Al-Masih ad-Dajjal

Al-Masih ad-Dajjal (Arabic: ‫ﺟﺎل‬

ّ ‫ اﻟﻤﺴﻴﺢ اﻟﺪ‬Al-Masīḥ ad-Dajjāl, "the false messiah, liar, the deceiver") is an evil figure in Islamic
eschatology.[1] He is to appear, pretending to be al-Masih (i.e. the Messiah), before Yawm al-Qiyamah (the Day of Resurrection). He
is to be an anti-messianic figure, comparable to the Antichrist in Christian eschatology and to Armilus in medieval Jewish
eschatology.

Contents
Name
Hadith
Signs of coming of Al-Masih ad-Dajjal
Signs of emergence
Signs post-emergence
Eschatology
Sunni
Shi'a
Ahmadiyya
Modern views
See also
References
External links

Name
Dajjāl (Arabic: ‫ )دﺟﺎل‬is an adjective of Syriac origin.[2] It is also a common Arabic superlative form of the root word dajl meaning
"lie" or "deception".[3] Al-Masīḥ ad-Dajjāl, with the definite article al- ("the"), refers to "the deceiving Messiah", a specific end
times deceiver. The Dajjāl is an evil being who will seek to impersonate the true Messiah.

The name Dajjal also is rooted in an Arabic word dajel, which means "to gold plate" or "to coat in gold". It is derived from word
meaning "to mix".

Hadith
According to hadith, Muhammad is said to have prophesied that the Masih ad-Dajjal would be the last of a series of thirty Dajjal or
"deceivers".[4]

Muhammad is reported to have said:

[5]
Ad-Dajjal is blind in the right eye and his eye looks like a bulging out grape.

Ali was reported to have said:

 His right eye will be punctured, and his left eye would be raised to his forehead and will be sparkling like a star. Only
the believers will be able to read the word "Kafir" [disbeliever], inscribed in bold letters, on his forehead. There will
be big mountains of smoke at both front and backsides of his caravan. People will anticipate food within those
mountains, during the severe famine. All rivers, falling in his way, will become dry and he will call upon people in a
[6]
loud voice, "O my friends come to me! I am your lord who has made your limbs and given you sustenance."

Muhammad is reported to have said:

If he comes forth while I am among you I shall be the one who will dispute with him on your behalf, but if he comes
forth when I am not among you, a man must dispute on his own behalf, and Allah will take my place in looking after
every Muslim. Those of you who live up to his time should recite over him the opening verses of Surat al–Kahf, for
they are your protection from his trial. We asked: How long will he remain on the earth? He replied: Forty days, one
like a year, one like a month, one like a week, and rest of his days like yours. We asked: Messenger of Allah, will one
day's prayer suffice us in this day which will be like a year? He replied: No, you must make an estimate of its extent.
Then Jesus son of Mary will descend at the white minaret to the east of Damascus. He will then catch him up at the
gate of Ludd and kill him.[7]

Muhammad is reported to have said:

The flourishing state of Jerusalem will be when Yathrib is in ruins, the ruined state of Yathrib will be when the great
war comes, the outbreak of the great war will be at the conquest of Constantinople and the conquest of
Constantinople when the Dajjal (Antichrist) comes forth. He (the Prophet) struck his thigh or his shoulder with his
Mu'adh ibn Jabal).[8]
hand and said: This is as true as you are here or as you are sitting (meaning

Signs of coming of Al-Masih ad-Dajjal

Hadith attributed to Muhammad give many signs of the appearance of the Dajjal who would travel the whole world entering every
city except Mecca and Medina and tempting people to follow his false religion.[9][10] Muhammad is reported to have exhorted his
supporters to recite the first and last ten verses of Sura Al-Kahf (chapter 18 in the Qur'an), as protection from the trials and mischief
of the Dajjal.[6][11] The following signs are ascribed to Ali in the coming of Dajjal:
[6]

People will stop offering the prayers

Dishonesty will be the way of life
Falsehood will become a virtue
People will mortgage their faith for worldly gain
Usury and bribery will become legitimate
There will be acute famine at the time
There will be no shame amongst people
Many people would worship Satan
There would be no respect for elderly people
People will start killing each other without any reason

Signs of emergence
The following signs will occur just before emergence and these signs are mandatory condition for Dajjal to appear
.

Drying up of Sea of Galilee.

When date-palm trees ofBaisan stop bearing fruit.[12]
Worship of Satan becomes common.
Trkey) by the Islamic Caliphate.[8]
The conquest of Constantinople (modern day Istanbul, u
Signs post-emergence
[13]
70,000 Jews from Isfahan, Iran will pledge allegiance to Dajjal wearing Persian blue-black traditional shawls.
He will do miracles and yield resources (minerals, food) from land by his power
.
He will lay siege across the world except the Islamic holy cities (Makkah and Medina).
He will alter the coastal tides and bring chilled winds across the Red Sea.

Eschatology

Sunni
Sunni Muslims believe that Isa will descend on Mount Afeeq, on the white Eastern Minaret of Damascus. He will descend from the
heavens with his hands resting on the shoulders of two angels.[14] His cheeks will be flat and his hair straight. When he lowers his
head it will seem as if water is flowing from his hair, when he raises his head, it will appear as though his hair is beaded with silvery
pearls.[15] He will descend during Fajr (sunrise) and the leader of the Muslims will address him thus, "O' Prophet of God, lead the
prayer." Isa will decline with the words, "The virtue of this nation that follows Islam is that they lead each other." Implying that he
will pray behind the imam (the man that leads the prayings (Mahdi)) as the word of God was completed after revelation of Qur'an and
Muhammad being the last prophet of God.[15]

After the prayer, Isa will prepare himself to do battle and shall take up a sword. An army shall return from a campaign launched
before the arrival of Isa. Isa shall set out in pursuit of Dajjal. All those who embraced the evil of Dajjal shall perish even as the breath
of Isa touches them. The breath of Isa shall precede him as far as the eye can see. Dajjal will be captured at the gate of Lod. Dajjal
shall begin to melt, as salt dissolves in water. The spear of Isa shall plunge into Dajjal’s chest, ending his dreaded reign.[16][17] The
supporters of Dajjal will be rooted out, for even the trees and rocks will speak out against them. Isa will break the cross, kill Dajjal
and save the humanity. Then all battles shall cease and the world will know an age of peace. The rule of Isa will be just and all shall
flock to him to enter the folds of the one true religion, Islam.

Shi'a
Shias believe that Dajjal will be killed either byMuhammad al-Mahdi or Jesus.[18][19]

Ahmadiyya
Prophecies concerning the emergence of the Dajjal are interpreted in Ahmadiyya teachings as designating a specific group of nations
centred upon falsehood instead of an individual, with the reference to the Dajjal as an individual indicating its unity as a class or
system rather than its personal individuality. In particular, Ahmadis identify the Dajjal collectively with the missionary expansion and
colonial dominance of European Christianity throughout the world, a development which had begun soon after the Muslim conquest
of Constantinople, with the Age of Discovery in the 15th century and accelerated by the Industrial Revolution.[20][21][22][23][24] As
with other eschatological themes,Mirza Ghulam Ahmadwrote extensively on this topic. In defining the worddajjal he wrote:

Then understand, my dear ones, that it has been disclosed to me that the reference to the Antichrist as one individual
is not designed to indicate his personal individuality, but his unity as a class, meaning thereby that in that class there
will be a unity of ideas as is, indeed, indicated by the word dajjāl itself and in this name there are many Signs for
those who reflect. The meaning of the word dajjāl is a chain of deceptive ideas, the links of which are so attached to
each other as if it was a structure of equal-sized bricks of the same colour, quality and strength, some of them firmly
[25]
overlapping others and further strengthened by being plastered from outside.

The identification of the Dajjal principally with colonial missionaries was drawn by Ghulam Ahmad through linking the hadith
traditions about him with certain Quranic passages such as, inter alia, the description in the hadith of the emergence of the Dajjal as
the greatest tribulation since the creation of Adam taken in conjunction with the Quran’s description of the deification of Jesus as the
greatest abomination; the warning only against the putative lapses of the Jews and Christians in Al-Fatiha – the principal Islamic
prayer – and the absence therein of any warning specifically against the Dajjal; a prophetic hadith which prescribed the recitation of
the opening and closing ten verses of chapter eighteen of the Quran, (Al-Kahf) as a safeguard against the mischief of the Dajjal, the
former of which speak of a people “who assign a son to God” and the latter, of those whose lives are entirely given to the pursuit and
manufacture of material goods; and the period of the Dajjal’s reign coinciding with the dominance of Christianity.[26][27] The
attributes of the Dajjal as described in the hadith literature are thus taken as symbolic representations and interpreted in a way which
would make them compatible with Quranic readings and not compromise the inimitable attributes of God in Islam. The Dajjal being
blind in his right eye while being sharp and oversized in his left, for example, is seen as indicative of being devoid of religious insight
and spiritual understanding but excellent in material and scientific attainment, with the right eye representing godliness and
spirituality, and the left eye representing worldliness.[28] Similarly, the Dajjal not entering Mecca and Medina is interpreted with
[29]
reference to the failure of colonial missionaries in reaching these two places.

The defeat of the Dajjal in Ahmadi eschatology is to occur by force of argument and by the warding off of its mischief through the
very coming of the Messiah, rather than by physical warfare;[30][31] with the Dajjal’s power and influence gradually disintegrating
and ultimately allowing for the recognition and worship of God along Islamic ideals to prevail throughout the world in a period
similar to the period of time it took for nascent Christianity to rise through the Roman Empire.[32] In particular, the teaching that
Jesus was a mortal man who survived crucifixion anddied a natural death, as propounded by Ghulam Ahmad, has been seen by some
scholars as a move to neutralise Christian soteriologies of Jesus and to project the superior rationality of Islam.[33][34][35][36] The
'gate of Lud' (Bāb al-Ludd) spoken of in the hadith literature as the site where the Dajjal is to be slain (or captured)[37] is seen, in this
context, as indicating the confutation of Christian proclaimants by way of disputation in light of the Quran (19:97), and has also been
exteriorly linked with Ludgate in London, the westernmost point where Paul of Tarsus – widely believed by Muslims to be the
principal corrupter of Jesus’ original teachings – is thought to have preached according to the Sonnini Manuscript of the Acts of the
Apostles and other ecclesiastical works predating its discovery. Upon his arrival in London in 1924, Ghulam Ahmad's son and second
Successor, Mirza Bashir-ud-Din Mahmud proceeded directly to this site and led a lengthy prayer outside the entrance of St Paul's
Cathedral before laying the foundation for amosque in London.[38][39]

Modern views
According to Ahmed Hulusi the Dajjal is not an external entity, rather he describes a part of the human mind. The Day of
Resurrection is not a global event, but something, that each person will experience for themselves. Therefore, the Dajjal is the part of
human consciousness, which claims to be God. Then a human trust his inner Dajjal, he believes to be his physical body and an
independent self, leading to bodily desires. Living in believing to be the physical form, is associated with the heaven of Dajjal, which
is actually hell, as it was stated byMuhammad.[40]

See also
Beelzebub
Belial
Hadith of Najd
Iblis
Mahdi
Kali
Sufyani
Muhammad

References
1. Oxford Dictionary of World Religions, Al-Dajjāl, p. 43.
2. The Continuum History of Apocalypticism, edited by Bernard McGinn et al, The Continuum International publishing
group Inc., 15 East 26th Street, New Y
ork, NY 10010, Published 2003,ISBN 0-8264-1520-2, 677 pages, page 387.
3. Wahiduddin Khan (2011).The Alarm of Doomsday. Goodword Books. p. 18.
 4. Hughes, Patrick T. (1996). A Dictionary of Islam (https://books.google.com/books?id=O84eYL
VHvB0C&pg=PA1&dq=
Islamic+Dictionary#PPA64,M1). Laurier Books. p. 64.ISBN 9788120606722. Retrieved 2012-04-20.
5. Sahih al-Bukhari, 3:30:105 (http://cmje.usc.edu/religious-texts/hadith/bukhari/030-sbt.php#003.030.105)
6. Bilgrami, Sayed Tahir (2005). "6". Essence of Life, A translation of Ain al-Hayat by Allama Mohammad Baqir Majlisi
.
Qum: Ansarian Publications. p. 104.
7. Sunan Abi Dawud 4321, In-book reference: Book 39, Hadith 31, English translation: Book 38, Hadith 4307
8. Sunan Abi Dawud 4294, In-book reference: Book 39, Hadith 4, English translation: Book 38, Hadith 4281, Hasan
9. Hamid, F.A. (2008). 'The Futuristic Thought of Ustaz Ashaari Muhammad of Malaysia', p. 209, in I. Abu-Rabi' (ed.)
The Blackwell Companion to Contemporary Islamic Thought(https://books.google.co.uk/books?id=Sf6HxVjOLPsC&
source=gbs_navlinks_s). Malden: Blackwell Publishing, pp.195-212
10. "Book 29, Hadith - Book of Virtues of Madinah - Sahih al-Bukhari - Sunnah.com - Sayings and eTachings of Prophet
Muhammad (‫( ")ﺻﻠﻰ اﻟﻠﻪ ﻋﻠﻴﻪ و ﺳﻠﻢ‬https://sunnah.com/bukhari/29/15). sunnah.com. Retrieved 2017-12-15.
11. Collected by Muslim ibn al-Hajjaj NishapuriSahih Muslim Sahih Muslim, 41:7007 (http://cmje.usc.edu/religious-texts/
hadith/muslim/041-smt.php#041.7007)
12. Sahih Muslim English reference: Book 41, Hadith 7028; Arabic reference: Book 55, Hadith 7573,
http://www.hadithcollection.com/sahihmuslim/169-
Sahih%20Muslim%20Book%2041.%20Turmoil%20And%20Portents%20Of%20The%20Last%20Hour/15268-sahih-
muslim-book-041-hadith-number-7028.html
13. "Anti-Christ" (http://www.discoveringislam.org/anti-christ.htm). www.discoveringislam.org. Retrieved 2017-02-14.
14. Elias, Mufti A.H. "Jesus (Isa) A.S. in Islam, and his Second Coming"(http://www.islam.tc/prophecies/jesus.html).
Islam.tc. Retrieved 2012-04-20.
15. "The descension of Sayyidena Eesa"(http://www.muslimaccess.com/eBooks/signs_of_qiyamah.asp#descension).
Muslimaccess.com. Retrieved 2012-04-20.
16. Sahih Muslim, 41:7023 (http://cmje.usc.edu/religious-texts/hadith/muslim/041-smt.php#041.7023)
17. Ali, Mohammed Ali Ibn Zubair. "Who is the evil Dajjal (the "anti-Christ")?"(http://www.islam.tc/prophecies/masdaj.htm
l). Islam.tc. Retrieved 2012-04-20.
18. Bilgrami, Sayed Tahir (2005). "6". Essence of Life, A translation of Ain al-Hayat by Allama Mohammad Baqir Majlisi
.
Qum: Ansarian Publications. p. 105.
19. al-Qarashi, Allama Baqir Sharif (2006).The Life of Imam al-Mahdi Peace Be Upon Him
. Qum: Ansarian Publications.
p. 343.
20. Glassé, Cyril; Smith, Huston (2003).The New Encyclopedia of Islam(https://books.google.co.uk/books/about/The_N
ew_Encyclopedia_of_Islam.html?id=focLrox-frUC&redir_esc=y) . Altamira Press. p. 33.ISBN 0-7591-0190-6.
21. Jonker, Gerdien (2015). The Ahmadiyya Quest for Religious Progress: Missionizing Europe 1900-1965 (https://book
s.google.co.uk/books?id=GUUpCwAAQBAJ&source=gbs_navlinks_s) . Brill Publishers. p. 77.ISBN 978-90-04-
30529-8.
22. Valentine, Simon (2008).Islam and the Ahmadiyya jamaʻat: history, belief, practice. Columbia University Press.
p. 148. ISBN 978-0-231-70094-8.
23. Malik Ghulam Farid, et al.Al-Kahf, The Holy Quran with English Translation and Commentary (http://www.alislam.or
g/quran/tafseer/?page=1479&region=E1)Vol. III, p.1479
24. Muhammad Ali. (1992)The Antichrist and Gog and Magog(http://aaiil.org/text/books/mali/gog/antichristgogmagog.p
df), Ohio: Ahmadiyya Anjuman-i Ishāʿat-i Islām
25. Tadhkirah, Translated by Muhammad Zafrullah Khan, slam
I International Publications, "Islamabad" Sheephatch
Lane, Tilford, Surrey GU10 2AQ UK, 1976,ISBN 978-1-84880-051-9, 1366 pages, p. 288
26. Mirza Ghulam Ahmad, (2005),The Essence of Islam, Vol. III (https://www.alislam.org/library/browse/book/The_Esse
nce_of_Islam/?p=3#page/279/mode/1up), Tilford: Islam International, p.290
27. Muhammad Ali. (1992)The Antichrist and Gog and Magog(http://aaiil.org/text/books/mali/gog/antichristgogmagog.p
df), Ohio: Ahmadiyya Anjuman-i Ishāʿat-i Islām, pp.12-14
28. Muhammad Ali. (1992)The Antichrist and Gog and Magog(http://aaiil.org/text/books/mali/gog/antichristgogmagog.p
df), Ohio: Ahmadiyya Anjuman-i Ishāʿat-i Islām, pp.19-20
29. Mirza Ghulam Ahmad, (2005),The Essence of Islam, Vol. III (https://www.alislam.org/library/browse/book/The_Esse
nce_of_Islam/?p=3#page/290/mode/1up), Tilford: Islam International, p.290
30. Muhammad Ali. (1992)The Antichrist and Gog and Magog(http://aaiil.org/text/books/mali/gog/antichristgogmagog.p
df), Ohio: Ahmadiyya Anjuman-i Ishāʿat-i Islām, pp.57-60
31. Mirza Masroor Ahmad, (2006).Conditions of Bai'at and Responsibilities of an Ahmadi(http://www.alislam.org/introdu
ction/conditions.pdf), Surrey: Islam International, p.184
32. Valentine, Simon (2008).Islam and the Ahmadiyya jamaʻat: history, belief, practice. Columbia University Press.
pp. 148–9. ISBN 978-0-231-70094-8.
33. Francis Robinson.‘The British Empire and the Muslim World' in Judith Brown, Wm Roger Louis (ed)The Oxford
History of the British Empire: Volume IV: The Twentieth Century. (https://books.google.com/books?id=XLvL4zh8KK4
C&printsec=frontcover&source=gbs_ge_summary_r&cad=0#v=onepage&q&f=false) Oxford University Press, 1999,
p. 411. "At their most extreme religious strategies for dealing with the Christian presence might involve attacking
Christian revelation at its heart, as did the Punjabi Muslim, Ghulam Ahmad (d. 1908), who founded the Ahmadiyya
missionary sect. He claimed that he was the messiah of the Jewish and Muslim tradition; the figure known as Jesus
of Nazareth had not died on the cross but survived to die in Kashmir ."
34. Yohanan Friedmann. Prophecy Continuous: Aspects of Ahmadi Religious Thought and its Medieval Background (htt
ps://books.google.com/books?id=rv8EAAAACAAJ&dq=Prophecy+Continuous&hl=en&sa=X&redir_esc=y) Oxford
University Press, 2003, p. 114. "He [Ghulam Ahmad] realized the centrality of the crucifixion and of the doctrine of
vicarious atonement in the Christian dogma, and understood that his attack on these two was an attack on the
innermost core of Christianity "
35. Kambiz GhaneaBassiri. A History of Islam in America: From the New World to the New World Order (https://books.g
oogle.com/books/about/A_History_of_Islam_in_America.html?id=xKsLCx2VmcwC) Cambridge University Press,
2010, p. 208. "Ghulam Ahmad denied the historicity of Jesus' crucifixion and claimed that Jesus had fled to India
where he died a natural death in Kashmir . In this way, he sought to neutralize Christian soteriologies of Christ and to
demonstrate the superior rationality of Islam."
36. Valentine, Simon (2008).Islam and the Ahmadiyya jamaʻat: history, belief, practice. Columbia University Press.
p. 21. ISBN 978-0-231-70094-8. "Proclaiming himself as reformer of Islam, and wanting to undermine the validity of
Christianity, Ahmad went for the theological jugular, the foundational teachings of the Christian faith. 'The death of
Jesus Christ' explained one of Ahmad's biographers ‘was to be the death-knell of the Christian onslaught against
Islam'. As Ahmad argued, the idea of Jesus dying in old age, rather than death on a cross, as taught by the gospel
writers, 'invalidates the divinity of Jesus and the doctrine of Atonement'."
37. 'Gate of Lud' Abul Husayn Muslim ibn al-Hajjaj Qushayri al-Nishapuri.Sahih Muslim. Of the Turmoil & Portents of the
Last Hour. No 7015
38. Geaves, Ron (2017). Islam and Britain: Muslim Mission in an Age of Empire(https://books.google.co.uk/books/abou
t/Islam_and_Britain.html?id=mMA2DwAAQBAJ&redir_esc=y) . Bloomsbury Publishing. p. 138.ISBN 978-1-4742-
7173-8.
39. Shahid, Dost Mohammad,Tarikh e Ahmadiyyat vol IV. (http://alislam.org/urdu/pdf/Tarikh-e-Ahmadiyyat-V04.pdf)
p446.
40. Ahmed Hulusi The Observing One Softcover ISBN 978-0-615-63664-1 page 48

External links
Seeing with Both Eyes, transcript of a lecture on the Dajjal by Shaykh Abdal Hakim Murad (born
Timothy Winter).
Dajjal - Who? When? Where?, translation of the Urdu bookDAJJAL by Mufti Abu Lubaba Shah Mansoor.
Dajjal and Symbolism in Akhir al-Zaman, lecture by Shaykh Imran N. Hosein.

Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Al-Masih_ad-Dajjal&oldid=844336206

"

This page was last edited on 4 June 2018, at 07:33.

Text is available under theCreative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License ; additional terms may apply. By using this
site, you agree to the Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. Wikipedia® is a registered trademark of theWikimedia
Foundation, Inc., a non-profit organization.