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What is the authenticity of the Hadith: "There will be a tribulation that will cleanse the Arabs, their slain will be in the Fire, and the tongue therein will be more severe than the strike of a sword," and does it apply to the current Arab situation?

1 min readAlso available in العربية

The text of the hadith mentioned in the question is: "There will be a fitnah (tribulation) that will cleanse the Arabs, its slain will be in the Fire, and the tongue therein will be more severe than the strike of a sword." It was narrated by Al-Tirmidhi, Abu Dawud, and Ibn Majah, but it is da'if (weak) and not authentic, due to the unknown status of one of its narrators and the weakness of Layth ibn Abi Sulaym. It was deemed weak by Al-Tirmidhi, Al-Bukhari, and Al-Albani.

The meaning of the hadith: "Cleanses the Arabs" means it will encompass them in destruction, and "its slain will be in the Fire" is because they fight for greed of money and power, not to uphold religion or repel injustice, and "the tongue therein will be more severe than the sword" is because the tongue affects a thousand people while the sword affects one. Since the hadith is weak, there is no need to busy oneself with interpreting it or definitively applying it to a specific reality.

Summarized from the full answer at Ftawy · reviewed Sep 2, 2026

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