Fleeing with One's Faith to the Mountains
In brief
A time will come when a believer's safest wealth is a flock of sheep he keeps on the mountain tops, fleeing with his religion from the trials of the towns.
Abu Sa'id al-Khudri narrated that the Messenger of Allah ﷺ said: 'There will come a time when the best property of a Muslim will be sheep that he takes to the tops of mountains and the places of rainfall, fleeing with his religion from tribulations' (Sahih al-Bukhari 19, 6495, 7088).
Describes times of widespread fitnah; it recurs rather than marking a single dated moment.
Ibn Hajar reads it as praise for protecting one's faith when tribulation becomes general, not as a standing command to abandon society. The believer withdraws only so far as is needed to keep his religion safe, and returns to good when he can.
Hold your faith dearer than your standing or wealth; when trials cannot be stilled, withdraw enough to protect your religion without abandoning your duties to others.
Draft brief, not yet checked by the scholar board. The full texts are in the Sources tab and the scholars' views in their own tab.
Where it sits in the sequence
The narrations do not put these in order, and many of them overlap. Sahih al-Bukhari 7121 lists several together.
Strongest narrations
Read all in the archive →Tags are automatic and unreviewed.
حَدَّثَنَا أَبُو نُعَيْمٍ، حَدَّثَنَا الْمَاجِشُونُ، عَنْ عَبْدِ الرَّحْمَنِ بْنِ أَبِي صَعْصَعَةَ، عَنْ أَبِيهِ، عَنْ أَبِي سَعِيدٍ، أَنَّهُ سَمِعَهُ يَقُولُ سَمِعْتُ النَّبِيَّ صلى الله عليه وسلم يَقُولُ " يَأْتِي عَلَى النَّاسِ زَمَانٌ خَيْرُ مَالِ الرَّجُلِ الْمُسْلِمِ الْغَنَمُ، يَتْبَعُ بِهَا شَعَفَ الْجِبَالِ وَمَوَاقِعَ الْقَطْرِ، يَفِرُّ بِدِينِهِ مِنَ الْفِتَنِ ".
Narrated Abu Sa`id:I heard from the Prophet (ﷺ) saying, "There will come a time upon the people when the best property of a Muslim will be sheep which he will take to the tops of mountains and to the places of rainfall, run away with his religion (in order to save it) from afflictions
حَدَّثَنَا عَبْدُ اللَّهِ بْنُ يُوسُفَ، أَخْبَرَنَا مَالِكٌ، عَنْ عَبْدِ الرَّحْمَنِ بْنِ عَبْدِ اللَّهِ بْنِ أَبِي صَعْصَعَةَ، عَنْ أَبِيهِ، عَنْ أَبِي سَعِيدٍ الْخُدْرِيِّ ـ رضى الله عنه ـ أَنَّهُ قَالَ قَالَ رَسُولُ اللَّهِ صلى الله عليه وسلم " يُوشِكُ أَنْ يَكُونَ خَيْرَ مَالِ الْمُسْلِمِ غَنَمٌ، يَتْبَعُ بِهَا شَعَفَ الْجِبَالِ وَمَوَاقِعَ الْقَطْرِ، يَفِرُّ بِدِينِهِ مِنَ الْفِتَنِ ".
Narrated Abu Sa`id Al-Khudri:Allah's Messenger (ﷺ) said, "There will come a time when the best property of a Muslim will be sheep which he will take to the tops of mountains and the places of rainfall so as to flee with his religion from the afflictions
حَدَّثَنَا عَبْدُ اللَّهِ بْنُ مَسْلَمَةَ، عَنْ مَالِكٍ، عَنْ عَبْدِ الرَّحْمَنِ بْنِ عَبْدِ اللَّهِ بْنِ عَبْدِ الرَّحْمَنِ بْنِ أَبِي صَعْصَعَةَ، عَنْ أَبِيهِ، عَنْ أَبِي سَعِيدٍ الْخُدْرِيِّ، قَالَ قَالَ رَسُولُ اللَّهِ صلى الله عليه وسلم " يُوشِكُ أَنْ يَكُونَ خَيْرُ مَالِ الْمُسْلِمِ غَنَمًا يَتْبَعُ بِهَا شَعَفَ الْجِبَالِ وَمَوَاقِعَ الْقَطْرِ يَفِرُّ بِدِينِهِ مِنَ الْفِتَنِ " .
Narrated Abu Sa’id Al Khudri :The Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) as saying: A Muslim's best property will soon be sheep which he will take to the tops of the mountains and the places where the rain falls, fleeing with his religion from the civil strife (fitan)
حَدَّثَنَا أَبُو كُرَيْبٍ، حَدَّثَنَا عَبْدُ اللَّهِ بْنُ نُمَيْرٍ، عَنْ يَحْيَى بْنِ سَعِيدٍ، عَنْ عَبْدِ اللَّهِ بْنِ عَبْدِ الرَّحْمَنِ الأَنْصَارِيِّ، عَنْ أَبِيهِ، أَنَّهُ سَمِعَ أَبَا سَعِيدٍ الْخُدْرِيَّ، يَقُولُ قَالَ رَسُولُ اللَّهِ ـ صلى الله عليه وسلم ـ " يُوشِكُ أَنْ يَكُونَ خَيْرَ مَالِ الْمُسْلِمِ غَنَمٌ يَتْبَعُ بِهَا شَعَفَ الْجِبَالِ وَمَوَاقِعَ الْقَطْرِ يَفِرُّ بِدِينِهِ مِنَ الْفِتَنِ " .
It was narrated from Abu Sa’eed Al-Khudri that the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) said:“Soon the best wealth of a Muslim will be sheep which he follows in the mountain peaks and places where rainfall is to be found, fleeing for the sake of his religion from tribulations.”
What scholars have said
Scholars cite it in part, or differ
Draft attributions: each must be checked against the named book before publication.
Ibn Hajar al-Asqalanid. 852 AH
Reads the hadith as praise for withdrawing from tribulation with one's religion intact: when fitnah becomes general, a believer may be safest keeping flocks on the hilltops and places of rain, away from the discord of the towns. He cautions it is not a blanket command to abandon society, but guidance when trials cannot be escaped otherwise.
Fath al-Bari, on Sahih al-Bukhari 19 & 6495
Meaning and context
The Prophet ﷺ said a time would come when the best wealth of a Muslim is a flock he keeps on the hilltops, fleeing with his faith from trials. Scholars read it as praise for guarding one's religion in fitnah, not a command to abandon society.
Narrations behind this panel: Sahih al-Bukhari 6495 · Sahih al-Bukhari 7088
What the commentators said it means
- Praise for protecting one's faith when fitnah becomes general, withdrawing only as far as keeping the religion safe requires: Ibn Hajar.
- Not a standing command to leave society; the believer returns to good and company when the trial has passed.
Read with care
- A sign is not a ruling; this neither condemns town life nor obliges isolation.
Draft: figures and wording await a researcher's check and the scholar board.