Signs of the Final Hour

Wealth, Trade, and Tall Buildings

Among the signs of the Hour are changes in wealth and worldly competition: wealth becoming abundant, trade spreading widely, people becoming careless about halal and haram income, and former poor shepherds competing in high buildings. These signs do not make lawful wealth blameworthy. They warn against hearts becoming ruled by the dunya.

Minor Sign Status: Ongoing Theme: Wealth and Lifestyle

Overview Dunya and accountability

What This Sign Means

Islam does not condemn wealth itself. Many righteous believers had wealth and used it for zakat, charity, family, knowledge, jihad, hospitality, and service. The danger begins when wealth becomes the measure of honour, trade becomes a race without fear of Allah, and buildings become monuments to pride instead of useful places.

The signs in this topic show a change in people’s relationship with the dunya. Money increases, business expands, markets become active, and construction rises. At the same time, some people stop asking whether earnings are halal, whether trade is honest, whether the poor are remembered, and whether their hearts are still attached to the Hereafter.

These narrations are not a permission to mock poor people, rich people, business people, or cities with towers. They are warnings for the heart. A believer may work, earn, build, and trade, but the believer does not let the dunya sit on the throne that belongs to Allah alone.

Qur’an and Hadith Source

Qur’an 57:20: Allah describes worldly life as play, amusement, adornment, boasting, and rivalry in wealth and children, then reminds people of the Hereafter.
Sahih al-Bukhari 1412 and Sahih Muslim 157c/157d: The Prophet ﷺ said that the Hour will not be established until wealth becomes abundant and overflowing, to the point that a person will not find someone to accept his charity or zakat.
Sunan an-Nasa’i 4456: The Prophet ﷺ mentioned among the portents of the Hour that wealth would become widespread and abundant and that trade would become widespread. The report is graded sahih by Darussalam.
Sahih al-Bukhari 50 and Sahih Muslim 8a: In the Hadith of Jibril, the Prophet ﷺ mentioned barefoot, destitute shepherds competing in constructing tall buildings as one of the signs of the Hour.

Sign 01 Wealth becomes abundant

Wealth Will Increase and Overflow

The Prophet ﷺ said wealth would increase before the Hour. A person will look for someone to accept his zakat or charity and will be told that the person has no need for it. This is a very strong picture: wealth does not merely exist; it becomes widespread enough that giving charity itself becomes difficult in that situation.
This does not mean every age will be free of poverty. Poverty and hardship will still exist in many places. The hadith points to a major change where wealth becomes abundant and overflowing in a way that people would not have imagined earlier. The full timing and complete form of this sign are known to Allah.
The lesson is clear: give while giving is possible. Do not wait for a time when your wealth, health, or opportunity has slipped away. Zakat and charity purify the hand before the hand becomes empty.

Source inside this sign

Sahih al-Bukhari 1412: The Prophet ﷺ said that the Hour will not be established until wealth increases so much that a person will worry about who will accept his zakat, and the one offered it will say that he has no need of it.
Sahih Muslim 157c and 157d: The narration mentions wealth becoming abundant and overflowing, with a person unable to find someone to accept charity from him.
Sahih al-Bukhari 1036: The Prophet ﷺ mentioned abundant wealth among signs together with other end-time changes.

Sign 02 Trade becomes widespread

Trade and Business Will Spread Widely

The Prophet ﷺ mentioned trade becoming widespread among the portents of the Hour. Trade itself is not blameworthy. The Prophet ﷺ traded before revelation, the Companions traded, and honest earning is honourable. The warning is about trade becoming so widespread that the marketplace begins shaping people’s values more than revelation does.
When trade spreads, blessings remain only with truthfulness. Barakah stays when clarity, fairness, fulfilment of trusts, and fear of Allah remain. If trade spreads while honesty shrinks, then buying and selling become a test. The person may gain money but lose barakah, trust, sleep, and the softness of the heart.
The sign also teaches that worldly systems can become active while religious understanding weakens. A society may know prices, brands, margins, and contracts, yet become careless about prayer, zakat, rights, and accountability before Allah.

Source inside this sign

Sunan an-Nasa’i 4456: The Prophet ﷺ mentioned that wealth would become widespread and abundant and that trade would become widespread. The report is graded sahih by Darussalam.
Sahih al-Bukhari 2079 and Sahih Muslim 1532: The Prophet ﷺ taught that when buyers and sellers are truthful and clear, their transaction is blessed; when they conceal and lie, the blessing is erased.
Qur’an 83:1-3: Allah warns those who give less than due in measure and weight, showing that business must remain under the fear of Allah.

Sign 03 Halal and haram ignored

People Will Stop Caring Where Money Comes From

The Prophet ﷺ warned that a time would come when a person would not care whether his money came from halal or haram. This is one of the most frightening warnings connected to wealth because it shows the heart becoming numb.
Haram income is not only a number in an account. It affects worship, duas, family, food, clothing, business character, and trust. When people begin saying “everyone does it” or “money is money,” the spiritual alarm bell is already ringing.
The believer is not asked to be poor. The believer is asked to be clean. A smaller halal income with barakah is better than a larger income that drags a person toward Allah’s anger. The dunya can glitter like a jeweled trapdoor; revelation teaches the believer where to step.

Source inside this sign

Sahih al-Bukhari 2059: The Prophet ﷺ said that a time will come when a person will not care how he gains his money, whether legally or illegally.
Sunan an-Nasa’i 4454: A similar narration states that a time will come when a person will not care whether his wealth comes from halal or haram. The report is graded sahih by Darussalam.
Qur’an 2:188: Allah forbids consuming one another’s wealth unjustly and using it to sinfully consume people’s property.

Sign 04 Tall buildings

Poor Shepherds Will Compete in Tall Buildings

In the Hadith of Jibril, the Prophet ﷺ mentioned barefoot, destitute shepherds competing in constructing tall buildings. The wording is powerful because it describes a dramatic social reversal: people once known for poverty and simple desert life entering a race of construction, height, pride, and display.
The sign is not that every tall building is sinful. Buildings can serve real needs. The warning is about competition, boasting, and being dazzled by height and luxury while the purpose of life is forgotten. The believer should not turn the hadith into careless name-calling, nor empty spectacle.
The Muslim recognises the sign without wild date-setting. The Prophet ﷺ mentioned this sign while also teaching that the exact time of the Hour is known only to Allah. The warning should make the believer more humble and more prepared.

Source inside this sign

Sahih al-Bukhari 50: In the Hadith of Jibril, the Prophet ﷺ mentioned shepherds competing in constructing higher buildings as one of the portents of the Hour.
Sahih Muslim 8a: The narration mentions barefooted, destitute goat-herds vying with one another in constructing magnificent buildings.
Qur’an 31:34: Allah alone has knowledge of the Hour. The Prophet ﷺ recited this meaning in the Hadith of Jibril, teaching that signs do not give anyone the right to claim the date of the Hour.

Response For believers

How a Believer Should Respond

The answer to these signs is not laziness, poverty by choice, or hatred of work. A Muslim can trade, build, earn, invest, and grow, but the heart must remain under the command of Allah. Wealth should pass through the hand, not become the king of the chest.

The believer responds by purifying income, giving zakat properly, increasing charity before opportunities disappear, avoiding dishonest trade, refusing haram income, and remembering that the tallest building still stands under the lowest sky.

Give before delay becomes regret. Zakat and charity should not wait for a perfect moment.
Keep business honest. Truthfulness and clarity bring barakah; lying and concealment erase it.
Check the source of income. Halal earning is worship when done with sincerity and obedience.
Avoid boasting in lifestyle. Buildings, brands, homes, and status are tests, not proof that Allah is pleased.