The Romans Will Be the Most Numerous of People
In brief
The Prophet ﷺ foretold that the Hour would come while the Romans (al-Rum) are the most numerous of people.
Mustawrid al-Qurashi narrated that he heard the Messenger of Allah ﷺ say: 'The Hour will come while the Romans are the most numerous of people.' This reached Amr ibn al-As, who said: if you say that, they have four qualities - the most forbearing in trial, the quickest to recover after calamity, the soonest to return after fleeing, and the best to the poor, orphan and weak - and a fifth, fair and good: the most restraining of their kings' oppression (Sahih Muslim 2898).
A description of the world near the end of time; it fixes no date.
Al-Nawawi explains 'the Romans' as the Byzantine and wider western Christian peoples. The remarkable feature is that a Companion, Amr ibn al-As, who knew them well, confirmed the report and listed their worldly virtues. The sign is their numbers and persistence near the end, stated as fact, not as praise of their religion or a verdict on any present nation.
Take the lesson Amr ibn al-As drew: forbearance in trial, care for the weak, and justice restraining rulers are praised wherever found, so cultivate them in yourself.
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
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حَدَّثَنَا عَبْدُ الْمَلِكِ بْنُ شُعَيْبِ بْنِ اللَّيْثِ، حَدَّثَنِي عَبْدُ اللَّهِ بْنُ وَهْبٍ، أَخْبَرَنِي اللَّيْثُ، بْنُ سَعْدٍ حَدَّثَنِي مُوسَى بْنُ عُلَىٍّ، عَنْ أَبِيهِ، قَالَ قَالَ الْمُسْتَوْرِدُ الْقُرَشِيُّ عِنْدَ عَمْرِو بْنِ الْعَاصِ سَمِعْتُ رَسُولَ اللَّهِ صلى الله عليه وسلم يَقُولُ " تَقُومُ السَّاعَةُ وَالرُّومُ أَكْثَرُ النَّاسِ " . فَقَالَ لَهُ عَمْرٌو أَبْصِرْ مَا تَقُولُ . قَالَ أَقُولُ مَا سَمِعْتُ مِنْ رَسُولِ اللَّهِ صلى الله عليه وسلم قَالَ لَئِنْ قُلْتَ ذَلِكَ إِنَّ فِيهِمْ لَخِصَالاً أَرْبَعًا إِنَّهُمْ لأَحْلَمُ النَّاسِ عِنْدَ فِتْنَةٍ وَأَسْرَعُهُمْ إِفَاقَةً بَعْدَ مُصِيبَةٍ وَأَوْشَكُهُمْ كَرَّةً بَعْدَ فَرَّةٍ وَخَيْرُهُمْ لِمِسْكِينٍ وَيَتِيمٍ وَضَعِيفٍ وَخَامِسَةٌ حَسَنَةٌ جَمِيلَةٌ وَأَمْنَعُهُمْ مِنْ ظُلْمِ الْمُلُوكِ .
Mustaurid al-Qurashi reported:I heard Allah's Messenger (ﷺ) as saying: The Last Hour would come (when) the Romans would form a majority amongst people. 'Amr said to him (Mustaurid Qurashi): See what you are saying? He said: I say what I heard from Allah's Messenger (ﷺ). Thereupon he said: If you say that, it is a fact for they have four qualities. They have the patience to undergo a trial and immediately restore themselves to sanity after trouble and attack again after flight. They (have the quality) of being good to the destitute and the orphans, to the weak and, fifthly, the good quality in them is that they put resistance against the oppression of kings
حَدَّثَنِي حَرْمَلَةُ بْنُ يَحْيَى التُّجِيبِيُّ، حَدَّثَنَا عَبْدُ اللَّهِ بْنُ وَهْبٍ، حَدَّثَنِي أَبُو شُرَيْحٍ، أَنَّ عَبْدَ الْكَرِيمِ بْنَ الْحَارِثِ، حَدَّثَهُ أَنَّ الْمُسْتَوْرِدَ الْقُرَشِيَّ قَالَ سَمِعْتُ رَسُولَ اللَّهِ صلى الله عليه وسلم يَقُولُ " تَقُومُ السَّاعَةُ وَالرُّومُ أَكْثَرُ النَّاسِ " . قَالَ فَبَلَغَ ذَلِكَ عَمْرَو بْنَ الْعَاصِ فَقَالَ مَا هَذِهِ الأَحَادِيثُ الَّتِي تُذْكَرُ عَنْكَ أَنَّكَ تَقُولُهَا عَنْ رَسُولِ اللَّهِ صلى الله عليه وسلم فَقَالَ لَهُ الْمُسْتَوْرِدُ قُلْتُ الَّذِي سَمِعْتُ مِنْ رَسُولِ اللَّهِ صلى الله عليه وسلم قَالَ فَقَالَ عَمْرٌو لَئِنْ قُلْتَ ذَلِكَ إِنَّهُمْ لأَحْلَمُ النَّاسِ عِنْدَ فِتْنَةٍ وَأَجْبَرُ النَّاسِ عِنْدَ مُصِيبَةٍ وَخَيْرُ النَّاسِ لِمَسَاكِينِهِمْ وَضُعَفَائِهِمْ .
Mustaurid Qurashi reported:I heard Allah's Messenger (ﷺ) as saying: The Last Hour would come when the Romans would form a majority amongst people. This reached 'Amr b. al-'As and he said: What are these ahadith which are being transmitted from you and which you claim to have heard from Allah's Messenger (ﷺ)? Mustaurid said to him: I stated only that which I heard from Allah's Messenger (ﷺ). Thereupon 'Amr said: If you state this (it is true), for they have the power of tolerance amongst people at the time of turmoil and restore themselves to sanity after trouble, and are good amongst people so far as the destitute and the weak are concerned
What scholars have said
Scholars cite it in part, or differ
Draft attributions: each must be checked against the named book before publication.
al-Nawawid. 676 AH
Explains that 'the Romans' (al-Rum) are the Byzantine and wider western Christian peoples, and that the Companion Amr ibn al-As confirmed the report, naming their qualities: the most forbearing in trial, the quickest to recover after calamity, the best to the poor, orphan and weak, and the most restraining of their rulers' oppression. The sign is their sheer numbers near the end, not a praise of their creed.
Sharh Sahih Muslim, on Hadith 2898
Meaning and context
The Prophet ﷺ foretold that the Hour would come while the Romans are the most numerous of people. The Companion Amr ibn al-As, who knew them, confirmed it and named their worldly virtues; the sign is their numbers, not praise of their creed.
Narrations behind this panel: Sahih Muslim 2898a · Sahih Muslim 2898b
What the commentators said it means
- 'The Romans' are the Byzantine and wider western Christian peoples: al-Nawawi.
- Amr ibn al-As affirmed four qualities - forbearance in trial, swift recovery, care for the weak, and restraining their rulers' oppression - as reasons for their endurance.
Read with care
- Stated as fact about numbers near the end, not as praise of a religion or a verdict on any present-day nation.
Draft: figures and wording await a researcher's check and the scholar board.