“There shall not cease to be a group from my Ummah who are aided—they are not harmed by those who forsake them until the Hour is established.” Explanation of Kitābus-Sunnah from Sunan Ibn Mājah (Hadeeth 6)

Explanation of the Book of Sunnah, from Sunan Ibn Mājah: Methodology and Belief.

Chapter 1: ‘Following the Sunnah of Allah’s Messenger (salallāhu ʿalaihi wasallam).’ Based on the explanation of the noble Scholar, the Shaikh, ʿAbdul Muhsin al-ʿAbbād (may Allah preserve him) with additional notes from Abu Khadeejah ʿAbdul-Wāhid.

Hadeeth Number 6.

The author, Muhammad Ibn Yazeed Ibn Mājah Al-Qazweeni (d. 273 AH, rahimahullāh) said:

حَدَّثَنَا مُحَمَّدُ بْنُ بَشَّارٍ، حَدَّثَنَا مُحَمَّدُ بْنُ جَعْفَرٍ، حَدَّثَنَا شُعْبَةُ، عَنْ مُعَاوِيَةَ بْنِ قُرَّةَ، عَنْ أَبِيهِ، قَالَ قَالَ رَسُولُ اللَّهِ ـ صلى الله عليه وسلم ـ ‏ “‏ لاَ تَزَالُ طَائِفَةٌ مِنْ أُمَّتِي مَنْصُورِينَ لاَ يَضُرُّهُمْ مَنْ خَذَلَهُمْ حَتَّى تَقُومَ السَّاعَةُ ‏”

Muhammad bin Bashār narrated to us, saying that Muhammad bin Ja’far narrated to us, that Shu’bah narrated to us, from Mu’āwiyah bin Qurrah, from his father, who said, Allah’s Messenger (salallāhu ‘alaihi wasallam) said:

“There shall not cease to be a group from my ummah, aided, they are not harmed by those who forsake them until the hour is established.”

(Reported by Ibn Mājah, no. 5, At-Tirmidhi and Imām Ahmad in his al-Musnad—Shaikh Al-Albānī (rahimahullāh) declared it to be saheeh in as-Saheehah, no. 403, and in Saheeh al-Jāmiʿ, no. 7292)

Explanation

This Hadeeth proves that the earth will not be devoid of the presence of people who are established upon the Sharʿiah of Allah, the Exalted and Mighty. Those people clarify the Truth and the Guidance—they proceed upon the methodology of the Prophet (salallāhu ʿalaihi wasallam) and his companions—and this will continue until the end of the world. The world will not cease to have those who stand and establish for Allah His proofs, so, the earth will never be devoid of this body of believers. They will make the religion manifest and apparent and they will call to it and spread it. The earth will not cease to remain without the people of Truth, except close to the Hour. Before the Hour, there will come a gentle breeze by way of which the soul of every believing man and woman shall be taken, such that there will not remain on earth except the most evil of people.

Imām Muslim reports in his Saheeh from an-Nawwās bin Sam’ān (radiyallāhu ʿanhu) some of the signs of the Hour: after the descent of ʿIsā ibn Maryam (ʿalaihis-salām), the killing of Dajjāl (the False Messiah), the appearance of Gog and Magog and the beast of the earth, the Prophet (salallāhuʿalaihi wasallam) said: “While they are in that state, Allah will send a pleasant breeze that will take them from under their arms, and the soul of every believer and every Muslim will be taken with death. There will remain only the most wicked of people who will openly copulate like the copulation of donkeys, and the Hour will be established upon them.” There is a similar version from ʿAbdullah Ibn ʿAmr (radiyallāhu ʿanhumā), also in Saheeh Muslim.

So, ʿAbdullah ibn ʿAmr narrated that the Prophet (salallāhu ʿalaihi wasallam) said: “…Then Allah will send a cold wind from the direction of Shām (the Levant), and there will not remain on the face of the earth any person who had in his heart a speck of goodness or of Imān, except that death will come to him, such that if one of you was to enter the inner depths of a mountain, the cold wind would reach him and bring him death. There will remain only the most wicked of people who will be as careless as a bird, and they will have the behaviour of beasts. They will not enjoin what is good, and they will not forbid evil. Then Shaytān will appear to them in the form of a human being, and he will say to them, ‘Will you not respond to me?’ So, these evil people will say, ‘What do you command us with?’ So, he will command them to worship idols. They will have abundant provision and comfortable lives, then the Trumpet will be blown [for the Hour]…” (Reported in Saheeh Muslim). So, until that time, there will not cease to be a group that is aided and victorious.

(See As-Silsilah as-Saheehah of Shaikh Al-Albāni (rahimahullāh) 1/539-548, no. 270).

Characteristics of the Tā’ifatul-Mansoorah (the Aided Group)

The word Tā’ifah: ‘There will not cease to remain Tā’ifah from my ummah’ refers to the Jamāʿah—and what is known from the narrations is that the people of Truth are the Jamāʿah–they are sometimes large in number, and sometimes few in number depending on the era they live in, but the earth will never be devoid of them. They are not known due to their number, rather they are known due to their particular qualities.

The scholars have have explained that this Tā’ifah (Group) are the People of Hadeeth (Ahlul-Hadeeth, Ahul-Athar) and the Scholars of Sunnah, referring to those who are steadfastly established upon the command of Allah, who clarify the Truth and the Guidance, with clear and apparent proofs. They are upon what the Messenger of Allah (salallāhu ‘alaihi wasallam) and his Companions were upon, whether it be a scholar of Hadeeth (a Muhaddith), a scholar of Qur’ān (a Mufassir), a scholar of Fiqh (a Faqeeh) or other than them.

Likewise, it is not necessary that this Tā’ifah, this Aided Group, is gathered in a particular location. It is possible that they are spread out throughout the earth as stated by Imām an-Nawawi (rahimahullāh) in his Sharh of Saheeh Muslim (13/67).

As for his (salallāhu ‘alaihi wasallam) saying in the Hadeeth regarding this Aided Group: ‘…from my ummah…’, then the ummah of the Prophet (salallāhu ‘alaihi wasallam) is of two types:

1. Ummat Ad-Daʿwah: the ummah that was invited to Islām.
2. Ummat Al-Ijābah: the ummah that responded to the invitation.

So, the Ummat Ad-Da’wah refers to every human being and every jinn from the time of the Prophet’s (salallāhu ʿalaihi wasallam) sending until the establishment of the Hour. Therefore, the Ummat Ad-Daʿwah is general and unrestricted.

The Ummat Al-Ijābah are those who testified that none has the right to be worshipped except Allah and Muhammad is the Messenger of Allah—those who entered into this true religion of monotheism, and responded to the daʿwah. Therefore, this ummah is the specific ummah. Allah (the Most High) said in Surah Yunus:

وَاللَّهُ يَدْعُو إِلَىٰ دَارِ السَّلَامِ وَيَهْدِي مَن يَشَاءُ إِلَىٰ صِرَاطٍ مُّسْتَقِيمٍ

“And Allah calls to the home of peace (Paradise) and He guides whom He wills to a straight path.” (Surah Yunus 10:25).

This ayah is divided into two parts:

1. In the first part, Allah (the Most High) excluded mention of the object that is intended by verb “He calls” (يدعو) so Allah did not mention who He calls—and that is because it refers to every person (mankind and jinn). All of them are invited to the home of peace. Therefore, in this part of the verse, there is no one who is excluded—mankind and Jinn are all invited to Islam. However, although everyone is invited, not everyone is guided, rather guidance is specific for the one who Allah grants the success of guidance. It is for this reason that He (the Mighty and Majestic) stated the intended object in the second part of the verse.
2. So, in the second part of the verse, Allah (the Exalted) says, ‘He guides who He wills, to a straight path.’ Here, the object of the verb ‘guides’ is mentioned, and it is for ‘whom He wills.’ So, not everyone is guided, it is only those whom Allah wills to be guided because they are sincere in seeking the truth and sought Allah’s guidance.

So, the first part of the verse refers to the Ummat Ad-Daʿwah, those who are called and invited to guidance, and of those, whoever Allah guides to enter into Islām and guides them to the straight path, then they are the Ummat Al-Ijābah because they answered the call.

The hadeeth of this chapter refers to the Ummat Al-Ijābah. So when the Messenger  (salallāhu ‘alaihi wasallam) said, ‘There shall not cease to be a group from my ummah’, the ummah that is being referred to is the Ummat Al-Ijābah, the ummah that responded to the call. So, there will be a group amongst the Muslims who will be aided by Allah, unharmed by those who forsake them, until the establishment of the Hour.

This aided group are upon the Book and the Sunnah, upon the Minhāj An-Nubuwwa (the Methodology of Prophethood). Among the Muslims are the people of Bidʿah (Ahlul-Bidʿah), those who deviate from the Straight Path, nevertheless they are from the general body of the Muslims as long as their bidʿah and misguidance does not reach unbelief or polytheism such that they exit the fold of Islām. So, they are still among the Ummat Al-Ijābah. This is alluded to in the Hadeeth of the Prophet (salallāhu ʿalaihi wasallam) where he said: “This religion will divide into seventy-three sects, seventy-two will be in the Hellfire and one will be in Jannah, and that is the Jamāʿah.” (Abu Dāwood, from Muʿāwiyah ibn Abī Sufyān (radiyallahu ʿanhumā), authenticated by Shaikh Al-Albāni in as-Saheehah, no. 204).

This hadeeth clearly shows that the Ummat Al-Ijābah will divide into 73 groups, all of them in the Fire except one, and that is the Jamā’ah, which is at-Tā’ifat Al-Mansoorah (The Aided Group) that is mentioned in the Hadeeth of the Chapter.

In another wording of the hadeeth regarding the splitting of the ummah, he (salallāhu ʿalaihi wasallam) said, ‘…and this ummah of mine will divide into 73 sects, all of them in the fire except for one.’ The companions asked, ‘Which is that one?’ He (salallāhu ʿalaihi wasallam) said, ‘That which I and my Companions are upon.’ (At-Tirmidhi from ʿAbdullah ibn ʿAmr, declared hasan by Shaikh Al-Albāni in his checking of Sunan At-Tirmidhī).

Those who will split up into these sects are the Ummat Al-Ijābah (i.e., the Muslims), and the vast majority of them are deserving of this severe threat. They are the people of desires and the people of innovation. As for those whose level of innovation reaches the point of kufr (unbelief) or shirk (polytheism), then they have exited the Ummat Al-Ijābah and entered the Ummat Ad-Daʿwah until they accept Islam, Tawheed, and the Shahādah with its true meaning. The sect that is saved is the one and they are upon that which the Prophet (salallāhu ʿalaihi wasallam) and his Companions were upon. They are the ones who are saved from punishment and from entering the Fire.

Within the Ummat Al-Ijābah, are those who have been guided, are upon the Truth, upon that which the Prophet (salallāhu ʿalaihi wasallam) and his companions were upon, holding fast to it and not deviating from it. They are At-Tā’ifat Al-Mansoorah, the Aided and Victorious Group, manifest upon the Truth.

Imām Mālik Ibn Anas (d. 179 H, rahimahullāh) famously stated: “The latter part of this ummah will not be rectified except by that which rectified its first part.”

Therefore, it is not possible that the latter people will be rectified by following a path that did not rectify the early people! That which rectified them is the same thing that will rectify those who came after them, and they were rectified by way of the Book and the Sunnah, as occurs in a narration where the Prophet (salallāhu ʿalaihi wasallam) was asked about the Saved Sect, so he answered, ‘Those who are upon that which I and my companions are upon today.’

The Prophet’s (salallāhu ʿalaihi wasallam) saying, ‘They are not harmed by those who oppose them,’ this means they are not harmed by those who reject, forsake, fight and scheme against them! That includes the opposers from Ahlul-Bidʿah as well as those who did not enter Islām from among the enemies of Islām and the Muslims.

His (salallāhu ‘alaihi wasallam) saying, ‘Until the hour is established.’ This means very close to the time when the Hour is established and not the actual occurrence of the last Hour. This is because at the actual end of time, the earth will be devoid of the people of goodness and only the worst of mankind will remain, those who will not remember Allah or call upon Him. Before that, there will come a cool breeze that will take the soul of every believing man and woman, such that none will remain upon the earth except the worst of all of the people, and it is upon them that the Hour will be established.

Muslim (no. 2940) reported that Allah’s Messenger (salallāhu ʿalaihi wasallam) said: “The Dajjāl will appear among my ummah and he will remain on the earth for forty days. Then Allah will send down ʿIsa Ibn Maryam who likes like ʿUrwah ibn Masʿood. ʿIsā will pursue him and kill him. Then the people will remain for seven years with no enmity between any two people. Then Allah will send a cool wind from the direction of Shām and there will be no one left on the face of the earth in whose heart there is an atom’s weight of goodness or faith except that this breeze will cause him to die. Even if one of you were to enter the heart of a mountain, it would enter upon him and cause him to die.”

Imām Ahmad (3/499), at-Tabarāni (no. 156) and al-Hākim (no. 8517) report the from ʿIlbā’ As-Sulamī (radiyallāhu ʿanhu) That Allah’s Messenger (salallāhu ʿalaihi wasallam) said: ‘The Hour will not be established except upon the dregs of mankind.’ Therefore, the hour will be established upon the most evil of the people as is also mentioned in the hadeeth of Ibn Masʿoud with the wording reported by Bukhāri (no. 7067) and Muslim (no. 131/2949) where the Prophet (salallāhu ʿalaihi wasallam) said: ‘The Hour will not be established except upon the most evil of people.’ In the wording of Imām Bukhāri, he (salallāhu ‘alaihi wasallam) said, ‘From the most evil of people are those upon whom the Hour comes whilst they are alive.’

From this, we see that the Messenger’s (salallāhu ʿalaihi wasallam) statement, ‘Until the Hour is established,’ means very close to the Hour. In some narrations, the wording is, ‘Until the command of Allah comes.’ (Al-Bukhāri, no. 71, Muslim, no. 173/1037) from Muʿāwiyah (radiyallāhu ʿanhu) and in Saheeh Muslim from Thawbān (radiyallāhu ʿanhu).

This ‘command of Allah’ refers to the cool breeze that will come and take the soul of every believing man and woman. It is at this point that the continuity of the At-Tā’ifat Al-Mansoorah comes to an end. Thereafter, there will only remain a short time before the Hour is established, and there will not remain on the earth except the most evil of people, such that there will not remain amongst them even one who will say ‘Allah’ as occurs in a hadeeth reported by Muslim (no. 234/148) from Anas that Allah’s Messenger (salallāhu ʿalaihi wasallam) said: “The Hour will not be established until it is no longer said upon the earth, ‘Allah, Allah.’” May Allah keep us safe! So, the Hour will not come until Allah’s name is no longer mentioned, and this is due to the people distancing themselves from the Truth and from guidance.

The Men in the Chain of Narration 

Muhammad bin Bashshār: also well known as Bandār, he is thiqah (trustworthy and reliable). All of the six books narrate from him and he is a sheikh for all of them, they all narrate from him immediately without intermediaries.

Muhammad bin Jaʿfar: well known as Ghundar, he is thiqah (trustworthy and reliable) and all the six books narrate from him.

Shuʿbah: he is Shuʿbah Ibn Al-Hajjāj Al-Wāsitī, then Al-Basrī. He is thiqah (trustworthy and reliable) a great Imām. He was described as Ameerul-Mu’mineen fil-Hadeeth (the leader of the believers in the field of Hadeeth), and all of the six books narrate from him.

Muʿāwiyyah bin Qurrah: he is thiqah (trustworthy and reliable) and all the six books narrate from him.

His father: he is Qurrah Ibn Iyās, the Companion (radiyallāhu ʿanhu). Al-Bukhārī narrates from him in Al-Adab Al-Mufrad, and also the books of Sunan (Abu Dāwud, at-Tirmidhi, an-Nasāi and ibn Mājah).

والحمد لله رب العالمين وصلى الله على نبينا محمد وعلى آله وصحبه أجمعين

سبحانك اللهم وبحمدك أشهد أن لا إله إلا أنت، أستغفرك وأتوب إليك

Abu Khadeejah Abdul-Wāhid.
Copyright 2024.

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