An Extraordinary Hadith

Explaining an extraordinary hadith^[1]
The original text

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Quoting @RealHasanSpiker

I don't think many realize how extraordinary this hadith really is. In terms of sheer miraculousness, I would personally put it on a par with the hadith about destitute shepherds competing to build tall buildings.

‏يُوشِكُ الأُمَمُ أَنْ تَدَاعَى عَلَيْكُمْ كَمَا تَدَاعَى الأَكَلَةُ إِلَى قَصْعَتِهَا ‏.‏ فَقَالَ قَائِلٌ وَمِنْ قِلَّةٍ نَحْنُ يَوْمَئِذٍ قَالَ بَلْ أَنْتُمْ يَوْمَئِذٍ كَثِيرٌ وَلَكِنَّكُمْ غُثَاءٌ كَغُثَاءِ السَّيْلِ وَلَيَنْزِعَنَّ اللَّهُ مِنْ صُدُورِ عَدُوِّكُمُ الْمَهَابَةَ مِنْكُمْ وَلَيَقْذِفَنَّ اللَّهُ فِي قُلُوبِكُمُ الْوَهَنَ ‏.‏ فَقَالَ قَائِلٌ يَا رَسُولَ اللَّهِ وَمَا الْوَهَنُ قَالَ حُبُّ الدُّنْيَا وَكَرَاهِيَةُ الْمَوْتِ‏

The Prophet Muḥammad ﷺ said:
"A time will soon come upon us when the nations shall summon one another to war against the Muslims, just in the manner in which people invite one another to share their dish." Someone asked: "Will that be because of our small numbers at that time?" He replied: "No, you will be numerous at that time: but you will be the scum and rubbish borne by a torrent, and Allah will remove the fear of you from the breasts of your enemy, and cast feebleness (wahn) into your hearts." Someone asked: "What is wahn?" The Messenger of Allah ﷺ replied: "Love of this world and abhorrence of death."^[2]

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The scum borne by a torrent (ghuthāʾ) is completely insubstantial; it is parasitic on the torrent, and has lost its proper situatedness, wholeness, and value. In the same way, the modern Muslim is hindered by two broken wings of insubstantiality.

1
He is typically subordinate by default to Western cultural criteria and assumptions, but unlike the actual Westerner, remains devoid of the conviction and vigour that the Westerner enjoys in virtue of his embeddedness within, inheritance of, and contribution towards the underlying cultural dynamic and impetus of his indigenous culture.

As such, occasional exceptions granted, the modern Muslim subsists at a scientific, literary, philosophical, everything disadvantage when it comes to competing in accordance with the Western criteria of the Civilization of Liberal, Universal Modernity, Neutral and Scientific (and of course, "not-Western, just Modern!!!" according to so many of you!). And …

2
He has typically failed to inherit the knowledge, evaluative criteria, and spiritual technology of his own Islamic civilization, in anything more than an extremely confused, fragmentary, and inadequate way.

He lacks real respect for, or understanding of, his own heritage, instead seeking to bestow dignity upon the Islamic past by offering it a bit-part "Golden Age" by which it "contributed" to the narrative of Western triumph via science and technology, before of course falling into deep backwardness and darkness shortly after "passing the baton" of civilization to the West in the late Middle Ages. And what is blind, utterly subservient worship of science and technology other than the very "love of this world" that causes spiritual feebleness?

In the political realm too (as well as so many others besides): Demand for "fair treatment" in the international arena, when we lack any vaguely respectable negotiating position or clout because of our almost total political and indeed cultural subordination to those to whose "fairness" we nonetheless appeal. Scarcely anything better epitomizes the miracle of this hadith, or indeed, ghuthāʾ ka ghuthāʾ al-sayl.
Feb 8, 2025