Can you explain Sahih Muslim 146 Book 1, Hadith 271?

Question

It is narrated on the authority of Ibn 'Umar ('Abdullah b. 'Umar) that the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) observed:

Verily Islam started as something strange and it would again revert (to its old position) of being strange just as it started, and it would recede between the two mosques just as the serpent crawls back into its hole. وَحَدَّثَنِي مُحَمَّدُ بْنُ رَافِعٍ، وَالْفَضْلُ بْنُ سَهْلٍ الأَعْرَجُ، قَالاَ حَدَّثَنَا شَبَابَةُ بْنُ سَوَّارٍ، حَدَّثَنَا عَاصِمٌ، - وَهُوَ ابْنُ مُحَمَّدٍ الْعُمَرِيُّ - عَنْ أَبِيهِ، عَنِ ابْنِ عُمَرَ، عَنِ النَّبِيِّ صلى الله عليه وسلم قَالَ ‏ "‏ إِنَّ الإِسْلاَمَ بَدَأَ غَرِيبًا وَسَيَعُودُ غَرِيبًا كَمَا بَدَأَ وَهُوَ يَأْرِزُ بَيْنَ الْمَسْجِدَيْنِ كَمَا تَأْرِزُ الْحَيَّةُ فِي جُحْرِهَا ‏"‏ ‏.‏

Sahih Muslim 146 In-book reference : Book 1, Hadith 280 USC-MSA web (English) reference : Book 1, Hadith 271 Source

When I was watching an islamophobic video(or a video against Islam) by Christian Prince. He quoted this hadith.

Well my question is what does Prophet(PBUH) mean by saying Islam started as something strange and it would again revert to being strange.

Answer 1

Brother, it's obvious in the hadith. It's not even cryptic or problematic. Hadith isn't problematic at all. Indeed Islam started as strange. When رسول اللہ صلی اللہ علیہ وسلم، started preaching, they panicked. Pagans found it strange, that رسول اللہ صلی اللہ علیہ وسلم is saying that GOD is one. There's a verse in the Qur'an regarding this, ' Has He made our gods into one GOD, indeed is it a thing, strange.'

Also, if you study the Sunnah, and hadiths regarding the end of times, you'd know that only the worst of the creatures would populate the earth. It is after, decendance of Isa, son of Mary. Time of Mahdi, dajjal, it's about that time.

Also I wanna add, this is a fight you've to fight on daily basis. Someday it'll be very easy, someday it may feel had. Your enemy is very committed, and won't hesitate to whisper anything. He's so committed, that he accepted hell, just so that he could see children of Adam burning in hell. Imagine the level of his animosity. What you gotta do is pray for guidance and knowledge constantly, and انشاءاللہ you'll get answer from GOD.

Peace 🙂

Answer 2

It means islam teachings will be followed only be between two mosques (mecca & madina), even though islamic followers be there outside of it but they will become corrupt, adultery will spread, no morality will be left among ppl, ppl become ignorant of islamic teachings until Mahdi and Jesus come and re-establish islam. After 40 years of it , world will end .

Answer 3

"The companions were persecuted because of their Islam, and those who clung to their religion were like holding onto hot coals. Those who disbelieved among the believers mocked them, winked at each other when they passed by, and when they returned to their families, they returned jubilant. Islam began like this, strange among the polytheists, and today it returns as a stranger among its Muslim people. Maintaining one's Islam is seen as backward and rigid in the eyes of society, and Islamic rituals have become strange among Muslims. Wrong is now recognized as right, and right as wrong. There is no longer enjoining good and forbidding evil among them, but rather enjoining evil and forbidding good in the lands of their official Islamic religion. And there are people named Ahmad and Muhammad. So, what estrangement of Islam is more severe than this estrangement? And what isolation of its teachings is greater than this isolation? So glad tidings to those who hold onto their religion in this deviant environment, and good end for those who suffered because of their Islam from the strangers. Blessed are those who set their sights on the noble sanctuaries, to which the souls of the believers yearn and the hearts of the worshipers incline. Yes, in them, thirsty souls are quenched, troubled hearts find peace, and sad hearts find joy. In their gardens – the gardens of paradise – the confined and suppressed souls flourish. O Allah, make it easy for us to reach them, and make us among the strangers."

End quote from Fath al-Mun'im Sharh Sahih Muslim by Musa Shahin Lashin (1/466).