Sahih Muslim, 146
sahihIt is narrated on the authority of Ibn 'Umar ('Abdullah b. 'Umar) that the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) observed:
Verily Islam started as something strange and it would again revert (to its old position) of being strange just as it started, and it would recede between the two mosques just as the serpent crawls back into its hole.
وَحَدَّثَنِي مُحَمَّدُ بْنُ رَافِعٍ، وَالْفَضْلُ بْنُ سَهْلٍ الأَعْرَجُ، قَالاَ حَدَّثَنَا شَبَابَةُ بْنُ سَوَّارٍ، حَدَّثَنَا عَاصِمٌ، - وَهُوَ ابْنُ مُحَمَّدٍ الْعُمَرِيُّ - عَنْ أَبِيهِ، عَنِ ابْنِ عُمَرَ، عَنِ النَّبِيِّ صلى الله عليه وسلم قَالَ
إِنَّ الإِسْلاَمَ بَدَأَ غَرِيبًا وَسَيَعُودُ غَرِيبًا كَمَا بَدَأَ وَهُوَ يَأْرِزُ بَيْنَ الْمَسْجِدَيْنِ كَمَا تَأْرِزُ الْحَيَّةُ فِي جُحْرِهَا
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Isnad
6 transmittersReferences2 variants
- In-Book Reference
- Book 1, Hadith 280
- USC-MSA web (English) reference
- Book 1, Hadith 271 (deprecated numbering scheme)
Sharh · explanationclick to expand
Islam appeared in a world filled with injustice, polytheism, and ignorance. Its luminous teachings were strange among people living in complete darkness while its first followers were suffering from several trials until it prevailed among people. In this hadith, the Prophet (ﷺ) showed that Islam began as something strange due to its few followers and their suffering. The Meccans wondered about Islam, for it refused the ignorant traditions of the environment from which it emerged. Afterward, the Prophet and his companions immigrated to Medina, which was an additional image of strangeness and suffering. He began to spread Islam and the people began to enter into it in multitude. Later, he confirmed that Islam would return to be strange as it began. It would become strange in its followers' hearts, even if they are large in number. Its followers would adhere to the customs of pre-Islamic times. This way of deficiency and disruption would prevail to the extent that Islam would be stuck by a few Muslims as it began. Then, the Prophet informed that Islam would return and join between the Sacred Mosque in Mecca and the Prophetic Mosque in Medina, which were the cradle of Islam, just like the serpent that crawls back into its hole when it feels afraid. Likewise, Islam will return to Mecca and Medina as it began. Because of this severity, the Prophet said in another narration in Muslim, "So Toba to the strangers." The word "Toba" may either mean: (1) That Paradise will be for those few Muslims at the beginning and end of Islam, or (2) That joy and comfort will be for those few Muslims. The Prophet specifically mentioned those Muslims, for their patience in the face of harm from infidels and heretics. They have been sticking to the true religion and authentic Sunnah even after the people have corrupted and changed the clear message of Islam. Finally, this hadith presented the following benefits: (1) It refers to the virtues of the Sacred and Prophetic Mosques to which Islam returns and joins, which is an indication that the believers always flee to them to protect themselves against temptations, and (2) It is a sign of the Prophet's prophethood..