Nations call one another against you
Appeared
In brief
The Prophet ﷺ said: 'The nations will soon call one another against you, as people at a meal call one another to the dish.' Someone asked whether that would be because the Muslims were few. He said no: 'You will be many, but like the froth on a flood. Allah will take the fear of you out of your enemies' hearts and put wahn into your hearts.' Asked what wahn is, he said: 'Love of the world and hatred of death.'
Scholars use this hadith to explain the ummah's weakness as an illness inside, not a lack of numbers. It is a diagnosis meant to make Muslims look at themselves and reform, not a statement about any particular nation.
Treat the illness the hadith names: loosen the heart's hold on the world and remember death.
Where it sits in the sequence
The narrations do not put these in order, and many of them overlap. Sahih al-Bukhari 7121 lists several together.
Strongest narrations
Read all in the archive →Tags are automatic and unreviewed.
حَدَّثَنَا عَبْدُ الرَّحْمَنِ بْنُ إِبْرَاهِيمَ الدِّمَشْقِيُّ، حَدَّثَنَا بِشْرُ بْنُ بَكْرٍ، حَدَّثَنَا ابْنُ جَابِرٍ، حَدَّثَنِي أَبُو عَبْدِ السَّلاَمِ، عَنْ ثَوْبَانَ، قَالَ قَالَ رَسُولُ اللَّهِ صلى الله عليه وسلم " 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 " .
Narrated Thawban: The Prophet (ﷺ) said: The people will soon summon one another to attack you as people when eating invite others 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 scum and rubbish like that carried down by a torrent, and Allah will take fear of you from the breasts of your enemy and last enervation into your hearts. Someone asked: What is wahn (enervation). Messenger of Allah (ﷺ): He replied: Love of the world and dislike of death
Weak and ungraded reports on this sign
1
Shown for study, not as established. Includes Kitab al-Fitan of Nu'aym ibn Hammad, which is ungraded and weak overall.
Not graded under this archive's policy. The verdicts recorded are listed.
حدثنا أبو النضر، حدثنا المبارك ، حدثنا مرزوق أبو عبد الله الحمصي، أخبرنا أبو أسماء الرحبي، عن ثوبان مولى رسول الله صلى الله عليه وسلم قال: قال رسول الله صلى الله عليه وسلم: " يوشك أن تداعى عليكم الأمم من كل أفق كما تداعى الأكلة على قصعتها ". 10 قال: قلنا: يا رسول الله، أمن قلة بنا يومئذ؟ قال: " أنتم يومئذ كثير، ولكن تكونون غثاء كغثاء السيل، تنتزع المهابة من قلوب عدوكم، ويجعل في قلوبكم الوهن ". قال: قلنا: وما الوهن؟ قال: " حب الحياة وكراهية الموت "
No translation yet. Arabic only.
AI draft, not reviewed by an editor. Read the Arabic for the meaning.
What scholars have said
Scholars cite it as having appeared
Al-Hafiz Ibn Hajar Al-Asqalanid. 852 AH (773-852 AH)
Explains 'woe to the Arabs from an evil that has drawn near': after Uthman's killing the trials followed one another 'until the Arabs became among the nations like the bowl among those who eat', as in the narration that the nations will call one another against you.
Fath al-Bari, on Sahih al-Bukhari 7135
Present-day data
These numbers show the world today beside the narration. They do not decide whether the sign has appeared; that is shown only through named scholars, in the Scholars' views tab.
Thawban narrated: the nations will soon call one another against you as diners call one another to a dish. Someone asked: will it be because we are few that day? He ﷺ said: no, you will be many then, but you will be froth like the froth of a flood; Allah will take fear of you from your enemies' hearts and cast wahn into your hearts. Asked what wahn is, he said: love of this world and dislike of death (Sunan Abi Dawud 4297, sahih per al-Albani). Below: how many people are forced from their homes, from where, and what courts and UN bodies have found.
Narrations behind this panel: Sunan Abi Dawud 4297 · Sahih al-Bukhari 7135
Show the numbers
| Year | Million people |
|---|---|
| 2000 | 19.1 |
| 2001 | 18.2 |
| 2002 | 16.3 |
| 2003 | 14.8 |
| 2004 | 15.9 |
| 2005 | 16.1 |
| 2006 | 23.4 |
| 2007 | 25.9 |
| 2008 | 25.8 |
| 2009 | 27.0 |
| 2010 | 26.1 |
| 2011 | 26.8 |
| 2012 | 29.1 |
| 2013 | 36.8 |
| 2014 | 48.5 |
| 2015 | 56.8 |
| 2016 | 56.5 |
| 2017 | 62.1 |
| 2018 | 65.3 |
| 2019 | 68.1 |
| 2020 | 73.4 |
| 2021 | 77.3 |
| 2022 | 92.2 |
| 2023 | 101.7 |
| 2024 | 107.4 |
| 2025 | 101.7 |
Excludes Palestine refugees under UNRWA (about 6 million), which UNHCR's headline total includes.
Source: UNHCR Refugee Data Finder (refugees, asylum-seekers and IDPs under UNHCR's mandate) · retrieved 2026-10-27
News and journals
Dated reports from news outlets, research journals and official bodies, each with its source.
The Rohingya of Myanmar
The Gambia brought a case under the Genocide Convention in 2019. The ICJ ordered provisional measures in January 2020, held hearings on the merits from 12 to 29 January 2026, and has not yet given its judgment.
UN Independent Investigative Mechanism for Myanmar, ICJ case page ↗Opinio Juris, May 2026 ↗
as of 2026-10-27 · reviewed monthly
Gaza
In South Africa's case against Israel the ICJ has ordered provisional measures three times (2024) but has not ruled on the merits; on 21 May 2026 it set the next written deadlines for November 2027 and May 2029. A UN Commission of Inquiry concluded in September 2025 that Israel has committed genocide in Gaza; that is a finding of an inquiry, not a court judgment.
Presidency of South Africa, on the ICJ order of 21 May 2026 ↗Al Jazeera, 14 Oct 2025 ↗
as of 2026-10-27 · reviewed monthly
Background
Srebrenica, July 1995
About 8,000 Bosnian Muslim men and boys were killed. The International Court of Justice found in 2007 that genocide was committed at Srebrenica, as the UN tribunal (ICTY) had found in the Krstić case in 2004.
ICJ, Bosnia and Herzegovina v. Serbia and Montenegro, judgment of 26 February 2007 · ICTY, Krstić case
as of 2026-10-27
Read with care
- These are findings and open cases of courts and UN bodies, dated and reviewed monthly; they are not this site's verdict. The narration addresses the weakness inside the Ummah (wahn), and the scholar who applied it, Ibn Hajar, did so to the trials after Uthman.
Draft: figures and wording await a researcher's check and the scholar board.