It is narrated from Sayyiduna Anas bin Malik (may Allah be pleased with him) that the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "Affairs will only increase in hardship, the religion will only increase in turning away (receding), the people will only increase in miserliness and greed, the Hour will be established only upon the worst of people, and there is no (perfect) Mahdi except Isa ibn Maryam (peace be upon him)." This hadith is counted among the solitary narrations of Imam al-Shafi'i (may Allah have mercy on him), but that is not so, because others besides him have also narrated it.

It is narrated from Sayyiduna Anas bin Malik (may Allah be pleased with him) that the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "Affairs will only increase in hardship, the people will only increase in miserliness, the Hour will be established only upon the worst of people, and there is no (perfect) Mahdi except Isa ibn Maryam (peace be upon him)." Samit bin Mu'adh says: I travelled a distance of two days from San'a and reached al-Janad. I went to one of their hadith scholars and asked for this hadith, and I found it with him through the chain of Muhammad bin Khalid al-Jandi, from Aban bin Abi Ayyash, from al-Hasan, from the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him), in the same way.

It is narrated from Sayyiduna Anas bin Malik (may Allah be pleased with him) that the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "Time will only increase in hardship, the people will only increase in miserliness, and the Hour will be established only upon the worst of people." I have mentioned the hidden defect ('illah) of this hadith that reached me by way of wonder, not as a supplement to the two Shaykhs based on it, because more worthy of mention at this place than this hadith is the hadith of Sayyiduna Abdullah bin Mas'ud (may Allah be pleased with him) that the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "The days and nights will not come to an end until a man from my household becomes ruler; his name will match my name and his father's name will match my father's name. He will fill the earth with justice and equity just as it had been filled with oppression and tyranny."