When we were sitting with the Prophet he mentioned periods of commotion, mentioning many of them, and when he mentioned the one when people should keep to their houses someone asked him the meaning of that and he replied, "It will be flight and plunder. Then will come a testing which is pleasing, its murkiness being due to the fact that it is raised by a man from the people of my house who will assert that he belongs to me whereas he does not, for my friends are only the God-fearing. Then the people will unite under a man who will be like a hip-bone on a rib[*]. Then there will be the little black commotion which will leave none of this people without giving him a slap, and when people say it is finished it will be extended. During it a man will be a believer in the morning and an infidel in the evening, so that the people will be in two camps, the camp of faith which will contain no hypocrisy and the camp of hypocrisy which will contain no faith. When that happens, expect the dajjal that day or the next." *A figure of speech indicating instability. Abu Dawud transmitted it.
Reported by Abu Dawud (No. 4242) and Ahmad (No. 5892). Cited in Mishkat al-Masabih (No. 5403).
