It is narrated from Sayyiduna Saeed bin Zaid (may Allah be pleased with him), the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) mentioned tribulations like the darkness of dark nights. I think he (peace and blessings be upon him) also said: In these tribulations, people will perish very quickly. Someone asked: Will all of them be destroyed or only some of them? He (peace and blessings be upon him) replied: Their being killed will be enough for them.

It is narrated from Sayyiduna Abu Wa'il (may Allah be pleased with him), he says: I was sitting with Sayyiduna Abdullah bin Mas'ud (may Allah be pleased with him) and Sayyiduna Abu Musa (may Allah be pleased with him), both of them said that the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him and his family) said: Before the Day of Judgment, there will come a time in which ignorance will become widespread, knowledge will be taken away, and Harj will become common. We asked: What is meant by Harj? He (peace and blessings be upon him and his family) said: Killing.

It is narrated from Sayyiduna Hudhayfah bin Yaman (may Allah be pleased with him) that the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) was asked about the Day of Judgment. He (peace and blessings be upon him) said: The knowledge of the Day of Judgment is with my Lord; He will manifest it at its appointed time. However, I will tell you some of its signs and what will happen before it. Before the Day of Judgment, tribulations will appear and there will be Harj. The Companions said: O Messenger of Allah! We understand the meaning of tribulations, but what is meant by Harj? He (peace and blessings be upon him) said: In the language of the Abyssinians, it means killing. And (the third sign is that) people will become so indifferent and unconcerned with each other that no one will recognize anyone.

Sayyiduna Khalid bin Walid (may Allah be pleased with him) says: When the land of Sham presented its blessings before us, including wheat and honey, the Commander of the Faithful, Sayyiduna Umar bin Khattab (may Allah be pleased with him), ordered me to set out towards Hind. In those days, by Hind we used to mean Basra. I was disinclined towards this expedition. Meanwhile, a man stood up and said to me: Abu Sulaiman! Fear Allah, the tribulations have already appeared. From the other side, another man said: The tribulations have not yet appeared, because Ibn Khattab (may Allah be pleased with him) is still alive; the tribulations will come after him. (And in the era of tribulations) when people will be at the place of Bilyan (located beyond Yemen), then a man will look around at the circumstances and ponder whether there is any place where such tribulations do not exist as in this place, but he will not find any such peaceful place. This is the very time about which the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said that before the Day of Judgment there will be widespread killing, and we seek refuge with Allah that such a time should not befall us or you.