Hadith of I and the Hour
| Subject | Close connection between the Prophet's mission and the Resurrection |
|---|---|
| Issued by | Prophet Muhammad (s) |
| Shi'a sources | Al-Amali (by al-Mufid) • al-Amali • Al-Khara'ij • Al-Imama |
| Sunni sources | Sahih al-Bukhari |
I was sent together with the Hour like these two (Arabic:بُعِثْتُ أَنَا وَ اَلسَّاعَةُ کَهَاتَیْنِ), Buʿithtu ana wa al-sāʿa ka-hātayn is a prophetic hadith that refers to the close connection between the Prophet's mission and the Resurrection. According to a report transmitted by al-Shaykh al-Mufid from Imam al-Sadiq (a), the Prophet (s) ascended the pulpit with a pale face and said, "O Muslims, my mission and the Hour are like these two fingers." He then placed his two index fingers side by side.[1]
Two main interpretations have been offered concerning the meaning of this hadith:
- Related to the Resurrection: Some Shia scholars—such as al-Tabrisi,[2] Safi Gulpayigani[3] and Makarim Shirazi[4] have understood the Prophet’s (s) mission as one of the signs indicating the nearness of the Resurrection. Others have interpreted the hadith as indicating the certainty[5] and nearness of the Day of Resurrection.[6] According to Abdullah Jawadi Amuli, this narration shows that the Prophet (s) possessed knowledge of the Resurrection and its events.[7]
- Expressing the Prophet's Finality: Some scholars maintain that this hadith signifies the Prophet's finality, meaning that after the Khatam al-Nabiyyin (s), no prophet will be sent until the Day of Resurrection.[8]
This hadith is recorded in numerous Shia and Sunni sources. Al-Shaykh al-Mufid (d. 413/1022) cites it through two chains in his al-Amali.[9] Ibn Babawayh (d. 329/940) also narrates it in al-Imama wa al-tabsira min al-hayra,[10] and al-Shaykh al-Tusi (d. 460/1067) transmits the same meaning in his al-Amali, using the wording: "buʿithtu anā wa al-sāʿa ka-hādhihi min hādhihi," meaning that the interval between my mission and the Hour is like the distance between these two fingers.[11] Al-Rawandi (d. 570/1174 or 580/1184) reports the content of the hadith with the phrasing, "buʿithtu wa al-sāʿa ka-farasay rihān," meaning, "My mission and the Day of Resurrection are like two racing horses."[12]
Sunni scholars have also transmitted this narration, including in Musnad Ahmad,[13] Sahih al-Bukhari[14] and other sources.[15]
Notes
- ↑ Mufīd, al-Amālī, vol. 1, p. 187, 211.
- ↑ Ṭabrisī, Majmaʿ al-bayān, vol. 9, p. 154.
- ↑ Ṣāfī Gulpāyigānī, Muntakhab al-athar, vol. 2, p. 33.
- ↑ Makārim Shīrāzī, Tafsīr-i nimūna, vol. 21, p. 449.
- ↑ A thematic exegesis (interpretive study) concerning the Qur'anic verses about the Hereafter (Resurrection) (Persian)
- ↑ Makārim Shīrāzī, Tafsīr-i nimūna, vol. 18, p. 138; A thematic exegesis (interpretive study) concerning the Qur'anic verses about the Hereafter (Resurrection) (Persian)
- ↑ Jawādī Āmulī, Asrār-i ʿIbādāt, p. 286.
- ↑ Ḥalabī, al-Sīra al-ḥalabīyya, vol. 2, p. 157; Jawādī Āmulī, Asrār-i ʿIbādāt, p. 286.
- ↑ Mufīd, al-Amālī, vol. 1, p. 187, 211.
- ↑ Ibn bābawayh, al-Imāma wa al-tabsira min al-ḥayra, p. 144.
- ↑ Ṭūsī, al-Amālī, p. 337.
- ↑ Rāwandī Kāshānī, al-Nawādir, p. 67.
- ↑ Ibn Ḥanbal, Musnad al-Imām Aḥmad b. Ḥanbal, vol. 19, p. 271.
- ↑ Bukhārī, Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī, vol. 8, p. 229.
- ↑ Muslim Nayshābūrī. Ṣaḥīḥ Muslim, vol. 2, p. 592; Ibn Māja, Sunan Ibn Māja, vol. 1, p. 74.
References
- Bukhārī, Muḥammad b. Ismāʿīl al-. Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī. Edited by Wizārat al-Awqāf. Cairo: Wizārat al-Awqāf, al-Majlis al-Aʿlā li l-Shuʾūn al-Islāmīyya, Lujnat Iḥyāʾ Kutub al-Sunna, 1410 AH.
- Ḥalabī, ʿAlī b. Ibrāhīm. Al-Sīra al-ḥalabīyya: Insān al-ʿuyūn fī sīrat al-Amīn al-Maʾmūn. Beirut: Dār al-Kutub al-ʿIlmīyya, 1427 AH.
- Ibn bābawayh, ʿAlī b. Ḥusayn. Al-Imāma wa al-tabsira min al-ḥayra. Beirutt: Muʾassisat Āl al-Bayt (a) li-Iḥyāʾ al-Turāth, 1412 AH.
- Ibn Ḥanbal, Aḥmad b. Muḥammad. Musnad al-Imām Aḥmad b. Ḥanbal. Beirut: Muʾassisat Al-Risāla, 1416 AH.
- Ibn Māja, Muḥammad ibn Yazīd. Sunan Ibn Māja. Edited by Bashār ʿAwād Maʿrūf. 1st edition. Beirut: Dār al-Jīl, 1418 AH.
- Jawādī Āmulī, ʿAbdullāh. Asrār-i ʿIbādāt. 4th edition. Tehran: al-Zahrāʾ, 1372 Sh.
- Muslim Nayshābūrī. Ṣaḥīḥ Muslim. Edited by Muḥammad fuʾād ʿAbd al-Bāqī . 1st edition. Cairo: Dār al-Ḥadīth, 1412 AH.
- Mufīd, Muḥammad b. Muḥammad al-. Al-Amālī. Qom: Daftar-i Intishārāt-i Islāmī, 1403 AH.
- Makārim Shīrāzī, Nāṣir. Tafsīr-i nimūna. Tehran: Dār al-Kutub al-Islāmiyya, 1374 Sh.
- Rāwandī Kāshānī, Faḍl Allāh b. ʿAlī. Al-Nawādir. Tehran: Bunyād-i Farhang-i Islāmī-yi Kūshānpūr, 1418 AH.
- Ṣāfī Gulpāyigānī, Luṭf Allāh. Muntakhab al-athar fī al-Imām al-thānī ʿashar. Qom: Maktabat Āyat Allāh al-ʿUẓmā al-Ṣāfī al-Gulpāyigānī, 1422 AH.
- Ṭabrisī, Faḍl b. al-Ḥasan al-. Majmaʿ al-bayān fī tafsīr al-Qurʾān. Beirut: Dār al-Maʿrifa, 1408 AH.
- Ṭūsī, Muḥammad b. al-Ḥasan al-. Al-Amālī. Qom: Dār al-Thiqāfa, 1414 AH.
- بحث تفسير موضوعي پيرامون آيات معاد (A thematic exegesis (interpretive study) concerning the Qur’anic verses about the Hereafter (Resurrection) (Persian)). Accessed: 2025/11/29.