Who is Dajjal in Islam

The word Dajjal is taken from the Arabic “Dajjala al-beer (he smeared the camel),” referring to when they covered it with tar. 

The root dajala implies mixing. The word dajala is used to describe purposefully confounding matters and being vague and ambiguous; the Dajjal is the one who speaks in vagary and deceives a lot of the population. 

“Dajjal” is a title given to the deceitful, one-eyed, false messiah. The Dajjal is so termed because he will conceal his kufr from the people by deceiving and confounding them. 

Description of the Dajjal:

The Dajjal is also among the sons of Adam. He would have various traits described in the ahadith to familiarise people with him and warn them of his evil. 

So when he arrives, the believers will recognize him and not be fooled by him. They will identify the features the Truthful Prophet Muhammad (S.A.W) has told us about. 

These qualities will differentiate him from others so that no one will be duped by him save those uninformed and whose doom has already been decreed. We beseech Allah to keep us safe and sound. 

Attributes of the Dajjal:

He will be a young guy with a ruddy complexion, short, thick curly hair, a prominent forehead, and a broad chest, blind or defect in his right eye. This eye will look like a floating grape. 

His left eye will be surrounded by a thick chunk of flesh developing at the periphery of his vision. There will be written between his eyes “Kaf fa ra” in distinct (Arabic) letters, or “kafir”, with the letters united. This will be read by every believer Muslim, literate or ignorant. 

Another of his qualities is that he will be sterile, with no offspring. 

Hadiths about the Dajjal

Some of the sahih ahadith follow in which the traits mentioned above are discussed. These ahadees form part of the evidence about the emergence of the Dajjal :

1- From ‘Abd-Allah ibn’ Umar (R.A), who said: “The Messenger of Allah (S.A.W) said: ‘While I was asleep, I saw myself doing Tawaf of the Ka’bah, there I saw a dark man with straight hair, with water dripping from his head. I said, “Who is this?” They responded, “The son of Maryam.” Then I turned and saw a ruddy-complexioned, nicely built man with curvy hair, blind in the right eye, looking like a floating grape. I said, “Who is this?” They said, “This is the Dajjal.” ” (al-Bukhari, no. 6508). 

2- It was also related through Ibn’ Umar (R.A) that the Messenger of Allah (S.A.W) described the Dajjal to the people and said: “Allah is not one-eyed, but the Dajjal is one-eyed, blind or defective in his right eye and that eye looks like a floating grape…” (al-Bukhari, no. 3184).

Where will the Dajjal emerge?

As written in Sahih Ahadees, he will appear from Khurasan. After that, he will walk throughout the earth. Aside from Makkah and Madinah, he will leave no city without entering it.

Fatimah bint Qays (R.A) narrated what the Prophet (S.A.W) stated about Dajjal: 

“He will arise from the direction of the Syrian… (Al Muslim, no. 5228)

Abu Bakr al-Siddiq (R.A) said: “The Messenger of Allah (S.A.W) told us: “The Dajjal will arise from a place in the east named Khurasan.” (al-Tirmidhi, no. 2163). 

Places that the Dajjal can never have entrance

The Dajjal is forbidden to enter Makkah or Madinah when he arises at the end of time because of the sahih ahadith related to that effect. As far as the other areas, he will enter all the places one by one. 

In the Hadith of Fatimah bint Qays (R.A), it says: “(He will say:), ‘I almost have permission to emerge. Then I will emerge and will walk throughout the earth for 40 days, and I shall not leave any town without entering it, aside from Makkah and Madinah..'” (Narrated by Muslim, no. 5228) 

The followers of the Dajjal

Most of the adherents of the Dajjal will be from among the Jews, Persians, and Turks, and a combination of other people, especially Bedouins, and women. 

Imam Muslim related from Anas ibn Malik (R.A) that the Prophet Muhammad (S.A.W) said: “There will be seventy thousand followers of the Dajjal from among the Jews of Isfahan, wearing heavy, striped garments.” 

The fitnah of the Dajjal 

The fitnah of the Dajjal will be the biggest fitnah from the time Allah created Adam until the Hour begins. This will be because of the enormous miracles that Allah would accomplish with him, which will dazzle people’s imaginations and surprise them. 

Protection against the fitnah of the Dajjal

The Prophet (S.A.W) has educated his ummah about that which will shield them against the fitnah of the false messiah (al-Masih al-Dajjal). He left his ummah on an obvious path, and no one deviated from it except the condemned one. Allah told him many of the qualities of the Dajjal so that he may warn his ummah. The Dajjal will surely emerge within this ummah, and Muhammad (S.A.W) is the Seal of the Prophets. 

Who will murder the Dajjal?

As the sahih ahadith mention, the Dajjal will perish at the hands of the Messiah’ Isa ibn Maryam (peace be upon him). The Dajjal will arrive on earth and win many adherents. He will spread his fitnah throughout the world. No one will get away from his fitnah except a few believers. At that point, ‘Isa ibn Maryam will come down from the heavens to the eastern minaret in Damascus, and the believing slaves of Allah will gather around him.

He will lead them toward the Dajjal, who, at the time of the descending of ‘Isa ibn Maryam, will be heading for Bayt al-Maqdis (Jerusalem). ‘Isa will meet up with him at the gate of Ludd, Palestine. As soon as the Dajjal sees Isa Ibne Maryam, The Dajjal will start melting like salt in water, but ‘Isa Ibne Maryam will slay him with his spear. His followers will run, pursued by the Muslims, who will slaughter them. Trees and rocks will exclaim, ‘O Muslim, O slave of Allah, there is Jew behind me – come and kill him!” – apart from the charged. 

Hadiths about the killing of the Dajjal

There are some of the ahadith narrated about the killing of the Dajjal and his followers: 

Muslim (no. 5233) reported that ‘Abd-Allah ibn’ Amr (R.A) said: “The Messenger of Allah (S.A.W) said: ‘The Dajjal will emerge among my ummah and will stay for forty… Then Allah will send ‘Isa ibn Maryam, who looks like ‘Urwah ibn Mas’ud, and he will chase and kill him.” 

Imam Ahmad (no. 14920) and al-Tirmidhi (no. 2170) recounted that Majma’ ibn Jariyah al-Ansari (R.A) narrated: “The Messenger of Allah (S.A.W) says: ‘The son of Maryam will kill the Dajjal at the gate of Ludd.” 

When he is dead, his tremendous fitnah will end. Allah would save those who believed in his evil and his followers’ evil at the hands of ‘Isa ibn Maryam (peace be upon him) and his believing followers. Praise and blessings be to Allah.

SOURCE

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