Who Was al-Aswad al-Ansi? The false prophet of Yemen in Islamic History

Before the worldBefore Adam

The first nationsAdam to Ibrahim

Egypt and Bani Israilc. 1300–1000 BCE

Arabia before Islam523–570 CE

Enemies of the Prophet ﷺ610–632 CE

After the Prophet ﷺ632–1260 CE

The end of timeStill to come

Ten signs before the Hour

  1. Isa ibn Maryam descends
  2. A landslide in the east
  3. A landslide in the west
  4. A landslide in Arabia
  5. The smoke
  6. The sun rises from the west
  7. The Beast of the earth
  8. A fire from Yemen drives people to their gathering

Sahih Muslim lists ten major signs before the Hour without fixing their order. This follows a common order given by the scholars. Sahih Muslim 2901a ↗

Villains of history19 / 26

الأسود العنسي

al-Aswad al-Ansi

The false prophet of Yemen632 CE

Relied onTricks and a seized throne

Undone byA man inside his own palace

He seized Yemen in the Prophet's ﷺ last months, claiming to be a prophet.

How it ended

Killed by Fayruz al-Daylami just before the Prophet ﷺ died.

And who is more unjust than one who invents a lie about Allah or says, "It has been inspired to me," while nothing has been inspired to him …

Quran 6:93

The lessonNo prophet comes after the last Prophet ﷺ, and every false claimant has fallen.

In the Quran

Stood against
Source
Authentic hadithThe other liar of the dream in Sahih al-Bukhari. His death is from al-Tabari.Sahih al-Bukhari 3620, 3621 ↗

Every villain in Islamic history, from Iblis to the Dajjal

Each entry is drawn from the Quran, authentic hadith (with links to sunnah.com), the classical commentators and the historians. Companions who fought Islam and later became Muslim are not included, nor are figures Muslims disagree about.