ON A FEW OCCASIONS ABOVE we have encountered statements that indirectly refer to the position of Arabs towards the end of times, namely those references to the adoption of bedouin life during the fitna ( alta'arrub fī 1-fitna), the Prophet's intercession (shafā'a) being granted to the Arabs, their closeness to his banner on the Day of Judgement, and so forth. Likewise, we have touched upon certain traditions expressive of Arab insecurities vis-á-vis other nations in apocalyptic forms, namely those warning that Iraq, Syria and Egypt will be lost to Arab rule, that nations will swarm over the Arabs like hungry eaters do over a bowl of food, etc. In what follows more material will be reviewed in order to examine fresh aspects of Arab insecurity concomitant with their emergence as a nation, and the way in which this insecurity was perpetuated in Muslim faith.

An important ∼adīth combining a sense of historical insecurity with the newly acquired role of the Arabs as bearers of a new faith was circulated by Sulayman ibn J:larb (d. 224/838). The isniid available for this tradition shows that it was reported around the mid-second/eighth century by Mu∼a.mmad ibn Abī Razīn in a family line from his mother Umm Razīn, from a certain woman named Umm al-ḥ arīr. The latter, we are told, used to take the death of any Arab very badly. When she was asked about this, she testified hearing from her master, Ṭal∼a ibn Mālik, a Prophetic tradition that claimed: “The destruction of the Arabs is a sign that the Hour has drawn nigh” (min iqtirābi 1-sā'ati halāku 1- ‘arab).

From another Prophetic tradition, this time by Umm Sharīk, we basically learn that the Arabs will be but few when, towards the end of times, the Antichrist ( al-dajjāl) will appear and all people will seek refuge in mountainous areas. This was transmitted from her through two Companions: Jābir ibn ‘ Abd Allāh (by either Wahb ibn Munabbih, d. 1101728, or Abu 1-Zubāyr Mu﹜:lammad ibn Muslim ai-Makki, d. 1261743) and Abu Umāma al-Bāhilī (by Abū Zur'a Ya﹜:lyā ibn Abī ‘Amr al-Saybānī, ḥimṣī, d. 148-501765-67). We also notice that this latter Syrian line places the location of the few remaining Arabs in those days in Jerusalem.