By the One who my soul is in His Hand, the Hour will not be established until Allah sends rulers who are liars, and ministers who are immoral, and supporters who are traitors, and knowledgeable people who are oppressors, and readers (of Quran) who are sinful, their appearance is like the appearance of holy people, and their hearts are more rotten than dead meat, their desires are different and so Allah will send upon them fitna which will cover them in darkness and so they will be destroyed therein.
Neglect of accounting results in the worst rulers and the harshest enemies, and the rejection of du’a
والذى نفسي بيده لا تقوم الساعة حتي يبعث الله أمراء كذبة ووزراء فجرة وأعوانا خونة وعرفاء ظلمة وقراء فسقة سيماهم سيما الرهبان وقلوبهم أنتن من الجيف أهواؤهم مختلفة فيتيح الله لهم فتنة غبراء مظلمة فيتهاوكون فيها والذى نفس محمد بيده لينقضن الاسلام عروة عروة حتي لا يقال الله الله لتأمرن بالمعروف ولتنهون عن المنكر أو ليسلطن الله عليكم أشراركم فيسومونكم سوء العذاب ثم يدعو خياركم فلا يستجاب لهم لتأمرن بالمعروف ولتنهون عن المنكر أو ليبعثن الله عليكم من لا يرحم صغيركم ولا يوقر كبيركم
By the One who my soul is in His Hand, the Hour will not be established until Allah sends rulers who are liars, and ministers who are immoral, and supporters who are traitors, and knowledgeable people who are oppressors, and readers (of Quran) who are sinful, their appearance is like the appearance of holy people, and their hearts are more rotten than dead meat, their desires are different and so Allah will send upon them fitna which will cover them in darkness and so they will be destroyed therein.
By the One who the soul of Mohammad biyadihi, Islam will be taken away part by part, until it is not even said Allah Allah,
You will (must) enjoin the good, and you will (must) forbid the evil, or Allah will make sovereign over you the worst of you, who will afflict you with the worst of punishment, then the best of you will make Du’a and it will not be answered.
You will (must) enjoin the good, and you will (must) forbid the evil, or Allah will send against you those who will have no mercy to your young and no respect for your elderly.
(Ibn Qayyim)
Commentary
a. The Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم used both the “laam” and “nuun” of emphasis in the words “لتأمرن” and “لتنهون”, stressing that “you must/ will enjoin” the good, and “you must/ will forbid” the evil, to show the importance of the actions and the definiteness of the conditions mentioned.
b. The hadith is a rejection for those who claim that today the only action possible is to make Du’a for the victory and the change of the situation of the Muslim Ummah without any other actions being taken, since the Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم explained clearly that the leaving behind of enjoining the good and forbidding the evil is a condition for Du’a being accepted from even the best of the Muslims.