Huzayfa, son of Yaman, may Allah be pleased with him, reported that Prophet Muhammad, May Allah grant and bless him peace, once gave a detailed sermon regarding the future events and the last days of human beings on the planet earth. Huzayfa was a very close companion of the Prophet. He is known as the secret-keeper because the Prophet had informed him the names of all the hypocrites which he did not disclose. His narration of what the Prophet said in that sermon about future events is important. He said that the Prophet ﷺ related two prophesies, one of which he had witnessed and was waiting for the occurrence of the other. His narrations include the following:
The Prophet ﷺ told us how honesty will be taken away: He said: “Man will go to sleep during which honesty will be taken away from his heart and only its trace will remain in his heart like the trace of a dark spot; then man will go to sleep, during which honesty will decrease further still, so that its trace will resemble the trace of blister as when an ember is dropped on one’s foot which would make it swell, and one would see it swollen but there would be nothing inside. People would be carrying out their trade but hardly will there be a trustworthy person. It will be said, ‘in such-and-such tribe there is an honest man,’ and later it will be said about some man, ‘What a wise, polite and strong man he is!’ Though he will not have faith equal even to a mustard seed in his heart.”
The Prophet ﷺ informed his companions in advance about the victories that would be achieved by them in battles and the growth of Islam in distant lands. All such prophesies stood the test of time and things happened in accordance therewith. Many of these prophetic traditions belong to the period prior to the migration to Madinah, when the Muslims were passing through very difficult days. The Prophet ﷺ consoled his companions in those days of trials and tribulations by giving the information that Islam will finally be the religion of Makkah, Muslims will enter places like Jerusalem, Yemen, Syria and Iraq and the rule of law will be in such a superb condition that a lady would travel from Hirra in Iraq to Makkah with gold in her hands fearing none but Allah.
The Prophet also warned about the mischiefs and discontents that will prevail the Muslim society on account of their deviation from their faiths. He talked about false claims of prophethood and emergence of deviant groups. He also talked about the indulgence in worldly affairs in complete disregard to the life hereafter which inflicted the Muslim community. He informed about people wearing one dress in the morning and discarding that for the evening and adoring a new set of clothing. Knowledge would wane and bloodshed would prevail as the end of the world will come closer. He informed about naked Bedouin and barefoot Arab shepherds becoming rich and powerful, competing with each other in construction of high-rise buildings.
The Prophet ﷺ also prophesised specific events like the martyrdom of Ali and Othman, may Allah be pleased with them. He described the consequent events in minor details and every word so spoken came to be true.
Hanzala, son of Abi Amir, may Allah be pleased with him, a companion of the Prophet ﷺ was martyred in the Battle of Uhud. The Prophet ﷺ said that he has seen angels giving him a bath. An enquiry was made with his wife and it came to light that he heard the call to join the battle in his wedding night and rushed to the battlefield without even taking a shower. The angels completed the chorus with due honour.
The list of such events where the Prophet ﷺ informed a future event is long. It may require several volumes of books to be written on the subject. However, we will describe one such event before closing this chapter. Safwan, son of Umayyah, and Umayr, son of Wahab conspired secretly in Makkah that the later would proceed to Madinah and kill the Prophet ﷺ. Accordingly, Umayr came to Madinah and reached out to the place where the Prophet was sitting with his companions. The Prophet addressed Umayr as he came closer and informed him what had conspired between him and Safwan in Makkah. This opened the eyes of Umayr and he became convinced that Muhammad, may Allah grant and bless him peace, was the Messenger of Allah, as there was no third person present when he was planning with Safwan in Makkah. He immediately embraced Islam.