Praise be to Allah, and may peace and blessings be upon the Messenger of Allah. To proceed:
It is authentically reported that the Prophet ﷺ said, explaining the virtue of this Ummah:
“Your remaining time, compared with those who came before you among the nations, is like the period between the ‘Asr prayer and sunset...”
He mentioned that the people of the Torah worked until midday, the people of the Gospel worked until ‘Asr, and that this Ummah works from ‘Asr until sunset, while nevertheless being given a multiplied reward.
Some scholars found it difficult to understand the statement of the People of the Book:
“We worked more and received less.”
This is despite the fact that the period of the Muslim Ummah has exceeded the period of the Christians.
The scholars have mentioned several ways of reconciling this, including:
That what is meant by “we worked more” may refer to the combined work of the Jews and Christians, not the work of the Christians alone.
That the statement may have been made specifically by the Jews, while it was attributed in the narration to the People of the Book generally by way of predominance.
That the hadith was given as an analogy and a means of making the meaning easier to understand, so it is not necessary for the portions of the daytime to correspond exactly to the historical periods of the nations in every respect.
That a greater amount of work does not necessarily require a longer period of time. Work performed during a shorter period may be greater and more intense than work performed over a longer period.
That the period from Jesus عليه السلام until the mission of the Prophet ﷺ was approximately six hundred years, while the period of the Muslim Ummah has exceeded that. This demonstrates that the purpose of the hadith is not to determine the lifespan of each nation with precise chronological accuracy.
Al-Hafiz Ibn Hajar رحمه الله mentioned that historians agree that the period between Jesus عليه السلام and the Prophet ﷺ was approximately six hundred years, and that the period of the Muslim Ummah subsequently became longer than that. This demonstrates that the hadith is not intended to make the chronological comparison an exact calculation of the lifespans of the nations. Rather, its purpose is to demonstrate the shorter period of work of this Ummah compared with those who preceded it, together with the greatness and multiplication of its reward.
There is also the hadith of Sa‘d ibn Abi Waqqas رضي الله عنه, in which the Prophet ﷺ said:
“Indeed, I hope that my Ummah will not be unable, before its Lord, to have Him delay them by half a day.”
Sa‘d was asked: “How long is half of that day?” He replied: “Five hundred years.” Al-Albani graded it authentic. Some scholars have used this as supporting evidence for the possibility of the longer duration of this Ummah.
It is not permissible to determine the lifespan of the world or the Muslim Ummah in specific numbers of years based on this hadith, because the time of the establishment of the Hour is part of the unseen knowledge that Allah تعالى has kept exclusively to Himself.
Allah تعالى says:
“They ask you about the Hour: When will its occurrence be? Say: Its knowledge is only with my Lord.” [Al-A‘raf: 187]
Ibn Rajab رحمه الله stated that what has been mentioned in these texts is merely an approximation concerning the matter of the Hour, not a determination of its exact time, and that the true duration of what has passed of this world and what remains is known only to Allah تعالى.
Therefore, it is not correct to say that the lifespan of the Muslim Ummah will not exceed one thousand or one thousand five hundred years, nor is it permissible to derive a specific date for the establishment of the Hour from this hadith. Such calculations are speculative and have no sound evidence supporting them.
The correct understanding is that the hadith demonstrates the virtue of this Ummah and the shortness of its period of work compared with the previous nations, together with the multiplication of its reward. It does not specify the number of years for which it will remain, nor the time when this world will come to an end.
And Allah تعالى knows best.