Final Address to his People
Khalid bin Umair Adavi narrates that Utbah (ra) bin Ghazwan addressed them by praising God Almighty and then said, “The world has announced its end and turned away in haste (i.e. the world is heading towards destruction) and nothing is left of the world except for the remnants that are left inside a cup after one drinks from it. You are heading towards an everlasting abode which has no decline,” (i.e. this world is merely transient) “Thus, head towards that very abode which is greater than anything you own. We have been informed that a stone will be thrown from one corner of hell and will continue to fall down [a pit of abyss] for 70 years and will not reach its end. By God! This hell will be filled,” i.e. hell will be filled with sinners, therefore, you have the opportunity to derive benefit from this life and perform virtuous deeds.”
He then further stated, “Why then do you doubt this? You have been informed that the distance between one door of heaven and the other is equal to 40 years [of travel]. Verily a day will dawn in which this entire space will be filled with people. There were times when I was among the seven people alongside the Holy Prophet (sa) and we had no food except for the leaves of the trees (i.e. previously they experienced great hardships). We ate nothing except leaves from the trees and owing to this, the edge of our mouths would suffer cuts.”
He then narrated a personal incident, “I once found a cloak, which I cut into two pieces and gave half to Sa‘d bin Malik. This was our condition in that we did not even have cloaks with which to cover ourselves. With one half of the cloak I made a garment to cover myself and Sa‘d did the same with his. However, today, the case is such that some people from among you wake up in the morning and they are governors of certain areas. I seek refuge with Allah against the thought of thinking myself to be a noble man, whereas in the sight of God I may be lowly. Therefore, I consider myself to be inferior and insignificant. The times have changed; people have become affluent, hence you all ought to be greatly concerned about this.”
He then further stated, “There has been no prophethood in the past, whose era after the demise of its prophet was eternal, rather it always declined in the form of a kingship. You will soon learn the truth of this matter and after our passing, you will experience the treatment meted out by your leaders.”
(Sahih Muslim, Kitab al-Zuhd wa al-Raqa‘iq, Bab al-Dunya Sijnun lil Mu‘min wa Jannatun lil Kafir, Hadith 2967)
He further said, “The state of the Muslims will be such that worldliness will become rampant among them. Keep my words in mind, as you will come to learn that all of this was the truth. However, you all ought to focus your attention towards God Almighty; turn towards religion and spirituality. Only through this can one earn the reward of paradise.”