English translation
1435. Narrated Abū Wā'il: Hudhaifa رضي الله عنه said, “Umar رضي الله عنه 'Who amongst you remembers the statement of Allāh's Messenger ﷺ about the Al-Fitnah (trial and affliction)?' I said, 'I know it exactly as the Prophet ﷺ said.' 'Umar said, 'No doubt, you are bold. How did he say it?' I said, 'A man's Al-Fitnah caused by his wife, children and neighbours is expiated by (his) Ṣalāt (prayer), charity, and enjoining Al-Ma'rūf (Islāmic Monotheism and all that Islām ordains).’ (The subnarrator Sulaimān added that he said, ‘The Ṣalāt (prayer), charity, enjoining Al-Ma’rūf and forbidding Al-Munkar (disbelief, polytheism, and all that Islām has forbidden).’ Umar said, ‘I did not mean that, but I ask about that Al-Fitnah which will spread like the waves of the sea.’ I said, ‘O chief of the believers! You need not be afraid of it as there is a closed door between you and it.’ He asked, ‘Will the door be broken or opened?’ I replied, ‘No, it will be broken.’ He said, ‘Then, if it is broken, it will never be closed again?’ I replied, ‘Yes.’’ We were afraid to ask him about that door, so we asked Masrūq to inquire, and he asked Hudhaifa regarding it. Hudhaifa said, “The door was ‘Umar رَضِيَ اللَّهُ عَنْهُ. We further asked Hudhaifa whether ‘Umar knew what that door meant. Hudhaifa replied in the affirmative and added, “He knew it as one knows that there will be a night before the tomorrow morning.”
