Will the worship performed at the end of time be rewarded by Allah differently?

- Will you give information about the blessed people to come at the end of time?

Dear Brother / Sister,

“Whoever adheres to my Sunnah at the time of the degeneration of my ummah will gain the reward of one hundred martyrs.”(1)

A person who adheres to the Sunnah of the Prophet will be able to gain the reward of one hundred martyrs at a time when bid’ahs and heresies invade the Islamic community and rule it. Naturally, the realities of the Quran and the principles of the Sunnah are not separated from each other. When bid’ahs become popular in the ummah and when the majority is invaded by bid’ahs and heresies, it is really a risky and dangerous time. The riskier a deed is, the more rewards are gained from it. It is great service to work so that the realities of belief, the decrees of Islam and the Quran are understood and the Sunnah and Islam are practiced at such a dangerous time; it even necessitates more self-sacrifice than that of a martyr at normal times so that it will gain man the reward of many martyrs. For, a martyr sacrifices himself once and dies in the way of Allah all of a sudden but a person who serves the realities of belief, the Quran and the Sunnah makes great sacrifices every day in such an environment.

Thus, the harder time gets and the more mischiefs increase, the more rewards will be gained from deeds. Beside, this hadith encourages people to adhere to the Sunnah.

The word tamassuk (adhering) mentioned in the hadith includes the following meanings: (2)

1) Tamassuk means resoluteness, perseverance and insistence.
2) Tamassuk includes continuation.
3) Tamassuk means to dealing with the whole.
4) Tamassuk reflects the struggle of opposite forces.

Ammar b. Yasir narrates:

“My ummah is a blessed ummah; it is not known whether the beginning of it is better or the end of it.”(3)

An analogy is made between the first members of the ummah and the last members here. The Companions underwent great hardships and tortures to practice Islam in the first years of Islam; they were alienated, despised and condemned by the polytheists; the Messenger of Allah was called “mad” and those who followed him were oppressed and tortured. They were alienated in the community, were accused of being insane and were even expelled from their homeland. They received so many rewards and thawabs in return for those hardships, tortures and agonies. Similarly, the state of the last members of the ummah, that is, the ummah at the end of time, will be similar and close to the first members. The ummah will degenerate; foreign cultures and heretic ideas will be seen everywhere. Thus, those who adhere to Islam and serve the Sunnah and the Quran will be alienated; they will be insulted, criticized and be accused of unconformity; they will even try to exclude them from the community. The thawabs of the righteous deeds done despite the material and spiritual pressure of the majority will increase as the difficulty increases.

Similar hardships and tortures that the first Muslims were exposed to in Makkah and Madinah will be inflicted upon the sincere Muslims of the end of time. They will be expelled, tortured, etc. They will not be able to go out of their houses. Those afflictions and tortures will be a means of blessing and spiritual gains. Their degrees will be elevated. They will be the lonely people of the end of time. (4) They will be similar to the Companions from that point of view.

The Messenger of Allah (pbuh) addresses his Companions as follows in a hadith:

“Verily you are in an age in which if you neglect one-tenth of what is ordered, you will be doomed. After this a time will come; when he who shall observe one-tenth of what is now ordered will be redeemed.” (5)

What is meant by one-tenth of the religion in the hadith is not in terms of quantity but quality.

That is, it will be enough for the Muslims at the end of time, in terms of quality, to do one-tenth of the deeds of worship like prayer and fasting and practicing the religion in general compared to what the Companions did.

It does not mean to do only one of the deeds like prayer, fasting, kalima ash-shahada, zakah and principles of belief (for instance, uttering kalima ash-shahada only) and to abandon the others.

A similar hadith is as follows:

“My ummah is like the rain, I do not know whether the first of it is better or the last of it.”(6)

It is significant that the Messenger of Allah (pbuh) uses the word rain in the hadith. He likens his ummah to rain coming down from useful clouds full of rain. The first members of the ummah is like the first drops of this blessed rain and the last members are like the last drops. 

In addition, the Messenger of Allah (pbuh) likens the people who will come at the end of time and who will practice the decrees of the religion in the presence of sins and evil deeds to the Companions in terms of good deeds.

Once, the Messenger of Allah (pbuh) said to his Companions,

“I wish I could see my brothers coming toward me to the pool and welcome them with bowls filled with sweet juices. I wish I could offer them from my Pool of Kawthar before entering Paradise?”

Upon these words, the Companions said:

“O Messenger of Allah! Are we not your brothers?”
He replied as follows:

“You are my Companions (friends). And my brothers are the believers who believe in me without seeing me. Surely, I ask of my Lord to illuminate my eyes with you and the believers who believe without seeing me” (7)

The following is stated in a similar hadith:

“I wish I could meet my brothers.” Thereupon, the listeners said,
“Are we not your brothers?”
He replied as follows:

“You are my companions and my brothers. After me, a group who will believe in me though they never saw me will come.”

After a while, he said,

“O Abu Bakr! Would you not like to love a community who loves you because they have heard that you love me? Love these people whom Allah loves.” (8)

In those hadiths, the Prophet says that at the end of time, at the time of the corruption of the ummah, there will be his brothers. He yearns for “his brothers”. He really wants to see his brothers with strong belief who will come toward the pool while he will be beside the Pool of Kawthar and wants to offer them water from this pool.

It is of great importance that these fortunate people whom Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) called ‘my brothers’ believe in him and in what he brought with a strong faith.

Therefore, the people who deserve the attention and praise of the Prophet must surely be self-sacrificing, loyal, patient, ready to make every effort for the cause of Islam and must be so courageous as not to be intimidated by any kinds of despise or condemnation and as to adhere to the way of the Prophet and his Companions. These are the brothers of the Messenger of Allah (pbuh). He calls them “my brothers” and his Companions “my friends”.

Besides, an important quality of these people is that they love Hz. Abu Bakr because he loved the Prophet or that they love the companions, like Hz. Abu Bakr, who loved the Messenger of Allah (pbuh).

As for the companions, they also paid great attention to these patriots of belief and followers of the light of guidance. As it is stated that they will come beside the Pool of Kawthar before they enter Paradise and as the Prophet shows such a great longing for them, they will retain their faiths, will enter the grave as believers, and will be among the residents of Paradise. (9) That is to say, the Messenger of Allah (pbuh) informs us that they will enter the grave with belief.

References:

1. al-Baghawi, Husayn b. Muhammad ash-Shafi, Masabihus-Sunna, I-II, Beirut, nd. I, 40, no: 130; al-Munawi, Abdurra‘uf, Faydul-Qadir, I-VI, Beirut, nd. VI, 261. (no: 9171-9172); For the issue of the increase of rewards when the ummah degenerates, see Taftazani, Masud b. Umar, Sharhul-Maqasid, I-W, Beirut 1988 I, 308; al-Haytami, Ahmad b. Hajar, as-Sawaiqul-Muhriqa, Cairo 1385, p. 210.
2. al-Qamusul-Muhit III, 329; al-Mu’jamul-Wasit p. 869; al-Mufradat, p, 469.
3. Ramuzul-Ahadith p. 83, hadith 1151. (Ibn Asakir, from Amr b. Uthmandan as mursal); Kandahlawi Muhammad b. Yusuf, Hayatus-Sahaba I-IV, Konya 1983, II, 599; Subulus-Salam IW, 127; as-Sawaiqul-Muhriqah p. 211.
4. Sunanu Ibn Majah, II, 1306, (no: 3956), 1309 (no. 3988); 1320 (no: 4014: Being religions will be as difficult as holding cinder within the hand. The prophets will the people who will be tested the most severely in terms of afflictions among people. See ibid II. 1334 (no: 4023): The greatness of the reward is in accordance with the greatness of the affliction. The reward will increase as the affliction increases. Ibid II, 1334 (no: 4031, 4032).
5. Ramuzul-Ahadith p. 136, 1753. hadith (Tabarani fil-Kabir, Ibn Adiyy, from Abu Hurayra).
6. al-Jami‘ li Ahkamil-Quran, IW, 172; For the types of clouds and sahab, see II, 222 (The state of a believer and an unbeliever is explained with the example of rain there. See the chapter of al-A’raf, 57-58); Ibn Majah, Muhammad b. Yazid, Sunanu Ibn Majah I-II, Istanbul, nd. II, 1319, no: 3987; as-Sawaiqul-Muhriqah p. 211, Subulus-Salam IW, 127.
7. Ramuzul-Ahadith p. 361, 4460 hadith (Abu Nuaym, from Ibn Umar) see also Hak Dini IV, 2731 (When it is explained that there will be no fear and sorrow for saints of Allah in verse 62 of the chapter of Yunus, a similar hadith is mentioned.): Hayatu’s-Sahaba. II, 567-568 (This fact is mentioned through two long hadiths.
8. age. s. 461. 5719 hadith. (Ibn Asakir from Bara b. Azib).
9. For similar hadiths, see al-Matalibul-Aliya, 4241, 8424, Muslim, Taharah, 395 Kanzul-Ummal, 345, 84.

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