The Spread of Sudden Death
Partly
In brief
The Prophet ﷺ urged people to rush to good deeds before seven things come, and one of them is a sudden death that takes a person without warning. Its spread is counted among the signs of the later days.
Abu Hurayrah narrated the list: poverty that makes you forget, wealth that makes you cross the limits, illness that ruins, old age that confuses, sudden death, the Dajjal, or the Hour, and the Hour is harder and more bitter. Al-Tirmidhi called it hasan gharib, and later scholars graded its chain weak.
Commentators such as al-Mubarakfuri explain 'sudden death' as death that seizes a person with no warning, and mention reports that such deaths increase near the end. The lesson is practical: do not put off repentance and good deeds, because death may come without notice.
Do not postpone repentance and good deeds; keep your accounts with Allah and people settled, so that a sudden death finds you ready.
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.
No sahih or hasan narration is tagged with this sign yet.
Weak and ungraded reports on this sign
2
Shown for study, not as established. Includes Kitab al-Fitan of Nu'aym ibn Hammad, which is ungraded and weak overall.
Weak report. Shown for study, not as established.
حَدَّثَنَا أَبُو مُصْعَبٍ الْمَدَنِيُّ، عَنْ مُحَرَّرِ بْنِ هَارُونَ، عَنْ عَبْدِ الرَّحْمَنِ الأَعْرَجِ، عَنْ أَبِي هُرَيْرَةَ، أَنَّ رَسُولَ اللَّهِ صلى الله عليه وسلم قَالَ " بَادِرُوا بِالأَعْمَالِ سَبْعًا هَلْ تَنْظُرُونَ إِلاَّ فَقْرًا مُنْسِيًا أَوْ غِنًى مُطْغِيًا أَوْ مَرَضًا مُفْسِدًا أَوْ هَرَمًا مُفَنِّدًا أَوْ مَوْتًا مُجْهِزًا أَوِ الدَّجَّالَ فَشَرُّ غَائِبٍ يُنْتَظَرُ أَوِ السَّاعَةَ فَالسَّاعَةُ أَدْهَى وَأَمَرُّ " . قَالَ هَذَا حَدِيثٌ حَسَنٌ غَرِيبٌ لاَ نَعْرِفُهُ مِنْ حَدِيثِ الأَعْرَجِ عَنْ أَبِي هُرَيْرَةَ إِلاَّ مِنْ حَدِيثِ مُحَرَّرِ بْنِ هَارُونَ وَقَدْ رَوَى بِشْرُ بْنُ عُمَرَ وَغَيْرُهُ عَنْ مُحَرَّرِ بْنِ هَارُونَ هَذَا . وَقَدْ رَوَى مَعْمَرٌ هَذَا الْحَدِيثَ عَمَّنْ سَمِعَ سَعِيدًا الْمَقْبُرِيَّ عَنْ أَبِي هُرَيْرَةَ عَنِ النَّبِيِّ صلى الله عليه وسلم نَحْوَهُ . وَقَالَ تَنْتَظِرُونَ .
Abu Hurairah, may Allah be pleased with him, narrated that the Messenger of Allah (s.a.w) said:"Race to do works against seven. Are you waiting but for overwhelming poverty, or distracting richness, or debilitating illness, or babbling senility, or sudden death, or the Dajjal, so that hidden evil is what is awaited, or the Hour? The Hour is more calamitous and more bitter." (Daif)
Not graded under this archive's policy. The verdicts recorded are listed.
أخبرنا الحسن بن حليم المروزي، أنبأ أبو الموجه، أنبأ عبدان، أنبأ عبد الله، عن معمر، عن سعيد المقبري، عن أبي هريرة، رضي الله عنه، عن النبي صلى الله عليه وسلم، قال: «ما ينتظر أحدكم إلا غنى مطغيا، أو فقرا منسيا، أو مرضا مفسدا، أو هرما مفندا، أو موتا مجهزا، أو الدجال والدجال شر غائب ينتظر، أو الساعة والساعة أدهى وأمر» قال الحاكم: «إن كان معمر بن راشد سمع من المقبري فالحديث صحيح على شرط الشيخين ولم يخرجاه»
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 in part, or differ
Allamah Abdur Rahman Al-Mubarakfurid. 1353 AH (1282-1353 AH)
Reads 'a sudden, dispatching death' (mawtan mujhizan) in the hadith 'hasten to good deeds ahead of seven' as the sudden, unexpected death that overtakes a person without warning, and notes other reports that its spread is among the signs of the latter days; the command is to race to righteous deeds before it arrives.
Tuhfat al-Ahwadhi, on Jami' at-Tirmidhi 2306
Meaning and context
The Prophet ﷺ urged hastening to good deeds ahead of seven things, one of them a sudden, dispatching death. Tirmidhi called the report hasan gharib; later scholars grade its chain weak. Its force is an exhortation, with nothing to measure.
Narrations behind this panel: Jami' at-Tirmidhi 2306
What the commentators said it means
- 'A sudden, dispatching death' (mawtan mujhizan) is death that seizes a person without warning; the command is to race to good deeds before it arrives: al-Mubarakfuri.
- Scholars of the signs note reports that unexpected death (mawt al-fuja'a) increases near the end of time, counting it among the lesser signs: Yusuf al-Wabil.
Read with care
- The chain is weak and the hadith fixes no date; it is a call to repent and act now, not a timetable.
Draft: figures and wording await a researcher's check and the scholar board.