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The Anti-Christ - Dajjal

One of the prominent events preceding the Day of Judgement is the appearance of Dajjal. We have been apprised of many aspects of Dajjal both in the Qur'an and the Ahadis. In fact, the Muslims have been more informed about the Dajjal by the Holy Prophet than previous nations by their respective prophets. Abdul Kareem bin Saleh al Humaid writes in his booklet entitled “Dajjal” that:

“The episode of Dajjal is most assuredly a crucial one. It would suffice to say that no event between Hadhrat Adam (alayhis salam) and the Doomsday is more awesome than this, as Our Nabi (salAllahu alayhi wasalam) has informed us. What is apparent is that every Messenger of Allah had warned his nation of Dajjal but their information and warnings were less than those of our Nabi sallallahu alaihi wasallam. This is due to the fact that, according to the knowledge of Allah and His Divine Will, Dajjal emergence will be within this Ummat (fraternity) of Nabi (salAllahu alayhi wasalam).”

This article is an attempt to inform the people about Dajjal: where he will appear, what he will do and how ultimately he will be killed by Hadhrat Isa (alayhis salam).

Dajjal will appear somewhere between Iraq and Syria, after the Battle of Istanbul takes place. The name in the Ahadis is Constantinople, which is the former name of Istanbul.

Narrated by Abdullah ibn Busr (radiAllahu anhu): The Prophet (salAllahu alayhi wasalam) said,
The time between the great war and the conquest of the city (Constantinople) will be six years, and the Dajjal (Antichrist) will come forth in the seventh.
[Sunan of Abu Dawud #4283]

Dajjal will be a Jew. His distinguishing feature is that he will be one-eyed and the word “Kafir” or “unbeliever” will be written on his forehead.

Narrated Anas (radiAllahu anhu), The Prophet (salAllahu alayhi wasalam) said,
"No prophet was sent but that he warned his followers against the one-eyed liar (Ad-Dajjal). Beware! He is blind in one eye, and your Lord is not so, and there will be written between his (Ad-Dajjal's) eyes (the word) Kafir (i.e. disbeliever)."
[Sahih Al-Bukhari, 9.245 - This Hadith is also quoted by Abu Hurairah and Ibn 'Abbas]

That he is a Jew is confirmed from another hadis, which says that his followers will be mainly of Jewish religion.

Narrated by Anas ibn Malik (radiAllahu anhu) Allah's Apostle (salAllahu alayhi wasalam) said,
The Dajjal would be followed by seventy thousand Jews of Isfahan wearing Persian shawls.
[Sahih Muslim #7034]

Other non-believers and hypocrites will follow him as well

Narrated by Anas bin Malik (radiAllahu anhu) The Prophet (salAllahu alayhi wasalam) said,
"Ad-Dajjal will come and encamp at a place close to Madinah and then Madinah will shake thrice whereupon every Kafir (disbeliever) and hypocrite will go out (of Medina) towards him."
[Sahih Al-Bukhari, 9.239]

The main thing to note about Dajjal is that very few people will be able to recognize him. Even those who have been warned about him can easily be misled by his deeds. Therefore, every Muslim has been instructed in the hadith of the Holy Prophet (salAllahu alayhi wasalam) to learn Surah Al-Kahf. The person who knows this surah by heart will be able to recognize Dajjal, by spotting “Kafir” written on his forehead. If someone cannot learn the whole surah, then the first and the last ruku should be learnt and they will suffice as well.

Narrated by Abu Darda (radiAllahu anhu) that Allah's Messenger (salAllahu alayhi wasalam) said,
"He who recites three verses at the beginning of al-Kahf will be protected from the trial of the Dajjal."
[at-Tirmidhi #2146]

Narrated by Abu Darda (radiAllahu anhu) Allah's Apostle (salAllahu alayhi wasalam) said,
If anyone learns by heart the first ten verses of the Surah al-Kahf, he will be protected from the Dajjal.
[Sahih Muslim #1766]

The full appearance of Dajjal

Narrated by Ubadah ibn as-Samit (radiAllahu anhu) that The Prophet (salAllahu alayhi wasalam) said,
“I have told you so much about the Dajjal (Anti-Christ) that I am afraid you may not understand. The Anti-Christ is short, hen-toed, woolly-haired, one-eyed, an eye-sightless, and neither protruding nor deep-seated. If you are confused about him, know that your Lord is not one-eyed.”
[Sunan of Abu-Dawud #4306]

Here, I may mention that the Jews will view Dajjal as their “Messiah” whose advent, according to them, has been foretold in their religious books and traditions. Of course we as Muslims know, that the person whose coming was foretold in their books was Hadhrat Isa (alayhis salam) but since the Jews never accepted him as such, the Dajjal will be their “Messiah.” Hence, his major followers will be the Jews.

Dajjal will be a powerful personality in this world. He will attract loads of people; his voice will be heard in the East and the West. The latter, given the present day communication technology in the form of satellite television and Internet, doesn’t seem surprising.

The main aim of Dajjal will be to try and convince people that he is God Almighty. He will try and deviate people from the Right Path and join his ranks. To achieve that end and to convince people with true faith, he will kill and then re-create the same person. This will prove to be sufficient to gain him more followers, especially the ones who have weak faith. But we must remember at all times, that he will definitely not be anywhere near God.

Abdul Kareem bin Saleh al Humaid has mentioned in his booklet about Sheikhul Islam who writes about Dajjal as follows:
“Since Dajjal will claim divinity, Nabi (salAllahu alayhi wasalam) had informed us of two clear differentiating factors:

All those who recognize Dajjal’s true demeanor are warned to stay away from him

Narrated by Imran ibn Husayn (radiAllahu anhu) that the Prophet (salAllahu alayhi wasalam) said
Let him who hears of the Dajjal (Anti-Christ) go far from him for I swear by Allah that a man will come to him thinking he is a believer and follow him because of confused ideas roused in him by him.
[Sunan of Abu Dawud #4305]

People are warned to stay away from him mainly because he will create havoc in this world. He will shake the “iman” or “faith of many, so only those who are firm in their basic Islamic beliefs will be the ones saved from his doings, which have been described in part of Sahih Muslim #7015 as follows:

Thereupon he (salAllahu alayhi wasalam) said,
“Like cloud driven by the wind. He will come to the people and invite them (to a wrong religion); they will affirm their faith in him and respond to him. He will then give a command to the sky: there will be rainfall upon the Earth and it will grow crops. Then in the evening, their pasturing animals will come to them with their humps very high, their udders full of milk and their flanks distended. He will then come to another people and invite them. But they will reject him so he will go away from them; they will have a drought and nothing will be left with them in the form of wealth. He will then walk through the desert and say to it: Bring forth your treasures. The treasures will come out and gather before him like a swarm of bees. He will then call someone in the flush of youth, strike him with the sword, cut him into two pieces and (make these pieces lie at the distance which is generally between the archer and his target. He will then call (that young man) and he will come forward laughing with his face gleaming (with happiness).”

The same hadis mentions that Dajjal will stay in this world for forty days. One day out of these forty will be equal to a year, one day equal to a month and one equal to a week. The rest of the days will be like our normal days.

He said: “For forty days, one day like a year, one day like a month, one day like a week, and the rest of the days will be like your days.”
[Sahih Muslim #7015]

Other ahadith tell us that Dajjal will offer to people a choice between a fire and a river. What will appear as a fire to people will in fact be the river and vice versa. Hence Muslims are instructed that if they encounter Dajjal, to select the fire and not the river. The river is going to be the real fire.

Narrated Hudhayfah ibn al-Yaman (radiAllahu anhu) that “Then the Anti-Christ (Dajjal) will come forth accompanied by a river and fire. He who falls into his fire will certainly receive his reward, and have his load taken off him, but he who falls into his river will have his load retained and his reward taken off him.” I then asked: “What will come next?” He said: “The Last Hour will come.”
[Sunan of Abu Dawud #4232]

Narrated by Hudhaifah (radiAllahu anhu) The Prophet (salAllahu alayhi wasalam) said about Ad-Dajjal that he would have water and fire with him: (what would seem to be) fire, would be cold water and (what would seem to be) water, would be fire.
[Sahih Al-Bukhari, 9.244]

Dajjal will travel the whole world

Narrated by Anas bin Malik (radiAllahu anhu) that the Prophet (salAllahu alayhi wasalam) said,
"There will be no town which Ad-Dajjal will not enter except Makkah and Madinah, and there will be no entrance (road) (of both Makkah and Madinah) but the angels will be standing in rows guarding it against him, and then Madinah will shake with its inhabitants thrice (i.e. three earthquakes will take place) and Allah will expel all the non-believers and the hypocrites from it."
[Sahih Al-Bukhari, 3.105]

Dajjal will ultimately be killed by Hadhrat Isa (alayhis salam) at a place called Ludd which is a few miles from Tel Aviv, Palestine. Some of us may have heard of the “Ludd International Airport.” The appearance of Hadhrat Isa (alayhis salam) and his subsequent killing of Dajjal has been mentioned in part of the Sahih Muslim #7015 as follows:

“It will at this very time that Allah will send Christ, son of Mary. He will descend at the white minaret on the eastern side of Damascus, wearing two garments lightly dyed with saffron and placing his hands on the wings of two Angels. When he lowers his head, there will fall beads of perspiration from his head, and when he raises it up, beads like pearls will scatter from it. Every non-believer who smells the odour of his body will die and his breath will reach as far as he is able to see. He will then search for him (Dajjal) until he catches hold of him at the gate of Ludd and kills him.”

So this is what basically the Ahadith tell us about Dajjal. What we should do now, is let other people know about Dajjal. And of course start learning Surah Al-Kahf. There is a supplication which the Holy Prophet (salAllahu alayhi wasalam) used to recite and so should we.

Narrated by Abu Hurairah (radiAllahu anhu) Allah's Apostle (salAllahu alayhi wasalam) used to invoke (Allah): "Allahummah inni a'udhu bika min 'adhabil Qabri, wa min 'adhabi-naar, wa min fitnatil mahya wa-lmamat, wa min fitnatil masih ad-dajjal.
(O Allah! I seek refuge with you from the punishment in the grave and from the punishment in the Hell fire and from the afflictions of life and death, and the afflictions of Al-Masih Ad-Dajjal."
[Sahih Al-Bukhari, 2.459]

It is important to remember that the vices of Dajjal and his acts of misleading people are not confined to the era in which he will exist. Rather, as Ibn Taimiyyah (rahimullah) said, "The evils of Dajjal will not be confined to those of his period since the basis of his evil is it's contradiction with the Islamic Law (Shariah) associated with extraordinary feats. Therefore, any person who acknowledges opposition to the Shariah due to something extraordinary, has been afflicted by a branch of this great evil of Dajjal. This is prevalent to a large extent in every time and place. However, the specific evil and anarchy (in Dajjal’s time) will be the severest of all. So whosoever Allah protects from the evil of Dajjal will remain protected from all evils of a lesser degree, whether he is present in Dajjal’s time or not." He writes: "It has been established that Nabi (salAllahu alayhi wasalam) had instructed his Companions to recite the following supplication even out of Salat:
O Allah we seek your protection from the punishment of Hell, from the punishment of the grave, from the evils and tribulations of Dajjal and those of life and death."
[Sahih Muslim]

Further Ibn Taymiyah writes: "This Du'a (supplication) is reported to be recited both within salaat and without. It is a known fact that the things mentioned with protection from Dajjal in this Du'a, like protection from the punishment of Hell and the grave and from the trials of life and death, are things which every person performing salat has been ordained to seek protection from. This is because these things affect every person, and salvation cannot be achieved except by being saved from them. This indicates that the trials and vices of Dajjaal are also similar.
[Taken from “DAJJAL” by Abdul Kareem bin Saleh al Humaid]

Dajjal is a subject many people hesitate to talk about. Yet, it is something vital which is a sign of the nearness of the Day of Judgement. As I wrote previously, what we learn, we should pass on. And start from today, to further our faith so as to not let it weaken from the fallacies of the Anti-Christ.