Imam Al-Bukhari narrates 6 Ahadith in his Sahih about the Analogy the prophet (saws) gave regarding the lifespan of Islam on Earth.
Abu Musa (ra) said, the Prophet (peace and blessing be upon him) said: “The example of Muslims, Jews and Christians is like the example of a man who employed labourers to work for him from morning till night for specific wages. They worked till midday and then said, ‘We do not need your money which you have fixed for us and let whatever we have done be annulled.’ The man said to them, ‘Don’t quit the work, but complete the rest of it and take your full wages.’ But they refused and went away. The man employed another batch after them and said to them, ‘Complete the rest of the day and yours will be the wages I had fixed for the first batch.’ So, they worked till the time of `Asr prayer. Then they said, “Let what we have done be annulled and keep the wages you have promised us for yourself.’ The man said to them, ‘Complete the rest of the work, as only a little of the day remains,’ but they refused. Thereafter he employed another batch to work for the rest of the day and they worked for the rest of the day till the sunset, and they received the wages of the two former batches. So, that was the example of those people (Muslims) and the example of this light (guidance) which they have accepted willingly.
حَدَّثَنَا مُحَمَّدُ بْنُ الْعَلاَءِ، حَدَّثَنَا أَبُو أُسَامَةَ، عَنْ بُرَيْدٍ، عَنْ أَبِي بُرْدَةَ، عَنْ أَبِي مُوسَى ـ رضى الله عنه ـ عَنِ النَّبِيِّ صلى الله عليه وسلم قَالَ “ مَثَلُ الْمُسْلِمِينَ وَالْيَهُودِ وَالنَّصَارَى كَمَثَلِ رَجُلٍ اسْتَأْجَرَ قَوْمًا يَعْمَلُونَ لَهُ عَمَلاً يَوْمًا إِلَى اللَّيْلِ عَلَى أَجْرٍ مَعْلُومٍ، فَعَمِلُوا لَهُ إِلَى نِصْفِ النَّهَارِ فَقَالُوا لاَ حَاجَةَ لَنَا إِلَى أَجْرِكَ الَّذِي شَرَطْتَ لَنَا، وَمَا عَمِلْنَا بَاطِلٌ، فَقَالَ لَهُمْ لاَ تَفْعَلُوا أَكْمِلُوا بَقِيَّةَ عَمَلِكُمْ، وَخُذُوا أَجْرَكُمْ كَامِلاً، فَأَبَوْا وَتَرَكُوا، وَاسْتَأْجَرَ أَجِيرَيْنِ بَعْدَهُمْ فَقَالَ لَهُمَا أَكْمِلاَ بَقِيَّةَ يَوْمِكُمَا هَذَا، وَلَكُمَا الَّذِي شَرَطْتُ لَهُمْ مِنَ الأَجْرِ. فَعَمِلُوا حَتَّى إِذَا كَانَ حِينُ صَلاَةِ الْعَصْرِ قَالاَ لَكَ مَا عَمِلْنَا بَاطِلٌ، وَلَكَ الأَجْرُ الَّذِي جَعَلْتَ لَنَا فِيهِ. فَقَالَ لَهُمَا أَكْمِلاَ بَقِيَّةَ عَمَلِكُمَا، فَإِنَّ مَا بَقِيَ مِنَ النَّهَارِ شَىْءٌ يَسِيرٌ. فَأَبَيَا، وَاسْتَأْجَرَ قَوْمًا أَنْ يَعْمَلُوا لَهُ بَقِيَّةَ يَوْمِهِمْ، فَعَمِلُوا بَقِيَّةَ يَوْمِهِمْ حَتَّى غَابَتِ الشَّمْسُ، وَاسْتَكْمَلُوا أَجْرَ الْفَرِيقَيْنِ كِلَيْهِمَا، فَذَلِكَ مَثَلُهُمْ وَمَثَلُ مَا قَبِلُوا مِنْ هَذَا النُّورِ ”.
(Sahih al-Bukhari, Book 37, Hadith 11)
In another variation Imam Bukhari reports in his Sahih from Ibn `Umar: The Prophet said, “Your life in comparison to the lifetime of the past nations is like the period between the time of `Asr prayer and sunset. Your example and the example of the Jews and Christians is that of a person who employed laborers and said to them, “Who will work for me till the middle of the day for one Qirat (a special weight)?’ The Jews did. He then said, “Who will work for me from the middle of the day till the `Asr prayer for one Qirat each?” The Christians worked accordingly. Then you (Muslims) are working from the `Asr prayer till the Maghrib prayer for two Qirats each. They (the Jews and the Christians) said, ‘We did more labor but took less wages.’ He (Allah) said, ‘Have I wronged you in your rights?’ They replied, ‘No.’ Then He said, ‘This is My Blessing which I give to whom I wish.”
حَدَّثَنَا مُسَدَّدٌ، عَنْ يَحْيَى، عَنْ سُفْيَانَ، حَدَّثَنِي عَبْدُ اللَّهِ بْنُ دِينَارٍ، قَالَ سَمِعْتُ ابْنَ عُمَرَ ـ رضى الله عنهما ـ عَنِ النَّبِيِّ صلى الله عليه وسلم قَالَ “ إِنَّمَا أَجَلُكُمْ فِي أَجَلِ مَنْ خَلاَ مِنَ الأُمَمِ كَمَا بَيْنَ صَلاَةِ الْعَصْرِ وَمَغْرِبِ الشَّمْسِ، وَمَثَلُكُمْ وَمَثَلُ الْيَهُودِ وَالنَّصَارَى كَمَثَلِ رَجُلٍ اسْتَعْمَلَ عُمَّالاً، فَقَالَ مَنْ يَعْمَلُ لِي إِلَى نِصْفِ النَّهَارِ عَلَى قِيرَاطٍ فَعَمِلَتِ الْيَهُودُ فَقَالَ مَنْ يَعْمَلُ لِي مِنْ نِصْفِ النَّهَارِ إِلَى الْعَصْرِ فَعَمِلَتِ النَّصَارَى، ثُمَّ أَنْتُمْ تَعْمَلُونَ مِنَ الْعَصْرِ إِلَى الْمَغْرِبِ بِقِيرَاطَيْنِ قِيرَاطَيْنِ، قَالُوا نَحْنُ أَكْثَرُ عَمَلاً وَأَقَلُّ عَطَاءً، قَالَ هَلْ ظَلَمْتُكُمْ مِنْ حَقِّكُمْ قَالُوا لاَ قَالَ فَذَاكَ فَضْلِي أُوتِيهِ مَنْ شِئْتُ ”.
(Book 66, Hadith 43)
Imam Bukhari recorded different variations of this Analogy six times in his Sahih under various chapters.
- Book 9: Hadith 35
- Book 37: Hadith 8,9,11
- Book 60: Hadith 126
- Book 66: Hadith 43
Two of the Ahadith begin with the words “Your Example” , two begin with the words “The Example of” and two Begin with the explicit words “Your Period” and “Your Life” in comparison to past nations.
- “The example of Muslims, Jews and Christians is like the example”
- “Your example and the example of the people of the two Scriptures”
- “Your example and the example of Jews and Christians is like the example”
- “The example of Muslims, Jews and Christians is like the example of “
- “Your period (i.e. Islam’s period) in comparison to the periods of the previous nations, is like the period”
- “Your life (on earth) in comparison to the lifetime of the past nations is like the period between”
Hafiz Ibn al-Hajar al-Asqalani (a prominent Islamic scholar who died in 852 Hijra calendar) writes in his Fath al Bari, which is the most widely accepted tafsir to Sahih Bukhari, in vol.4, book of hire/ijara, page 448-449, commenting on these two narrations said:
“and it is evident (from these stated narrations) that the lasting of this Islamic nation is somewhat a thousand years, this is because the age of the Jewish nation is equivalent to that of the time periods of the Christian and Muslim ages combined, and the people of transmission (ahl an naql) have agreed that the period of the Jews till the advent of Allah’s final Apostle Muhammad was more than 2000 years, and the span of the age of the Christians was 600 years from them. And also this narration points to the fact about how little of the age of this world has remained.”
واستدل به على أن بقاء هذه الأمة يزيد على الألف ؛ لأنه يقتضي أن مدة اليهود نظير مدتي النصارى والمسلمين ، وقد اتفق أهل النقل على أن مدة اليهود إلى بعثة النبي – صلى الله عليه وسلم – كانت أكثر من ألفي سنة ، ومدة النصارى من ذلك ستمائة ، وقيل : أقل ، فتكون مدة المسلمين أكثر من ألف قطع
(Tafsir of Sahih al-Bukhari, Fath al Bari for Hadith 11, Book 37)
It may seem confusing that the prophet (saws) said in one place Islam would have 1500 years and in another place 1000 years, but as Imam Suyuti explained it was initially 1000 years but Allah extended it, He gave the Ummah a choice between another 1000 years or 500 years depending on whether they could maintain their religion in front of Allah, but since Islam began to decline after the first 1000 years Allah only granted them another 500 years.
Imam Suyuti wrote a Fatwa on the lifespan of the muslim Ummah, a Scholar explained it’s relevance and context: “When Muslims reached the 1,000th year Hijri they thought they were nearing the end of this Ummah, in the same way we thought about the year 2000, because of these Sahih Ahadith in Bukhari which indicated we will have half the time the Jewish nation had, but Imam as-Suyuti (One of the Mujadids (Revivers) of Islam), who was born in the 10th century and lived into the 11th century, was alive during these times, he wrote a fatwa (legal ruling) to reassure the Muslims, in which he said it was supposed to be 1000 years but there are narrations of Rasul Allah (pbuh) in which He supplicates to Allah to give his Ummah more time so Allah granted them another half a day and the companions asked the Prophet how long is half a day, He answered 500 years. So the Imam said the life of this Ummah is 1,500 years according to these narrations.”
Imam as Suyuti mentions in his Fatwa “Risalah Al-Kashf ‘An Mujawazt Hadehel Ummah Al Alf”, or “Treatise on Revealing of the Proceeding of this Nation Beyond the Thousand,” page 206 about the advent of the Mahdi that:
“From what the narrations reveal is that the age of this Ummah extends beyond a thousand but it doesn’t exceed in increase another 500 in actuality beyond this thousand.”
The Scholar then mentions that The Prophet (blessings and peace be upon him) said:
1) “I hope my community will not fail to maintain their position in the sight of their Lord if He delays them half a day. Sa’d was asked: How long is half a day? He said: It is five hundred years”. (Sahih)
حَدَّثَنَا عَمْرُو بْنُ عُثْمَانَ، حَدَّثَنَا أَبُو الْمُغِيرَةِ، حَدَّثَنِي صَفْوَانُ، عَنْ شُرَيْحِ بْنِ عُبَيْدٍ، عَنْ سَعْدِ بْنِ أَبِي وَقَّاصٍ، أَنَّ النَّبِيَّ صلى الله عليه وسلم قَالَ “ إِنِّي لأَرْجُو أَنْ لاَ تُعْجِزَ أُمَّتِي عِنْدَ رَبِّهَا أَنْ يُؤَخِّرَهُمْ نِصْفَ يَوْمٍ ” . قِيلَ لِسَعْدٍ وَكَمْ نِصْفُ يَوْمٍ قَالَ خَمْسُمِائَةِ سَنَةٍ .
(Related by Abu Dawud, Al-Hakim, Imam Ahmad and Abu Nai’m in their respective works, who reported from Sa’d ibn Abi Waqas)
2) The Prophet (saws) said, “Allah will not fail to detain this community for less than half a day (500 years)”.
حَدَّثَنَا مُوسَى بْنُ سَهْلٍ، حَدَّثَنَا حَجَّاجُ بْنُ إِبْرَاهِيمَ، حَدَّثَنَا ابْنُ وَهْبٍ، حَدَّثَنِي مُعَاوِيَةُ بْنُ صَالِحٍ، عَنْ عَبْدِ الرَّحْمَنِ بْنِ جُبَيْرٍ، عَنْ أَبِيهِ، عَنْ أَبِي ثَعْلَبَةَ الْخُشَنِيِّ، قَالَ قَالَ رَسُولُ اللَّهِ صلى الله عليه وسلم “ لَنْ يَعْجِزَ اللَّهُ هَذِهِ الأُمَّةَ مِنْ نِصْفِ يَوْمٍ ” .
(Abu-Dawud, Sahih)
Here are examples of this understanding from Ahadith:
Mohammed bin Hanafiyya Narrated: “We were sitting with Ali (ra), One person questioned him about (Imam) Mahdi, he said it is far and he made nine (900) with his hand and said he will appear at the end of times (900 years into the future is the year 1000 Hijhra). (Nayeem bin Hammad, Al Salami – Iqdud Durar Fi Alamat Al Mahdi Al Muntazar)
“For sure the Prophet (saws) does not stay in his grave for One Thousand (1000) Years”. (Jalal Uddin Suyuti – AlKashf)
Abu Hurayrah (ra) Narrated: “From the Prophet (saws) the things which I know that is that, The Prophet (saws) said: Allah will raise for this community at the end of every hundred years the one who will renovate its religion for it and the tenth {901-910} century renovator will be Mahdi”. (Jalal Uddin Suyuti – Mirqat Al Saud)
Since it is mentioned in a few Ahadith in explicit terms that Allah would delay the muslims by half a day after the first day, we know the Prophet (saws) often spoke about periods of time in terms such as “a Day” and “Half a Day” like it is mentioned in the Quran.
Abu Hurairah narrated that the Messenger of Allah (s.a.w) said: “The poor Muslims are admitted into Paradise before the rich by half a day. And that is five hundred years.”
حَدَّثَنَا أَبُو كُرَيْبٍ، حَدَّثَنَا الْمُحَارِبِيُّ، عَنْ مُحَمَّدِ بْنِ عَمْرٍو، عَنْ أَبِي سَلَمَةَ، عَنْ أَبِي هُرَيْرَةَ، قَالَ قَالَ رَسُولُ اللَّهِ صلى الله عليه وسلم “ يَدْخُلُ فُقَرَاءُ الْمُسْلِمِينَ الْجَنَّةَ قَبْلَ أَغْنِيَائِهِمْ بِنِصْفِ يَوْمٍ وَهُوَ خَمْسُمِائَةِ عَامٍ ” . وَهَذَا حَدِيثٌ صَحِيحٌ .
(Tirmidhi, Sahih: Vol. 4, Book 10, Hadith 2354)
The Chief Mufti of the Shafii Madhhab in Madina in 1103 AH, Abu Hasan Al-Barzanji said regarding this matter: “The life of this community will exceed 1000 years, yet be limited to 1500 years” (Al-Barzanji, Al-Isha’ah li-ashrat al-sa’ah, p. 299).
Abu Hasan Al-Barzanji was born in Iraq and studied in Baghdad after which the Shaykh travelled to many cities seeking knowledge, he studied in Aleppo, Damascus, Yemen, Egypt and finally settled in Madina. Many of his descendants became prominent Ullumah and many held the post of the Chief Mufti of the Shafii Madhhab in Madina.
Abu Thalaba al Khashny the companion of Rasul Allah (saws) said: “I heard in the era of Mu’awiyah when he was trying to open Constantine, I hope my community will not fail to maintain their position in the sight of their Lord if He delays them half a day, when you see Sham is a bounty for a man and his oligarchy family members then at this time Constantine will be opened. (Majmu’ al Zawa’id, 6/222, Abu Dawud similarly reported a version in his Sunan)
Hafiz Ibn Hajar al Haythami recorded it in his Majmu’ al Zawa’id, its narrators are Sahih, a scholar said this hadith establishes how the sahaba understood the Ahadith referring to half a day. Saad ibn abi Waqas who reported the first Hadith in the Sunnan of Abu Dawud lived until 55h and his Son was a leader in the bani Umayyah Army. The sahaba literally thought when Constantinople is opened that is the time Allah would grant them another half a day or 500 years after the first day, so they quoted the words of the prophet at the time the Khalifah Muawiyah was attempting to open it for the first time.
But it was the Ottoman Sultan Mehmed II who opened Constantinople in 1452 AD, so this is the time because of it Allah decided to grant Islam another half day instead of a full day because of the state of the Muslims, “when you see Sham is a bounty” means when Syria is conquered just for the sake of having a jewel, the prophet (saws) was criticising the reasons behind Ottoman expansion, they viewed the muslim world like a prize they should possess.
The hadith itself gives two qualities about the man who would open it and the time this would occur in, the Prophet (saws) said “when you see Sham is a bounty for a man and his oligarchy family members then at this time Constantine will be opened”.
The Prophet (saws) in other ahadith referred to the Ummayid Khalifah (the first islamic dynasty) as the rule of princes, he then referred to the Ottomans as the rule of Kings. Sham was first taken in the time of the companions so this cant be the time when Sham would be seen like a bounty or prize or a jewel, this was not their character. When Constantinople was taken it established the Ottoman Khalifah as a world Empire and when they first took Sham it was a prize for them from among the lands of Islam.
The Ottomans first established themselves in 1299 in North Western Anatolia by Othman Bey, they defeated the Mamluk Sultanate in 1517 AD and ended the Abbasid khalifah in 1519AD, they ended both Khalifahs just before the 1000th year hijra. The Ottomans wanted control of all muslim lands so they could become the dominant Dynasty in the world.
Their rule lasted for 624 years which is one of the longest lasting single family Dynasties in History and the prophet criticised them for it calling their family an oligarchy. Rasul Allah (saws) summed up their situation very clearly with his words, “when you see Sham is a bounty for a man and his oligarchy family members then at this time Constantine will be opened”, the word Oligarchy means when power is being hoarded by a small group of people, in this case the Ottoman family.