Aslam

Praise be to Allah.The meaning of the hadeeth is clear and apparent,

and was borne out by  real events. The Prophet

(peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) was stating that none of

the people who were alive at that time would live for more than a hundred

years, and this is what in fact happened. The last of the Sahaabah to

die passed away in 110 AH, i.e., he died one hundred years after the

Messenger (peace and blessings

of Allaah be upon him) died. His name was Abu’l-Tufayl ibn Waathilah.

Shaykh Sa’d al-Humayd

This hadeeth was narrated

by Imaam al-Bukhaari (may Allaah have mercy on him) in his Saheeh,

from ‘Abd-Allaah ibn ‘Umar, who said: “The Prophet

(peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) led us in praying ‘Ishaa

towards the end of his life. When he had said the salaam, he

stood up and said: ‘Do you see this night of yours? One hundred years

from now, there will not be anyone left of those who are on the face

of the earth.’”

There follow some comments

made by Ibn Hajar (may Allaah have mercy on him) on this hadeeth:

“Led us in prayer” means as

an imaam.

“Towards the end of his life”. A corroborating

report narrated by Jaabir states that this was one month before he

(peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) died.

“Do you see” means, “Think about (this

night).”

“One hundred years from now” means, when

one hundred years have passed.

“There will not be anyone left of those

who are on the face of the earth” means, anyone who was alive at that

time.

Ibn Battaal said: What the

Messenger (peace and blessings

of Allaah be upon him) meant was that during this time-span their generation

would pass away. He was pointing out to them how short their lives were

and that their lives were not like those of the nations who came before

them, so that they would strive hard in worship.

Al-Nawawi said: What is meant

is that everyone who was on the face of the earth on that night would

not live for more than one hundred years after that night, whether he

was young on that occasion or not. It does not mean that anyone who

was born after that night would not live for a hundred years. And Allaah

knows best.

This hadeeth is one of the

signs of the Prophethood of the Prophet

(peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him). He was speaking of future

events which came to pass as he described them. The trustworthy scholars

use this as evidence in refuting some of the Sufis who say that al-Khidr

is still alive until now.