The material for this article has been from taken from the lecture of Mufti Taqi Usmani.
Saeed bin Sumaan, who was from the Tabieen (the believers who saw one or more Sahabah), used to say that I heard Abu Hurairah (may Allah be pleased with him) seeking refuge from the regime of inexperienced and the foolish (the implication of Abu Hurairah [may Allah be pleased with him] was that there will be a time when young, inexperienced and imprudent people will take the reigns of administration, and thus he asked for refuge from Allah from that period).
So Saeed bin Sumaan asked Abu Hurairah (may Allah be pleased with him) about the signs of those times when this will happen. He told of the three signs of that era: first sign being that people will not fulfill the rights of their relatives (also they will break ties with them), secondly, people will obey those who will lead others astray and finally people will refuse to comply with those who will show them the right path (the entire hadith is recorded in Imam Bukhari’s Al-Adab Al-Mufrad). So, when these three signs are present at a certain time then certain individuals will be the heads of state who are not eligible to rule.
In another narration Rasulullah (Sallallaahu Alayhi Wasallam) told of one of the signs of the day of judgement: naked, destitute, barefoot shepherds will compete in building tall buildings. Meaning that people whose past will not be bright nor their habits and manners will be decent; and those below average people whose upbringing won’t be good nor they would have been properly trained by anyone will become rulers, and they will compete in the construction of tall buildings.
Anyway, from the narration Abu Hurairah (may Allah be pleased with him) we know that one should seek refuge from Allah from these dark ages. What should a believer do if he finds himself in these times (as majority of us are living under corrupt governments in this day and age)? We know from the narrations of Prophet (peace be upon him) that basically Allah will force ineligible administrators over us when our deeds will be evil. Therefore, if Muslims as a whole follow Quran and Sunnah, Allah will place over them good and decent administrators, but if they follow the footsteps of the satan as a whole (like the majority of us are doing) then Allah will put on top us those who will be unfit to govern.
In another hadith, the meaning of which more or less is that, prophet (peace be upon him) told us that when the believers find themselves in these times where they have incompetent rulers, they should not curse the government. So, the Muslims should not indulge in verbal abuse, but rather ask Allah to remove these tyrannical rulers who have been enforced upon them due to their bad actions. That is why rather than verbally cursing the government, Muslims should repent from their sins, correct their deeds and ask Allah (morning and evening) to save them from awful leaders.
But if we look at ourselves in the mirror, we find that, day and night, we are engaged in discussing the faults of our leaders. Whenever a few people get together, they start cursing the leaders and the government as a whole. Rather than engaging ourselves in this, if we are so fed up with our rulers, we should follow the advice of Prophet (peace be upon him) and start supplicating from Allah and correct our own evil deeds.
In another narration, the meaning of the hadith, more or less is that, Prophet (peace be upon him) told us that Allah controls the hearts of the rulers. If we please Allah, then Allah will change the hearts of the heads of state, or Allah will replace them with just rulers.
Now let us turn back to the signs which were mentioned at the beginning of the article. The first indication was that population of that era (majority of them) will not fulfill the rights of the relatives and will also break ties with them. Therefore, we should try our level best to fulfill the rights of others, and try to make up with those who try to break ties with us.
The second sign was that people will follow those who will lead others astray. This is so evident in this day and age: the more off track a person is the more people follow that person. For example, we see that in Muslim countries people flock behind the ignorant Sufis who themselves have no idea of the Quran and Sunnah. The reason for this is that they show people easy ways to attain paradise, and they have certain tricks up their sleeves which generally impress the public.
The third sign of that era would be that people will refuse to comply with those who will show them the right path. The reason for this is simple: a God fearing person will state the plain truth and that does not go down the throat of the masses. This is because it goes against their desires. So anyone who shows them a path which is easy and does not affect their wishes, the masses have no hesitation in accepting that message. On the other hand, if a person invites them to Islam, they will accuse that person of being a fundamentalist. I have heard many times from our fellow Muslims that Scholars have made the religion very difficult. They argue that Islam is not that rigid (basically people want a green light to keep on doing what they want, and if anyone clashes with this philosophy then he becomes a fundamentalist).
Hence, we should try to mend our ways and not become one of those who fall into the three categories of the hadith. Only those people should be our role models and teachers who follow the Quran, and their lives are led according the way of the Prophet (peace be upon him).
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