Dajjal and the End of Times

Hudhayfah Ibn Asid al-Ghifari رضی اللہ عنه)) said: the prophet (ﷺ) came to us while we were discussing something among ourselves. He asked ﷺ: “what are you discussing?” They (the companions) said: “We are discussing the (last) hour.” So he said: It will not come until you see before it ten signs. Hudhayfah continued, “He then mentioned the smoke, the Dajjal, the beast, the sun’s rising from the west, the descent of Jesus, son of Mary (Peace be upon him), Gog and Magog and three earthquakes or landslides; one in the East, one in the west, and one in the Arabian Peninsula, and a fire coming from Yemen which will drive people to their final assembly place.” (Collected by Muslim)

As far signs indicating the nearness of the Day of Judgement, some are minor and some are major, as Ibn Hajar al- ‘Asqalani mentions:

Al-Bayhaqi and others have said that some of the signs are minor – and most of them have already appeared – and some are major that will come (later). I say: They (the major signs) are those included in the hadith of Hudhayfah Ibn Asid recorded by Muslim, they are: the Dajjal, the beast, the riding of the sun from the west (Fath al-Bari)

Who is Dajjal? The great scholar, Muhammad Ibn Saleh al- Uthaymin, explains in his explanation of the book Lum’ah al- Itiqaad:

Linguistically the word دَجَّال (Dajjal) is an Arabic hyperbole, a word form of intensiveness from the verb دَجَلَ (dajala) which means to lie or deceive (the word Dajjal them indicating excessive lying and deceit). As for the religious meaning, the Dajjal is a man, a deceiver who will emerge toward the end of time claiming lordship. His arrival is confirmed in the Sunnah and the consensus of mainstream Muslims. (Sharh Lum’ah al- Itiqaad)

And in his explanation of Riyad al- Salihin, Ibn Saleh al- Uthaymin says: “We believe there will come a man toward the end of time known as Dajjal due to his characteristics.” (Sharḥ Riyāḍ al-Ṣāliḥīn, (vol. 4, pg. 448)

We study about the Dajjal, this habitual liar, because he will be the greatest trial of this life. Imrān Ibn Ḥuṣayn (رضي الله عنه) said: I heard the messenger of Allah saying

» مَا بَيْنَ خَلْقِ آدَمَ إِلَى قِيَامِ السَّاعَةِ خَلْقٌ أَكْبَرُ مِنْ الدَّجَّالِ «

There is no creation worse (in tribulation), from the time Adam was created until the final hour, than the Dajjāl.

Although the information that has come from Allah and his messenger صلّى الله عليه وسلّم about the Dajjāl and the phenomena that will occur at his hands is certainly amazing and yet terrifying, the point of learning about this False Messiah is not solely for amazement. Perhaps instead, such information should serve as a warning from which we prepare ourselves and our children in belief, statement, and action for the overwhelming day on which this deceiver will emerge. The prophet ( صلّى الله عليه وسلّم ) said, mentioning the Dajjāl:

بَادِرُوا بِالأَعْمَالِ سِتًّا : طُلُوع الشَّمْسِ مِنْ مَغْرِبِهَا ، وَالدُّخَانَ ، وَدَابَّة الأَرْضِ «

» ، وَالدَّجَّالَ ، وَخَوَيْصَة أَحَدِكُمْ ، وَأَمْر الْعَامَّةِ

Hasten to do good deeds before six things happen: the rising of the sun from the west, the smoke, the beast from the earth, the Dajjāl, the death of each of you individually, or the comprehensive event (the Day of Resurrection). (Collected by Muslim, Aḥmad and it is in Ṣaḥīḥ al-Jāmi’ of al-Albānī (no. 2810).

Some of the major signs of the Day of Judgment, if they come, faith and repentance will not be accepted at such times. Allah says in the Quran:

هَلْ يَنظُرُونَ إِلاَّ أَن تَأْتِيَهُمُ الْمَلائِكَةُ أَوْ يَأْتِيَ رَبُّكَ أَوْ يَأْتِيَ بَعْضُ آيَاتِ

رَبِّكَ يَوْمَ يَأْتِي بَعْضُ آيَاتِ رَبِّكَ لا يَنفَعُ نَفْسًا إِيمَانُهَا لَمْ تَكُنْ آمَنَتْ مِن

قَبْلُ أَوْ كَسَبَتْ فِي إِيمَانِهَا خَيْرًا

Do they then wait for anything except that the angels should come to them or your Lord should come or that there come some of the signs of your Lord?

The day some of the signs of your Lord will come, no soul will benefit from its faith if it had not believed before or had not earned through its faith some good. (The Quran, Sūrah al-Anā’m, 6:158)

Similarly, about this, Abū Hurayrah (رضي الله عنه) reported that the prophet صلّى الله عليه وسلّم said:

الدَّجَّالُ.،  لا يَنفَعُ نَفْسًا إِيمَانُهَا لَمْ تَكُنْ آمَنَتْ مِن قَبْلُ  ثَلاثٌ إِذَا خَرَجْنَ «

» وَالدَّابَّةُ ، وَطُلُوعُ الشَّمْسِ مِنْ الْمَغْرِبِ أَوْ مِنْ مَغْرِبِهَا

Three (signs), if they come no soul will benefit from its faith if it had not believed before, the Dajjāl, the beast, and the rising of the sun from the west. (Collected by al-Tirmidhī and al-Albānī said it is authentic in Ṣaḥīḥ Sunan al-Tirmidhī (no 2456).

These signs and warnings become even more serious and frightening once we consider the following statement of the prophet (صلّى الله عليه وسلّم):

خُرُوْجُ الآيَاتِ بَعْضِهَا عَلَى إِثْرِ بَعْضٍ ، يَتَتَابَعْنَ كَمَا تَتَابَعُ الْخَرَزُ فِي «

». النِّظَامِ

As for the emergence of the signs, they will come one after the other following immediately in succession like beads of a necklace. (Collected by al-Ṭabarānī in al-Awsaṭ and it is in al-Albānī’s Silsilah al-Aḥādīth al-Ṣaḥīḥah (no. 3210).

The major signs of the last day closely precede and indicate the Day of Resurrection is soon to follow. This particular sign, however – that of the Dajjal, or False Messiah – is distinguished from the others.

All of the other major signs make apparent to an individual the belief in his Lord. The sun’s rising from the west, for example, will be evident to every human; whoever sees it rising from the west will believe. Similarly, the beast that will speak to people, the coming of Jesus, the son of Mary, and the other major signs all call people to believe in their Lord when they happen.

Not so the Dajjāl. He will call people to disbelief.

What tribulation, what ordeal is worse than a single creature claiming he is our Lord while Allah allows miraculous events to occur at his hands, events that will put specific people to trial? At the same time he emerges, people will be in dire circumstances: a sky that offers no rain, an earth that grows nothing, and extreme hunger and thirst. People will be desperate for a savior. Then comes this Dajjāl changing everything.

Though he is blind, he will also blind the hearts of people, deceiving them with his claims when they see rain fall and food in abundance at his command. What greater test than to witness everything you own of food and livestock die if you disbeliever in him? Or you witness the skies rain on the earth so that it produces vegetation and your livestock becomes healthy and fat if you believe in him?

So how do we protect ourselves? If Allah puts you to trial with this man, then stay firm on your disbelief in him and your denial of him. Save yourself and do not believe anything he says.

Never forget: you will never see your Lord, Allah, until you die. So anyone who comes in this life claiming to be your Lord while you see him, he is a liar, a Dajjāl.

Do not forget that this Dajjāl you see is blind (in one or both eyes) and a deceiver, but your Lord is not like that. Allah is the true Lord, described only with the highest descriptions of perfection and greatness.

So beware of the Dajjāl so you may be saved from him. If the affair of this greatest tribulation is such, then knowing the Dallas is essential. Know him through the statements of the last messenger of Allah, Muhammad (صلّى الله عليه وسلّم) as he describes the Dajjāl. For no one truly knows, perhaps you or your children will meet him.