Signs of The Hour Which Have Happened (1/4)

By this we mean signs which came and gone, and will not be repeated. There are many such signs, some of which we would like to mention here.

1 - The Sending of the Messenger (blessings and peace be upon him) and his Death

One of the Signs of the Hour is the sending of the Messenger (blessings and peace be upon him) and his death. According to the hadith narrated by Bukhari and Muslim, Sahl ibn Sa'd (may Allah be pleased with him) said: "I saw the Messenger of Allah (blessings and peace be upon him) gesturing with his fingers like this, the middle finger and the finger which is next to the thumb (i.e., the index finger), and he said, 'I and the Hour have been sent like these two.’"

According to another report he said: "I and the Hour have been sent like these two," and he gestured with his two fingers, stretching them out.[1] In Bukhari, Muslim and Sunan at-Tirmidhi it is narrated that Anas ibn Maalik (may Allah be pleased with him) related: "The Messenger of Allah (blessings and peace be upon him) said:

'I and the Hour have been sent like these two, like the difference between the one and the other,' and he held his forefinger and middle finger up together."[2]

In the books of Seerah it is narrated that the Jews used to say of the Messenger  (blessings and peace be upon him) that he would be sent with the Hour.

In the previous chapter we quoted the hadith of 'Awf ibn Maalik (may Allah be pleased with him) narrated by Bukhari, in which the Messenger (blessings and peace be upon him) is reported to have said, "Count six things just before the Hour: my death ..."

Imam Ahmad narrated in his Musnad with a saheeh isnad from Abu Jubayrah that the Messenger of Allah (blessings and peace be upon him) said: "I have been sent in the heralding breeze of the Hour."[3]

As Ibn al-Atheer explained, the "heralding breeze" refers to the gentle breeze with which the wind starts, i.e., I have been sent at the beginning of the signs of the Hour.

2 - The Splitting of the Moon

The scholars are unanimous that the moon was split during the time of the Messenger (blessings and peace be upon him), and that its splitting was one of the dazzling miracles.[4] The Qur'an clearly states this, in the aayah:

"The Hour has drawn near, and the moon has been cleft asunder [the people of Makkah requested Prophet Muhammad to show them a miracle, so he showed them the splitting of the moon]. And if they see a sign, they tum away, and say: 'This is continuous magic." (Qur'an Surah Al-Qamar, 54: 1-2)

An-Nawawi said: "Al-Qaadi said: The splitting of the moon was one of the major miracles of our Prophet (blessings and peace be upon him). It has been narrated by a number of the Sahaabah (may Allah be pleased with them), as well as being stated clearly in the aayah. Al-Zajjaaj said: some of the deviating innovators denied it and went against the consensus, and that is because Allah blinded their hearts. It is not something irrational to be denied, because the moon is a created thing and Allah can do whatever He wills with it, just as He will extinguish it and roll it up at the end of its time.[5]

Ibn Katheer quoted the ahaadeeth about the splitting of the moon in his Tafseer of Soorat al-Qamar. There are a great many saheeh ahaadeeth to this effect.[6] Muslim also quoted them in his saheeh, including the hadith of Anas (may Allah be pleased with him) which says that the people of Makkah asked the Messenger of Allah (blessings and peace be upon him) to show them a sign, so he showed them the splitting of the moon, twice.[7] 'Abdullah ibn Mas'ood (may Allah be pleased with him) narrated: "The moon was split into two halves at the time of the Messenger of Allah (blessings and peace be upon him). The Messenger of Allah (blessings and peace be upon him) said, "Bear witness, bear witness!" According to another report from 'Abdullah ibn Mas'ood, (may Allah be pleased with him), he said, "Whilst we were with the Messenger of Allah (blessings and peace be upon him) in Mina, the moon was split into two halves, one half behind the mountain and the other in front of it. The Messenger of Allah (blessings and peace be upon him) said to us, "Bear witness!""[8]

(Continued)