Qahtani
In brief
The Prophet ﷺ said that a man from the tribe of Qahtan, the southern Arabs of Yemen, will rise and drive people with his stick.
'Driving people with his stick' means he will rule them and they will obey him. The hadith says nothing more, not even whether he will be a good ruler or a bad one.
Scholars differ on whether he is a just ruler or a tyrant. No order is given for when he comes, though Ibn Hajar mentions views that he comes after the Mahdi or in the time after Isa (AS). Naming any living ruler as the Qahtani is guesswork.
Leave the identity of foretold figures to the time when they appear.
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 الْعَزِيزِ بْنُ عَبْدِ اللَّهِ، قَالَ حَدَّثَنِي سُلَيْمَانُ بْنُ بِلاَلٍ، عَنْ ثَوْرِ بْنِ زَيْدٍ، عَنْ أَبِي الْغَيْثِ، عَنْ أَبِي هُرَيْرَةَ ـ رضى الله عنه ـ عَنِ النَّبِيِّ صلى الله عليه وسلم قَالَ " لاَ تَقُومُ السَّاعَةُ حَتَّى يَخْرُجَ رَجُلٌ مِنْ قَحْطَانَ يَسُوقُ النَّاسَ بِعَصَاهُ ".
Narrated Abu Hurairah (ra):The Prophet (ﷺ) said, "The hour will not be established unless a man from the tribe of Qahtan appears, driving the people with his stick (ruling them with violence and oppression)
حَدَّثَنَا عَبْدُ الْعَزِيزِ بْنُ عَبْدِ اللَّهِ، حَدَّثَنِي سُلَيْمَانُ، عَنْ ثَوْرٍ، عَنْ أَبِي الْغَيْثِ، عَنْ أَبِي هُرَيْرَةَ، أَنَّ رَسُولَ اللَّهِ صلى الله عليه وسلم قَالَ " لاَ تَقُومُ السَّاعَةُ حَتَّى يَخْرُجَ رَجُلٌ مِنْ قَحْطَانَ يَسُوقُ النَّاسَ بِعَصَاهُ ".
Narrated Abu Huraira:Allah's Messenger (ﷺ) said, "The Hour will not be established till a man from Qahtan appears, driving the people with his stick
وَحَدَّثَنَا قُتَيْبَةُ بْنُ سَعِيدٍ، أَخْبَرَنَا عَبْدُ الْعَزِيزِ، - يَعْنِي ابْنَ مُحَمَّدٍ - عَنْ ثَوْرِ بْنِ، زَيْدٍ عَنْ أَبِي الْغَيْثِ، عَنْ أَبِي هُرَيْرَةَ، أَنَّ رَسُولَ اللَّهِ صلى الله عليه وسلم قَالَ " لاَ تَقُومُ السَّاعَةُ حَتَّى يَخْرُجَ رَجُلٌ مِنْ قَحْطَانَ يَسُوقُ النَّاسَ بِعَصَاهُ " .
Abu Huraira reported Allah's Messengar (ﷺ) as saying:The Last Hour would not come before a person of Qahtan comes forth driving people with his stick
Weak and ungraded reports on this sign
18
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 قتيبة بن سعيد، حدثنا عبد العزيز، عن ثور بن زيد، عن أبي الغيث، عن أبي هريرة، أن النبي صلى الله عليه وسلم قال: " ذو السويقتين من الحبشة يخرب بيت الله عز وجل " وقال صلى الله عليه وسلم: " لا تقوم الساعة حتى يخرج رجل من قحطان يسوق الناس بعصاه "
No translation yet. Arabic only.
AI draft, not reviewed by an editor. Read the Arabic for the meaning.
Kitab al-Fitan of Nu'aym ibn Hammad: ungraded, and weak overall. Never established on its own.
أبو بكر الصديق أصبتم اسمه، عمر الفاروق قرن من حديد أصبتم اسمه، ابن عفان ذو النور قتل مظلوما، أوتي كفلين من الرحمة، ملك الأرض المقدسة: معاوية وابنه ، قالوا: ألا تذكر حسنا، ألا تذكر حسينا؟ قال: فعاد لمثل كلامه، حتى بلغ معاوية وابنه، وزاد: السفاح، وسلام، ومنصور، وجابر، والأمين، وأمير العصب كلهم، لا يرى مثله، ولا يدرك مثله، كلهم من بني كعب بن لؤي، فيهم رجل من قحطان، منهم من لا يكون إلا يومين، منهم من يقال له: لتبايعنا أو لنقتلنك، فإن لم يبايعهم قتلوه أخبرنا أبو بكر بن عبد الله بن أحمد بن ريذة، أنا أبو القاسم سليمان بن أحمد بن أيوب الطبراني قال: أخبرنا أبو زيد عبد الرحمن بن حاتم المرادي بمصر سنة ثمانين ومائتين، حدثنا نعيم بن حماد
Abu Bakr Al-Siddiq, you got his name right. Omar Al-Farouq, a horn of iron, you got his name right. Ibn Affan Dhul-Nour was killed unjustly. He was given two measures of mercy. The King of the Holy Land: Muawiyah and his son. They said: Don’t you remember Hasan? Don’t you remember Hussein? He said: So he repeated the same words, until he reached Muawiyah and his son, and added: Al-Saffah, Salam, Mansour, Jabir, Al-Amin, and the Emir of Al-Asab, all of them, the like of whom has not been seen, nor is the like of him known, all of them are from Banu Ka’b bin Luay, among them is a man from Qahtan, some of whom are only two days old, among them are those who are told: To pledge allegiance to us or we will kill you, and if he does not pledge allegiance to them, they will kill him. Abu Bakr bin Abdullah bin Ahmed bin Raydha told us, I am Abu Al-Qasim Suleiman bin Ahmad bin Ayyub Al-Tabarani said: Abu Zaid Abd al-Rahman bin Hatim al-Muradi told us in Egypt in the year two hundred and eighty. Nu`aym bin Hammad told us.
Kitab al-Fitan of Nu'aym ibn Hammad: ungraded, and weak overall. Never established on its own.
أبو بكر الصديق أصبتم اسمه، عمر الفاروق قرن من حديد أصبتم اسمه، عثمان ذو النورين أوتي كفلين من الرحمة لأنه قتل مظلوما أصبتم اسمه، ثم يكون سفاح، ثم يكون منصور، ثم يكون مهدي، ثم يكون الأمين، ثم يكون سين وسلام، يعني صلاحا وعافية، ثم يكون أمير الغضب، ستة منهم من ولد كعب بن لؤي، ورجل من قحطان، كلهم صالح لا يرى مثله قال محمد، وقال أبو الجلد: يكون على الناس ملوك بأعمالهم .
Abu Bakr Al-Siddiq, you have corrected his name. Omar Al-Farouq is a horn of iron. You have corrected his name. Othman Dhul-Nourin was given two guarantees of mercy because he was killed unjustly. You have corrected his name. Then he will be a thug, then he will be Mansour, then he will be Mahdi, then he will be Al-Amin, then he will be peace and peace, meaning righteousness and well-being, then he will be the prince of wrath. Six of them are from the descendants of Ka’b bin Luay, and a man from Qahtan, all of them are righteous. The like of him is not seen. People will have kings over their deeds.
Kitab al-Fitan of Nu'aym ibn Hammad: ungraded, and weak overall. Never established on its own.
لا تذهب الأيام والليالي حتى يسوق الناس رجل من قحطان
Days and nights do not pass until a man from Qahtan drives people away
What scholars have said
No scholar here cites it as having appeared
Al-Hafiz Ibn Hajar Al-Asqalanid. 852 AH (773-852 AH)
Explains that a man from Qahtan will arise near the end and drive the people with his staff, that is, they will obey him completely; he notes the report is sound, that the Qahtani comes after the era of the rightly guided leadership, and that scholars set no date and name no particular person.
Fath al-Bari, on Sahih al-Bukhari 3517 & 7117
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.
'The Hour will not come until a man from Qahtan emerges, driving the people with his stick' (Sahih al-Bukhari 3517). The narration gives his tribe and his firmness, not his time; this panel gives the scholars' readings and one claim they rejected.
Narrations behind this panel: Sahih al-Bukhari 3517 · Sahih al-Bukhari 7117 · Sahih Muslim 2910
What the commentators said it means
- 'Driving with his stick' is an image of firm rule and of people obeying him: al-Qurtubi; Ibn Hajar adds that it may also be meant literally.
- Some held he will be a just ruler after the Mahdi: al-Qurtubi, al-Tadhkirah, citing reports whose chains are not strong.
Myth checks
1979: a 'Mahdi' named al-Qahtani
On 1 Muharram 1400 (20 November 1979) Juhayman al-'Utaybi seized the Grand Mosque in Makkah and proclaimed his brother-in-law Muhammad 'Abd Allah al-Qahtani the Mahdi. Saudi scholars under 'Abd al-'Aziz ibn Baz issued a fatwa allowing force to end the siege; al-Qahtani was killed and the siege ended on 4 December after two weeks of fighting.
Wikipedia: Grand Mosque seizure
as of 2026-10-28
Read with care
- No living person is named here as the Qahtani (rule 4).
Draft: figures and wording await a researcher's check and the scholar board.