6. Times of Trials and Tribulations

RasulAllah sallallahu ‘alayhi wa sallam says in the hadith narrated by Muslim: “Do the good deeds before the trials and tribulations are like darkness of night, spreading all over. Then RasulAllah sallallahu ‘alayhi wa sallam said that during those times, a man would be a believer in the morning, but a disbeliever by night time. And a man would be a believer at night time, but a disbeliever by the morning. RasulAllah sallallahu ‘alayhi wa sallam said because they are selling their religion for a worldly benefit.

In another hadith by Ahmad (it is the same hadith, but AlHasan alBasri is giving an explanation): “In the name of Allah, I have seen these people. Forms, but no minds; bodies without any conscious. Like moths attracted to a fire; and flies attracted by greed. They would go for two dirhams, and a person would be willing to sell their religion for the small price of a goat.” AlHasan alBasri said this at the time of the tabi’een [transcriber's note: tabi'een are the students of the Sahabah]. I wonder what he would have said if he lived today.

In another hadith narrated by Imam Ahmad, and this may be talking about a different time. RasulAllah sallallahu ‘alayhi wa sallam said (the hadith is similar to the other one, but it just says in the end), “ the one who is sitting is better than the one who is standing. And the one who is standing is better than the one who is walking is better than the one who is running. So break your bows and stay home. And if anyone enters your home, be like the best of the two sons of Adam.” This means it is better to stay away from those trials. Everything is so mixed up that you cannot separate truth from falsehood. Everything is in the gray area. RasulAllah sallallahu ‘alayhi wa sallam is saying to withdraw. ‘The one who is sitting is better than the one is standing’ means that if you’re away from it, than you are better than the one who is standing. Meaning, don’t get involved. Have the least involvement and stay home. If somebody comes into your house, be like the best of the two sons of Adam. Qaabil killed Haabil. Haabil had said that ‘If you extend your hand forward to kill me, I’m not going to fight back.’ This is not talking about now; this is referring to when times are extremely difficult and you cannot distinguish between truth and falsehood.

In terms of fitan, there are many that happened, and many that did not happen. RasulAllah sallallahu ‘alayhi wa sallam pointed towards the east (when he was in Madinah) and said, “The fitaan come out from here.” And he said, “That’s where the horn of shaytaan comes out.”  We find out that the source of some of the greatest trials and tribulations was east of Madinah. That doesn’t mean all of the fitaan come out of there, but that is the primary area of fitan. We find that some of the greatest trials for the Ummah came from the east (of Madinah). Examples of that: many of the deviants came from the east. Political unrest came from there. The Tataar – the Mangolians – came from there. Ad-Dajjaal will come from the east. Yajuj and Majuj will come from there as well.