, have I submitted?" He said: "Yes." Then he said: "What is īmān?" He said: "That you believe in Allāh, the Last Day, the angels, the Scripture, the Prophet ﷺs, death, the life after death, Paradise, the Fire, the Reckoning, the Balance, and the divine decree — all of it, its good and its evil." He said: "If I do that, have I believed?" He said: "Yes." Then he said: "What is iḥsān, O Messenger of Allāh?" He said: "That you worship Allāh as though you see Him, for even if you do not see Him, He sees you." He said: "If I do that, have I attained iḥsān?" He said: "Yes." And we could hear the Messenger of Allāh ﷺ replying to him, but could not see the one speaking to him or hear his words. He said: "When is the Hour, O Messenger of Allāh?" The Messenger of Allāh ﷺ said: "Subḥān Allāh! Five matters of the unseen that none knows except Allāh عز وجل: {Indeed, Allāh alone has knowledge of the Hour, and He sends down the rain, and knows what is in the wombs. No soul knows what it will earn tomorrow, nor does any soul know in what land it will die. Indeed, Allāh is All-Knowing, All-Aware.}" The questioner said: "O Messenger of Allāh, if you wish, I will tell you of two signs that will occur before it." He said: "Tell me." He said: "When the slave-girl gives birth to her mistress, and when the owners of buildings compete in height, and the destitute barefoot become leaders of people." He said: "And who are they, O Messenger of Allāh?" He said: "The Arabs." Then he turned away, and when we could no longer see his path, he said: "Subḥān Allāh" — three times — "This is Jibrīl who came to teach the people their religion. By the One in Whose Hand is the soul of Muḥammad, he never came to me except that I recognized him, except that this may have been the one time." Abū al-Naḍr narrated to us saying: ʿAbd al-Ḥamīd narrated to us saying: Shahr ibn Ḥawshab narrated to me, from Ibn ʿAbbās, who said: The Messenger of Allāh ﷺ prohibited certain categories of women — and he mentioned the ḥadīth — and he mentioned, attached to it: The Messenger of Allāh ﷺ sat in a gathering, and Jibrīl عليه السلام came and sat before the Messenger of Allāh ﷺ — and he mentioned the ḥadīth, and said in it: "If you wish, I will tell you of landmarks before that." He said: "Yes, O Messenger of Allāh, tell me." The Messenger of Allāh ﷺ said: "When the slave-girl gives birth to her mistress" — and he mentioned the ḥadīth.