It is narrated from Sayyiduna Abdullah bin Mas'ud (may Allah be pleased with him) that the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "The millstone of Islam will keep turning for thirty-five or thirty-six (years). Then if they (the people of Islam) perish, it will be the way of those who perished (before them); and if their religion remains established for them, it will remain for seventy years." Sayyiduna Umar (may Allah be pleased with him) said: O Messenger of Allah, (in this period of seventy years) is the time that has already passed included, or is what is meant the time that still remains? He (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "The time that still remains." This hadith has a sahih (authentic) chain of narration, but the two Shaykhs did not record it. The chain of this hadith is outside the condition of the three books; I have mentioned it because of its scholarly relevance to this chapter.