Examination of Traditions Mentioning the Duration of the World as Seven Thousand Years and Clarification of Their Weakness

the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ). He then cited the hadith, which includes: "Behold, I saw you, O Messenger of Allah, upon a pulpit having seven steps, with you upon its highest step. Thereupon he (ﷺ) said: 'As for the pulpit you saw with seven steps, upon the highest of which I stood, the world is seven thousand years, and I am in the final thousand of it.'" Al-Bayhaqi recorded it in Dala'il al-Nubuwwah, and al-Suhayli cited it in al-Rawd al-Unuf, stating: "Although this hadith has a weak chain of transmission, it has been narrated mawquf from Ibn Abbas (ra) through authentic routes that he said: 'The world is seven days, each day being a thousand years, and the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) was sent in the last of them.'"

Abu Ja'far al-Tabari authenticated this premise and corroborated it with transmitted traditions. And the Prophet's (ﷺ) statement in this hadith, "and I am in the final thousand of it," signifies that the greater part of this religious community falls within the seventh millennium, so as to harmonize with what will follow regarding his being sent in the closing era of the sixth millennium. For had he been sent at the very beginning of the seventh millennium, the major signs - such as the Dajjal, the descent of Isa (as), and the sunrise from the west - would have occurred more than a century before our present day so that the Hour would be established upon the completion of the thousand; yet none of that has transpired. This demonstrates that the remainder of the seventh millennium exceeds three hundred years.

Ibn Abi Hatim recorded in his Tafsir from Ibn Abbas (ra) that he said: "The world is a week among the weeks of the Hereafter, seven thousand years." Ibn Abi al-Dunya said in Kitab Dhamm al-Amal: 'Ali ibn Sa'd narrated to us, saying: Hamzah ibn Hisham narrated to us, saying: Sa'id ibn Jubayr said: "The world is merely a week among the weeks of the Hereafter." 'Abd ibn Humayd recorded in his Tafsir: Muhammad ibn al-Fadl narrated to us, saying: Hammad ibn Zayd narrated to us from Yahya ibn 'Atiq, from Muhammad ibn Sirin, from a man of the People of the Book who had embraced Islam, who said: "Verily Allah the Exalted created the heavens and the earth in six days, {and indeed, a day with your Lord is like a thousand years of those which you count} [al-Hajj: 47], and He set the appointed term of this world as six days, placing the Hour on the seventh day. Six days have already passed, and you are now in the seventh day."

Ibn Ishaq said: Muhammad ibn Abi Muhammad narrated to us, saying: 'Ikrimah - or Sa'id ibn Jubayr - narrated to us from Ibn Abbas: The Jews used to say: "The duration of the world is seven thousand years, and we will only be punished for each thousand years of the days of this world by one single day in the Fire; so it is merely a counted number of days, after which punishment ceases." Thereupon Allah the Exalted revealed concerning that: {And they say, "Never will the Fire touch us, except for a few numbered days"} [al-Baqarah: 80] up to His statement: {abiding eternally therein}. This was recorded by Ibn Jarir, Ibn al-Mundhir, and Ibn Abi Hatim. 'Abd ibn Humayd said: Shubabah informed us from Warqa', from Ibn Abi Najih, from Mujahid the like of it. Al-Dinawari said in al-Mujalasah: Muhammad ibn 'Abd al-'Aziz narrated to us, saying: my father informed us, saying: I heard Salim al-Khawwas say: I heard 'Uthman ibn