We were sitting with the Messenger of Allah ﷺ when he spoke of the trials, and he spoke at length about them until he mentioned the trial of al-Ahlas.Someone asked, "Messenger of Allah, what is the trial of al-Ahlas?"He replied, "It is flight and plunder. Then comes the trial of prosperity, whose smoke rises from beneath the feet of a man from the people of my house. He claims to be of me, but he is not of me, for my true allies are only the God-fearing. Then the people will rally around a man as unsteady as a hip-bone resting on a rib. Then comes the trial of al-Duhayma, which will not leave a single member of this community without striking him a blow. When it is said that it has ended, it will only stretch on further. In it a man wakes as a believer and reaches evening as a disbeliever, until the people are divided into two camps, a camp of faith with no hypocrisy in it, and a camp of hypocrisy with no faith in it. When that comes to pass, expect the Dajjal that very day or the next."
كنا قعودا عند رسول الله ﷺ فذكر الفتن، فأكثر في ذكرها حتى ذكر فتنة الأحلاس، فقال قائل: يا رسول الله وما فتنة الأحلاس؟ قال: هي هرب وحرب ثم فتنة السراء دخنها من تحت قدمي رجل من أهل بيتي، يزعم أنه مني وليس مني، وإنما أوليائي المتقون، ثم يصطلح الناس على رجل كورك على ضلع ثم فتنة الدهيماء لا تدع أحدا من هذه الأمة إلا لطمته لطمة، فإذا قيل: انقضت، تمادت، يصبح الرجل فيها مؤمنا ويمسي كافرا، حتى يصير الناس إلى فسطاطين: فسطاط إيمان لا نفاق فيه، وفسطاط نفاق لا إيمان فيه، فإذا كان ذاكم، فانتظروا الدجال من يومه أو من غده.
Narrated by Abu Dawud (4242), Ahmad (6168), and Hakim (4/466), all from the hadith of Abu Mughira, "Abdullah bin Salim narrated to me (that is, Ashari), Ala bin Utba Yahsabi narrated to me, from Umayr bin Hani Ansi, I heard Abdullah bin Umar," and then he related it. Hakim said, "sahih in isnad." I say, that is correct, for its narrators are the narrators of the sahih collections except for Ala bin Utba, who is truthful, one of the narrators of Abu Dawud, though Abu Hatim held that it is not sahih, as if it were fabricated. Al-Ilal (2757). This is what he said. He is an imam of this discipline, but he did not explain the reason for judging it fabricated, so perhaps the meaning of the hadith seemed problematic to him, as happened to his peers with hadiths about the tribulations.As for his saying, "He claims he is of me, but he is not of me," this has occurred often throughout the long history of Islam. The Prophet ﷺ wanted to warn his nation against such liars, then he clarified the general principle by saying, "Indeed my allies are the God-fearing." There is nothing in it that denies honor to one whose lineage to him ﷺ is established.As for what was reported from Abdullah bin Masud, from the Prophet ﷺ, that he said, "There will be in this nation four tribulations, the last of which is annihilation," this is not sound. It was narrated by Abu Dawud (4241) and Ibn Abu Shayba (38723), both through the route of Badr bin Uthman, who said, "Shaybi informed me, from a man, from Abdullah bin Masud," and then he related it. Its isnad is daif, for the narrator from Abdullah bin Masud is unnamed and unidentified.Likewise, what was reported from Abu Musa, who said, the Messenger of Allah ﷺ said, "This nation of mine is a nation shown mercy, it will have no punishment in the Hereafter, its punishment is in this world, through tribulations, earthquakes, and killing." This was narrated by Abu Dawud (4278), Ahmad (19678), and Hakim (4/444), through the route of Abdul-Rahman bin Abdullah Masudi, from Saeed bin Abu Burda, from his father, from Abu Musa, and then he related it. Hakim said, "This is a hadith sahih in isnad." I say, however, it contains Masudi, who became confused in his later years, and there occurred variation in its isnad. Bukhari presented it in Tarikh al-Kabir (1/38-39) and then said, "The report concerning the Prophet ﷺ about intercession, and that a group of people will be punished and then brought out, is more numerous, more clear, and more well known."