It is narrated from Sulaym bin Qays al-Hanzali that he said: Sayyiduna Umar bin al-Khattab (may Allah be pleased with him) addressed us in a sermon and said: "What I fear most for you after me is that an innocent man among you will be seized and sawn apart (to torment him) as a slaughtered camel is cut apart, and his flesh will be torn as its flesh is torn, and it will be said that he is a transgressor, whereas he will not be a transgressor." He said: Then Sayyiduna Ali bin Abi Talib (may Allah be pleased with him), who was below the pulpit, said: O Commander of the Faithful! And when will that be, while the calamity has not yet become severe, the partisanship of the Jahiliyyah has not yet appeared, the offspring have not yet been taken captive, and the tribulations have not yet ground the people down as a millstone grinds grain and as fire consumes firewood? (Sayyiduna Umar (may Allah be pleased with him)) asked: O Ali! When will that be? He replied: "When jurisprudence (fiqh) is acquired for a purpose other than religion, knowledge is learnt for a purpose other than action, and this world is sought through the deeds of the Hereafter."

It is narrated from Hasan al-Basri (may Allah have mercy on him), who narrates from Sayyiduna Abu Musa al-Ash'ari (may Allah be pleased with him), that the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "I fear for you al-harj." The Companions said: O Messenger of Allah! What is al-harj? He (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "Killing." They said: Even more than we kill today? We kill such-and-such a number of the polytheists in a single day. The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "It will not be the killing of the polytheists; rather, it will be your killing one another." They said: Will the Book of Allah (the Qur'an) be among us then? He (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "Yes, the Book of Allah, the Mighty and Majestic, will be among you." They said: Will our minds be with us then? He (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "Indeed, the minds of most people of that time will be taken away, and in their place will remain the dregs of humanity (people of little intelligence) who will think that they are upon something (of the truth), whereas they will not be upon anything."

It is narrated from Hayyah bint Abi Hayyah that she said: A man came to me at midday. I asked: O servant of Allah! What do you need? He said: My companion and I set out in search of our lost camels, and I have come here to rest in the shade and to drink something. So I got up and offered him some sour buttermilk and a little sour milk. Then, looking at him closely, I asked: O servant of Allah! Who are you? He said: I am Abu Bakr, that companion of the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) of whom you have heard. (Hayyah says:) Then I mentioned the tribe of Khath'am and our fighting one another in the Jahiliyyah, and the affection and love that Allah Almighty granted (through Islam), and, mentioning the ropes of the tents, interlaced the fingers together to show it. She says: I asked: O servant of Allah! How long will this state of the people (peace and affection) remain like this? He said: "As long as your leaders (imams) remain upright." I asked: What is meant by the imams? He said: "Have you not seen the tents of a tribe, that they have a chief whom the people follow and obey? So as long as those chiefs remain upright (this matter too will remain upright)." This hadith is sahih (authentic), but the two Shaykhs (Bukhari and Muslim) did not record it.