পৃষ্ঠা 94: প্রথম অধ্যায়: দূরবর্তী আলামতসমূহ যা ইতিমধ্যে প্রকাশ পেয়ে অতিক্রান্ত হয়েছে

Mention of the Plagues That Occurred and Their Locations

Mention of the Abundance of Death and What Has Been Reported Concerning It

And among them: the abundance of death:

On the authority of 'Awf ibn Malik (may Allah be pleased with him), who said: The Prophet (ﷺ) said: "Count six signs before the Hour: my death, then the conquest of Bayt al-Maqdis (Jerusalem), then a mass death that will strike you like the murrain of sheep..." to the end of the hadith. It was narrated by al-Bukhari, Ibn Majah, and al-Hakim in al-Mustadrak.

And 'al-Mawtan' (الموتان); with a dammah on the mim and sukun on the waw, on the measure of 'butlan': widespread, frequent death. This was stated in al-Nihayah.

And 'qu'as al-ghanam' (قعاص الغنم); with a dammah on the qaf, and with unpointed 'ayn and sad separated by an alif: an epidemic disease that afflicts sheep such that they die suddenly without delay. From this derives the expression: 'He struck him fa-aq'asahu', meaning: he died on the spot.

And this occurred during the era of 'Umar (may Allah be pleased with him) in the Plague of 'Amwas, and subsequently in the Plague of al-Jarif (the Sweeper), as well as in the plagues and epidemics that broke out across the regions of the earth.

Al-Hafiz al-Suyuti mentioned in his book Ma Rawahu al-Wa'un fi Akhbar al-Ta'un verbatim: 'A chronicle of the plagues that occurred in Islam.'

Ibn Abi Hajalah said in his treatise on 'al-Ta'un' (The Plague):

"The first plague that occurred in Islam was during the era of the Prophet (ﷺ) in the sixth year of the Hijrah in al-Mada'in. It is known as the Plague of Shirawayh according to what al-Mada'ini related, and I do not know how many perished in it to recount it."

I say: And not a single person among the Muslims died in it.

Ibn 'Asakir narrated in Tarikh Dimashq by way of Hammad ibn Zayd, from Ayyub, who said: Muhammad said: "There was never a plague more severe than three plagues: the Plague of Yazdegerd, the Plague of 'Amwas, and the Plague of al-Jarif."

Al-Mada'ini said: "The major, famous plagues in Islam were five: the Plague of Shirawayh in al-Mada'in during the era of the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ), then the Plague of 'Amwas, then the Plague of al-Jarif, then the Plague of the Young Maidens (al-Fatayat), and then the Plague of the Notables (al-Ashraf)." [End quote]