Everything You Must Know About The End of Times | Signs of the Hour Ep. 1
5 Signs That Happened in the Prophet’s ﷺ Lifetime | Signs of the Hour Ep. 2
Was Dajjal Alive During The Prophet’s ﷺ Time? | Signs of the Hour Ep. 3
20 Verses of Qur’an That Protect from Dajjal | Signs of the Hour Ep. 4
When 40 Prophets Were Killed | Signs of the Hour Ep. 5
When Only One Sahabi Was Left In The World | Signs of the Hour Ep. 6
Jerusalem to Constantinople: The Promised Conquests | Signs of the Hour Ep. 7
Acts of God: Disasters Foretold by the Prophet ﷺ | Signs of the Hour Ep. 8
The Rise of the Unqualified | Signs of the Hour Ep. 9
The Night the Qur’an Disappears | Signs of the Hour Ep. 10
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The Years of Intense Deception | Signs of the Hour Ep. 11
Signs of the Hour
The Years of Intense Deception | Signs of the Hour Ep. 11
The Prophet ﷺ told the Sahabah that abandoning 1/10th of what they were commanded would ruin them. Then he told them that a day would come when holding on to that 1/10th would be enough to save an entire generation.
What changed between these two moments isn’t the religion. It’s what it cost to hold on to it.
Dr. Omar Suleiman illustrates how knowledge and religion decay in the same fashion, not stripped away suddenly, but worn out like a “thin garment” until people are left holding the shape of faith but with none of its weight.
This transcript was auto-generated using AI and may contain misspellings.
00:00Now, let's go back to the vacuum, the vacuum.
00:12When people stop seeking the truth, they seek voices that make their desires sound like religion. So we go back to the death of the scholars and who fills the vacuum.
00:25They seek voices that sound like religion. I want to find a religion that suits me. I want to find religious scholarship or speakers that suit me.
00:39Let me say this as someone that clearly you all listen to. If I don't bring you closer to Allah and the Messenger, sallallahu alayhi wa sallam, if you are not challenging yourself to become better as a result of attending my duroos,
00:52if you are justifying haram to yourself and becoming more complacent, please stop listening to me and listen to somebody else. That's going to bring you closer to Allah and the Messenger, sallallahu alayhi wa sallam. Because at the end of the day, that's what starts to happen.
01:06You fashion, you fashion speeches, speakers, scholars, priest-like figures in accordance with what you want. And so there's a whole range of speakers and scholars that the Prophet, sallallahu alayhi
01:20wa sallam, warned about as time goes on. The most obvious one that we already spoke about were the dajjals. And the dajjals are very unique in that the Prophet, sallallahu alayhi wa sallam, said the
01:32thirty dajjals, kulluhum yaz'umun annahu Rasulullah. Every single one of them claims to be a prophet at some point. And you start to see that graduation by the way. Most of these dajjals throughout history, they started off as religious cults where they said they were the Mahdi.
01:46By the time they died, they were the Mahdi, the Masih, and Rasulullah all at the same time. With a little bit of Allah in there too for themselves. Because as the cults grew and as the power grew, they started to graduate their claims as well.
01:58And al-Masih al-Dajjal will graduate his claim from being a messenger of Allah to then claiming he's Allah himself. So that's one category of people. I hope no one falls for it. May Allah protect us, Allahumma ameen.
02:13The second group of people comes from the main narration where the Prophet, sallallahu alayhi wa sallam, said, سَيَأْتِي عَلَى النَّاسِ سَنَوَاتٌ خَدَّاعَاتٌ يُصَدَّقُ فِيهَا الْكَاذِبُ وَيُكَذَّبُ فِيهَا الصَّادِقُ وَيُؤْتَمَنُ فِيهَا الْخَائِنُ وَيُخَوَّنُ فِيهَا الْأَمِينُ وَيَنطِقُ فِيهَا الرُّوَيْبِضَةُ بِاللَّهِ The Prophet, sallallahu alayhi wa sallam, said that there will come a time, deceptive years,
02:26where a liar will be believed and a truthful person will be rejected, and the treacherous
02:43will be trusted, and the trustworthy will be considered to be treacherous, and the rise of ar-ruwaybidah, the rise of ar-ruwaybidah. So this is a very particular term.
02:57And even the Sahaba, don't feel bad, even if you know Arabic, the Sahaba said, ar-ruwaybidah, who are ar-ruwaybidah? The Prophet, sallallahu alayhi wa sallam, said, ar-rajul at-taafi fi amr al-'ammah, right?
03:10Ar-rajul at-taafi fi amr al-'ammah, which is a lowly, insignificant person that speaks about the affairs of the people. Basically a degenerate that's also a public commentator but has a platform with that public
03:24commentating. Really important here. Now, when we get into the specifics, especially when we talk about the Khawarij, you'll start to find categories.
03:32So hudtha al-asnaam, right, sufaha al-ahlam, babies, young people that also speak of big dreams and big promises, right?
03:44So speak big but do nothing, right? Tend to be young people that are very aggressive, but that's in the particular line of Khawarij and people that actually lead to extremism, which will be a separate lecture at some point, bi'idhnillahi ta'ala.
03:58But I just want to talk about ar-ruwaybidah in particular, and one narration, it's the Prophet, sallallahu alayhi wa sallam, said, as-safih yatakallamu fi amr al-'ammah, it's a foolish person who speaks about public affairs.
04:10So Ibn al-Athir, rahimahullah, he said someone who's vile, like who's fahish, and so like you can't be a speaker of religion when you're not even fulfilling what a Muslim is supposed to talk like.
04:24Wa laysa al-mu'min bitta'an, a mu'min is not someone who's aggressive, la'an, who curses, he's not fahish, he's not badhir, he's not foul, he's not abusive or aggressive with his language.
04:37So if a mu'min is not that, then how can a person who is speaking about Islam basically violate all the principles of how a believer is supposed to speak in the first place, right? So that's the first red flag, right?
04:52Now the thing is though, is that the 'ulama start to go on and they give more explanations. So someone who's vile, someone who's arrogant, someone who's petty, someone who's unqualified.
05:04Now what's the difference between ruwaybidah and sufaha? Because Allah 'Azza wa Jalla talks about the sufaha in the Qur'an, sayyiqul as-sufaha, right? The fools. The difference between the ruwaybidah and the sufaha is that unfortunately the ruwaybidah
05:18actually are listened to. They have a platform. They have a voice. They have a YouTube channel. They have an Instagram account, right? They get a lot of clicks and a lot of views. They're on TikTok, okay?
05:32Ruwaybidah have a platform and this is directly tied to the death of the 'ulama because when
05:41people of weight disappear, then people who are weightless rise, right? And the difference between a sufih and someone who is from this category of a ruwaybidah is that a fool is dangerous to himself, right?
05:56A sufih is really dangerous to himself more than anything else, but these people are dangerous to society as well, right? And this is something that the 'ulama talk about the difference between jahl basit and
06:08someone who's simply ignorant and then someone who's compoundedly ignorant, but that's still to himself. This is a fool with a platform. Linguistically, I was looking into the meaning of this word ruwaybidah.
06:20It's the tasghir of rabidah and this refers to someone who remains low. Now remains low, rabidah is lowly in their manners, but there's another subhanallah element to this.
06:35One of the 'ulama said that ... To translate that basically in brief, that this is a person
06:56who sits back and comments on big things instead of taking on the weighty matters, which kind of fits the profile, right?
07:07They're not doing the actual work, but they've got commentary on everybody else's work, right? So like, you can fire off twenty emails about the masjid, but like, can you come volunteer
07:21at the masjid? Maybe pick up some trash, help us out, right? So they comment on the work, they comment on the affairs of the people, but they don't actually serve the people. They don't actually do anything that's of benefit to the people.
07:34And of course, Allah 'Azza wa Jalla mentions this example of, you know, the zabadah of the foam of the sea and what benefits the people, right? What benefits the people and actually stays and is grounded in the earth.
07:49So this is a person that very similar to the one ... When the Prophet talked about the lazy person, person reclining on his couch saying, follow the Qur'an, forget about the
08:04Sunnah, right? It's a person who has a lot of time on their hands, a lot of arrogance, and unfortunately has mastered the algorithm, to speak in modern terminology. They have a following, they've cultivated a following of like-minded people in society.
08:18So what's the disease? That's a very attractive place to be in, because you can be condescending and self-righteous without actually doing anything, right?
08:30So I'm just going to make a video about something that everyone's talking about and people are searching for that. And I've got an algorithm. Wait a minute. Like I usually get twelve views on my video gaming. Now I've got twelve thousand.
08:43Actually, that's not true because apparently video gaming, those videos get way too many views, right? But like, I've been getting, like, I've been here talking on my YouTube channel and I've only been getting this many views, but whoa, like I jumped on this. And I got ten times what I usually get.
08:57Come on. Where's the khalas in that? Like, this is nice. I'm onto something here. Let me jump on. Let me jump on. And then, so you cultivate a following of people like you, like-minded people, right?
09:12So may Allah protect us. This is one group of people that are mentioned, basically insignificant people that are given significance because they're loud. And that's a dangerous precedent in our community.
09:25And we should never, like, this is a rule of thumb, never give someone weight because they're loud, not in the capacity of a local masjid or in the capacity of online.
09:37That should not be your CV that you just make a lot of noise and you stir up a lot of fitna and trouble. So now we have to consider that. No, that's not the way that this works. Someone who's muttaqi, someone who prays in the masjid, who's vested in the masjid, their opinion should matter more.
09:51Someone who is involved in the da'wah, their opinion should matter more about the da'wah. Someone who's trying to do good and stuff, their opinion on politics should matter more, right? But never in our Islamic ethos do we give credence to volume.
10:06Like you're just loud, therefore we're going to have to listen to you. That's not the way that this works. Credentials don't work that way in Islam. There's another narration, but it's mursal. There's a weakness in this chain, but its meaning is correct.
10:18من أشراط الساعة أن يملك من ليس أهلاً أن يملك ويرفع الوضيع ويوضع الرفيع That one of the signs of the hour is that the lowly will be raised, okay?
10:33يرفع الوضيع ويوضع الرفيع And the person who's noble will be put down. So noble people are put down and lowly people are actually elevated, right?
10:48May Allah protect us. So that's one group of people the Prophet, sallallahu alayhi wa sallam, told us about. Another group of people that we're warned about are storytellers, storytellers.
11:00This is a dangerous category because what's wrong with storytellers? And this is one of those that like shu'ara, like poets, you have to break into two categories. Allah, 'Azza wa Jall, says,
11:13نحن نقص عليك أحسن القصص بما أوحينا إليك هذا القرآن We narrate to you the best of stories through what we have revealed to you of this Qur'an. The accusation against the Prophet, sallallahu alayhi wa sallam, was what? That he's saying,
11:27أساطير الأولين These are just stories. He's just sharing fables from the past. So you have this ayah, you have what the Prophet, sallallahu alayhi wa sallam, was accused of, but then you also have a category of storytellers.
11:42So what is the difference between praiseworthy storytellers and someone who is a qasas, someone who is giving stories in a way that's not praiseworthy?
11:55The very first thing that you'll find in Tafsir al-Imam al-Qurtubi, Rahimahullah Ta'ala, of ahsan al-qasas, of the best stories is that they're true. They're true. Right?
12:08So these are not, Allah did not make these things up. The story of Yusuf, alayhi assalam, is not made up. The story of Isa, alayhi assalam, is not made up. Allah is giving us ahsan al-qasas, He's giving us true stories of Musa, alayhi assalam,
12:22and things that only he could have known about him, alayhi assalam, his private thoughts, his private du'as, how Ya'qub was crying and what he was saying to himself, how Yusuf was dealing with being thrown into a well. May Allah, 'Azza wa Jall, send his peace and blessings upon them all, all of the prophets.
12:36And so they're true revealed stories. That's number one. Number two, beneficial. Why was Allah, 'Azza wa Jall, giving us these qasas? To guide us towards action. There was irshad, right?
12:51There are benefits in what we are being guided to. So Qur'anic storytelling is number one, true. Number two, beneficial, right? In that it guides us, it admonishes us
13:04to something that we may be doing that's wrong or towards something that is good, right? And so like someone who is known as a mudhakkir, someone who gives reminders. Allah, 'Azza wa Jall, says to the Prophet, sallallahu alayhi wa sallam, fadhakkir, right?
13:19You are mudhakkir, you're someone who gives tadhkir. But it's actually not a praiseworthy category of people if there isn't proper verification done in the process of doing tadhkir or wa'id, right?
13:33People that give wa'id, like the Qur'an is wa'id. It's an admonition. So whether you're talking about qasas or tadhkir or wa'id or this category of things,
13:43what makes it condemnable is again, whether it's false, right? True or false. And number two, what it actually leads you towards.
13:55So Imam al-Jawzi, rahimahullah, he talks about this in detail and he says that the people who were known as the storytellers were people that expanded their stories well beyond what was actually documented, right?
14:09In the process of entertainment and basically gathering a following in the process. So they take a hand span and they turn it into an arm's length. One of the scholars mentioned something like that, like about the qasas.
14:22So it's totally manipulative. And it's like how everyone has these weird stories of Musa, alayhi assalam, that have circulated on WhatsApp. May Allah protect us.
14:33Sometimes you cringe because you'd hear them like in a reminder after Salat al-Isha sometime. Maybe someone has good intentions, by the way. But the person that started the story is to blame for the story spreading, right?
14:45But the point is, is like just expansive, long, weird stories. Sometimes they sound weird about the prophets, about the family of the prophets, alayhi assalam, about the companions of the prophets, alayhi assalam. So they mix up a lot.
14:59And so Ibn al-Jawzi says these are people that expand the stories well beyond the actual story. And they mix in not what is beneficial or relied upon, but what's going to produce more attention.
15:13So it's like if I add in like this added commentary and throw in a few things here, it's going to make the story more compelling. And of course, in this day and age, it'll make it go more viral.
15:24Now, back in the days, storytellers would command, you know, places in the public square. And again, good storytelling is beneficial. Imam Ahmad, rahimahullah, he was asked about this. And he said the one who reminds the people to fear Allah and about al-Jannah wal-Nar
15:39and his sincerest intention is truthful in his narration. This is a person who I love. But he said the one who fabricates a hadith, fabricates reports.
15:49Like how did we end up with so many fabrications about virtues of certain surahs of the Qur'an? Because the man who fabricates that, I saw people getting too interested in Abu Hanifah, rahimahullah's, fiqh. So I wanted to make up some stuff about the Qur'an, right?
16:05And Abu Qilabah, rahimahullah, he said nothing kills 'ilm except for the qussas. Because a man can sit with a storyteller for a whole year and walk away with absolutely no benefits. Whereas a scholar would give him knowledge in a single sitting.
16:19Right? So if when you listen to someone tell stories, it's just like, wow, that was a really great story. But you're not finding anything of benefit for yourself, practical for yourself. Then that's also something to consider.
16:33There's a narration to Zayn al-Abidin, Ali ibn al-Husayn, radiallahu ta'ala anhu, where he said that we were taught the maghazi through the battles of the Prophet, sallallahu alayhi wa sallam. So the seerah of the Prophet, sallallahu alayhi wa sallam, and his expeditions
16:46just as we were taught a surah from the Qur'an. Some of the ulama mentioned that in that is not just the importance of those stories. Like when you learn seerah, when you learn seerah al-sahaba,
16:57when you learn the seerah of Ahl al-Bayt, when you learn the seerah of the Anbiya', right? The prophets before. There's so much benefit in there, subhanAllah. Like it's so life-giving.
17:11Everything from their lives. Like there's nothing you can read from the companions of the Prophet, sallallahu alayhi wa sallam. It's not just giving you some perspective in your own life. It's so beautiful. It's so instructive. Instructive is the word that I'm looking for, right?
17:26But he's saying the way we were taught a surah of the Qur'an is not just the importance but also precision, right? The way that these stories get passed down.
17:35And so that's why you can praise the, you know, proper storytelling and you avoid the type of storytelling that the Prophet, sallallahu alayhi wa sallam, condemned.
17:47There's a narration from the Messenger, sallallahu alayhi wa sallam. لا يقص على الناس إلا أمير أو مأمور أو مراء The Prophet, sallallahu alayhi wa sallam, and one narration, أو مختال That no one should narrate the stories to the people except for a ruler,
18:02meaning an authority or someone that's been appointed or an arrogant person. And the way the scholars broke that up is that that third category is not a praiseworthy category. That that third category is someone that's mura' or mukhttal,
18:15someone that's trying to get in there, right? By gathering an audience in the process. So storytelling is powerful. It's necessary. It's part of our deen, but it's also amanah.
18:27It also has the trust of knowledge to it. And so it's important to actually pay attention to it. So what are some modern day categories of stories, subhanAllah, that match? Like when you read Ibn al-Jawzi, rahimahu Allah, he talks about Talbis Iblis in this regard, right?
18:41He says, what are the stories that typically come? It's so common, right? Strange miracles, right? Strange miracles. So al-'ajā'ib. What are these weird things that you're talking about, right? And you know what that does?
18:54It discredits the whole body of knowledge, right? It discredits the whole body of knowledge or entertainment. I love that shaykh. Why do you love that shaykh? He's so funny.
19:09By the way, that's not a knock on the shaykh. Maybe he's saying some really beneficial stuff, but you're only hearing the funny stuff. We've had funny 'ulamā' in the past as well. We have funny 'ulamā' today, right?
19:19So it's not that, like subhanAllah, our din has different personalities, but that's why, right? Or outrage. So you know what outrage is? I once saw this man and he said this, this, this and that.
19:32So you create like a caricature where you become the hero in the story or like some extreme example that can stir outrage amongst the people
19:41so that you can then attack that outrageous story, which gives you a sense of authority. SubhanAllah, these are the same things that modern storytellers will use, the same devices that will be employed, right?
19:54So it's not entertainment. Stories are not meant to be entertainment. They're not supposed to produce false courses of action. They're supposed to be rigorously verified. And you have to be careful with this.
20:08There's a funny story, I'll share it by the way. And this is a story from Tarikh Baghdad. I have to give a source because I'm talking about storytellers. And he is who he is. You know, I talked about how my mother like laughed out of her chair
20:23the first time she heard me say the words. Like your parents don't really, my dad's not here right now. Your parents don't really ever take you seriously, right? You know, like in that sense, you know, they'll be proud of you, but it's like, who are you again?
20:37It's very hard to take seriously, you know, someone whose diapers you changed, right? His mother asked him for a fatwa. This is Imam Abu Hanifa, right?
20:50And she said, no, I'm not going to accept it, except from Zurārah al-Qaṣṣ. Zurārah was like a storyteller of the time, not in a negative way, but he was someone who used to just give stories. Like he wasn't a scholar anywhere near the ranks. He wasn't even in the legions of 'ulamā',
21:05but he used to share some beneficial reminders here and there. And Abu Hanifa's mom is like, no, I'm not going to take it from you. I'll take it from him. Let's go ask him. Abu Hanifa, rahimahu Allah, like a good son,
21:16takes his mother to Zurārah and he says that, this is my mother asking you about such and such. And he's like, why are you asking me? Like you're Abu Hanifa, you're way more knowledgeable than me. Why are you asking me? Give her the fatwa.
21:29And Abu Hanifa, rahimahu Allah, says, you know, that, look, she wants your answer. And he'd already given the answer. So basically Abu Hanifa hinted to Zurārah what the answer was. So Zurārah repeated it.
21:41And he said, the correct view is what Abu Hanifa said. And Abu Hanifa's mom said, good, I accept it. All right. So it's sort of like at the end of the day, right? There's something very compelling about storytelling,
21:55but just make sure that it comes from truth and it produces truthful courses of action. May Allah protect us. Allahumma ameen. The third category are poets. Very similar.
22:08But it's basically when eloquence replaces truth. Now, Islam is not an anti-poetry religion. In fact, the Prophet, ṣallallāhu 'alayhi wa sallam, appreciated sha'ir. He appreciated the poetry that was decent, and that was good, and that was noble. Even from the days of ignorance,
22:22he approved of it, ṣallallāhu 'alayhi wa sallam. And the Qur'an distinguishes between false poets and truthful poets, right? So a shu'arā', when you have the poets that use their eloquence to solidify falsehood in society, that's a problem.
22:37When you have poets that defend truth, like Hassān ibn Thābit and 'Abdullāh ibn Rāwāḥah and Ka'b, may Allah be pleased with them. That's a different category of poets, right? So poetry with guidance is different from poetry that is intended to sway people towards misguidance.
22:51And the Prophet, ṣallallāhu 'alayhi wa sallam, said, in one narration, that some eloquence is like magic. It's like sihr, right? And so poetry can become like sihr. He also said in another narration, ṣallallāhu 'alayhi wa sallam,
23:11the closest of you to me, and the most beloved of you to me, and the closest of you to me on the day of judgment are those of you who have the best character. And he says,
23:29he said the most hated of you to me, and the furthest from me are these three people. Now, even the Arab speakers, I doubt you know what all three of these things mean, because they're very heavy words. So,
23:44I'm going to summarize, you know, are people that speak too much. They comment on everything and they talk too much. Prophet ṣallallāhu 'alayhi wa sallam doesn't like that, right?
23:59Whoever believes in Allah on the last day, speak well or be silent. Learn to guard your tongue and don't talk too much, right? So that's the first thing.
24:12Are people that rhyme and stretch and, you know, basically speak in a way in which they're showing off.
24:24Al-mutafayhiqūn are people who are pretentious and, you know, al-mutafayhiq is someone who literally fills his mouth with speech. So they're condescending in their speech.
24:40And many of the 'ulamā', when they talked about mutashaddiq versus al-mutafayhiq, they said they're almost identical. The point is, you talk too much, you talk down to people, you comment on everything, your eloquence becomes a problem.
24:52There's riyā' or 'ujb or kibr behind it. There's showing off or pride or conceitedness behind the speech. And the Prophet ṣallallāhu 'alayhi wa sallam warned about that type of speaking. To encompass all of this, Qāla ṣallallāhu 'alayhi wa sallam:
25:07"Inna akhwafa mā akhāfu 'alaikum ba'dī: kullu munāfiqin 'alīm al-lisān." May Allah protect us. He said, "Indeed, what I fear most for you after me is every hypocrite who has a skilled tongue." 'Alīm al-lisān, knows how to use their tongue.
25:21Because if you think about a munāfiq and the intention of a munafiq, the munafiq will speak in a way that they will distort to the extent that they think they can distort in a gathering, and then they know when to lay off.
25:35And then they'll push the boundaries further and further and further and further as the time and the place allows them to. And this was the case of the munafiqin in Medina. And if they're eloquent, then they're more dangerous. Because they'll reveal their real intentions to you as time goes on.
25:50And by the way, I say this so we could actually accuse ourselves, as the Sahaba did, not sit there and say, "Oh, I think this person's a munafiq." That's a very dangerous path to go down. If someone doesn't, you know,
26:02if it's taking away from the foundations, and it's not benefiting you, then that's your own prerogative and protection. Just don't say anything. Right? Don't say anything in this regard. In any case, at the end of the day,
26:16this category, you have a storyteller who gives you emotions. You have a storyteller who gives you public commentary. You have a dajjal who gives you fake revelation. Right?
26:30You have a poet that gives you eloquence. Right? And allows you to rise with that eloquence. You have theatrics that come into religion. What this speaks to is the disease of the heart.
26:43And if you are seeking comedy and seeking, you know, just someone that's going to make you feel good, or something that's going to sound a certain way, then that's your fault at the end of the day. Right? Because when people stop seeking the truth,
26:56then Allah 'Azza wa Jall replaces truthful speakers to them with speakers of falsehood that match what the desires on the inside are. And may Allah 'Azza wa Jall protect us from being on the giving or the receiving end of that. Allahumma Amin.
27:13you
