Sayyiduna Irbad bin Sariyah (may Allah be pleased with him) says that the Messenger of Allah gave us a very effective sermon after the Fajr prayer, due to which eyes wept and hearts were filled with fear. One companion said: O Messenger of Allah! This seems like a farewell sermon, (so please give us some advice). The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "I advise you to fear Allah, and to listen to and obey the leader, even if a Habashi (Abyssinian) slave is appointed over you. (Remember!) Whoever among you lives after me will see much disagreement, so hold fast to my Sunnah and the way of the rightly guided Caliphs, cling to it with your molar teeth. Beware of newly invented matters in religion, for every newly invented matter is an innovation, and every innovation is misguidance."

Sayyiduna Nu’man bin Bashir (may Allah be pleased with him) says that we were sitting in the mosque. Bashir would pause while speaking. Meanwhile, Abu Tha’labah Khushani (may Allah be pleased with him) came and said:“Bashir bin Sa’d! Do you remember any Prophetic hadith regarding the rulers?”Sayyiduna Hudhayfah (may Allah be pleased with him) said:“(In this matter) I remember your sermon.”Abu Tha’labah sat down and Hudhayfah said: The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said:“Prophethood will remain among you as long as Allah wills, then Allah will remove it when He wills. After Prophethood, there will be Caliphate upon the way of Prophethood for as long as Allah wills, then Allah will remove it when He wills. Then there will be kingship according to Allah’s decree, in which there will be oppression and excess, and eventually that too will end. Then there will be coercive kingship, which after some time will also decline. After that, there will be Caliphate again upon the way of Prophethood.”Then the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) fell silent.

It is narrated from Sayyiduna Abdullah bin Abbas (may Allah be pleased with them both) that the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "The beginning of this matter was Prophethood and mercy, then there will be Caliphate and mercy, and then kingship and mercy. After that, people will fall upon it like donkeys biting each other. You must hold fast to Jihad; the best Jihad is Ribaat (stationing oneself at the frontier), and the Ribaat of (the coastal city of) Asqalan (in Syria) is the most virtuous."

Sayyiduna Hudhayfah (may Allah be pleased with him) says: People used to ask the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) about good, and I used to ask him about evil, so that I might not fall into it. (One day) I said: O Messenger of Allah! We were living in the time of ignorance and evil, then Allah sent us Islam, which we accepted, and sent you to us. (Now the question is) Will there be evil after this good, as there was before? The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said three times:“Hudhayfah! Read the Book of Allah and act upon its commands.”I said: O Messenger of Allah! Will there be good after that evil? He (peace and blessings be upon him) said:“Yes.”I said: What will be the way to avoid it? He (peace and blessings be upon him) said:“The sword.”I said: Will there be good after that evil? And in one narration: Will any part of good remain after the sword? (i.e., fighting) He (peace and blessings be upon him) said:“Yes.”And in one narration: Leadership (and community) will remain established, but there will be minor objections and hatred and malice in the hearts, outward reconciliation, and internal conflict. I said: What is meant by malice? He (peace and blessings be upon him) said:“After me, there will be a people or various rulers who will not act upon my Sunnah and will adopt a way other than my way; you will consider some of their matters good and some bad, and among them will appear people who will be in human form, but their hearts will be satanic.”In another narration: I said: Outward reconciliation, inward conflict, and malice in the hearts—what does this mean? He (peace and blessings be upon him) said:“People’s hearts will not return to those noble qualities with which they were previously characterized.”I said: Will there be evil even after that good? He (peace and blessings be upon him) said:“Yes, there will be blind tribulation, and (in it there will be such people that it will be as if) they are callers standing at the gates of Hell; whoever accepts their call, they will throw him into Hell.”I said: O Messenger of Allah! Describe their characteristics for us. He (peace and blessings be upon him) said:“They will be from our own people and will speak our language.”I said: O Messenger of Allah! If I live to see that time, what do you command me to do? He (peace and blessings be upon him) said:“Stick to the group of Muslims and their leader, listen to the leader and obey him, even if he beats you and takes your wealth, still listen and obey.”I said: What if there is neither a group of Muslims nor a leader (then what should I do)? He (peace and blessings be upon him) said:“Keep away from all the sects, even if you have to cling to the trunk of a tree, until death comes to you while you are in that state.”And in another narration:“Hudhayfah! To die clinging to the trunk of a tree is better than obeying those (rulers).”And in another narration:“If in those days you find a caliph of Allah on earth, then stick to him, even if he beats you and takes your wealth, and if you do not see any caliph, then flee to any (remote) part of the earth, until death comes to you while you are clinging to the trunk of a tree.”I said: Then what will happen? He (peace and blessings be upon him) said:“Then the Dajjal will appear.”I said: What sign will he bring? He (peace and blessings be upon him) said:“He will come with a river or water and fire; whoever enters his river, his reward will be lost and it will be a sin, and whoever enters his fire, his reward will be established and his sin will be erased.”I said: O Messenger of Allah! What will happen after the Dajjal? He (peace and blessings be upon him) said:“Isa son of Maryam.”I said: Then what will happen? He (peace and blessings be upon him) said:“If at that time your mare gives birth to a foal, it will not yet be fit for you to ride it, before the Hour will be established.”

Ubaydullah bin Abdullah bin Utbah narrates from Sayyidah Aisha (may Allah be pleased with her) that when the Prophet Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him) fell ill and his pain increased, he sought permission from his wives to stay in the house of Aisha (may Allah be pleased with her) to be treated for his illness, and they granted him permission. The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) came out supported by two men, namely Ibn Abbas (may Allah be pleased with them both) and another man, and his feet were dragging on the ground. He said: Do you know who the other man was? I said: No. He said: It was Sayyiduna Ali (may Allah be pleased with him). Sayyidah Aisha (may Allah be pleased with her) used to narrate that when the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) entered the house and his illness intensified, he said:“Pour water from seven water-skins whose strings have not been untied over me, so that I may be able to advise the people.”The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) was seated in the tub of his wife Hafsa (may Allah be pleased with her), and we began to pour water over him, until he gestured that“You have fulfilled (your responsibility).”Then he went out to the people.

It is narrated from Sayyiduna Abu Awur Salmi (may Allah be pleased with him) that the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "Avoid going to the doors of the rulers, for this is a difficult path and a sign of humiliation."

Narrated from Sayyiduna Abu Hurairah (may Allah be pleased with him), the Noble Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "There are three types of people with whom Allah will not speak on the Day of Resurrection, nor will He look at them (with mercy), nor will He purify them, and for them there will be a painful punishment: the person who withholds surplus water from a traveler in a desert, the person who sells goods after the Asr prayer and swears by Allah that he bought it for such and such a price and the buyer believes him, while in fact he did not buy it for that price, and the person who pledges allegiance to an Imam (ruler) only for worldly gain—if he gives him (worldly wealth), he fulfills the pledge, and if he does not give, he does not fulfill it."

Sayyiduna Abu Hurairah (may Allah be pleased with him) says that the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) appointed Siba’ bin ‘Arfatah (may Allah be pleased with him) as his deputy in Madinah and set out towards Khaybar. I migrated to Madinah and offered the Fajr prayer behind Siba’. In the first rak‘ah, he recited «كهيعص» (i.e., Surah Maryam), and in the second, «ويل للمطففين» (i.e., Surah Mutaffifin). Abu Hurairah (may Allah be pleased with him) says: (Upon hearing the recitation of Surah Mutaffifin) I began to say in the prayer itself,“So-and-so is ruined; he has made two kinds of measures: (that is) when he takes measure from others, he takes it in full, and when he gives measure to others, he gives less.”When we finished the prayer, we came to Siba’, and he prepared some provisions for our journey. (Then we set out towards the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) until we reached him. He had already conquered Khaybar. He spoke with the Muslims and included us in their (spoils) shares.

Mawla of the Messenger, Sayyiduna Abu Abdur Rahman Safinah (may Allah be pleased with him) narrates that the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "Khilafah will remain for thirty years, and after that there will be monarchy."

Ibn Lahi'ah narrates from Abu Zubair, who said: I asked Sayyiduna Jabir (may Allah be pleased with him) about the allegiance of the Thaqif tribe. He said: This tribe, at the time of pledging allegiance, placed the condition upon the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) that there would be neither charity (zakah) nor jihad upon them. The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "Soon, when these people become (true) Muslims, they will give charity and also perform jihad."