The Third Narration

The Khilafah will last thirty years, and then it will become a cruel monarchy.

And the first monarch was Muawiyah.

I say that the meaning that is implied by ‘adud [cruel] is harshness and oppression as is mentioned in al Qamus al Muhit (pg.835).

Ibn al Athir has mentioned in al Nihayah (pg.622): “… then it will become a cruel monarchy,” i.e. the people will be afflicted with harshness and oppression, as if they are being bitten.

In response to this I say the following: the hadith is not worded as such!

The hadith has been narrated by Ahmed (5/220), al Tirmidhi (2226), Abu Dawood (4646), al Nasa’i in al Kubra (8155), all of them by way of Sa’id ibn Jumhan — from Safinah radiya Llahu ‘anhu, who said that the Messenger salla Llahu ‘alayhi wa sallam said:

The khilafah will remain in my ummah for thirty years, then it will become a monarchy after that.^{^[1]}

In al Muntakhab min ‘ilal al Khallal (pg. 217) it appears:

Al Marrudhi said: “I mentioned the narration of Safinah to Abu ‘Abdullah [i.e. Ahmed] and he authenticated it and said it is authentic.”

The word ‘adud does not appear in any of the sources.

Yes, it has been narrated by al Tayalisi (228), al Bayhaqi in al Kubra (16407) and in Shu’ab al Iman (5616), Abu Ya’la (873), al Tabarani in al Kabir(367) (91), and ibn ‘Abdul Barr in al Tamhid (14/245) all of them by way of al Layth ibn Abi Sulaim — from ‘Abd a-Rahman ibn Sabit — from Abu Tha’labah al Khushani — from Abu ‘Ubaidah ibn al Jarrah and Mu’adh ibn Jabal — from the Messenger salla Llahu ‘alayhi wa sallam who said:

Indeed Allah has begun this affair with prophethood and mercy, then it shall become a khilafah with mercy, then it shall become a cruel monarchy, and then tyranny and force and chaos will become common in the ummah, they will regard lawful the [forbidden] private parts [zina: unlawful sexual relationships], and alcohol, and silk, and they will be assisted despite that and be provided with sustenance always, until they meet Allah.^{^[2]}

And this narration is not sound in terms of the chain; and in terms of the text it contradicts the authentic narrations. In the chain appears al Layth ibn Abi Sulaim, who is weak, and the opinions of the scholars have been quoted regarding his status as a narrator.

As for the text, it goes against the verse in the Qur’an:

If you help Allah [His religion]; He will help you…^{^[3]}

How is it possible that they consider zina and alcohol lawful and they are still aided with divine assistance and provided with sustenance until they meet their Rabb?

Ahmed has narrated in his Musnad (18430), and al Tayalisi (438) an abridged narration, al Bazzar (2796), al Bayhaqi in al Dala’il (2843), all of them by way of Dawood ibn Ibrahim al Wasiti — who said — Habib ibn Salim narrated to me — from No’man ibn Bashir radiya Llahu ‘anhu who said:

We we sitting in the Masjid with Allah’s Messenger salla Llahu ‘alayhi wa sallam; and Bashir was one to withhold his speech. Abu Tha’labah al Khushani entered and said, “O Bashir ibn Sa’d, do you remember the hadith of the Messenger of Allah salla Llahu ‘alayhi wa sallam regarding the leaders?” So Hudhayfah responded, “I recall his sermon.” So Abu Tha’labah sat down and Hudhayfah narrated to him from the Messenger salla Llahu ‘alayhi wa sallam: “Prophethood will remain among you as long as Allah wishes it to remain, then He will raise it when He wishes to raise it, Then it will be khilafah upon the pattern of Prophethood for as long as Allah wishes it to remain, then He will raise it when He wishes to raise it, then it will become cruel monarchy, and will remain for as long as Allah wishes it to remain, then He will raise it when He wishes to raise it, then it shall become tyrannical monarchy, and it will remain for as long as Allah wishes it to remain, then He will raise it when He wishes to raise it, then it will return to khilafah upon the pattern of Prophethood, then he remained silent.” Habib [the narrator] says, “when ‘Umar ibn ‘Abdul ‘Aziz rose up, and Yazid ibn No’man ibn al Bashir was from his companions, I wrote to him with this narration reminding him of it and I said to him, ‘I expect that Amir al Mu’minin — meaning ‘Umar ibn ‘Abdul ‘Aziz — is after the monarchs of cruelty and tyranny,’ so what I had written had been presented to ‘Umar ibn ‘Abdul ‘Aziz and it pleased him and impressed him.”

Dawood ibn Ibrahim al Wasiti was verified by Abu Dawood al Tayalisi^{^[4]}, and Ibn Hibban included him in al Thiqat.^{^[5]}

Habib ibn Salim, he is al Ansari, the Mowla of No’man ibn Bashir. Abu Hatim verified him^{^[6]}, as well as Abu Dawood, and Ibn Hibban^{^[7]} included him in al Thiqat. Al Bukhari said: “There is uncertainty with him.”^{^[8]} Ibn ‘Adi, in al Kamil (2/406) said: “There are no major contradictions in texts of his narrations. However, there is confusion in some of the chains which he narrates.”

Abu Dawood al Tayalisi solely narrates this narration. In Atraf al Ghara’ib wa al Afrad of al Daraqutni (1988) it appears: “The narration, ‘we were sitting in the Masjid…’ and in it appears, ‘does any of you remember the narration regarding the rulers…’, Abu Dawood al Tayalisi narrates this solely — from Dawood ibn Ibrahim al Wasiti — from Habib ibn Salim — from No’man.”

Al Bazzar (7/224) has flawed it with Irsal^{^[9]} and said: “… and this narration we do not know of anyone narrating it from No’man from Hudhayfah except Ibrahim ibn Dawood.”^{^[10]}

This also contradicts what has been narrated by al Tabarani in al Kabir (11/88) (11138):

Ahmed ibn al Nadr narrated to us — saying — Sa’id ibn Hafs al Nufayli narrated to us — saying — Musa ibn A’yan narrated to us from ibn Shihab^{^[11]} — from Fitr ibn Khalifah — from Mujahid — from Ibn ‘Abbas radiya Llahu ‘anhu, who said that the Messenger salla Llahu ‘alayhi wa sallam said: “The beginning of this affair is Prophethood and mercy, then it will be a khilafah and mercy, then monarchy and mercy, then leadership and mercy, then Imarah and mercy, then they will be biting each other for it as donkeys do, so it is your duty to engage in jihad, and the best of your jihad is in ribat [guarding the borders], and the best of your ribat is at ‘Asqalan [Ashkelon].

Al Haythami said in al Majma’ (5/190): “Al Tabarani narrates it and the narrators are reliable.”

Sa’id ibn Hafs al Nufayli has been verified by Ibn Hibban in al Thiqat (8/268), and al Nasa’i has narrated by way of him as well. Maslamah ibn al Qasim said he is reliable and a group of scholars narrate from him. Al Dhahabi, in al Kashif said: “Reliable,” and Ibn Hajar, in al Taqrib said: “Trustworthy, whose memory faltered towards the end of his life,” therefore this is a well-graded chain.

What becomes clear is that the correct version of the hadith mentions monarchy without mentioning “cruelty”, etc., as narrated by Ahmed (5/220), al Tirmidhi (2226), Abu Dawood (4646), al Nasa’i in al Kubra (8155), all of them by way of Sa’id ibn Jumhan — from Safinah radiya Llahu ‘anhu, who said that the Messenger salla Llahu ‘alayhi wa sallam said:

The khilafah will remain in my ummah for thirty years, then it will become a monarchy after that.

Ibn Taymiyyah responded to a question regarding Yazid ibn Muawiyah in Jami’ al Masa’il (5/154) saying:

There emerged after the demise of Muawiyah radiya Llahu ‘anhu a wave of fitnahs and disunity and fragmentation which is a confirmation of what the Prophet salla Llahu ‘alayhi wa sallam foretold since he said, “there will be Prophethood and mercy, then khilafah and mercy, then monarchy and mercy, then tyrannical monarchy.” So the period of Prophethood was a period of mercy, as was the period of al Khulafa’ al Rashidin, and the period of rule of Muawiyah radiya Llahu ‘anhu was also a mercy, and after him began the cruel monarchy.

He also said in his Fatawa (35/27):

Then this necessitates that the mixing of khilafah and monarchy is allowed in our shari’ah, and that does not negate his moral, upright status; even though absolute khilafah is the best. And whoever came to the aid of Muawiyah radiya Llahu ‘anhu and considered him a Mujtahid [scholar of discernment] in his affairs and did not attribute to him disobedience, then he is bound by one of these two views: either the validity of mixing monarchy with khilafah, or no blame on his ijtihad.

In another place in his Fatawa (4/478) he wrote:

Muawiyah radiya Llahu ‘anhu was the best of all monarchs by consensus.^{^[12]}

NEXT⇒ The Fourth Narration

^{^[1]} The chain is authentic.

^{^[2]} See Majma’ al Zawa’id (5/189)

^{^[3]} Surah Muhammad: 7

^{^[4]} Musnad al Tayalisi (1/58)

^{^[5]} (6/280)

^{^[6]} al Jarh wa al Ta’dil (3/102)

^{^[7]} Ibn Hibban (4/137)

^{^[8]} al Tarikh al Kabir (2/218)

^{^[9]} Interruption between the Prophet salla Llahu ‘alayhi wa sallam and the generation of the Tabi’in.

^{^[10]} That is how it appears in the book, switching the names, the correct name is Dawood ibn Ibrahim

^{^[11]} Its meant to be Abu Shihab, Musa ibn Nafi’ al Asdi, al Hannat al Kufi; al Bukhari, Muslim and al Nasa’i report his narrations. See al Tahdhib (4/190).

^{^[12]} See also Siyar A’lam al Nubala’ (3/159), al Bidayah wa al Nihayah (11/439)

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