Sahih al-Bukhari, 1878
sahihNarrated Usama:
Once the Prophet (ﷺ) stood at the top of a (looked out from upon one) castle amongst the castles (or the high buildings) of Medina and said, "Do you see what I see? (No doubt) I see the spots where afflictions will take place among your houses (and these afflictions will be) as numerous as the spots where raindrops fall."
حَدَّثَنَا عَلِيٌّ، حَدَّثَنَا سُفْيَانُ، حَدَّثَنَا ابْنُ شِهَابٍ، قَالَ أَخْبَرَنِي عُرْوَةُ، سَمِعْتُ أُسَامَةَ ـ رضى الله عنه ـ قَالَ أَشْرَفَ النَّبِيُّ صلى الله عليه وسلم عَلَى أُطُمٍ مِنْ آطَامِ الْمَدِينَةِ فَقَالَ
هَلْ تَرَوْنَ مَا أَرَى إِنِّي لأَرَى مَوَاقِعَ الْفِتَنِ خِلاَلَ بُيُوتِكُمْ كَمَوَاقِعِ الْقَطْرِ
. تَابَعَهُ مَعْمَرٌ وَسُلَيْمَانُ بْنُ كَثِيرٍ عَنِ الزُّهْرِيِّ.
References2 variants
- In-Book Reference
- Book 29, Hadith 12
- USC-MSA web (English) reference
- Vol. 3, Book 30, Hadith 102 (deprecated numbering scheme)
Sharh · explanationclick to expand
The Prophet ﷺ was an exemplary educator and mentor; he ﷺ utilized every available opportunity to call people to Allah, Exalted is He, instill goodness within Muslims, and warn them against all evils. An example of his warnings was against some future Fitnah (trails and afflictions) and evils so that Muslims would be well prepared for them. This hadeeth serves as evidence of his prophethood and a miracle which he ﷺ was given, foretelling some future events that would happen after his death. Usaamah ibn Zayd (may Allah be pleased with him) narrated that the Prophet ﷺ once stood at the top of one of the forts or high buildings in Al-Madeenah, looked down, and then drew the attention of the Companions (may Allah be pleased with them) who were with him by saying: “Do you see what I see?” Then he ﷺ told them of the very spots where some future afflictions would befall Al-Madeenah as if he ﷺ was seeing them firsthand at the time of their occurrence, as clear as he saw the spaces between the houses. He ﷺ told them that these afflictions would be numerous and befall all the people therein, just like raindrops. The Arabic term fitnah denotes the trails and afflictions that befall people with regard to their religious or worldly affairs. The Prophet ﷺ singled out Al-Madeenah in this hadeeth, because the killing of ‘Uthmaan (may Allah be pleased with him) took place in Al-Madeenah and it was followed by a series of trails and afflictions that spread all over the Muslim lands. The Battle of the Camel and the Battle of Siffeen were the result of the murder of ‘Uthmaan (may Allah be pleased with him). Moreover, the Battle of Nahrawan was caused by the arbitration at the Battle of Siffeen, and all the fighting that took place during the time of Fitnah (strife) was a result of arbitration, or caused by some of its results. It is deduced from the hadeeth that an educator may draw the attention of the students by employing the question-answer method of teaching. .