Question:
Sahih al-Bukhari (Hadith no. 3517) mentions that the Day of Judgment will not occur until a man from the tribe of Qahtan appears and drives people with his staff. Since Qahtan is a well-known Yemeni tribe, does this mean that a man from that lineage will rise to political power and rule with strong authority before the end times? What is the correct understanding and scholarly explanation of this hadith?
Answer:
Sahih al-Bukhari (Hadith no. 3517) says that the Day of Judgment will not occur until a man from the Qahtan tribe appears and drives people with his staff. Qahtan refers to a tribe from Yemen. It means someone from that tribe will rule strongly and lead people with authority.
This hadith exists in Sahih Bukhari in multiple places, including Hadith numbers 3518 and 7117. It states that the Day of Judgment will not occur until such a leader emerges.
This hadith is mentioned among signs of the Day of Judgment. However, when this matter was researched further, another narration in Bukhari Hadith 3500, reports that during the rule of Muawiyah, people mentioned this hadith to him.
Muawiyah became angry, stood up, praised Allahﷻ, and addressed the people. He said that some people narrate reports that are neither in the Book of Allahﷻ nor authentically from the Messengerﷺ of Allahﷻ. He warned people against spreading such baseless narrations and said they mislead others.
He declared that the Prophetﷺ did not say such things. The narration about Qahtan is reported through Abu Hurairah. When Muawiyah rejected it publicly, those who narrated it did not come forward to defend it or provide proof. If they had proof, they could have said they heard it from the Prophetﷺ. But no one responded. Muawiyah openly rejected it in public sermons.
He used strong words, calling those spreading it ignorant and saying it had no authentic narration from the Prophetﷺ. Since he was the Caliph, his rejection would have spread widely.
If the narration had been true, those who transmitted it would have defended it. But no such defense is recorded. Therefore, doubts about its authenticity arose even during the time of the companions.
Since it was rejected during the time of the companions and no strong defense appeared, it is safer not to accept it. Also, such a leader has not appeared in the past 1400 years, and claims that he will appear in the future remain speculative.
Because this narration was rejected during the era of the companions, it is more appropriate not to accept it.
Likewise, some historians and researchers like Ibn Khaldun say that the narration claiming a ruler will come from Yemen was probably created as a counter to the hadith about the Mahdi (Alaihis Salam) appearing before the Day of Judgment. He explains that many such narrations about specific leaders appearing were likely fabricated for political purposes, to give prestige to certain regions. Scholars like Ibn Khaldun presented logical counter arguments to such narrations. Compared to that, the statement of Muawiyah carries more weight. During the time when people were narrating such reports, Muawiyah openly warned them not to spread false stories.
If those narrations were authentic, the Companions would have challenged Muawiyah when he rejected them. But no Companion publicly opposed him. This raises doubts about whether the narration was actually attributed incorrectly to a Companion or misunderstood by someone. Since Muawiyah firmly rejected it, it suggests that the narration about a ruler emerging from Qahtan is not reliable. Therefore, Hadith No:3500 is considered unacceptable. If someone asks later to include it among the signs of the Day of Judgment, it should not be accepted. Earlier it might have been recorded, but upon research, new information appears, and positions may need to change.