In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful

The Emergence and Intensification of Trials (In the Light of Ḥadīth)

Before the Hour, trials will appear one after another like raindrops:

    Usāmah ibn Zayd (may Allah be pleased with him) said: The Messenger of Allah ﷺ ascended one of the elevated buildings of Madinah and said to his Companions: “Do you see what I see?” They replied: “No.” He ﷺ said: “I see trials falling among your homes like the falling of raindrops.”
    (Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī)

Near the Hour, tribulations and calamities will prevail everywhere:

    Muʿāwiyah (may Allah be pleased with him) said: I heard the Messenger of Allah ﷺ say: “Near the Hour, nothing will remain in the world except trials and calamities.”
    (Sunan Ibn Mājah)

As the Hour approaches, trials will continue to increase:

    Zubayr ibn ʿAdī (may Allah be pleased with him) said: We went to Anas ibn Mālik (may Allah be pleased with him) and complained to him about the hardships inflicted upon us by al-Ḥajjāj. Anas said: “Be patient, for no time will come upon you except that what follows it will be worse than it, until you meet your Lord.” I heard this from your Prophet ﷺ.
    (Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī)

The trials before the Hour will be so severe that the living will envy the dead:

    Abū Hurayrah (may Allah be pleased with him) narrated that the Prophet ﷺ said: “The Hour will not be established until a man passes by the grave of another and says: ‘Would that I were in his place.’”
    (Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī)

Some trials will be so intense that they will sweep away everything of the Muslims, including religion, faith, society, culture, and civilization:

    Ḥudhayfah (may Allah be pleased with him) said: The Messenger of Allah ﷺ enumerated the trials and said: “Among them are three that will hardly leave anything untouched. Some of them will be like the hot winds of summer—some small and some great.”
    (Ṣaḥīḥ Muslim)

Before the Hour, trials will appear the like of which people cannot even imagine:

    ʿAbdullāh ibn ʿAmr ibn al-ʿĀṣ (may Allah be pleased with him) said: The Messenger of Allah ﷺ delivered a sermon and said: “It was obligatory upon every prophet before me to guide his nation to what is good and to warn them against what is evil. The beginning of this ummah will be a time of well-being, but toward its end there will come trials and matters that you will find severe. A trial will come, and part of it will seem light compared to another; the believer will say, ‘This trial will destroy me,’ then it will pass. Then another trial will come, and he will say, ‘This will destroy me,’ then it will pass. Whoever wishes to be saved from the Fire and admitted into Paradise, let death come to him while he believes in Allah and the Last Day, and let him treat people as he would love to be treated. If he gives allegiance to a leader and pledges his hand and heart to him, then let him obey him as much as he can; and if another comes to dispute with him, then strike the neck of the latter.”
    (Sunan Ibn Mājah)

Some trials will be so severe that even one who merely looks toward them from afar will become involved in them:

    Abū Hurayrah (may Allah be pleased with him) said: The Messenger of Allah ﷺ said: “Soon there will be trials in which the one who sits will be better than the one who stands, the one who stands better than the one who walks, and the one who walks better than the one who runs. Whoever exposes himself to them will be afflicted by them. Whoever finds a place of refuge should seek refuge therein.”
    (Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī)

The severity of the trials will reach such a level that a person will be a believer in the morning and a disbeliever by evening:

    Anas ibn Mālik (may Allah be pleased with him) narrated that the Messenger of Allah ﷺ said: “Before the Hour, trials will appear like pieces of a dark night. A man will be a believer in the morning and a disbeliever by the evening, and a believer in the evening and a disbeliever by the morning. People will sell their religion and faith for worldly gain.”
    (Jāmiʿ al-Tirmidhī)

Remaining steadfast upon faith during the trials will be as difficult as holding a burning ember in the hand:

    ʿAbdullāh ibn Masʿūd (may Allah be pleased with him) said: The Messenger of Allah ﷺ said: “After you there will come days of patience; holding firmly to one’s religion in those days will be like holding a burning ember in the hand. The one who remains patient will have the reward of fifty men.” The Companions asked: “O Messenger of Allah, fifty of them or fifty of us?” He ﷺ said: “Fifty of you.”
    (al-Bazzār — ṣaḥīḥ)

The trials will become so severe that people will wish for the appearance of al-Dajjāl so that the Hour may be hastened:

    Ḥudhayfah (may Allah be pleased with him) said: The Messenger of Allah ﷺ said: “A time will come upon the people when they will wish for the coming of al-Dajjāl.” I said: “O Messenger of Allah, may my parents be sacrificed for you, why will that be?” He ﷺ said: “Because of what they will face of trials.”
    (Ṭabarānī — ṣaḥīḥ)