Chapter 3: The Prophet's Saying: The Destruction of My Ummah Will Be at the Hands of Foolish Young Men

...Umayyah, who assumed the caliphate after that. He used to serve as governor of Medina for Mu'awiyah at times, while Sa'id ibn al-'As, the father of 'Amr, served as its governor for Mu'awiyah at other times. His saying: "I heard the truthful, confirmed one (al-Sadiq al-Masduq)": Its explanation preceded in the Book of Divine Decree (Kitab al-Qadar), and what is meant by it is the Prophet (ﷺ). In the aforementioned narration of 'Abd al-Samad, it occurred that Abu Hurayrah said: "The Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) said," and in another narration of his: "I heard the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ)." His saying: "the ruin (halkah) of my Ummah": In the narration of al-Makki, it is "the destruction (halak) of my Ummah," which corresponds to what is in the chapter heading. In the narration of 'Abd al-Samad, it is "the destruction of this Ummah." What is meant by the Ummah here is the people of that era and those near them, not the entire Ummah until the Day of Resurrection. His saying: "at the two hands of young men ('ala yaday ghilmah)": Thus it is for the majority in the dual form ("yaday"), while for al-Sarakhsi and al-Kushmayhani it is "aydi" in the plural form. Ibn Battal said: The intended meaning of destruction was explained in another hadith of Abu Hurayrah, recorded by 'Ali ibn Ma'bad and Ibn Abi Shaybah through another chain from Abu Hurayrah in a marfu' narration: "I seek refuge in Allah from the governance of immature youths." They said: "And what is the governance of immature youths?" He replied: "If you obey them, you are ruined (meaning in your religious practice), and if you disobey them, they destroy you (meaning in your worldly life, by taking life or confiscating wealth, or both)." In the narration of Ibn Abi Shaybah: Abu Hurayrah used to walk in the marketplace saying: "O Allah, do not let me reach the year sixty, nor the governance of immature youths!" In this there is an indication that the first of those foolish youths emerged in the year 60 AH, and that is indeed the case, for Yazid ibn Mu'awiyah was made caliph in that year, remaining until the year 64 AH when he died; then his son Mu'awiyah assumed power and died a few months later. This narration specifies the earlier narration of Abu Zur'ah from Abu Hurayrah in the Signs of Prophethood with the wording: "This clan of Quraysh will destroy the people," showing that what is meant is a segment of Quraysh, namely their inexperienced youths, not all of them. The meaning is that they destroy the people through their pursuit of kingship and warfare for its sake, whereby the conditions of the people are corrupted and turmoil multiplies through successive tribulations. The matter unfolded precisely as the Prophet (ﷺ) foretold. As for his saying: "If only the people would isolate themselves from them" (law anna al-nasa i'tazaluhum), the apodosis is omitted, its implied meaning being: "it would have been far better for them." What is meant by isolating themselves from them is not mingling with them, not fighting alongside them, and fleeing with their religion from tribulations. It is also possible that "law" is used for wishful longing (tamanni), in which case no implied answer is required. From this hadith is deduced the desirability of migrating away from a town where sins are openly practiced, for that is a cause for the occurrence of tribulations from which widespread destruction arises. Ibn Wahb reported from Malik: "A land wherein evil deeds are openly committed must be abandoned." A group among the righteous predecessors (Salaf) acted accordingly. His saying: "Marwan said: The curse of Allah be upon them, what young men!": In the narration of 'Abd al-Samad: "The curse of Allah be upon them, what foolish youngsters!" This narration explains what was meant by his statement in the narration of al-Makki: "Marwan said: Young men," where he restricted himself to this word alone. Thus the narration of this chapter demonstrates that it was an abbreviation of his statement: "The curse of Allah be upon them, what young men!" The intended meaning was: they are youths upon whom is Allah's curse, or they are accursed, or similar; he did not intend astonishment or inquiry. His saying: "Abu Hurayrah said: If I wished to name the sons of so-and-so and the sons of so-and-so, I could have done so": In the narration of al-Isma'ili: "the clan of so-and-so and the clan of so-and-so, I would have said it." It seems that Abu Hurayrah knew their names, and this was part of the knowledge that he did not narrate openly. Reference was made to this earlier in the Book of Knowledge, where his statement preceded: "If I were to disclose it, you would slit this throat." His saying: "I used to go out with my grandfather": The speaker of this is 'Amr ibn Yahya ibn Sa'id ibn 'Amr, and his grandfather is Sa'id ibn 'Amr, who was with his father when he took control of the Levant (al-Sham); then when his father was killed, Sa'id ibn 'Amr moved to Kufa and resided there until he died. His saying: "when they ruled the Levant": meaning the Levant and other lands when they assumed the caliphate; the Levant was specifically mentioned because it was their center of residence since the era of Mu'awiyah. His saying: "and whenever he saw them as inexperienced young men": This strengthens the aforementioned possibility that what is meant are the sons of those among them who assumed the caliphate. As for his hesitation regarding which of them was intended by the hadith of Abu Hurayrah, it stems from the fact that Abu Hurayrah did not explicitly state their names. What is evident is that those mentioned were among them, and that the first of them was Yazid, as indicated by Abu Hurayrah's statement: "the beginning of the year sixty and the rule of boys." For Yazid frequently removed mature elders from the governorship of major cities and appointed junior youths from among his relatives. And his saying: "We said: You..."