Who is the antichrist (Masih al-Dajjal) referred to in the hadiths? Is dajjal a person or a system in the world? Is he alive or present in this time? How will Imam Mahdi kill dajjal? It has been narrated from the Messenger of Allah that dajjal is ibn Sayyad. Is ibn Sayyad the very dajjal?
Please note the following:
1. In his invaluable book Return to Islam[1], Mansoor Hashemi Khorasani, has revealed the existence of a secretive and extensive satanic network in the world that attempts to pave the way for the establishment of Satan’s proclaimed sovereignty over the world through unofficial alliance between the most powerful corrupters and wealthy atheists on the one hand, and Jewish priests and sorcerers who worship Satan on the other hand, under the supervision and management of Satan himself. Satan’s proclaimed sovereignty over the world will be established when his caliph in the world comes to power to enforce his rulings in the world on his behalf. This “caliph of Satan” is a human being called “dajjal,” although he is originally one of “the offspring of Satan”; as Allah Almighty has said: ﴿أَفَتَتَّخِذُونَهُ وَذُرِّيَّتَهُ أَوْلِيَاءَ مِنْ دُونِي وَهُمْ لَكُمْ عَدُوٌّ ۚ بِئْسَ لِلظَّالِمِينَ بَدَلًا﴾[2]; “Do you then take him and his offspring as guardians other than Me while they are your enemies?! What an evil alternative for oppressors!” In the face of this secretive and extensive satanic network that attempts to pave the way for the sovereignty of “dajjal” over the world as “the caliph of Satan,” a secretive and extensive divine network attempts to pave the way for the sovereignty of “the Mahdi” over the world as “the caliph of Allah.” These two networks are racing toward a land that Allah has blessed, like two racehorses, one from the West and one from the East. Undoubtedly, the people of the East are the victors; because they are the helpers of Allah, ﴿وَلَيَنْصُرَنَّ اللَّهُ مَنْ يَنْصُرُهُ﴾[3]; “and Allah surely helps those who help Him.” Therefore, their leader is called “Mansoor,” which means the victorious one, as stated in a well-known hadith[4].
2. Mansoor Hashemi Khorasani has said in one of his words of wisdom: «إِنَّ الدَّجَّالَ لَقَبٌ كَفِرْعَوْنَ، يَتَوَارَثُهُ رِجَالٌ مِنْ آلِ إِبْلِيسَ»[5]; “Indeed, ‘dajjal’ is a title like ‘Pharaoh’ that some men from the house of Iblis inherit from each other!” This means that “dajjal” is not the apparent name of “the caliph of Satan,” but rather a general title like “Pharaoh” given to the highest position within the satanic network in every era. Therefore, there is no era empty of “dajjal,” just as there is no era empty of “the Mahdi”[6]; because “dajjal” is a caliph for Satan against a caliph for Allah, and every caliph for Allah is considered a “Mahdi,” which means a guide one; considering that “Mahdi” is not the apparent name of “the caliph of Allah,” but rather a general title like “Imam” given to the highest position within the divine network in every era; as Allah Almighty has said about Ibrahim
: ﴿وَوَهَبْنَا لَهُ إِسْحَاقَ وَيَعْقُوبَ ۚ كُلًّا هَدَيْنَا ۚ وَنُوحًا هَدَيْنَا مِنْ قَبْلُ﴾[7]; “And We bestowed upon him Ishaq and Ya‘qub. We guided all of them, and we guided Nuh before,”and this means all of them were “Mahdi,” which means guided. Based on this, it is possible that ibn Sayyad was the dajjal of his time, just as the Messenger of Allah
was the Mahdi of his time. However, the dajjal of our time is clearly not ibn Sayyad, just as the Messenger of Allah
is not the Mahdi of our time. Rather, the dajjal of our time is the leader of the satanic global network that a group in the West is preparing the ground for his advent; as Allah Almighty has said: ﴿وَجَعَلْنَاهُمْ أَئِمَّةً يَدْعُونَ إِلَى النَّارِ﴾[8]; “And We made them leaders who invite toward the fire,” and the Mahdi of our time is the leader of the divine global network that a group in the East is preparing the ground for his advent; as Allah Almighty has said: ﴿وَجَعَلْنَاهُمْ أَئِمَّةً يَهْدُونَ بِأَمْرِنَا﴾[9]; “And We made them leaders who guide by Our command.” They will continue to fight, as Allah Almighty has said: ﴿هَذَانِ خَصْمَانِ اخْتَصَمُوا فِي رَبِّهِمْ﴾[10]; “These are two opposing groups who are at enmity with one another concerning their Lord,” until “the Messiah of Allah” returns to the world and judges between them rightfully. A group of the people of knowledge have also said something similar to what we have said about ibn Sayyad; as ibn Battal (d. 449 AH) has said: «إِنْ وَقَعَ الشَّكُّ فِي أَنَّهُ الدَّجَّالُ الَّذِي يَقْتُلُهُ عِيسَى بْنُ مَرْيَمَ صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ، فَلَمْ يَقَعِ الشَّكُّ فِي أَنَّهُ أَحَدُ الدَّجَّالِينَ الَّذِينَ أَنْذَرَ بِهِمُ النَّبِيُّ صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَآلِهِ وَسَلَّمَ»[11]; “If there is a doubt that he is the dajjal who will be killed by Isa ibn Maryam (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him), there is no doubt that he is one of the dajjals whom the Prophet
warned against,” and al-Bayhaqi (d. 458 AH) has said in what has been quoted from him: «إِنَّ الدَّجَّالَ الْأَكْبَرَ الَّذِي يَخْرُجُ فِي آخِرِ الزَّمَانِ غَيْرُ ابْنِ صَيَّادٍ، وَكَانَ ابْنُ صَيَّادٍ أَحَدَ الدَّجَّالِينَ الْكَذَّابِينَ الَّذِينَ أَخْبَرَ النَّبِيُّ صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَآلِهِ وَسَلَّمَ بِخُرُوجِهِمْ»[12]; “The greatest dajjal who will emerge in the end time is someone other than ibn Sayyad. And ibn Sayyad was one of lying dajjals that the Prophet
informed of their emergence,” and Abd al-Ghani al-Maqdisi (d. 600 AH) has said: «كَانَ ابْنُ صَائِدٍ دَجَّالًا صَغِيرَ السِّنِّ غَيْرَ الدَّجَّالِ الْأَكْبَرِ»[13]; “Ibn Sa’id was a minor dajjal other than the greatest dajjal,” and al-Nawawi (d. 676 AH) has narrated from the scholars, saying: «قِصَّةُ ابْنِ صَيَّادٍ مُشْكِلَةٌ، وَأَمْرُهُ مُشْتَبَهٌ فِي أَنَّهُ هَلْ هُوَ الْمَسِيحُ الدَّجَّالُ الْمَشْهُورُ أَمْ غَيْرُهُ، وَلَا شَكَّ فِي أَنَّهُ دَجَّالٌ مِنَ الدَّجَاجِلَةِ»[14]; “Ibn Sayyad’s story is complicated, and his matter is doubtful whether he was the notorious dajjal or someone else. But there is no doubt that he was one of the dajjals,” and ibn Kathir (d. 774 AH) has narrated from some of the scholars, saying: «ابْنُ صَيَّادٍ كَانَ بَعْضُ الصَّحَابَةِ يَظُنُّهُ الدَّجَّالَ الْأَكْبَرَ، وَلَيْسَ بِهِ، إِنَّمَا كَانَ دَجَّالًا مِنَ الدَّجَاجِلَةِ صَغِيرًا»[15]; “Some of the Sahabah thought that ibn Sayyad was the greatest dajjal. But he was not. He was only a minor dajjal from dajjals,” and he said: «الصَّحِيحُ أَنَّ الدَّجَّالَ غَيْرُ ابْنِ صَيَّادٍ، وَأَنَّ ابْنَ صَيَّادٍ كَانَ دَجَّالًا مِنَ الدَّجَاجِلَةِ، ثُمَّ تَابَ بَعْدَ ذَلِكَ، فَأَظْهَرَ الْإِسْلَامَ، وَاللَّهُ أَعْلَمُ بِضَمِيرِهِ وَسَرِيرَتِهِ»[16]; “What is true is that dajjal is someone other than ibn Sayyad, and ibn Sayyad was one of the dajjals. He then repented and converted to Islam. And Allah knows best what was in his mind and heart.”
It has been narrated from the Messenger of Allah that “dajjal will stay on Earth for forty days, one day like a year, one day like a month, one day like a week, and the rest of the days like your days.” Is this narration authentic? Some people interpret it and say that it refers to three periods of authority of the Western disbelieving forces in the last two centuries. Is this interpretation correct?
The reports about the emergence of dajjal are mutawatir. However, the report about the duration of his stay on Earth is a singular report narrated by only Abd al-Rahman ibn Yazid ibn Jabir, from Yahya ibn Jabir al-Ta’i, from Abd al-Rahman ibn Jubair ibn Nufair, from his father Jubair ibn Nufair, from Nawwas ibn Sam‘an al-Kilabi, from the Messenger of Allah [1]. Certainly, a singular report does not lead to knowledge, even if its chain of narrators is authentic in the view of scholars of hadith. Therefore, it is not permissible to believe in what this report contains; especially considering that Asma’ bint Yazid has narrated something opposite to it and said: «قَالَ رَسُولُ اللَّهِ صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَآلِهِ وَسَلَّمَ: يَمْكُثُ الدَّجَّالُ فِي الْأَرْضِ أَرْبَعِينَ سَنَةً، السَّنَةُ كَالشَّهْرِ، وَالشَّهْرُ كَالْجُمُعَةِ، وَالْجُمُعَةُ كَالْيَوْمِ، وَالْيَوْمُ كَاضْطِرَامِ السَّعْفَةِ فِي النَّارِ»[2]; “The Messenger of Allah
said: ‘Dajjal will stay on Earth for forty years, every year like a month, and every month like a week, and every week like a day, and every day like the burning of a palm tree branch in the fire.’”
As for the mentioned interpretation, it is merely a conjecture and a guess, and relying on these two in matters of religion is certainly not permissible; as Allah Almighty has said: ﴿إِنْ يَتَّبِعُونَ إِلَّا الظَّنَّ وَإِنْ هُمْ إِلَّا يَخْرُصُونَ﴾[3]; “They follow nothing but conjecture and do nothing but guess.” Moreover, one of the things that weaken this interpretation is that it contradicts the narrator’s understanding of the report; because Nawwas ibn Sam‘an has not perceived it as an allusion, but rather he has taken it literally; in such a manner that he asked the Messenger of Allah about the ruling on prayer during those days, and the Messenger of Allah
also answered according to this understanding, and this is his confirmation of it. Therefore, al-Nawawi has said: «قَالَ الْعُلَمَاءُ: هَذَا الْحَدِيثُ عَلَى ظَاهِرِهِ وَهَذِهِ الْأَيَّامُ الثَّلَاثَةُ طَوِيلَةٌ عَلَى هَذَا الْقَدْرِ الْمَذْكُورِ فِي الْحَدِيثِ»[4]; “the scholars have said that this Hadith is taken literally. And those three days will be as long as it is mentioned in the Hadith,” unless it is said that the Messenger of Allah
answered the narrator proportional to his intellect, which is a strong possibility, and what strengthens it is that most of the reports about the characteristics of dajjal are cryptic; such as the reports about that he is confined to an island among the islands of the sea with a hairy creature called “al-Jassasah,” and that he traverses all lands like rain carried by wind, except for Mecca and Medina, and that he has a donkey whose ears cast a shadow on seventy thousand people, and that his stride is like such and such, and that it is written between his eyes, “Disbeliever” (i.e., Kafir), in a way that every literate or illiterate believer can read it, and that he has a heaven and a hell with him, and his hell is Heaven and his heaven is Hell, and that he carries mountains of bread and meat and rivers of water, and other similar descriptions that are almost explicitly cryptic and allusive. Rather, to be fair, the report about dajjal’s stay on Earth for forty days, one day like a year, one day like a month, one day like a week, and the rest of the days like your days, is almost explicitly cryptic and allusive as well; because it is not possible for such days to exist before the Day of Judgment. For this reason, some scholars have attempted to interpret this report; as ibn al-Munadi has interpreted it and said: «الْمَعْنَى أَنَّهُ يَهْجُمُ عَلَيْكُمْ غَمٌّ عَظِيمٌ لِشِدَّةِ الْبَلَاءِ، وَأَيَّامُ الْبَلَاءِ طِوَالٌ، ثُمَّ يَتَنَاقَصُ ذَلِكَ الْغَمُّ فِي الْيَوْمِ الثَّانِي، ثُمَّ يَنْقُصُ فِي الثَّالِثِ، ثُمَّ يَعْتَادُ الْبَلَاءُ، كَمَا يَقُولُ الرَّجُلُ: الْيَوْمَ عِنْدِي سَنَةٌ؛ إِلَّا أَنَّ الزَّمَانَ تَغَيَّرَ، كَقَوْلِ الشَّاعِرِ: ”وَلَيْلُ الْمُحِبِّ بِلَا آخِرٍ“»; “It means that because of the severity of calamity, a great sorrow overwhelms you and the days of calamity become long. Then that sorrow decreases on the second day and further decreases on the third day, and then the calamity becomes normal, just like when a person says: ‘Today was like a year to me,’ while time has changed; as the poet says: ‘The night of the one in love has no end,’” and Hammad ibn Salamah has said: «سَأَلْتُ أَبَا سِنَانٍ عَنْ مَعْنَى ذَلِكَ، فَقَالَ: يَسْتَلِينُونَ الْعَيْشَ، فَتَقْصُرُ الْأَيَّامُ عَلَيْهِمْ»; “I asked Abu Sinan about its meaning, and he said: ‘They live comfortably, so the days become shorter for them.’” Ibn al-Jawzi has mentioned these two interpretations and then said: «هَذَا التَّأْوِيلُ الْمَذْكُورُ يَرُدُّهُ قَوْلُهُمْ بَعْدَ هَذَا: ”أَتَكْفِينَا فِيهِ صَلَاةُ يَوْمٍ وَلَيْلِهِ؟ قَالَ: لَا، اقْدُرُوا لَهُ قَدْرَهُ“، وَالْمَعْنَى: اقْدُرُوا لِأَوْقَاتِ الصَّلَوَاتِ، غَيْرَ أَنَّ أَبَا الْحُسَيْنِ بْنَ الْمُنَادِي قَدْ طَعَنَ فِي صِحَّةِ هَذِهِ اللَّفَظَاتِ، يَعْنِي قَوْلَهُمْ: ”أَتَكْفِينَا فِيهِ صَلَاةُ يَوْمٍ وَلَيْلِهِ؟ قَالَ: لَا، اقْدُرُوا لَهُ قَدْرَهُ“ فَقَالَ: هَذَا عِنْدَنَا مِنَ الْمَدَاسِيسِ الَّتِي كَادَنَا بِهَا ذَوُو الْخِلَافِ عَلَيْنَا قَدِيمًا، وَلَوْ كَانَ ذَلِكَ صَحِيحًا لَاشْتَهَرَ ذَلِكَ عَلَى أَلْسِنَةِ الرُّوَاةِ كَحَدِيثِ الدَّجَّالِ، فَإِنَّهُ قَدْ رَوَاهُ ابْنُ عَبَّاسٍ وَابْنُ عُمَرَ وَجَابِرُ بْنُ عَبْدِ اللَّهِ وَحُذَيْفَةٌ وَعُبَادَةُ بْنُ الصَّامِتِ وَأُبَيُّ بْنُ كَعْبٍ وَأَبُو هُرَيْرَةٍ وَسَمُرَةُ بْنُ جُنْدُبٍ وَأَبُو الدَّرْدَاءِ وَأَبُو مَسْعُودٍ الْبَدْرِيُّ وَأَنَسُ بْنُ مَالِكٍ وَعِمْرَانُ بْنُ حُصَيْنٍ وَمُعَاذُ بْنُ جَبَلٍ وَمُجَمِّعُ بْنُ جَارِيَةَ فِي آخَرِينَ، وَلَوْ كَانَ ذَلِكَ لَقَوِيَ اشْتِهَارُهُ، وَلَكَانَ أَعْظَمَ وَأَفْظَعَ مِنْ طُلُوعِ الشَّمْسِ مِنْ مَغْرِبِهَا، وَهَذَا الَّذِي قَالَهُ هُوَ الظَّاهِرُ»[5]; “The mentioned interpretation is rejected by this excerpt of the narration that reads: ‘“Are the prayers of one day and night sufficient for us?” He said: “No, estimate their time,”’ which means to determine the time of prayers by estimation, although Abu Husain ibn al-Munadi has challenged the authenticity of these words, meaning this excerpt of the report that reads: ‘“Are the prayers of one day and night sufficient for us?” He said: “No, estimate their time.”’ And he has said: ‘In our view, this is one of the fabrications that those who oppose us have been using against us for a long time. If it were true, it would have become well-known among the narrators, like the Hadith of dajjal narrated by ibn Abbas, ibn Umar, Jabir ibn Abdullah, Hudhayfah, Ubadah ibn Samit, Ubay ibn Ka‘b, Abu Hurairah, Samurah ibn Jundub, Abu Darda’, Abu Mas‘ud al-Badri, Anas ibn Malik, Imran ibn Husain, Mu‘adh ibn Jabal, Mujammi‘ ibn Jariah, and others. And if it were true, its fame would have become so great, and it would have been greater and more terrifying than the rising of the sun from the West.’ And what he (i.e., ibn al-Munadi) has said is the apparent view.”
As a result, the report about the duration of dajjal’s stay on Earth is not proven, and if it is true, it cannot be taken literally. However, interpreting it as three periods of authority of the Western disbelieving forces in the last two centuries also lacks definitive evidence[6].