19. Bloodshed Spreads

RasulAllah sallallahu ‘alayhi wa sallam says, “A time will come when haraj will be widespread.” The Sahabah asked, “What is haraj?” RasulAllah sallallahu ‘alayhi wa sallam said, “It is an Abyssinian word (from habasha). It means killing.” [Bukhari]

In another hadith,

Sometimes RasulAllah sallallahu ‘alayhi wa sallam would use words that were not Arabic. Kharaj is an Abyssinian word, not Arabic. Also, sometimes RasulAllah sallallahu ‘alayhi wa sallam would use other accents – that is, not a Qurayshi accent. Abu Musa AlAsh’ari’s tribe, for example, had a Yemeni accent. They would replace “al” (which means “the”) with “am”. They asked RasulAllah sallallahu ‘alayhi wa sallam once, “Is there any reward while fasting?” [The speaker narrated it in Arabic, to demonstrate how RasulAllah sallallahu ‘alayhi wa sallam sometimes used other accents.] RasulAllah sallallahu ‘alayhi wa sallam responded, in the same accent, by saying, “There is no reward for fasting while travelling.” Meaning, there is a rukhsah.

Here, RasulAllah sallallahu ‘alayhi wa sallam is using the word haraj. This hadith doesn’t mean that Muslims would be fighting non Muslims. That is the impression the Sahabah got.

In another hadith, narrated by Ahmad, same as the one above, the Sahabah asked RasulAllah sallallahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, “There will be more killing than the killing that exists now?” RasulAllah sallallahu ‘alayhi wa sallam said, “It will not be you killing the disbelievers. It will be you killing each other (i.e. Muslims killing Muslims).” The Sahabah asked, “Will we have our minds then? (Where will our brains be?)” SubhanAllah, look at how the Sahabah think. RasulAllah sallallahu ‘alayhi wa sallam said, “The mind of the people in that time will be taken away. And they will be lowly people and they will think that they are following something (the religion), but they will be following nothing.” 

In a hadith by Muslim, RasulAllah sallallahu ‘alayhi wa sallam said, “A time will come when the killer will not know why he is killing and the killed will not know why he was killed.” RasulAllah sallallahu ‘alayhi wa sallam was asked, “How can that happen?” RasulAllah sallallahu ‘alayhi wa sallam said, “That will be the time of haraj (widespread killing). Then he said, “The one who was killed and the killer will both be in hell fire.” Why? Because everyone is going out for the same thing – to kill each other. The killed had also intended on killing. This is a time of fitna. Things will be unclear and thing take the soul lightly. Even though, that in itself is a great sin, we need to keep in mind the conversation between ‘Abi Burdaa and one of the Ansaar:

Abu Burdaa` says, “I was in the market place in the time of ziyaad, and I clapped my hands together (in amazement). One of the Ansaar, whose father was a Sahabi, asking him, “Why are you so amazed?” Abi Burdaa` said, “I am amazed because these are people who have the same religion, the same prophet, the same da’wah, the same hajj, …, and they are killing each other. How could that happen?” This Ansaari said, “Don’t be astonished. I heard my father say that he heard RasulAllah sallallahu ‘alayhi wa sallam say that Allah has mercy on this Ummah; they would not be punished in askhirah, but their punishment is in this life. That will be through killing and trials and tribulations and zalaazil (earthquakes).” This means that the Ummah’s sins are being washed away by the things that befall them in this world.