Salam alaikum, I have read following hadith in Signs of the Day of Judgment by Ibn Kathir: When Mustawrid al-Qurashee was sitting with 'Amr ibn al-'Aas, he said, "I heard the Prophet (sal-Allaahu 'alayhe wa sallam) say, 'The Hour will come when the Romans will be in the majority.' 'Amr asked him, "What are you saying?" He said, "I am repeating that which I heard from the Prophet (sal-Allaahu 'alayhe wa sallam)." 'Amr said, "If you say this, it is true, because they have four good characteristics: they are the most able to cope with tribulation, the quickest to recover after disaster and to return to the fight after disaster, and are the best as far as treating the poor, weak and orphans is concerned. They have a fifth characteristic which is very good; they do not allow themselves to be oppressed by their kings." [Muslim, Kitaab al-Fitaan, 8 - 176.] Could you pls explain me this hadith? Salam alaikum, Nuha

All perfect praise be to Allaah, The Lord of the Worlds. I testify that there is none worthy of worship except Allaah, and that Muhammad, sallallaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, is His slave and Messenger.

This Hadeeth was reported by Imaam Muslim in his Saheeh in Kitaab Al-Fitan (the Book of Tribulations), and it mentions something about the signs of the Hour, which is the abundant number of the Romans; this means that others will be little in number compared to them, as stated by Al-Munaawi in his book entitled Faydh Al-Qadeer.

As regards the statement of ‘Amr Ibn Al’Aas to Al-Mustawrid “See what you are saying”, it implies a kind of confirmation and making sure if this statement was really from the Prophet, sallallaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, so he confirmed to him that he had indeed heard it from the Prophet, sallallaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam. Of course, he was not accusing him [Al-Mustawrid] of lying because the Companions used to trust each other.

Ibn ‘Adiyy reported in his book entitled Al-Kaamil, from Humayd At-Taweel that when Anas Ibn Maalik   narrated a Hadeeth, it might be that he was asked: “Did you yourself hear this from the Prophet, sallallaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam?” Thereupon, he would become angry and say: ''Not everything that we narrate to you, we have heard it from the Prophet, sallallaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, and none of us used to tell a lie against the other.”

Besides, with the characteristics that ‘Amr Ibn Al-‘Aas, may Allaah be pleased him, mentioned, he wanted to clarify the reasons which led and helped the Romans to continue to exist, and hence their being in the majority when the Hour takes place.

As regards the meaning of ‘they are the most able to cope with tribulation’; it means that they are the wisest and most aware in dealing with tribulation in a careful manner so that they will come out of it peacefully.

With regard to the meaning of ‘the quickest to recover after a disaster’, it means that they are quick to restore themselves to sanity after a disaster, so they neither surrender to it nor do they become weak because of it.

As for the meaning of ‘the quickest to attack again after flight’, it means that they are the fastest people to engage in war and attack again if ever it happened that they fled from their enemy in some cases.

As regards the meaning of ‘the best as far as treating the poor, the orphans and the weak is concerned’’, it means that they are the best people to treat the destitute, the orphans and the weak people, and to protect their interests and care for their own affairs.

Finally, it should be mentioned that there are some universal laws (set by Allaah for His creation), if one follows them, he will get their effects [results], and this applies equally to Muslims and non-Muslims. However, if a Muslim is characterized by them, he will find more support from the Lord of the Worlds as an honor to him because of him being a Muslim. So, it is good if the Muslims are characterized by such qualities.

Allaah Knows best.