Question

What is the meaning of the following Hadith:

Sayyiduna Anas reported that a person asked Rasulullah (sallallahu ‘alayhi wa sallam) as to when the Last Hour would come. He had in his presence a young boy of the Ansar called Muhammad, Rasulullah (sallallahu ‘alayhi wa sallam) said: If this young boy lives, he may not grow very old till (he would see) the Last Hour coming to you.

Answer

This Hadith is better understood when read with the version mentioned in Sahih Bukhari:

Sayyidah ‘Aishah (radiyallahu ‘anha) reports that a group of barefooted Bedouin men came to Rasulullah (sallallahu ‘alayhi wa sallam) and asked, “When is Qiyamah?

Rasulullah (sallallahu ‘alayhi wa sallam) indicated to the youngest among them and said, “Qiyamah will dawn upon you before this boy will even be regarded to be old.”

Hisham [a narrator] says: [Nabi (sallallahu ‘alayhi wa sallam) was actually] referring to their death.

(Sahih Bukhari, Hadith: 6511)

In this incident, Rasulullah (sallallahu ‘alayhi wa sallam) sought to draw their attention to the “minor” qiyamah, i.e., death. (See more about this here.)

Nabi (sallallahu ‘alayhi wa sallam) was faced with a group of simple minded Bedouin men who were new to Islam and had only recently heard Quranic mention of the impending Day of Qiyamah. Telling them that Allah Ta’ala alone knows when Qiyamah will take place, and that he could not provide them with an answer would be of detriment to their new, and therefore, weak Iman. So he gave them an ambiguous time frame to distract them from that particular line of questioning so that they could focus on something that would be of greater effect – their own deaths.

(Fathul Bari, Hadith: 6511)

And Allah Ta’ala Knows best.

Approved by: Mawlana Muhammad Abasoomar

Checked by: Mawlana Haroon Abasoomar