Things the Prophet ﷺ Feared the Most for His Ummah

TF-RA | January 19, 2020

And Allāh will never lead a people astray after He has guided them until He makes clear to them as to what they should avoid. (Qur'ān, 9:115)

A duty Allāh, the All-Mighty, the All-Sublime, entrusted to the chosen ones among his slaves. To make the path of guidance clear to mankind so that nothing essential for guidance is left out. Narrated 'Amrw ibn 'Aas that the Messenger of Allāh ﷺ said:

No Prophet came before me except that it was his duty to guide his followers to what he knew was good for them and warn them against what he knew was bad for them. (1)

Just like his brothers before him, our Prophet ﷺ left no good except that he encouraged us to take it and he left no evil accept that he warned us against it. To such an extent that he said:

I am leaving you upon a (path of) brightness whose night is like its day. No one will deviate from it after I am gone but one who is doomed. (2)

Leaving no excuse for innovation nor deviation, the Prophet ﷺ also outlined the major obstacles and dangers that he feared the most for his nation. Dangers in the form of evil qualities and actions as well as personalities and worldly distractions:


Among the qualities and actions that the Prophet ﷺ feared the most for his nation are:


I. The minor Shirk (idolatry) = Showing-off


Mahmud bin Labid narrated that the Messenger of Allāh ﷺ said:

The thing I fear most for you is the lesser shirk, showing-off (of good deeds). On the Day when Allāh recompenses the slaves for their actions, He will says:“Go to those for whom you used to show your deeds off in the world and see if you can find any reward with them.” (3)

That's why it is recommended that one have at least one secret (good) deed between him and his Creator. Highlighting the greatness of having a secret deed, the Messenger of Allāh says:

Whoever among you is capable of having a secret righteous deed, let him do so. (4)

  
II. The covert lust 


'Abdullāh ibn Zaid narrated that the Messenger of Allāh ﷺ said:

The things I fear most for you is showing-off and covert lust. (5)

 In a weak hadith in Musnad imām Ahmad (ra) (6), the covert lust has been defined as when a fasting person abandons his (voluntary) fasting for an instant desire or lust. 

In another hadith (7), the covert lust has been defined as the worldly desires for women and other things.
Ibn Abi Dāwoud As-Sijistāni (ra) was asked about the covert lust and he defined it as the love for headship. (8)

The Messenger of Allāh ﷺ said:

Two wolves free among sheep are no more destructive to them than a man's desire for wealth and honor is to his religion. (9)

III. The seductive temptations and the deviation of the desire


Narrated Abu Barzah that the Messenger of Allāh ﷺ said:

Among the things I fear for you are the seductive temptations in your bellies and private parts and the misguidance of the desire. (10)

Although this wording of the hadith is not particularly about the things the Prophet ﷺ feared the most for his ummah, other wordings of the hadith that have been narrated by other scholars (11) let it fall under the same category we are trying to cover in this short article.


IV. Misinterpreting the Book and preferring worldly life over afterlife 


Narrated 'Uqbah ibn 'Amir that the Messenger of Allāh said:

The destruction of my nation is brought up by the Book and the milk, they learn the Qur'ān and they interpret it contrary to what Allāh has revealed (it for), and they love the milk so they abandon the congregational and Friday prayers and settle in deserts. (12)

As imām Ibn Qayyim (ra) says, 'Misunderstanding and misinterpreting what Allāh and His Messenger ﷺ have said is the root cause of every innovation and deviation in Islām.' (13)

Narrated 'Abdullāh ibn Umar that the Messenger of Allāh ﷺ said:

When you enter into the inah transaction, hold the tails of oxen, are pleased with agriculture, and give up conducting jihād. Allāh will make disgrace prevail over you, and will not withdraw it until you return to your original religion. (14)

V. Seeking rain through stars, the tyranny of the king, and rejection of the predestination 


Abu Umāmah al-Bāhili narrated that the Messenger of Allāh ﷺ said:

The things I fear most for my nation in its last days is stars, denying the predestination, and the tyranny of the king. (15)

The Messenger of Allāh ﷺ narrated from His Lord that He, the All-Mighty, the All-Sublime, said:

Some of My bondsmen entered the morning as My believers and some as unbelievers. He who said: We have had a rainfall due to the Blessing and Mercy of Allāh, he is My believer and a disbeliever of stars, and who said: We have had a rainfall due to the falling (or rising) of such and such (star) disbelieved Me and affirmed his faith in the stars. (16)

It is incumbent on the slave not to attribute the favours and blessings of Allāh to other than Him; rather, he should always attribute them to Him who provided him with them.


VI. The practice of the people of the Lut [i.e. homosexuality]


Narrated Jābir ibn 'Abdullāh that the Messenger of Allāh ﷺ said:

The thing I fear most for you is the practice of the people of Lut. (17)

This practice is particularly wide-spread in the current era where Muslims are more than ever compromising their Islamic values when it comes to the issue of homosexuality.


 

VII. The tongue


Narrated Sufyān bin 'Abdullāh Ath-Thaqafī that he asked the Prophet ﷺ about what he feared the most for him, he held his tongue and said: “This.” (18)

Narrated Mu'āz ibn Jabal that he asked the Prophet ﷺ, ‘O Prophet of Allāh! Will we be taken to account for what we say?’ He said:

May your mother grieve your loss O Mu'āz! Are the people tossed into the Fire upon their faces, or upon their noses, except because of what their tongues have wrought? (19)

Among the personalities and worldly distractions that the Prophet ﷺ feared the most for his nation are:



IIX. The fitnah of Ad-Dajjāl [= the Anti-Christ]


Hishām ibn'Amir narrated that the Messenger of Allāh said:

Between time of the creation of Adam and the Resurrection Day, there is nothing greater than (the mischief of) Dajjāl (the Antichrist). (20)

 

IX. The misleading imāms [= religious leaders]


Thawbān narrated that the Messenger of Allāh ﷺ said:

The thing I fear most for you is the misleading religious leaders. (21)

X. A hypocrite skilled in rhetoric


'Umar ibn Khattāb narrated that the Messenger of Allāh ﷺ said:

The thing I fear most for you is every hypocrite skilled in rhetoric. (22)

 

XI. The women



Narrated Usama bin Zaid that the Prophet ﷺ said:

After me I have not left any trial more severe to men than women. (23)

Obviously, this is what he ﷺ feared the most for the men of his Ummah. Concerning the severity of the trial of the women, it has been reported that 'Atā' (ra) said: ‘Had I been entrusted with (the keys of) a treasury house, I would have been trustworthy, however, I can't trust my soul with an ugly slave girl.’ (24)



XII. A man who recites Qur'ān and then becomes alienated from it, attacks his neighbor with the sword, and declares him idolater


Hudhaifa ibn Yamān narrated that the Messenger of Allāh ﷺ said:

The thing I fear most for you is a man who recites Qur'ān and as soon as its beauty is manifest in him and he becomes a pillar of Islām, he detaches himself from it and throws it behind his back, and attempts on his neighbor's life with a sword while throwing the label of 'idolater' at him. (25)

This is alluding to the mischief of Khawārij who used to make unsubstantiated takfir (= excommunication) against other Muslims, thereby making their blood lawful to be shed. This sect, among all other sects, caused much destruction and bloodshed in the Muslim world. About whom Imām Abul 'Abbās (ra) used to say, 'They neither established a religion nor did they leave any land intact.' (26)
  

XIII. The adornments and beauties of the life  


Abu Sa'id Al-Khudri reported that the Messenger of Allāh ﷺ said:

What I fear most for you is what Allāh brings forth for you in the form of the adornment of the world. (27)

These are the things that the Prophet ﷺ feared the most for his ummah; however, it doesn't mean that these were the only things concerning which he used to be ever fearful for his ummah. 

Learning them and guarding oneself against them and their danger must be our primary concern, for these were what the Messenger of Allāh ﷺ used to be concerned about the most. 

 

  

Footnotes

(1) Sahih Muslim 1844.
(2) Sahih Al-Jāmi' 4369.
(3) Musnad imām Ahmad 23630. Classed as hasan by Al-Arnaout (ra).
(4) Sahih Al-Jāmi' 6018.
(5) Silsilat us-Sahihah 508. Its isnād is classed as hasan by Al-Albāni (ra).
(6) Musnad imām Ahmad 17120. Its isnād is classed as extremely weak by Al-Arnaout (ra).
(7) Jāmi'-ul Masānid was Sunan 5149. Its isnād is classed as hasan by ibn Katheer (ra).
(8) Ibn Jawzī, ‘Sifat-us Safwah’, Dār-ul Hadith, Vol. 2, Page 276.
(9) Jāmi` at-Tirmidhi 2376. Classed as hasan-un sahih by Tirmidhi (ra).
(10) Musnad imām Ahmad 19773. Its narrators have been classed as trustworthy by Al-Arnaout (ra).
(11) Ibn Jawzī, ‘Dham-il Hawā’, Page 19.
(12) Musnad imām Ahmad 17415. Its isnād is classed as hasan by Al-Arnaout (ra).
(13) Ibn Qayyim, ‘Ar-Rouh’, Dār-ul Kutub al-'Ilmiyyah, Page 63.
(14) Sunan Abi Dāwud 3462. Classed as sahih by Albāni (ra).
(15) Sahih Al-Jāmi' 1553.
(16) Sahih Muslim 71.
(17) Sahih ut-Targhib 2417. Classed as hasan by Al-Albāni (ra).
(18) Sahih ibn Hibbān 5699. Classed as authentic by Al-Arnaout (ra).
(19) Jāmi` at-Tirmidhi 2616. Classed as hasan-un sahih by Tirmidhi (ra).
(20) Sahih Muslim 2946
(21) Sahih ibn Hibbān 6714. Classed as authentic by Al-Arnaout (ra).
(22) Musnad imām Ahmad 143. Its isnād is classed as strong by Al-Arnaout (ra).
(23) Sahih al-Bukhari 5096.

(24) Dhahabi (ra), Siyar A'lām-un Nubalā', Ar-Risālah, Vol 5, Page 88-87.
(25) Silsilat us-Sahihah 3201. Classed as hasan by Al-Albāni (ra).
(26) Ibn Taymiyyah, ‘Minhāj-us Sunnah’, Islamic University of imām Muhammad bin Sa'ud, Vol. 4, Page 528.

(27) Sahih Muslim 1052.