Who is Ad-Dajjal?

31 Oct, 2022 Dajjal 7

Table of Contents

Introduction

The non-Ahmadis always ask if Mirza Ghulam Ahmad (A.S) is the Messiah then where is the Dajjal and how has Ahmad (A.S) killed him? The purpose of this article is to:

Show why the Sunni/Shia understanding of Ad-Dajjal is contradictory to the Quran and Ahadith and their own understanding
Explain who the Dajjal is from the Ahmadiyya Muslim perspective

Description of Dajjal

Here are a few descriptions of Ad-Dajjal:

“A young man with a ruddy complexion, short, with thick curly hair, a wide forehead, and broad upper chest, blind or defective (mamsuh) in the right eye. This eye will be neither prominent nor sunken, and will look like a floating grape”¹

“Written between his eyes will be “Kaf fa ra (K-F-R)”, in separate (Arabic) letters, or “kafir”, with the letters joined. This will be read by every Muslim, literate or illiterate.”²
He will do the most unimaginable miracles to deceive people. Biggest fitnah to ever exist.³
He will have Hell and Heaven with him. But what seems like Heaven will be Hell, and what seems like Hell will be Heaven.⁴Sahih Muslim 2936
- Another hadith calls this hell and heaven “rivers of water and fire”⁵
He will travel very fast through the earth (like clouds)⁶
He will have mountains of bread and rivers of water with him. He will give to only those who support him and take it from those who oppose him.⁷
He will command the sky to rain and it will rain.⁸
He will cut a man in half and resurrect him miraculously.⁹
He will make the land produce a high yield of crops and similarly make its cattle give a lot of milk and meat.¹⁰
He will pass by barren lands and bring forth treasures from them.¹¹

Click here for the complete list of descriptions of Ad-Dajjal.

Contradictions in the understanding of non-Ahmadi Muslims

The non-Ahmadi Muslims understand these descriptions of Dajjal as literal. They believe that Dajjal has been described very clearly. Thus, we should interpret these ahadith literally. But there is a problem and contradiction between their understanding of the Dajjal.

The Dajjal has been called the biggest fitnah that mankind has ever faced. This is because of the number of people that he can deceive and stray away from the path of God. It is such a big fitnah that every prophet warned his people about it.

“l warn you against him (i.e. the Dajjal) and there was no prophet but warned his nation against him. No doubt, Noah warned his nation against him.”
[Sahih al-Bukhari 3337]

There would be no creation (creating more trouble) than the Dajjal right from the creation of Adam to the Last Hour.
[Ṣaḥīḥ Muslim 2946]

Similarly, it is such a huge fitnah that Muhammad (S.A.W) feared that even with so much description of Dajjal, Muslims may still fail to recognize him.

The Prophet (ﷺ) said: I have told you so much about the Dajjal (Antichrist) that I am afraid you may not understand.
[Sunan Abi Dawud 4320]

Keeping in mind these ahadith, non-Ahmadi Muslims have many contradictions within their understanding of the Dajjal.

Firstly, they claim that there cannot be any confusion about who Ad-Dajjal is. The description of Ad-Dajjal in these ahadith clearly points to someone unique and it is indeed true. There has not been a single person from the beginning of creation to whom these descriptions can apply.

How many men since the beginning of times are of short height, have curly hair, has kafir written on their forehead, travel as fast as clouds, have rivers of fire and water with them, can cut people in half, and bring them back to life in one piece, carries a mountain of bread and rivers of water e.t.c? How many people have done exactly all these things since humans were created?

Absolutely no one! Dajjal will be the first one to fulfill each of those ahadith. For example, if any of us sees a man cutting a human and then resurrecting them, we would immediately know it is Dajjal. We wouldn’t even need to look at all the other descriptions to make that conclusion.

Yet, Muhammad (S.A.W) feared that even with all these descriptions, Muslims will still not recognize Ad-Dajjal. He further says that Ad-Dajjal will be the biggest fitnah since the creation of Adam (AS). If it was so clear as the non-Ahmadi Muslims claim, then why would Muhammad (S.A.W) say that?

Secondly, how can Dajjal be the biggest fitnah when he is so clearly and literally described? If everyone will be able to easily recognize him as the non-Ahmadi Muslim claim, then where is the fitnah in it and how is Dajjal deceiving?

Thirdly, the non-Ahmadi Muslim claim that the kafir written on Dajjal’s forehead is literal and even an illiterate can read it. How can an illiterate read anything?

Fourthly, Dajjal is described as a short person while in other ahadith, he is described as a huge monster. How is this contradiction resolved?

We departed hastily until we were admitted into the monastery and found within it a huge man. We had never seen any creation more firmly imprisoned. His hands were tied to his neck and there were iron shackles between his two legs to his ankles…

The man said: Indeed, I will tell you about myself. I am the messiah. I will soon be permitted to emerge and thus I will go out and march across the land. I will not leave any town but that I will occupy it for forty nights, except for Mecca and Medina.
[Ṣaḥīḥ Muslim 2942]

Fifthly, not only is Dajjal described as a huge man but he also has a huge donkey with him.¹² He will travel as fast as clouds to every city on the earth, except Mecca and Medinah. It further poses a contradiction in the understanding of the non-Ahmadi Muslims as to how is it hard to recognize a man with a donkey of the size of an airplane which he flies to almost every city on the earth.

These are just a few of the many contradictions in the beliefs of non-Ahmadis. Unfortunately, non-Ahmadis are always quick in making fun of the Ahmadis for holding a belief different than theirs, instead of realizing the absurdities in their own beliefs.

Correct understanding of Ad-Dajjal

Ad-Dajjal was seen in dreams/visions

One of the main reasons that the descriptions of Ad-Dajjal are not literal is the fact that it was seen in dreams and visions of the Prophet (SAW). Dreams and visions are interpreted and this is common knowledge among Muslims.

The Prophet (ﷺ) mentioned the Masih Ad-Dajjal in front of the people saying, Allah is not one-eyed while Masih Ad-Dajjal is blind in the right eye and his eye looks like a bulging out grape. While sleeping near the Ka`ba last night, I saw in my dream a man of brown color the best one can see amongst brown color and his hair was long that it fell between his shoulders. His hair was lank and water was dribbling from his head and he was placing his hands on the shoulders of two men while circumambulating the Ka`ba. I asked, ‘Who is this?’ They replied, ‘This is Jesus, son of Mary.’ Behind him I saw a man who had very curly hair and was blind in the right eye, resembling Ibn Qatan (i.e. an infidel) in appearance. He was placing his hands on the shoulders of a person while performing Tawaf around the Ka`ba. I asked, ‘Who is this? ‘They replied, ‘The Masih, Ad-Dajjal.‘ “
[Sahih al-Bukhari 3439]

There are many such ahadith and can be read from this article. Similarly, even the Muslim scholars of the past and today, both agree on the same fact that Ad-Dajjal was shown in visions to the Prophet (SAW). Mulla ‘Ali al-Qari (RH) says the same, and so does the famous fatwa website, Islamqa. Both of these are cited in the article linked above.

Prophet (SAW) and the Sahaba (RA) understood the descriptions of Ad-Dajjal metaphorically

The Prophet (SAW) and the Sahaba (RA) also understood the descriptions regarding Ad-Dajjal to be metaphorical. This is the reason they labeled Ibn Sayyad as Ad-Dajjal during his lifetime even though he did not meet the majority of those descriptions. For example, he did not have kafir written on his forehead, he wasn’t a born Jew and had already converted to Islam. He had traveled to Mecca and Medinah, where Ad-Dajjal would not have been allowed to enter, and neither did he have mountains of food and water with him.

Ibn Sayyad himself asks the Sahaba (RA) the same question about why he is considered to be Ad-Dajjal in the absence of almost all the signs.

Ibn Sa’id said to me something for which I felt ashamed. He said: I can excuse others; but what has gone wrong with you, O Companions of Muhammad, that you take me as Dajjal? Has Allah’s Apostle (ﷺ) not said that he would be a Jew whereas I am a Muslim and he also said that he would not have children, whereas I have children, and he also said: verily, Allah has prohibited him to enter Mecca whereas I have performed Pilgrimage,
[Sahih Muslim 2927b]

This along with the previous section on dreams/visions proves that the ahadith about Ad-Dajjal cannot be understood literally. Read more about Ibn Sayyad here.

Ad-Dajjal is Satan

Although the Holy Quran does not mention Ad-Dajjal clearly by name, it does tell us who it is.

Satan – The Deceiver

Ad-Dajjal is the manifestation of Satan in the time of the Messiah. Dajjal means someone who deceives and lies. The Holy Quran calls Satan “The Deceiver”.

یٰۤاَیُّہَا النَّاسُ اِنَّ وَعۡدَ اللّٰہِ حَقٌّ فَلَا تَغُرَّنَّکُمُ الۡحَیٰوۃُ الدُّنۡیَا ٝ وَلَا یَغُرَّنَّکُمۡ بِاللّٰہِ الۡغَرُوۡرُ

O ye men, assuredly the promise of Allah is true, so let not the present life deceive you, nor let the Deceiver deceive you with respect to Allah.
[Quran 35:5]

یٰۤاَیُّہَا النَّاسُ اتَّقُوۡا رَبَّکُمۡ وَاخۡشَوۡا یَوۡمًا لَّا یَجۡزِیۡ وَالِدٌ عَنۡ وَّلَدِہٖ ۫ وَلَا مَوۡلُوۡدٌ ہُوَ جَازٍ عَنۡ وَّالِدِہٖ شَیۡئًا ؕ اِنَّ وَعۡدَ اللّٰہِ حَقٌّ فَلَا تَغُرَّنَّکُمُ الۡحَیٰوۃُ الدُّنۡیَا ٝ وَلَا یَغُرَّنَّکُمۡ بِاللّٰہِ الۡغَرُوۡرُ

So let not worldly life beguile you, nor let the Deceiver deceive you concerning Allah.

[Quran 31:33]

Every prophet warned about Ad-Dajjal and Satan

Similarly, the Prophet (SAW) told us that there is not a single prophet who did not warn his nation about Ad-Dajjal. The Holy Quran expands on it and tells us that each prophet warns their people about Satan. This proves that Dajjal is actually Satan!

“l warn you against him (i.e. the Dajjal) and there was no prophet but warned his nation against him. No doubt, Noah warned his nation against him.”
[Sahih al-Bukhari 3337]

وَلَقَدۡ بَعَثۡنَا فِیۡ کُلِّ اُمَّۃٍ رَّسُوۡلًا اَنِ اعۡبُدُوا اللّٰہَ وَاجۡتَنِبُوا الطَّاغُوۡتَ ۚ فَمِنۡہُمۡ مَّنۡ ہَدَی اللّٰہُ وَمِنۡہُمۡ مَّنۡ حَقَّتۡ عَلَیۡہِ الضَّلٰلَۃُ ؕ فَسِیۡرُوۡا فِی الۡاَرۡضِ فَانۡظُرُوۡا کَیۡفَ کَانَ عَاقِبَۃُ الۡمُکَذِّبِیۡنَ

And We did raise among every people a Messenger, preaching: ‘Worship Allah and shun the Evil One.’
[Quran 16:36]

Satan – The biggest fitnah

Ahadith describe Ad-Dajjal as the greatest fitnah since the creation of Adam. Similarly, the Holy Quran warns us about the biggest fitnah for humans i.e Satan.

مَا بَيْنَ خَلْقِ آدَمَ إِلَى قِيَامِ السَّاعَةِ خَلْقٌ أَكْبَرُ مِنَ الدَّجَّالِ

“There would be no creation (creating more trouble) than the Dajjal right from the creation of Adam to the Last Hour.”
[Sahih Muslim 2946a]

‘And assuredly I will lead them astray and assuredly I will excite in them vain desires, and assuredly I will incite them and they will cut the ears of cattle; and assuredly I will incite them and they will alter Allah’s creation.’ And he who takes Satan for a friend beside Allah, has certainly suffered a manifest loss.
[Quran 4:119]

Satan beautifies sins

The ahadith tell us that Ad-Dajjal will deceive people by showing them Hell and Paradise. What seems like Hell, is actually a paradise, and what seems like Paradise. This act of making flipping good and evil is a tactic of Satan, which the Holy Quran even confirms.

الدَّجَّالُ أَعْوَرُ الْعَيْنِ الْيُسْرَى جُفَالُ الشَّعَرِ مَعَهُ جَنَّةٌ وَنَارٌ فَنَارُهُ جَنَّةٌ وَجَنَّتُهُ نَارٌ

“Dajjal is blind of left eye with thick hair and there would be a garden and fire with him and his fire would be a garden and his garden would be fire.”
[Sahih Muslim 2934b]

By Allah, We did send Messengers to the peoples before thee; but Satan made their works[sins] appear beautiful to them. So he is their patron this day, and they shall have a grievous punishment.
[Quran 16:63]

Salaf – Ad Dajjal is Satan

The first 3 pious generations after the Prophet (SAW), Salaf-us-Saliheen, also believed that Ad-Dajjal is Satan.

Hafiz Nuaim ibn Hammâd (the Ustaad of Imam Bukhari) has recorded, through a sound chain, the view of four senior Tabi’een, viz. Jubeir ibn Nufeir, Shureih ibn Ubeid, Amr ibn Aswad and Khathir ibn Murrah, all of them saying:

ليس هو إنسان إنما هو شيطان “

[Dajjal] is not human, rather he is a Shaitan”.
[Kitab Al Fitan, Hadith #1498] Sahih by Al-Sisi
[Urdu Scan]

Surah Kahf describes Ad-Dajjal

The previous section proved that Ad-Dajjal is none other than Satan himself. Now one may ask how it helps us since it is common sense that Satan is responsible for every evil. In this section, we will prove what manifestation of Satan is described with the name of Ad-Dajjal.

The Prophet (SAW) told us to recite the first 10 and the last 10 verses of Surah Kahf to be saved from the fitnah of Ad-Dajjal. There is a reason he asked us to recite those specific verses. Just as a doctor recommends a medicine that is supposed to cure an ailment. Similarly, the Prophet (SAW) pointed toward those verses as they will tell us about the manifestation of Ad-Dajjal.

If anyone learns by heart the first ten verses of the Surah al-Kahf, he will be protected from the Dajjal.
[Sahih Muslim 809a]

From the last ten verses of Surat al-Kahf.
[Sahih Muslim 809b]

These verses describe Dajjal and show us how we can save ourselves from its fitnah. The first ten verses warn us against the fitnah of the Trinitarian Christians.

All praise belongs to Allah Who has sent down the Book to His servant and has not put therein any crookedness.

He has made it a guardian, that it may give warning of a grievous chastisement from Him, and that it may give the believers who do good deeds the glad tidings that they shall have a good reward,

Wherein they shall abide for ever;

And that it may warn those who say, ‘ Allah has taken unto Himself a son.’

No knowledge have they thereof, nor had their fathers. Grievous is the word that comes from their mouths. They speak naught but a lie.
[Quran 18:1-5]

This proves that Ad-Dajjal is the manifestation of Satan in the time of the Messiah and it will be in the form of Christian (Trinitarian) missionaries.

Ad-Dajjal will emerge from the Church

This section builds upon the previous one and explains that Ad-Dajjal will emerge in the East from within the Church. This is explained in a very popular hadith of Tamim Dari.

He said: By Allah. I have not made you assemble for exhortation or for a warning, but I have detained you here, for Tamim Dari, a Christian, who came and accepted Islam, told me something, which agrees with what I was telling, you about the Dajjal. He narrated to me that he had sailed in a ship along with thirty men of Bani Lakhm and Bani Judham and had been tossed by waves in the ocean for a month. Then these (waves) took them (near) the land within the ocean (island) at the time of sunset. They sat in a small side-boat and entered that island. There was a beast with long thick hair (and because of these) they could not distinguish his face from his back. They said: Woe to you, who can you be? Thereupon it said: I am al-Jassasa. They said: What is al-Jassasa? And it said: O people, go to this person in the monastery as he is very much eager to know about you. He (the narrator) said: When it named a person for us we were afraid of it lest it should be a devil. Then we hurriedly went on till we came to that monastery and found a well-built person there with his hands tied to his neck and having iron shackles between his two legs up to the ankles.

We said: Woe be upon thee, who are you?
And he said: You would soon come to know about me. but tell me who are you.
We said: We are people from Arabia and we embarked upon a boat but the sea-waves had been driving us for one month and they brought as near this island. We got Into the side-boats and entered this island and here a beast met us with profusely thick hair and because of the thickness of his hair his face could not be distinguished from his back. We said: Woe be to thee, who are you? It said: I am al- Jassasa. We said: What is al-Jassasa? And it said: You go to this very person in the monastery for he is eagerly waiting for you to know about you. So we came to you in hot haste fearing that that might be the Devil…

He said: Inform me about the lake Tiberius?
We said: Which aspect of it do you want to know?
He said: Is there water in it?
They said: There is abundance of water in it.
Thereupon he said: I think it would soon become dry…
He said: Inform me about the unlettered Prophet; what has he done?
We said: He has come out from Mecca and has settled In Yathrib (Medina).
He said: Do the Arabs fight against him?
We said: Yes. He said: How did he deal with them?
We informed him that he had overcome those in his neighbourhood and they had submitted themselves before him.
Thereupon he said to us: Has it actually happened?
We said: Yes.
Thereupon he said: If it is so that is better for them that they should show obedience to him. I am going to tell you about myself and I am Dajjal and would be soon permitted to get out and so I shall get out and travel in the land, and will not spare any town where I would not stay for forty nights except Mecca and Medina as these two (places) are prohibited (areas) for me and I would not make an attempt to enter any one of these two. An angel with a sword in his hand would confront me and would bar my way and there would be angels to guard every passage leading to it;

then Allah’s Messenger (ﷺ) striking the pulpit with the help of the end of his staff said: This implies Taiba meaning Medina. Have I not, told you an account (of the Dajjal) like this? ‘The people said: Yes, and this account narrated by Tamim Dari was liked by me for it corroborates the account which I gave to you in regard to him (Dajjal) at Medina and Mecca. Behold he (Dajjal) is in the Syrian sea (Mediterranean) or the Yemen sea (Arabian sea). Nay, on the contrary, he is in the east, he is in the east, he is in the east, and he pointed with his hand towards the east.

I (Fatima bint Qais) said: I preserved it in my mind (this narration from Allah’s Messenger (ﷺ).
[Sahih Muslim 2942a]

The summary of this long hadith is that Tamim Dari, a Christian convert to Islam, narrates his dream to the Prophet (SAW) which corroborates his own vision in this matter. In the dream, he sees Ad-Dajjal chained on an island, inside a monastery (Church). Ad-Dajjal mentions how he will be let loose soon (i.e in the time of the Messiah) and spread his fitnah across the world.

This proves that the fitnah of Ad-Dajjal will emerge from the Church and will be carried out by the Trinitarian missionaries. This fitnah was chained during the time of the Prophet (SAW) and was unchained during the British colonial era when the missionaries were used as tools to convert people to Christianity and colonize them. Read more about this in the following article.

Ad-Dajjal will be killed via arguments

Another argument that proves that Ad-Dajjal is the manifestation of Satan in the form of Christian (Trinitarian) missionaries is the fact that ahadith describe that the Messiah will kill Ad-Dajjal with arguments and his speech. He will not be killed through wars and battles. This is detailed in the following article. For the sake of brevity, we will quote just a couple of arguments from it.

During the time of the Messiah, wars will be abolished as there will be no need for Jihad of the sword.

حَدَّثَنَا إِسْحَاقُ، أَخْبَرَنَا يَعْقُوبُ بْنُ إِبْرَاهِيمَ، حَدَّثَنَا أَبِي، عَنْ صَالِحٍ، عَنِ ابْنِ شِهَابٍ، أَنَّ سَعِيدَ بْنَ الْمُسَيَّبِ، سَمِعَ أَبَا هُرَيْرَةَ ـ رضى الله عنه ـ قَالَ قَالَ رَسُولُ اللَّهِ صلى الله عليه وسلم ‏”‏ وَالَّذِي نَفْسِي بِيَدِهِ، لَيُوشِكَنَّ أَنْ يَنْزِلَ فِيكُمُ ابْنُ مَرْيَمَ حَكَمًا عَدْلاً، فَيَكْسِرَ الصَّلِيبَ، وَيَقْتُلَ الْخِنْزِيرَ، ويَضَع الحربَ، وَيَفِيضَ الْمَالُ حَتَّى لاَ يَقْبَلَهُ أَحَدٌ، حَتَّى تَكُونَ السَّجْدَةُ الْوَاحِدَةُ خَيْرًا مِنَ الدُّنْيَا وَمَا فِيهَا ‏.‏

Allah’s Messenger (ﷺ) said, “By Him in Whose Hands my soul is, surely the son of Mary will soon descend amongst you and will judge mankind justly (as a Just Ruler); he will break the Cross and kill the pigs and abolish war. Money will be in abundance so that nobody will accept it, and a single prostration to Allah (in prayer) will be better than the whole world and whatever is in it.”
[Sahih al-Bukhari 3448]

Similarly, Ad-Dajjal will not be fought with the sword but with arguments and proof. The Prophet (SAW) says that if he emerges within his lifetime, he would debate him, and if he doesn’t, then each Muslim must do the same. This includes the Messiah as well.

فَقَالَ ‏”‏ غَيْرُ الدَّجَّالِ أَخْوَفُنِي عَلَيْكُمْ إِنْ يَخْرُجْ وَأَنَا فِيكُمْ فَأَنَا حَجِيجُهُ دُونَكُمْ وَإِنْ يَخْرُجْ وَلَسْتُ فِيكُمْ فَامْرُؤٌ حَجِيجُ نَفْسِهِ وَاللَّهُ خَلِيفَتِي عَلَى كُلِّ مُسْلِمٍ إِنَّهُ شَابٌّ

Thereupon he (ﷺ) said: I harbor fear in regard to you in so many other things besides the Dajjal. If he comes forth while I am among you, I shall contend with him on your behalf, but if he comes forth while I am not amongst you, a man must contend on his own behalf and Allah would take care of every Muslim on my behalf (and safeguard him against his evil).
[Sahih Muslim 2937a]

حَجِيجُهُ (Contend) means to argue/debate as per the lexicons.¹³ Similarly, we have other ahadith which explain how the breath (speech) of the Messiah will kill Ad-Dajjal and that this breath will spread everywhere on Earth. This further proves that the Messiah will establish the proof of Islam in front of Ad-Dajjal and end its life.¹⁴

Conclusion

Firstly, non-Ahmadi Muslims have completely failed to understand who Ad-Dajjal is. Their view is not only contradictory to the Holy Quran and other ahadith but also their own understanding.

Secondly, the ahadith about Ad-Dajjal are filled with metaphors and must be interpreted accordingly. This is proven by the fact that Ad-Dajjal was seen in dreams/visions of the Prophet (SAW) and he himself did not understand such ahadith literally, along with the Sahaba (RA).

Thirdly, Ad-Dajjal is a manifestation of Satan in the form of Christian missionaries. This is confirmed by numerous verses of the Holy Quran and ahadith.

Fourthly, Ad-Dajjal will not be killed using the sword but through arguments and proof.

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