What Does the Hadith About the Daws Tribe and Dhul-Khalasa Really Mean?

Answered by Mawlana Ilyas Patel

Question

The Hour will not be established till the buttocks of the women of the tribe of Daws move while going round Dhul-Khalasa” is a hadith from Sahih al-Bukhari. It is about the end of the world and afflictions.

A post mentioned that the tribe of Daws has gone extinct, and hence, this prophecy is false. What is the reality of this?

Answer

In the Name of Allah, the Most Merciful and Compassionate.

I pray you are in good faith and health. Thank you for your question.

The hadith is mentioned by Bukhari in the Book of Trials in the Chapter: Time will change until idols are worshipped.

Abu Hurayra (Allah be pleased with him) reports Allah’s Messenger (Allah bless him and give him peace) said,

“The Hour will not be established till the buttocks of the women of the tribe of Daws move while going round Dhul-Khalasa.” Dhul-Khalasa was the idol of the Daws tribe, which they worshipped in the pre-Islamic period of ignorance. [Bukhari]

The descendants will remain. Thus, the prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace) has prophecized that they will arise to worship again before the end of times. Some state that this has already occurred. See the link below.

Dhul-Khalasa Claimed as Ka‘ba of Yemen

The statues in this idolatrous temple, known as Dhul Khalasa, were worshipped in the ignorance period before Islam. Then, when after Islam came into the Arabian peninsula, the Prophet (Allah bless him and give peace) ordered for it to be destroyed due to their persistent hostility to Islam and sent Jarir ibn ‘Abdullah ( Allah bless him and give him peace) to destroy it as mentioned in the following hadith:

Jarir ibn ‘Abdullah al-Bajali (Allah be pleased with him) said: Allah’s Messenger (Allah bless him and give him peace) said to me: Will you relieve me of Dhul-Khalasa? The idol-house of Khath’am, and this idol-house was called the Yamanite Ka‘ba. So, I went along with 150 horse riders and could not sit steadfastly on the horse. I mentioned it to Allah’s Messenger (Allah bless him and give him peace and he struck his hand on my chest and said: O Allah, grant him steadfastness and make him the guide of righteousness and the rightly-guided one. So he went away, and he set fire to it.

Then Jarir sent some person to Allah’s Messenger (Allah bless him and give him peace), whose Kunya was Abu Arta, to give him the good news. He came to Allah’s Messenger (Allah bless him and give him peace) and said: I have not come to you (but with the news) that we have left Dhul-Khalasa as a scabed camel. Thereupon, Allah’s Messenger (Allah bless him and give him peace) blessed the horses of Ahmas and the men of their tribe five times. [Muslim] [Ali al-Qari, Mirqat al-Mafatih]

I would like you to go through the valuable answers and links below. Insha’Allah, you will receive guidance and direction.

Related

• Signs of the Hour: The Fiqh of the End of Times
• How Do I Deal with the Terror of the End of Times? 
• Historians’ accounts regarding Dhul Khalasa differed, and their opinions varied, and the tribes that honored it

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I pray this helps with your question.
Wassalam,
[Mawlana] Ilyas Patel
Checked and Approved by Shaykh Abdul-Rahim Reasat

Mawlana Ilyas Patel has received traditional education in various countries. He started his schooling in the UK and completed his hifz of the Quran in India. After that, he joined an Islamic seminary in the UK, where he studied secular and Aalimiyya sciences. Later, he traveled to Karachi, Pakistan, and other Middle Eastern countries to further his education. Mawlana has served as an Imam in the Republic of Ireland for several years and taught the Quran and other Islamic sciences to both children and adults. He also worked as a teacher and librarian at a local Islamic seminary in the UK for 12 years. Presently, he lives in the UK with his wife and is interested in books and gardening.