Racing Against Time: Striving for Righteousness Before the Trials of the Hour
- Muiz As-Siddeeqi
- May 24
- 7 min read
Racing Against Time: Striving for Righteousness Before the Trials of the Hour
6/92 – The Sixth Hadith
From az-Zubayr ibn ʿAdī who said:
We came to Anas ibn Mālik (may Allah be pleased with him) and complained to him about what we were suffering from al-Ḥajjāj.
So he said:
"Be patient, for there will not come a time except that the one after it will be worse than it — until you meet your Lord. I heard this from your Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him)."
Narrated by al-Bukhārī.
7/93 – The Seventh Hadith
From Abū Hurayrah (may Allah be pleased with him):
The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said:
"Hasten to do good deeds before seven (obstacles come):
Are you waiting for:
– poverty that makes you forgetful,
– or wealth that leads to transgression,
– or a corrupting illness,
– or senility that weakens the mind,
– or sudden death,
– or the Dajjāl? For he is the worst of the awaited absentees,
– or the Hour (the Day of Judgment)? For the Hour is more disastrous and more bitter."**
Narrated by at-Tirmidhī, and he said: This is a ḥasan (good) ḥadīth.
8/94 – The Eighth Hadith
From Abū Hurayrah (may Allah be pleased with him):
The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said on the day of Khaybar:
"I will surely give this banner tomorrow to a man who loves Allah and His Messenger, and Allah will grant victory through his hands."
ʿUmar (may Allah be pleased with him) said:
"I never desired leadership except on that day. I stood up hoping that I would be called for it."
Then the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) called ʿAlī ibn Abī Ṭālib (may Allah be pleased with him), and gave him the banner and said:
"Go forth and do not turn back until Allah grants you victory."
ʿAlī then proceeded a little, then stopped without turning back and called out:
"O Messenger of Allah, upon what basis shall I fight the people?"
He replied:
"Fight them until they testify that there is none worthy of worship in truth but Allah, and that Muhammad is the Messenger of Allah. If they do that, then they have protected from you their blood and their wealth — except by its due right — and their reckoning is with Allah."
Narrated by Muslim.
The Shaykh Ibn Baz’s Explanation:
In the name of Allah, the Most Merciful, the Bestower of Mercy.
All praise is due to Allah, and may peace and blessings be upon the Messenger of Allah, his family, his companions, and those who follow his guidance.
To proceed:
These three hadiths — like the ones before them — contain an encouragement to race towards good deeds, to hasten to acts of obedience, and to be steadfast upon the truth.
As for the strangeness of Islam, it intensifies as time passes. That is why the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said:
“There will not come a year except that the one after it is worse than it — until you meet your Lord.”
Some versions of the hadith add:
“I do not mean a year with more or less rain, or a governor better or worse than another — rather, I mean the departure of your scholars and righteous people.”
The meaning is that the later the era, the more intense the strangeness becomes, due to:
The scarcity of scholars
The lack of righteous people
The increase in evildoers
Therefore, it is necessary for the believer to:
Strive in his own time
Eagerly seek out good
Keep close company with the righteous
Beware of carelessness
Avoid following the corrupt and immoral
Why? Because as time passes, the people of evil become more, and the people of goodness become fewer — due to the lack of knowledge and the lack of deep understanding of the religion.
The strangeness (ghurbah) of Islam may be more severe in some places than others — just as it was in the early days and again in the later era, such as during the time of Shaykh Muḥammad ibn ʿAbd al-Wahhāb (may Allah have mercy on him), in this very land (the Arabian Peninsula).
When Shaykh Muḥammad and the callers to Allah who were with him rose up with the call to Tawḥīd and revived Islam, the light of the true daʿwah emerged — even though it remained strange in many other places.
So, every place where daʿwah is present, and where the people of knowledge and righteousness are many, the strangeness fades.
But every place where daʿwah is weak, and where the scholars are few, the strangeness becomes stronger.
And today, in most of the world, Islam is in a state of intense strangeness — due to:
The lack of knowledge and its people
The widespread nature of evil and corruption
Explanation of the Second Hadith:
The second hadith is where the Prophet ﷺ says:
“Hasten to do good deeds before seven (obstacles come):
Are you waiting for poverty that makes you forget,
or wealth that leads to arrogance,
or a disease that corrupts,
or senility that weakens the mind,
or sudden death,
or the Dajjāl? — For he is the most evil of the awaited absentees.
Or are you waiting for the Hour? For the Hour is far more disastrous and bitter.”
Meaning: Hasten to righteous deeds. Do not delay. Hurry and race forward, as Allah the Exalted said:
“Race toward forgiveness from your Lord.”
(Surah al-Ḥadīd 57:21)
And He said:
“So compete in good deeds.”
(Surah al-Baqarah 2:148)
And He also said:
“And hasten toward forgiveness from your Lord.”
(Surah Āl ʿImrān 3:133)
So the believer must always race toward righteousness — wherever he is, in any location, in any situation.
He must not delay, for death can overtake him at any moment, and many obstacles can arise.
For this reason, the Prophet ﷺ also said in another hadith:
“Hasten with good deeds before trials come like pieces of the dark night — a man wakes up as a Muslim and goes to bed as a disbeliever, and goes to bed as a believer and wakes up as a disbeliever, selling his religion for a portion of this world.”
And in this narration, the Prophet ﷺ said:
“Hasten to do good deeds before seven (things come): Are you waiting for…
– poverty that makes one forget
– or wealth that makes one transgress
– or a disease that ruins the body
– or old age that damages the mind and weakens the body
– or sudden death (after which there are no more actions)
– or the Dajjāl?”
The Dajjāl is the most evil of all those awaited, for he will appear at the end of time calling to disbelief in Allah and misguidance, and he will claim to be the Lord of the worlds.
His trial is tremendous, and for that reason, Allah has legislated seeking refuge from his fitnah (trial) in every prayer, in the last part of the tashahhud.
At first, he will claim to be a prophet, then he will claim to be the Lord of all creation.
He will be accompanied by wondrous miracles and deceptions that will confuse people.
He will roam the earth and spread his fitnah far and wide.
Then he will head toward Shām (Greater Syria) — and ʿĪsā ibn Maryam (Jesus son of Mary, peace be upon him) will descend, and the Muslims on the earth will be with him. They will fight the Dajjāl and kill him.
In this, the Prophet ﷺ again says:
“Hasten to good deeds before seven (things come)….”
— whether one is poor or rich.
The poor should not say: “I’ll wait until I become wealthy.”
And the rich should not say: “I’ll wait until I handle such and such.”
No!
Every person must hold himself accountable, and take initiative in performing righteous deeds without delay.
Explanation of the Third Hadith:
This third hadith is the narration of Abū Hurayrah, and it is also authentically reported from Sahl ibn Saʿd, that the Prophet ﷺ once said:
“Tomorrow, I will give the banner to a man who loves Allah and His Messenger — and Allah and His Messenger love him.”
This occurred during the battle of Khaybar, where the Muslims were preparing to fight the Jews of Khaybar. Everyone eagerly longed for this leadership — for the Prophet ﷺ had just declared that the one who would receive the banner loves Allah and His Messenger, and is loved by Allah and His Messenger.
This is a tremendous virtue and noble distinction — so much so that every one of the companions hoped to be given the banner.
Even ʿUmar ibn al-Khaṭṭāb (may Allah be pleased with him) said:
“I never desired leadership except on that day — due to the testimony that the one who receives it is someone loved by Allah and His Messenger, and who loves Allah and His Messenger.”
This was a specific, personal testimony from the Prophet ﷺ — not general. Of course, every believer loves Allah and His Messenger, and is loved by them in general, but for the Messenger of Allah ﷺ to give this testimony with such clarity and designation about a specific person — that “this man loves Allah and His Messenger, and is loved by Allah and His Messenger” — that is a great and rare honor.
So, the next morning, the companions came early to the Prophet ﷺ, each one hoping to be given the banner.
The Prophet ﷺ asked:
“Where is ʿAlī ibn Abī Ṭālib?”
They said:
“He is suffering from pain in his eyes.”
So the Prophet ﷺ had him brought. When ʿAlī arrived, the Prophet spat into his eyes and made duʿā for him, and Allah cured him immediately — healing him completely on the spot.
Then the Prophet ﷺ gave him the banner and said:
“Proceed calmly at your pace until you reach their territory.”
So ʿAlī (may Allah be pleased with him) marched forward toward the territory of the Jews of Khaybar.
The Prophet ﷺ instructed him:
“Call them to Islam, and inform them of the rights of Allah over them.”
Then the Prophet ﷺ said the famous words:
“By Allah! If Allah guides a single man through you, it is better for you than red camels.”
"Red camels" were the most valuable and prized property among the Arabs — so the meaning is: to guide one soul to Islam is better than the entire world and what it contains.
And in another hadith, the Prophet ﷺ said:
“Whoever directs someone to good will have a reward equal to the one who performs it.”
So the one who invites someone to Islam, and Allah guides that person through him, then the caller will receive the same reward as the one who embraced Islam and acted upon it.
This hadith is a powerful encouragement to engage in daʿwah (calling others to Allah), and it shows the immense reward and great virtue of the caller to the truth.
May Allah grant success to everyone.
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