I have made this eBook freely available for download. I request that you donate (if you are able) the amount of just £1 or £2 as a sadaqah to the Salafi Bookstore and Islamic Centre (click here) so they can print and distribute free leaflets and booklets to aid the da’wah of Ahlus-Sunnah and Hadīth across the world.
Download the PDF HERE. Share freely.
Summary:
This chapter explains how Islām began as something strange among the people, and that it will return to being strange before the Hour. However, this strangeness is not a sign of weakness or failure; rather, it is a mark of those who remain firm upon the Qurʾān, the authentic Sunnah, and the understanding of the Salaf when others have turned away. These are the Ghurabāʾ (the Strangers) whom the Messenger of Allāh (ﷺ) gave glad tidings of Paradise. They rectify themselves when the people become corrupt, they revive the Sunnah when it is abandoned, they enjoin the good and forbid the evil with knowledge, wisdom and patience, and they do not compromise the Religion to gain acceptance. The chapter gathers the Qurʾānic proofs, authentic narrations, and the explanations of the scholars—such as Ibn Bāz, Ibn Taymiyyah and Ibn al-Qayyim—to demonstrate that the true measure of success is not the number of followers one has, but steadfastness upon the truth. Thus, the strangeness foretold by the Prophet (ﷺ) is not due to a scarcity of Muslims, but due to the scarcity of those who truly adhere to the Sunnah and the methodology of the Companions in belief, worship and conduct.
Shaikhul-Islām Muhammad Ibn Abdul-Wahhāb (rahimahullāh) said:
Ahmad (rahimahullāh) reported the hadīth of Ibn Masʿūd (Allah be pleased with him) wherein the Messenger (salalla) was asked:
وَمَنِ الْغُرَبَاءِ قَالَ: النُّزَّاعُ مِنَ الْقَبَائِلِ
“Who are the Strangers (Ghurabā)?” He (salallāhu ‘alaihi wasallam) responded: “They are individuals plucked from various tribes and families.”
In a narration, the Messenger (salallāhu ‘alaihi wasallam) said:
الَّذِينَ يَصْلِحُونَ إِذَا فَسَدَ النَّاسُ
“They Strangers (Al-Ghurabā) are those who rectify themselves when people are corrupted.”
Ahmad (1/184) reported the hadīth of Saʿd Ibn Abī Waqās (Allah be pleased with him) that Allāh’s Messenger (salallāhu ‘alaihi wasallam) said: “Toobā on that day is for the Strangers when the people become corrupted.”
Commentary:
The Prophet (salallāhu ‘alaihi wasallam) said, ‘Toobā is for the Strangers’—Toobā is a name for Jannah, and it is said that it is a tree in Paradise. Anas bin Mālik (Allah be pleased with him) narrated that the Prophet (salallāhu ‘alaihi wasallam) said:
إِنَّ فِي الْجَنَّةِ لَشَجَرَةً يَسِيرُ الرَّاكِبُ فِي ظِلِّهَا مِائَةَ عَامٍ لاَ يَقْطَعُهَا
“There is a tree in Paradise so big that if a rider travels in its shade for one hundred years, he will still not cross it.”
Ibn ʿUmar (Allah be pleased with him) narrated that the Prophet (salallāhu ‘alaihi wasallam) said:
إِنَّ الإِسْلاَمَ بَدَأَ غَرِيبًا وَسَيَعُودُ غَرِيبًا كَمَا بَدَأَ وَهُوَ يَأْرِزُ بَيْنَ الْمَسْجِدَيْنِ كَمَا تَأْرِزُ الْحَيَّةُ فِي جُحْرِهَا
“Indeed, Islām began as something strange, and it shall return to being strange just as it began—and it shall eventually recede between the two mosques just as a snake recedes back into its hole.” (Reported by al-Bukhārī (no. 6552).
