No. 2179

Hudhaifah [bin Al-Yaman] said:"The Messenger of Allah {s.a.w} narrated two narrations to us, one of which I have seen {happening} and I am waiting for the other. He narrated that (in the beginning) trust was preserved in the roots of the hearts of men, then the Qur'an was revealed, and they learned it from the Qur'an, and then they learned it from the Sunnah. Then he narrated to us about the disappearance of trust, saying, 'A man will go to sleep whereupon trust will be taken away from his heart, and only its trace will remain, like speckles. He then will sleep, whereupon the remainder of the trust will also be taken away and trace will remain like a blister, like an ember that you roll on your feet, it causes pain and you see it swollen while it contains nothing.' Then he took a pebble and rolled it over his leg. He said: 'So there will come a day when people will deal in business with each other, but there will hardly be any trustworthy persons among them, such that it would be said that in such and such a tribe, there is such and such person, who is honest, and until a man will be admired for his strength, intelligence, and good manners, although indeed he will not have faith equal to a mustard seed in his heart."' He (Hudhaifah) added: "There came upon me a time when I did not mind dealing with anyone of you, for if he was a Muslim, his religion would prevent him from cheating me, and if was a Jew or a Christian, his Muslim ruler would prevent him from cheating me; but today I cannot deal except with so-and-so and so-and-so