The book Al-Fitan wal-Malāḥim by Imām Nuʿaym ibn Ḥammād al-Khuzāʿī (d. 228 AH, may Allah have mercy on him) is a significant compilation, despite its inclusion of some weak narrations. Some students of knowledge have dismissed its value, particularly since some hadith scholars critiqued the author for raising some mursal and mawqūf reports and for certain narrational errors later in his life. It is reported that he made mistakes in around twenty hadiths with no known source. Al-Ḥāfiẓ Ibn ʿAdī detailed these in his Al-Kāmil fī Ḍuʿafāʾ al-Rijāl (8/256), yet still concluded:
“Some praised him, and some weakened him. He was among those firm upon the Sunnah. He died imprisoned during the Mihnah (inquisition) over the Qur’an. Most of what has been criticised about him is what I’ve mentioned. I hope the rest of his narrations are sound.”
In truth, his book Al-Fitan contains tremendous benefits, especially for reflecting in times of widespread trials and the end of times. Below are 30 selected narrations and reflections gathered from this important work:
1. Wishing for the Grave
Nuʿaym said (1/71): Ibn Wahb narrated to us, from Yūnus, who said: Abū Ḥumayd, the client of Musāfiʿ, narrated to me, saying:
I heard Abū Hurayrah (may Allah be pleased with him) say:
“There will surely come upon you a day when one of you will walk to his brother’s grave and say: ‘Would that I were in his place.’”
2. Escaping to the Sea
(1/73): Ibn Wahb and Rushdīn both narrated from Ibn Luhayʿah, from ʿAyyāsh ibn ʿAbbās, from Abū ʿAbd al-Raḥmān al-Ḥubulī, from ʿAbdullāh ibn ʿAmr (may Allah be pleased with them), who said:
“A time will come upon people when a man will wish to be in a ship loaded with his family, tossing at sea, due to the severity of tribulations on land.”
3. A Trial Where the Best Are the Hidden
(1/76): ʿAbd al-Wahhāb narrated to us, from Yaḥyā ibn Saʿīd, from Abū al-Zubayr, from Abū al-Ṭufayl, who said that Ḥudhayfah ibn al-Yamān said:
“How will you be in a tribulation where the best of people will be every wealthy, hidden man?”
Ibn al-Ṭufayl asked: How can that be, when one’s wealth is thrown about and targeted?
Ḥudhayfah replied:
“Then be like the young camel—neither milked nor ridden.”
4. Trials of the Companions
(1/82): Ghasān ibn Muḍar narrated from Saʿīd ibn Yazīd, from Abū Naḍrah, from Abū Saʿīd al-Khudrī, who was asked about ʿAlī, Ṭalḥah, and al-Zubayr. He replied:
“They are people with past merits who were struck by a tribulation. Their matter is referred back to Allah.”
5. Seclusion in Times of Fitnah
(1/92): ʿAbd al-Wahhāb al-Thaqafī narrated from Yaḥyā ibn Saʿīd, who said: ʿAbd al-Raḥmān ibn ʿAbdullāh ibn Abī Ṣaʿṣaʿah narrated to us, from his father, from Abū Saʿīd al-Khudrī (may Allah be pleased with him), from the Prophet ﷺ who said:
“Soon, the best wealth of a Muslim will be sheep he follows in the mountain tops and valleys of rainfall, fleeing with his religion from tribulations.”
Note: This ḥadīth was also narrated in Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī (ḥadīth no. 19), and aligns precisely with the wording in Nuʿaym’s version.
6. Chaos After the Twelve Leaders
(1/95): Yaḥyā ibn Salīm narrated to us, from ʿAbdullāh ibn ʿUthmān ibn Khuthaym, from Abū al-Ṭufayl, who said:
ʿAbdullāh ibn ʿAmr held my hand and said:
“O ʿĀmir ibn Wāthilah, there will be twelve caliphs from Kaʿb ibn Luʾayy. Then will come chaos and strikes. The people’s unity upon one Imām will not return until the Hour is established.”
Comment: Ibn al-Athīr explained in Al-Nihāyah fī Gharīb al-Ḥadīth that “al-naqf” refers to head-smashing, symbolic of widespread killings and disorder.
7. Refusing Power in Times of Fitnah
(1/138): Ibn al-Mubārak narrated from al-Aʿmash, from Abū Wāʾil, who said that ʿAbdullāh ibn Masʿūd (may Allah be pleased with him) said:
“To climb a steep mountain is easier for me than to accept temporary leadership.”
He said this when advised to revolt against ʿUthmān (may Allah be pleased with him).
8. During Fitnah: Each Stage Is Worse Than the One Before
(1/139): Ibn al-Mubārak narrated from Maʿmar, from Isḥāq ibn Rāshid, from ʿAmr ibn Wābiṣah al-Asadī, from his father, from ʿAbdullāh ibn Masʿūd (may Allah be pleased with him), who said:
I heard the Messenger of Allah ﷺ say:
“There will be a tribulation: the one lying down will be better than the one sitting; the one sitting better than the one standing; the one standing better than the one walking; the one walking better than the one riding; and the one riding better than the one charging ahead. All those killed in it are in the Hellfire.”
I asked: O Messenger of Allah, when will that be?
He replied: “During the days of rampant killing (al-harj).”
I asked: What should I do if I live to see that?
He said:
“Restrain your hand and your tongue. Stay inside your house.”
I asked: What if someone enters upon me?
He replied:
“Then take refuge in your private room.”
I said: What if he enters there?
He said:
“Then go to your prayer place, grab your wrist, and say: ‘My Lord is Allah,’ until you are killed upon that.”
Then the Prophet ﷺ grasped his wrist to demonstrate.
Note: Also recorded in Musnad Aḥmad (4286) through two chains, including ʿAbd al-Razzāq from Ibn al-Mubārak.
9. The Fitnah Sweeps All
(1/140): ʿAbd al-Razzāq narrated from Maʿmar, from Abū Isḥāq, from ʿUmārah ibn ʿAbd, who heard Ḥudhayfah ibn al-Yamān say:
“Beware of tribulations. No one goes out to them except that they crush him, like a flood sweeping away everything. They are confusing when approaching, until the ignorant says: ‘This resembles something.’ But when they pass, their reality becomes clear. When you see them, withdraw to your homes. Break your swords. Cut your bowstrings.”
10. Warnings to the Arabs
(1/140): Ḥafṣ ibn Ghiyāth narrated from al-Aʿmash, from Abū Ṣāliḥ, from Abū Hurayrah (may Allah be pleased with him), who said that the Messenger of Allah ﷺ said:
“Woe to the Arabs for an evil that has drawn near. Successful is he who restrains his hand.”
Note: Also reported by Aḥmad (9694) through Muḥammad ibn ʿUbayd from al-Aʿmash.
11. When the Praying Fight One Another
(1/142): Ibn ʿUyaynah narrated from Manṣūr, from Ribʿī, from Ḥudhayfah. A man asked him:
“What should I do when those who pray fight each other?”
He replied:
“Enter your home. Lock your door. If someone comes to you, say this—”
Sufyān folded his arms and continued,
“Say: ‘Take on my sin and yours.’”
12. Choosing Humiliation Over Hellfire
(1/152): Ibn al-Mubārak narrated from Muḥammad ibn Ṭalḥah al-Yāmī, from Ibrāhīm ibn ʿAbd al-Aʿlā, from Suwayd ibn Ghaflah, who said:
Abū Masʿūd al-Anṣārī (may Allah be pleased with him) said:
“My leaders gave me a choice: either submit to humiliation and disgrace, or take up my sword and be killed and enter the Fire. So I chose submission and disgrace over the Fire.”
13. When Authority is in Conflict with Faith
(1/153): Ibn al-Mubārak narrated from al-Aswad ibn Shaybān, from Khālid ibn Samīr, who said:
ʿAlī (may Allah be pleased with him) approached Ibn ʿUmar and said:
“These are our letters—take them to the people of Syria.”
Ibn ʿUmar replied:
“I ask you by Allah and by Islam not to involve me. I was not part of the beginning of this matter, and I will not be part of its end.”
ʿAlī insisted. Ibn ʿUmar evaded him by night and fled to Makkah.
14. Forbidding Innovation Without the Sword
(1/160): Ibn al-Mubārak narrated from Jarīr ibn Ḥāzim, from ʿĪsā ibn ʿĀṣim, who said:
Al-Walīd ibn ʿUqbah wrote to Ibn Masʿūd commanding him to stop saying: “The most truthful speech is the Book of Allah…”
Ibn Masʿūd refused unless the difference was made clear.
A man named ʿAtarīs stood with his sword, but Ibn Masʿūd replied:
“The one destroyed is not he who doesn’t fight, but the one whose heart does not know good and does not reject evil.”
15. When the Sword is Raised
(1/161): Ibn al-Mubārak narrated from Khammas, from Abū al-Azhar al-Ḍabbī, from Abū al-ʿĀliyah:
Ibn al-Zubayr and Ibn Ṣafwān were sitting when Ibn ʿUmar passed by. They invited him to pledge allegiance.
He replied:
“No, by Allah. I will not pledge allegiance while your swords are drawn and blood is being spilled among Muslims.”
16. A Just Ruler Needs a Just Sword
(1/163): Hishām narrated from Yūnus ibn ʿUbayd, from Ḥumayd ibn Hilāl, who said:
During the fitnah, it was said to Saʿd ibn Abī Waqqāṣ:
“You are from the people of Badr and the consultative council. Won’t you rise?”
He replied:
“I am not more deserving of leadership than my shirt. And I will not fight unless I am given a sword that distinguishes believer from disbeliever.”
17. Madness as Mercy?
(1/166): ʿAbd al-Razzāq narrated from Maʿmar, from Ibn Ṭāwūs, from his father:
During the fitnah surrounding ʿUthmān’s assassination, a man said to his family:
“Tie me up. I am mad.”
After ʿUthmān was killed, he said:
“Release me. Praise be to Allah, who saved me from madness and protected me from being part of ʿUthmān’s killing.”
18. When There’s No Righteous Imam
(1/174): Ibn Abī Ghaniyyah narrated from Ḥafṣ ibn ʿUmar ibn Abī al-Zubayr, who said that ʿUmar ibn ʿAbd al-ʿAzīz said:
“If your imam rules by the Book of Allah and the Sunnah, then fight with him. But if he does not, and a rebel calls to the Book and Sunnah—then stay in your home.”
19. When Change Belongs to Allah
(1/186): Al-Muʿtamir ibn Sulaymān narrated from al-Ḥajjāj ibn Farāfaṣah, from Muḥammad ibn ʿAjlān, from a man of Juhaynah, from Abū al-Dardāʾ (may Allah be pleased with him), who said:
“You will see things you will reject. Be patient. Do not say: ‘We will change it.’ Wait until Allah changes it.”
20. The Believer Hunted Like Prey
(1/188): Ibrāhīm ibn Muḥammad al-Fazārī narrated from ʿAwf, from al-Ḥasan, who said:
ʿAbdullāh ibn Masʿūd (may Allah be pleased with him) said:
“A time will come when the believer will be more humiliated than a slave girl. The most intelligent of them will be the one who hides his faith like a fox in its den.”
21. The Supplication of the Drowning
(1/188): Abū Muʿāwiyah and ʿĪsā ibn Yūnus both narrated from al-Aʿmash, from Ibrāhīm, from Hammām ibn al-Ḥārith, from Ḥudhayfah (may Allah be pleased with him), who said:
“A time will come upon people in which none will be saved except the one who calls upon Allah as one drowning calls out.”
22. A Choice Between Injustice or Sin
(1/190): Hushaym narrated from Dāwūd ibn Abī Hind, from a man of Rabīʿah ibn Kilāb, who said:
I heard Abū Hurayrah (may Allah be pleased with him) say:
“A time will come when a man must choose between incapacity and immorality. Whoever lives to that time, let him choose incapacity over sin—for incapacity is better than sin.”
23. Fleeing to the Desert
(1/191): ʿAbd al-Razzāq narrated from Maʿmar, from Ibn Ṭāwūs, from his father, from Ḥudhayfah (may Allah be pleased with him), who said:
“A time will come when the best dwelling place will be the desert.”
24. The Crushing of Iraq, Syria, and Egypt
(1/213): Ḥakam ibn Nāfiʿ Abū al-Yamān al-Ḥimṣī narrated from Jarrāḥ, from Arṭāh ibn al-Mundhir, from Tabyʿ, from Kaʿb who said:
“Iraq will be crushed like leather is crushed, Syria will be torn like hair is torn, and Egypt will be broken like dung is broken—then the matter will descend.”
25. The Blind Fitnah Will Come from the Levant
(1/235): ʿAbd al-Wahhāb narrated from al-Muhājir Abū Mukhlad, from Abū al-ʿĀliyah, who said:
“O people, do not count fitnah as anything until it comes from the direction of al-Shām—it will be the blind fitnah.”
26. The Rise of the Wicked and the Fall of the Righteous
(1/243): Muḥammad ibn Ḥumayr narrated from ʿAmr ibn Qays, who heard ʿAbdullāh ibn ʿAmr say:
“From the signs of the Hour: the righteous will be belittled, the wicked will rise, and every tribe will be led by its most hypocritical person.”
27. Remain Silent in the Fitnah
(1/258): Ibn al-Mubārak narrated from Ismāʿīl ibn ʿAyāsh, from Sharḥabīl ibn Muslim al-Khawlānī, from his father, who said:
“It used to be said: Whoever is overtaken by the fitnah, let him remain like a silent, hidden one.”
28. Praying Behind the Victor
(2/712): Nuʿaym narrated from Yaḥyā ibn Saʿīd al-ʿAṭṭār, from al-Safar ibn Nahār, from Ḥumayd ibn Abī Ḥumayd, from Sayf al-Māzinī, from Ibn ʿUmar (may Allah be pleased with him), who said:
“I do not fight in a fitnah, and I pray behind whoever gains the upper hand.”
29. Death in Exile Is Martyrdom
(2/712): Nuʿaym narrated from Yaḥyā, who said: ʿAbd al-ʿAzīz ibn Abī Rawwād informed me, from ʿIkrimah, from Ibn ʿAbbās (may Allah be pleased with him), who said:
“Death in exile is martyrdom.”
Conclusion
These thirty narrations—selected from Kitāb al-Fitan by Imām Nuʿaym ibn Ḥammād—serve as a mirror to the hearts of believers navigating the storms of fitnah. They offer timeless wisdom for every age of chaos, every generation witnessing moral collapse, social turmoil, and spiritual trial. May Allah protect our hearts, guide our limbs, and grant us refuge from the times foretold by the Prophet ﷺ and his companions.
