The Signs Before the Day of Judgement
In the Name of Allâh, the Most Beneficent, the Most Merciful
Āyat and Ahadīth about the
Hour General Description of the
Fitan (Tribulations)
Divisions Within the Main Religious
Groups
The Evils Which Will Befall the Muslim
Ummah During The Last Days Greater Signs of the
Hour
The Mahdi
Trials and Tribulations
Signs and portents
The Battle with the Romans
Appearance of Dajjal
Ahadīth about the Dajjal
The Hadīth of
Fātimah bint Qays
Warning against the Dajjal
The Hadīth of
An-Nuwas ibn Sam'an al-Kilabi A Hadīth
Narrated from Abū Umamah al-Bahili A Test for
the People at the End of Time
The
Hadīth of al-Mughirah ibn Shu'bah More Ahadīth
about the Dajjal Protection
Against the Dajjal The Life and
Deeds of the Dajjal The Descent of Jesus
at the End of Time Description of the
Messiah Jesus Son of Mary, Messenger of Allah The Appearance of Gog
and Magog The Destruction of
the Ka'bah Madīnah will remain
inhabited at the time of the Dajjal The Emergence of the
Beast The rising of the Sun
from the West The Smoke which will
appear at the End of Time The Hour will not
come until ... Description of the
People who will be alive at the end of time
Āyat and Ahadīth about the Hour
(Back to Contents) Allah - subhānahu wa Ta’āla
- said: “They ask
thee about the Hour, ‘When will be its appointed time?’ Wherein art thou
(concerned) with the declaration thereof? With thy Lord is the Limit fixed
thereof. Thou art but a Warner for such as fear it. The Day they will see
it, (it will be) as if they had tarried but a single evening, or (at most
till) the following morn!” (an-Nāzi’at
79:42-46) “They ask
thee about the (final) Hour - when will be its appointed time? Say: ‘The
knowledge thereof is with my Lord (alone): none but He can reveal as to when
it will occur. Heavy were its burden through the heavens and the earth.
Only, all of a sudden will it come to you.’ They ask thee as if thou were
eager in search thereof: say: ‘The knowledge thereof is with Allah (alone),
but most men know not.’ ” (al-A‘rāf
7:187) There are many Āyat and Ahadīth
concerning this subject: Allah said: “The Hour (of
Judgement) is nigh, and the moon is cleft asunder.”
(al-Qamar 54:1) The Prophet - sallallāhu
’alayhi wa sallam - said, whilst pointing with his index and middle fingers,
“The time of my advent and the Hour are like these two
fingers.” In another report he said, “The
Hour almost came before me.” This indicates how close we are,
relatively speaking, to the Hour. Allah said:
“Closer and closer to mankind
comes their Reckoning: yet they heed not and they turn away.”
(al-Anbiyā’ 21:1) “(Inevitable)
cometh (to pass) the Command of Allah: seek, ye not then to hasten it.”
(an-Nahl 16:1) “Only those
wish to hasten it who believe not in it: those who believe hold it in awe,
and know that it is the Truth.”
(ash-Shūra 42:18) In Sahīh al-Bukhārī, there is a
Hadīth which states that a Bedouin asked the Prophet about the Hour. He said,
“It will surely come to pass. What have you prepared
for it?” The man said, “O Messenger of Allah, I have not prepared
much in the way of prayer and good works, but I love Allah and His Messenger.”
The Prophet said, “You will be with those you love.”
The Muslims had never rejoiced as much they did when they heard this Hadīth. Some Ahadīth report that the
Prophet was asked about the Hour. He looked towards a young boy and said,
“If he lives, he will not grow very old before he sees
your Last Hour coming to you.” By this he meant their death and
entering the Hereafter, because everyone who dies enters the Hereafter; some
people say that when a person has died, his Judgement has begun. This Hadīth
with this meaning is "correct" (Sahīh). Some heretics comment on this Hadīth and
give it an incorrect meaning. The exact timing of the Great Hour (as-Sā’at al-’Uzma)
is something which Allah alone knows and which He has not revealed to anyone, as
is clear from the Hadīth in which the Prophet said:
“There are five things which nobody knows except Allah;” then he
recited, “Verily the
knowledge of the Hour is with Allah (alone). It is He Who sends down rain, and
He Who knows what is in the wombs. Nor does anyone know what it is that he will
earn on the morrow: Nor does anyone know in what land he is to die. Verily with
Allah is full knowledge and He is acquainted (with all things).”
(Luqmān 31:34) When Gabriel (Jibrīl) -
’alayhis salām - came to the Prophet in the guise of a Bedouin, he asked him
about Islam, Īmān (faith) and Ihsān (excellence of faith); and the Prophet
answered his questions. But when he asked him about the Hour, he said,
“The one questioned about it knows no better than the
questioner.” Jibrīl said, “Tell me about its signs.” Then the Prophet
described them, as we shall see later when we quote this Hadīth and others in
full. Hudhayfah said:
“The Prophet stood up one day to speak to us, and told us
everything that was going to happen until the Hour, and left nothing unsaid.
Some of the listeners learnt it by heart, and some forgot it; these friends of
mine learnt it. I do not remember it completely, but sometimes it springs to
mind, just as one might remember and recognise the face of a man whom one had
forgotten, when one sees him.” (Abū Dāwūd, Muslim) Imām Ahmad reported via Abū
Nudrah that Abū Sa‘īd said: “One day the Prophet led us in praying the afternoon
prayer (Salātul-’Asr). Then he stood and addressed us until sunset. He mentioned
everything that was to happen until the Day of Resurrection, and left nothing
unsaid. Some of us remembered it, and some of us forgot it. One of the things he
said was: ‘O people, this world is full of attractive
temptations. Allah has appointed you as vicegerents (Khalīfah) in this world,
and He will see how you will act. So guard yourselves against the temptations of
this world and of women.’ Towards the end of this speech, he said,
‘The sun is about to set, and what remains of this
world, compared to what has passed, is like what remains of this day compared to
what has passed.’ ” 'Alī ibn Zayd ibn Jad’an al-Timi
narrated some Gharīb and Munkar Ahadīth - which could bring into question the
validity of this Hadīth. But there are some reports which are similar to this
Hadīth, and which were transmitted with different isnāds. Part of this Hadīth is
in Sahīh Muslim, through Abū Nudrah on the authority of Abū Sa’īd. This Hadīth
refers to something which is beyond any doubt: what remains of this world,
compared to what has passed, is very little. In spite of that, no-one can know
exactly how much time is left except Allah, and no-one can know exactly how much
time has passed, except Allah.
General Description of the Fitan (Tribulations)
(Back to Contents) Hudhayfah ibn al-Yaman said,
"People used to ask the Prophet - sallallāhu ’alayhi wa
sallam - about good things, but I used to ask him about bad things because I was
afraid that they might overtake me. I said, 'O Messenger of Allah, we were lost
in ignorance (Jahiliyyah) and evil, then Allah brought this good (i.e. Islam).
Will some evil come after this good thing?' He said,
'Yes' I asked, 'And will some good come after
that evil?' He said, 'Yes,
but it will be tainted with some evil' I asked,
'How will it be tainted?' He said, 'There will
be some people who will lead others on a path different from mine. You will see
good and bad in them." I asked, 'Will some evil
come after that good?' He said, 'Some people
will be standing and calling at the gates of Hell; whoever responds to their
call, they will throw him into the Fire.' I
said, 'O Messenger of Allah, describe them for us.' He said,
'They will be from our own people, and will speak our language.'
I asked, 'What do you advise me to do if I should live to
see that?' He said, 'Stick to the main body (jama'ah)
of the Muslims and their leader (Imām). I
asked, What if there is no main body and no leader?' He said
'Isolate yourself from all of these sects, even if you
have to eat the roots of trees until death overcomes you while you are in that
state.'" 'Abdullāh ibn Mas'ud said: "The
Prophet said, 'Islam began as something strange, and it
will revert to being strange as it was in the beginning, so good tidings for the
strangers.' Someone asked, 'Who are the strangers?' He said,
'The ones who break away from their people (literally,
'tribes') for the sake of Islam.' " This Hadīth was narrated by Ibn
Majah on the authority of Anas and Abū Hurayrah. Divisions
Within the Main Religious Groups Abū Hurayrah reported that the
Prophet - sallallāhu ’alayhi wa sallam - said: "The
Jews have split into seventy-one sects, and my Ummah will divide into
seventy-three." 'Awf ibn Malik reported that the
Prophet said: "The Jews split into seventy-one sects:
one will enter Paradise and seventy will enter Hell. The Christians split into
seventy-two sects: seventy-one will enter Hell and one will enter Paradise. By
Him in Whose hand is my soul, my Ummah will split into seventy-three sects: one
will enter Paradise and seventy-two will enter Hell." Someone asked,
"O Messenger of Allah, who will they be?" He replied,
"The main body of the Muslims (al-Jama'ah)." 'Awf ibn Malik is the
only one who reported this Hadīth, and its isnad is acceptable. Anas ibn Malik said, "I shall
tell you a Hadīth which I heard from the Messenger of Allah, and which no-one
will tell you after me. I heard him say, 'Among the
signs of the Hour will be the disappearance of knowledge and the appearance of
ignorance. Adultery will be prevalent and the drinking of wine will be common.
The number of men will decrease and the number of women will increase until
there will be fifty women to be looked after by one man.' " This
Hadīth was reported in the two Sahīhs from the Hadīth of 'Abd Rabbihi. 'Abdullāh said, "The Prophet
said, 'Just before the Hour, there will be days in
which knowledge will disappear and ignorance will appear, and there will be much
killing.' " (Ibn Majah; also narrated by al-Bukhārī and Muslim, from
the Hadīth of al-A'mash.) Hudhayfah ibn al-Yaman said, "The
Prophet said, 'Islam will become worn out like clothes
are, until there will be no-one who knows what fasting, prayer, charity and
rituals are. The Qur'ān will disappear in one night, and no Ayah will be left on
earth. Some groups of old people will be left who will say, 'We heard our
fathers saying La ilaha illa Allah, so we repeated it.' Silah asked
Hudhayfah, "What will saying La ilaha illa Allah do for them when they do not
know what prayer, fasting, ritual and charity are?" Hudhayfah ignored him; then
Silah repeated his question three times, and each time Hudayfah ignored him.
Finally he answered, "O Silah, it will save them from Hell", and said it three
times. (Ibn Majah) This indicates that in the last
days, knowledge will be taken from the people, and even the Qur'ān will
disappear from the Mushafs and from people's hearts. People will be left without
knowledge. Only the old people will tell them that they used to hear people
saying La ilaha illa Allah; and they will repeat it to feel close to Allah, so
it will give them some blessing, even if they do not have any good deeds or
beneficial knowledge. Knowledge will be taken away from men and ignorance will
increase during the last days, and their ignorance and misguidance will increase
until the end, as in the Hadīth of the Prophet: "The
Hour will not come upon anyone who says, 'Allah, Allah'; it will only come upon
the most evil of men." The Evils
Which Will Befall the Muslim Ummah During The Last Days 'Abdullāh ibn 'Umar said, "The
Prophet - sallallāhu ’alayhi wa sallam - came to us and said,
'O Muhajirun, (emigrants from Makkah to al-Madīnah) you
may be afflicted by five things; God forbid that you should live to see them. If
fornication should become widespread, you should realise that this has never
happened without new diseases befalling the people which their forebears never
suffered. If people should begin to cheat in weighing out goods, you should
realise that this has never happened without drought and famine befalling the
people, and their rulers oppressing them. If people should withhold Zakat, you
should realise that this has never happened without the rain being stopped from
falling; and were it not for the animals' sake, it would never rain again. If
people should break their covenant with Allah and His Messenger, you should
realise that his has never happened without Allah sending an enemy against them
to take some of their possessions by force. If the leaders do not govern
according to the Book of Allah, you should realise that this has never happened
without Allah making them into groups and making them fight one another.'
" (Ibn Majah). 'Alī ibn Abi Talib said, "The
Prophet said: 'If my Ummah bears fifteen traits,
tribulation will befall it.' Someone asked, 'What are they, O
Messenger of Allah?' He said, 'When any gain is shared
out only among the rich, with no benefit to the poor; when a trust becomes a
means of making a profit; when paying Zakat becomes a burden; when a man obeys
his wife and disobeys his mother; and treats his friend kindly whilst shunning
his father; when voices are raised in the mosques; when the leader of a people
is the worst of them; when people treat a man with respect because they fear
some evil he may do; when much wine is drunk; when men wear silk; when female
singers and musical instruments become popular; when the last ones of this Ummah
curse the first ones - then let them expect a red wind, or the earth to swallow
them, or to be transformed into animals.'" (at-Tirmidhī) 'Alī ibn Abi Talib said,
"The Prophet led us in praying Salat al-Fajr (the
morning prayer). When he had finished, a man called to him: 'When will the Hour
be? The Prophet reprimanded him and said 'Be quiet!' After a while he raised his
eyes to the sky and said, 'Glorified be the One Who raised it and is taking care
of it.' Then he lowered his gaze to the earth and said, 'Glory be to the One Who
has outspread it and has created it.' Then the Prophet said, 'Where is the one
who asked me about the Hour?' The man knelt down and said, 'I asked you.' The
Prophet said, 'The Hour will come when leaders are oppressors, when people
believe in the stars and reject al-Qadar (the Divine Decree of destiny) when a
trust becomes a way of making a profit, when people give to charity (Sadaqah)
reluctantly, when adultery becomes widespread - when this happens, then your
people will perish.'" 'Imran ibn Husayn said, "The
Prophet said, 'Some people of this Ummah will be
swallowed up by the earth, some will be transformed into animals, and some will
be bombarded with stones.' One of the Muslims asked, 'When will that
be, O Messenger of Allah?' He said, 'When singers and
musical instruments will become popular, and much wine will be drunk.'"
(Narrated by at-Tirmidhī) [Note: "The main body of the
Muslims (al-Jama'ah) means the people of the Qur'ān, Hadīth, Fiqh and other
sciences, who have agreed to follow the Traditions of the Prophet in all
circumstances without introducing any changes or imposing their own confused
ideas.] AFTER the lesser signs of the
Hour appear and increase, mankind will have reached a stage of great suffering.
Then the awaited Mahdi will appear; he is the first of the greater, and clear,
signs of the Hour. There will be no doubt about his existence, but this will
only be clear to the knowledgeable people. The Mahdi will rule until the False
Messiah (al-Masih al-Dajjal) appears, who will spread oppression and corruption.
The only ones who will know him well and avoid his evil will be those who have
great knowledge and īmān (faith). The false Messiah will remain for
a while, destroying mankind completely, and the earth will witness the greatest
Fitnah (tribulation) in its history. Then the Messiah Jesus (alayhe sallam) will
descend, bringing justice from heaven. He will kill the Dajjal, and there will
be years of safety and security. Then the appearance of Yajuj and
Majuj (Gog and Magog) will take mankind by surprise, and corruption will
overtake them again. In answer to Jesus faithful prayer to Allah (Subhanahu wa
Taala), they will die, and safety, security, justice and stability will return. This state of affairs will
continue for some years, until the death of Jesus. The Ulama differ concerning
the order in which the other greater signs of the Hour will come about. They
are: The destruction of the Ka'bah
and the recovery of its treasure. The rising of the sun from
the west. The emergence of the Beast
from the earth. The smoke. A wind will take the souls of
the believers. The Qur'ān will be taken up
into heaven. A fire will drive the people
to their last gathering place. The Trumpet will be sounded:
at the first sound everyone will feel terror; at the second sound all will
be struck down; at the last sound all will be resurrected. The Mahdi THE Mahdi will come at the end of
time; he is one of the Rightly-Guided Caliphs and Imāms. He is not the Mahdi who
is expected by the Shiah, who they claim will appear from a tunnel in Samarra.
This claim of theirs has no basis in reality nor in any reliable source. They
allege that his name is Muhammad ibn al-Hasan ibn al-Askari, and that he went
into the tunnel when he was five years old. The matter we intend to discuss has
been proven by Ahadīth narrated from the Prophet - sallallāhu ’alayhi wa sallam
-: that the Mahdi will appear at the end of time. I believe that he will appear
before Jesus the son of Mary comes down, as the Ahadīth indicate. Hajjaj said that he heard 'Alī
say, The Prophet said, "Even if there were only one day
left for the world, Allah would send a man from among us to fill the world with
justice, just as it had been filled with oppression and justice."
(Ahmad). 'Alī said, The Prophet said,
"The Mahdi is one of us, from among the people of my
household. In one night Allah will inspire him and prepare him to carry out his
task successfully." (Ahmad and Ibn Majah.) 'Alī said, whilst looking at his
son al-Hasan, This son of mine is a Sayyid (master), as the Prophet named him.
Among his descendants there will be man named after your Prophet. He will
resemble him in behaviour but not in looks. Then he told them the report which
mentions that the earth will be filled with justice. (Abū Dāwūd) Abū Dāwūd devoted a chapter of
his Sunan to the subject of the Mahdi. At the beginning of this chapter he
quoted the Hadīth of Jabir ibn Samrah, in which the Prophet said,
"This religion will remain steadfast until twelve
caliphs have ruled over you." (According to another report he said,
"This religion will remain strong until twelve caliphs
have ruled over you.") Jabir said, The people cheered
and shouted Allāhu akbar! Then the Prophet whispered something. I asked my
father What did he say? My father said, He said, All of
them will be from Quraysh. Another report says that when the Prophet
returned to his house, Quraysh came to him and asked, What will happen after
that? He said, Then there will be tribulation and
killing. Abū Dāwūd reported a Hadīth from
'Abdullāh ibn Masud: The Prophet said, "If there were
only one day left for the world, that day would be lengthened until a man from
among my descendants or from among the people of my household, was sent; his
name will be the same as my name, and his fathers name will be the same as my
fathers name. He will fill the earth with justice and fairness, just as it will
have been filled with injustice and oppression. The world will not end until a
man of my household, whose name is the same as mine, holds away." 'Abdullāh said, The Prophet said,
"A man from my household, whose name is like mine, will
take power." (at-Tirmidhī.) In another report, from Abū Hurayrah, the
Prophet said, "If there were only one day left for this
world, Allah would lengthen it until he took power." Abū Said said,
The Prophet said, "The Mahdi will be one of my
descendants; he will have a high forehead and a hooked nose. He will fill the
earth with justice and fairness just as it was filled with injustice and
oppression, and he will rule for seven years. (Abū Dāwūd) Umm Salamah reported that the
Prophet said, "People will begin to differ after the
death of a Khalifah. A man from the people of Madīnah will flee to Makkah. Some
of the people of Makkah will come to him and drag him out against his will; they
will swear allegiance to him between al-Rukn and al-Maqam. An army will be sent
against him from Syria; it will be swallowed up in the desert between Makkah and
Madīnah. When the people see this, groups of people from Syria and Iraq will
come and swear allegiance to him. Then a man from Quraysh whose mother is from
Kalb will appear and send an army against them, and will defeat them; this will
be known as the Battle of Kalb. Whoever does not witness the spoils of this
battle will miss much! The Mahdi will distribute the wealth, and will rule the
people according to the Sunnah of the Prophet. Then he will die, and the Muslims
will pray for him." (Abū Dāwūd) 'Alī said, The Prophet said,
"A man named al-Harith ibn Hirath will come from
Transoxania. His army will be led by a man named Mansur. He will pave the way
for and establish the government of the family of Muhammad, just as Quraysh
established the government of the Messenger of Allah. Every believer will be
obliged to support him." (Abū Dāwūd) 'Abdullāh ibn al-Harith ibn Juz
al-Zubaydi said, The Prophet said, A people will come
out of the East who will pave the way for the Mahdi. (Ibn Majah.) 'Abdullāh said, Whilst we were
with the Prophet, some young men from Banu Hashim approached us. When the
Prophet saw them, his eyes filled with tears and the colour of his face changed.
I said, We can see something has changed in your face, and it upsets us. The
Prophet said, "We are the people of a Household for
whom Allah has chosen the Hereafter rather than this world. The people of my
Household (Ahl al-Bayt) will suffer a great deal after my death, and will be
persecuted until a people carrying black banners will come out of the east. They
will instruct the people to do good, but the people will refuse; they will fight
until they are victorious, and the people do as they asked, but they will not
accept it from them until they hand over power to a man from my household. Then
the earth will be filled with fairness, just as it had been filled with
injustice. If any of you live to see this, you should go to him even if you have
to crawl across ice." This text refers to the rule of
the Abbasids, as we have mentioned above in the text referring to the beginning
of their rule in 132 AH. It also indicates that the Mahdi will appear after the
Abbasids, and that he will be one of the Ahl al-Bayt, a descendant of Fatimah,
the daughter of the Prophet, through Hasan, not Husayn, as mentioned in the
Hadīth from 'Alī ibn Abi Talib; and Allah knows best. Thwaban said, The Prophet said,
"Three men will be killed at the place where your
treasure is. Each of them will be the son of a Khalifah, and none of them will
get hold of the treasure. Then the black banners will come out of the East, and
they will slaughter you in a way which has never been seen before. Then he said
something which I do not remember; then, If you see him, go and give him your
allegiance, even if you have to crawl over ice, because he is the Khalifah of
Allah, the Mahdi." (Ibn Majah.) The treasure referred to in this
text is the treasure of the Ka'bah. Towards the end of time, three of the sons
of the Khalifahs will fight to get hold of it, until the Mahdi appears. He will
appear from the East, not from the tunnel of Samarra, as the Shiah claim; they
believe that he is in this tunnel now, and they are waiting for him to emerge at
the end of time. There is no evidence for it in any book or Saheeh tradition,
and there is no benefit in believing this. The truth of the matter is that
the Mahdi whose coming is promised at the end of time will appear from the East,
and people will swear allegiance to him at the Ka'bah, as some Ahadīth indicate.
At the time of the Mahdi, there will be peace and prosperity, with Abūndant
crops and wealth, strong rulers, and Islam will be well-established. Abū Said said,
By Allah every ruler we have had has been worse than the
previous one, and every year has been worse than the year before, but I heard
the Prophet say, Among your rulers will be one who will give out wealth freely,
without counting it. A man will come and ask him for money, and he will say
take; the man will spread his cloak out and the ruler will pour money into it.
The Prophet spread out a thick cloak he had been wearing, to demonstrate the
mans actions; then he gathered it up by its corners and said, Then the man will
take it and leave. (Ahmad)
Trials and Tribulations Zaynab bint Jahsh said, The
Prophet (sallallāhu ’alayhi wa sallam) got up from his sleep; his face was
flushed and he said, "There is no god but Allah. Woe to
the Arabs, for a great evil which is nearly approaching them. Today a gap has
been made in the wall of Gog and Magog like this (Sufyan illustrated this by
forming the number of 90 or 100 with his fingers)." Someone asked,
"Shall we be destroyed even though there are righteous people among us?" The
Prophet said, "Yes, if evil increases."
(al-Bukhārī). Umm Salamah, the wife of the
Prophet said, One night the Prophet got up and said,
"Subhan Allah! How many tribulations have come down tonight, and how many
treasures have been disclosed! Go and wake the dwellers of these apartments (i e
his wives) for prayer. A well-dressed soul in this world may be naked in the
Hereafter." (al-Bukhārī) Usamah ibn Zayd said, Once the
Prophet stood over one of the battlements of al-Madīnah and asked the people,
"Do you see what I see?" They said, "No." He
said, "I see afflictions falling upon your houses as
raindrops fall." (al-Bukhārī, Muslim.) Abū Hurayrah (radiAllāhu anhu)
said, The Prophet said, "Time will pass rapidly,
knowledge will decrease, miserliness will become widespread in peoples hearts,
afflictions will appear, and there will be much Harj." The people
asked, "O Messenger of Allah, what is Harj?" He said,
"Killing, killing!" (al-Bukhārī) Al-Zubayr ibn Adi narrated, We
went to Anas ibn Malik and complained about the wrong we were suffering at the
hands of al-Hajjaj. Anas ibn Malik said,
"Be patient, For no time will come but that the time
following it will be worse, until you meet your Lord. I heard the Prophet say
that." (al-Bukhārī) Abū Hurayrah said, The Prophet
said, "There will come a time of afflictions when one
who sits will be better than one who stands; one who stands will be better than
one who walks; and one who walks will be better than one who runs. Whoever
exposes himself to these afflictions, they will destroy him. So whoever can find
a place of protection or refuge from them, should take shelter in it."
(al-Bukhārī and Muslim.) Hudhayfah said,
"The Prophet told us two Hadīth, one of which I have seen
fulfilled, and I am waiting for the fulfilment of the other. The Prophet told us
that honesty came down into mens hearts (from Allah); then they learnt it from
the Qur'ān, and then from the Sunnah. The Prophet told us that honesty would be
taken away. He said, Man will be overtaken by sleep, during which honesty will
be taken away from his heart, and only its trace will remain, like traces of a
dark spot. Then man will be overtaken by slumber again, during which honesty
will decrease still further, until its trace will resemble a blister such as is
caused when an ember is dropped onto ones foot: it swells, but there is nothing
inside. People will be carrying on with their trade, but there will hardly be
any trustworthy persons. People will say, There is an honest man in
such-and-such a tribe. Later they will say about some man, What a wise, polite
and strong man he is! - although he will not have faith even the size of a
mustard-seed in his heart. Indeed, there came a time when I did not mind dealing
with any one of you, for if he were a Muslim his Islam would compel him to pay
whatever he owed me, and if he were a Christian, the Muslim official would
compel him to pay it. But now I do not deal with anyone except so-and-so and
so-and-so." (al-Bukhārī) Ibn Umar said, The Prophet stood
beside the pulpit, facing the east, and said,
"Afflictions will verily emerge from here, where the top of Satans head will
appear." (al-Bukhārī) Abū Hurayrah said that he had
heard the Prophet say, "The Hour will not come until a
man passes by someone's grave and says, Would that I were in his place!"
(al-Bukhārī) Abū Hurayrah said, I heard the
Prophet say, "The Hour will not come until the buttocks
of the women of Daws* move whist going around Dhu l-Khalasah." Dhu
l-Khalasah was an idol worshipped by the tribe of Daws during the Jahiliyyah.
(Hadīth from al-Bukhārī) Abū Hurayrah also said, The
Prophet said, "The Euphrates will disclose a golden
treasure. Whoever is present at that time should not take anything of it."
Abū Hurayrah said, The Prophet said, "The Hour will not
come before the Euphrates uncovers a mountain of gold, for which people will
fight. Ninety-nine out of every hundred will die, but every one among them will
say that perhaps he will be the one who will survive (and thus possess the
gold)." (Muslim.) Abū Hurayrah said, The Prophet
said, "The Hour will not come until the following
events have come to pass: two large groups will fight the another, and there
will be many casualties; they will both be following the same religious
teaching. Nearly thirty Dajjals will appear, each of them falsely claiming to be
a Messenger from Allah. Knowledge will disappear, earthquakes will increase,
time will pass quickly, afflictions will appear, and Harj (ie killing) will
increase. Wealth will increase, so that a wealthy man will worry lest no-one
accept his Zakat, and when he offers it to anyone, that person will say, I am
not in need of it. People will compete in constructing high buildings. When a
man passes by someones grave, he will say, Would that I were in his place! The
sun will rise from the west; when it rises and the people see it, they will
believe, but, "No good will it do to a soul
to believe in them then, if it believed not before nor earned righteousness
through its faith..." (Al-Anam 6:158) The
Hour will come suddenly: when a man has milked his she-camel and taken away the
milk, but he will not have time to drink it; before a man repairing a tank for
his livestock will be able to put water in it for his animals; and before a man
who has raised a morsel of food to his mouth will be able to eat it."
(al-Bukhārī) Hudhayfah ibn al-Yaman said,
"Of all the people, I know most about every tribulation which is going to happen
between now and the Hour. This is not because the Prophet told me something in
confidence which he did not tell anyone else; it is because I was present among
a group of people to whom he spoke about the tribulations (al-Fitan). The
Prophet mentioned three tribulations which would hardly spare anybody, and some
which would be like storms in summer; some would be great and some would be
small. Everyone who was present at that gathering has passed away, except me."
(Muslim.) Abū Hurayrah said, I heard the
Prophet say, "If you live for a while, you will see
people go out under the wrath of Allah and come back under His curse, and they
will have in their hands whips like the tail of an ox." (Ahmad,
Muslim.) Abū Hurayrah said, The Prophet
said, "There are two types among the people of Hell
whom I have not yet seen. The first are people who have whips like the tails of
oxen, with which they beat people, and the second are women who are naked in
spite of being dressed; they will be led astray and will lead others astray, and
their heads will look like camels humps. These women will not enter Paradise;
they will not even experience the faintest scent of it, even though the
fragrance of Paradise can be perceived from such a great distance." Anas ibn Malik said, The Prophet
was asked, "O Messenger of Allah, (what will happen)
when we stop enjoining good and forbidding evil?" He said,
"When what happened to the Israelites happens among
you: when fornication becomes widespread among your leaders, knowledge is in the
hands of the lowest of you, and power passes into the hands of the least of
you." (Ibn Majah.) Abū Hurayrah said, The Prophet
said, "Woe to the Arabs from the great evil which is
nearly approaching them: it will be like patches of dark night. A man will wake
up as a believer, and be a kafir (unbeliever) by nightfall. People will sell
their religion for a small amount of worldly goods. The one who clings to his
religion on that day will be as one who is grasping an ember - or thorns."
(Ahmad) Abū Hurayrah said, I heard the
Prophet saying to Thawban, "O Thawban, what will you do
when the nations call one another to invade you as people call one another to
come and eat from one bowl?" Thawban said, May my father and my
mother be sacrificed for you. O Messenger of Allah! Is it because we are so few
The Prophet said, "No, on that day you (Muslims) will
be many, but Allah will put weakness (wahn) in your hearts." The
people asked, What is that weakness, O Messenger of Allah? He said,
"It is love for this world and dislike of fighting."
(Ahmad) The Prophet said,
"There will be a tribulation in which one who is
sleeping will be better than one who is lying down, one who is lying will be
better than one who is sitting, one who is sitting will be better than on who is
standing, one who is standing will be better than one who is walking, one who is
walking will be better than one who is riding, and one who is riding will be
better than one who is running; all of their dead will be in Hell."
The Companion of the Prophet who narrated this Hadīth said, O Messenger of
Allah, when will that be? He said, "That will be the
days of Harj." He asked, When will the days of Harj be? The Prophet
said, "When a man will not trust the person to whom he
is speaking." The Companion asked, What do you advise me to do if I
live to see that? He said, "Restrain yourself, and go
back to your place of residence." The Companion then asked, O
Messenger of Allah, what should I do if someone enters my neighbourhood to
attack me? He said, "Go into your house."
The Companion asked, What if he enters my house? He said,
"Go into the place where you pray and do this - and he
folded his arms, - and say My Lord is Allah, until you die." Abū Bakrah said, The Prophet
said, "There will be a tribulation during which one who
is lying down will be better than one who is sitting, one who is sitting will be
better than one who is standing, one who is standing will be better than one who
is walking, and one who is walking will be better than one who is running."
Someone asked, O Messenger of Allah, what do you advise me to do? He said,
"Whoever has camels, let him stay with them, and
whoever has land, let him stay in his land." Someone asked, What
about someone who does not have anything like that? He said,
"Then let him take his sword and strike its edge
against a stone, then go as far away as possible." (Abū Dāwūd;
similar Hadīth in Muslim.) At the time of the Fitnah of
Uthman ibn Affans Khilafah (Caliphate), Sad ibn Abi Waqqas said, I bear witness
that the Prophet said, "There will come a tribulation
during which one who sits will be better than one who stands, one who stands
will be better than one who walks, and one who walks will be better than one who
runs." Someone asked, What do you advise if someone enters my house
to kill me? He said, "Be like the son of Adam (ie
resign yourself)." (Muslim, at-Tirmidhī.) Abū Musa al-Ashari said, The
Prophet said, "Before the Hour comes, there will be a
tribulation like patches of dark night. A man will get up a believer and go to
sleep a kafir, or will go to sleep a believer and get up a kafir. The one who
sits will be better than one who stands, and one who walks will be better than
one who runs. Break your bows, cut their strings, and strike your swords against
stones. If someone comes to kill any of you, then be like the better of the two
sons of Adam." (Abū Dāwūd) Abū Dharr said, The Prophet was
riding a donkey and sat me behind him. He said, "O Abū
Dharr, if the people were suffering from such severe hunger that you could not
even get up from your bed to go to the mosque, what would you do?" I
said, Allah and His Messenger know best. He said, "Be
decent and restrain yourself." Then he said,
"O Abū Dharr, if the people were suffering from severe death (i e if a man
were worth no more than a grave), what would you do? If the people were killing
one another, until Hajarat al-Zayt (an area of Madīnah) were submerged in blood,
what would you do?" I said, Allah and His Messenger know best. He
said, "Stay in your house and lock the door."
I asked, What if I am not left alone? He said, "Then be
one of them." I said, Should I take up my sword? He said,
"If you did that, you would be joining them in their
activities. No - if you fear that the brightness of the shining sword will
disturb you, then cover your face with part of your clothing, and let him carry
his own sin and your sin." (Ahmad) 'Abdullāh ibn Amr said, We were
on a journey with the Prophet...When the Prophet's caller called for prayer, I
went there. The Prophet was addressing the people, saying:
"O people, it has been the duty of every Prophet before me
to guide his people to whatever he knew was good for them, and to warn them
against whatever he knew was bad for them, but this Ummah has its time of peace
and security at the beginning; at the end of its existence it will suffer trials
and tribulations, one after the other. Tribulation will come, and the believer
will say, This will finish me, but it will pass. Another tribulation will come,
and he will say, This is it, but it will pass, and a third will come and go
likewise. Whoever wishes to be rescued from Hell, and enter Paradise, let him
die believing in Allah and the Last Day, and treat the people as he himself
wishes to be treated. If anyone gives allegiance to an Imām, then let him obey
him if he can (or on one occasion he said: as much as you can)." Abd al-Rahman (one of the
narrators of this Hadīth) said, When I heard that, I put my head between my
knees and said, But your cousin Muawiyah is ordering us to squander our wealth
among ourselves in vanity, and to kill each other, although Allah has said,
"O ye who believe! Squander not your wealth among
yourselves in vanity..." (Al-Nisa 4:29) 'Abdullāh (another narrator) put
his head in his hands and paused awhile, then he raised his head and said,
"Obey him in that which is obedience to Allah and disobey
that which is disobedience to Allah." I asked him, Did you hear that from
the Prophet? He said, "Yes, I heard it with my ears and
understood it in my heart." (Ahmad, Abū Dāwūd, al-Nasai, Ibn Majah.) 'Abdullāh ibn Amr said, I heard
the Prophet say, "If you see my Ummah fearing a tyrant so much that they dare
not tell him that he is a tyrant, then there will be no hope for them." The
Prophet said, "Among my Ummah, some will be swallowed up by the earth, some
bombarded with stones, and some transformed into animals." (Ahmad). FOOTNOTE: Daws: a tribe in Yemen;
Dhul-Khalasah: a house full of idols - it is so called because they believed
that whoever worshipped it or went around it would be purified (khallasa).
This Hadīth means that the tribe of Daws will become apostates from Islam
and will go back to idol worshipping; even their women will exert themselves
in worshipping the idol and running around it, so that their flesh will
quiver. Signs and
portents Abd'Allāh ibn 'Amr said, "I went
to the Prophet (peace be upon him) one day whilst he was performing Wudu'
(ablution) slowly and carefully. He raised his head, looked at me and said,
'Six things will happen to this Ummah: the death of your Prophet -
'and when I heard that I was aghast,' - this is the
first. The second is that your wealth will increase so much that if a man were
given ten thousand, he would still not be content with it. The third is that
tribulation will enter the house of every one of you. The fourth is that sudden
death will be widespread. The fifth is a peace-treaty between you and the
Romans: they will gather troops against you for nine months - like a woman's
period of childbearing - then they will be the first to break the treaty. The
sixth is the conquest of a city.' I asked, 'O Messenger of Allah,
which city?' He said, 'Constantinople.' "
(Ahmad) Abū Hurayrah said, "The Prophet
said, 'Hasten to do good deeds before six things
happen: the rising of the sun from the West, the smoke, the Dajjal, the beast,
the (death) of one of you, or general tribulation.' " (Ahmad,
Muslim.) Hudhayfah ibn 'Ubayd said,
"The Prophet came upon us whilst, we were busy in
discussion He asked us, 'What are you talking about?' We said, 'We are
discussing the Hour.' He said, 'It will not come until you see ten signs: the
smoke, the Dajjal, the beast, the sun rising from the West, the descent of Jesus
son of Mary, Gog and Magog, and three land-slides - one in the East, one in the
West, and one in Arabia, at the end of which fire will burst forth from the
direction of Aden (Yemen) and drive people to the place of their final
assembly.' " (Ahmad) THE
BATTLE WITH THE ROMANS: After the battle with the Romans,
which ended with the conquest of Constantinople, the Dajjal will appear, and
Jesus son of Mary will descend from Heaven to the earth, to the white minaret in
the east of Damascus, at the time of Salat al-Fajr (the morning prayer), as we
shall see in the Saheeh Traditions. Dhu Mukhammar said, "The Prophet
(pbuh) said, 'You will make a peace-treaty with the
Romans, and together you will invade an enemy beyond Rome. You will be
victorious and take much booty. Then you will camp in a hilly pasture; one of
the Roman men will come and raise a cross and say "Victory to the Cross", so one
of the Muslims will come and kill him. Then the Romans will break the treaty,
and there will be a battle. They will gather an army against you and come
against you with eighty banners, each banner followed by 10,000 men.' "
(Ahmad, Abū Dāwūd, Ibn Majah.) Yusayr ibn Jabir said, "Once
there was a red storm in Kufah. A man came who had nothing to say except, 'O
'Abdullāh ibn Mas'ud, has the Hour come?" 'Abdullāh was sitting reclining
against something, and said, 'The Hour will not come until
people will not divide inheritance, nor rejoice over booty.' Pointing
towards Syria, he said. 'An enemy will gather forces
against the Muslims and the Muslims will gather forces against them.' I
asked, 'Do you mean the Romans?' He said, 'Yes. At that
time there will be very heavy fighting. The Muslims will prepare a detachment to
fight to the death; they will not return unless they are victorious. They will
fight until night intervenes. Both sides will return without being victorious;
then many will be killed on both sides. On the fourth day, the Muslims who are
left will return to the fight, and Allah will cause the enemy to be routed.
There will be a battle the like of which has never been seen, so that even if a
bird were to pass their ranks, it would fall down dead before it reached the end
of them. Out of a family of one hundred, only one man will survive, so how could
he enjoy the booty or divide any inheritance? While they are in this state, they
will hear of an even worse calamity. A cry will reach them: "The Dajjal has
taken your place among your offspring." So they will throw away whatever is in
their hands and go forward, sending 10 horsemen as a scouting party. The Prophet
said, 'I know their names, and the names of
their fathers, and the colours of their horses. They will be the best horsemen
on the face of the earth on that day.' "
(Ahmad, Muslim). Abū Hurayrah said, "The Prophet
said, 'The Hour will not come until the Romans camp at
al-A'mash or Dabiq. An army, composed of the best people on earth at that time,
will come out from Madīnah to meet them. When they have arranged themselves in
ranks, the Romans will say, 'Do not stand between us and those who took
prisoners from amongst us. Let us fight with them.' One-third will run away, and
Allah will never forgive them. One-third will be killed, and they will be the
best of martyrs in Allāh's sight. One-third, who will never be subjected to
trials or tribulations, will win, and will conquer Constantinople. Whilst they
are sharing out the booty, after hanging their swords on the olive-trees, Satan
will shout to them that the Dajjal has taken their place among their families.
When they come to Syria, the Dajjal will appear, while they are preparing for
battle and drawing up the ranks. When the time for prayer comes, Jesus the son
of Mary will descend and lead them in prayer. When the enemy of Allah (i.e. the
Dajjal) sees him, he will start to dissolve like salt in water, but Allah will
kill him.' " (Muslim.) The Prophet said,
"The Hour will not come until the furthest border of
the Muslims will be in Bula." Then he said,
"O 'Alī!" 'Alī said, "May my father and mother be sacrificed for
you!" The Prophet said, "You will fight the Romans, and
those who come after you will fight them, until the best people among the
Muslims, the people of al-Hijaz, will go out to fight them, fearing nothing but
Allah. They will conquer Constantinople with Tasbih and Takbir (saying "Subhan
Allah" and "Allāhu Akbar"), and they will obtain booty the like of which has
never been seen - they will share it out by scooping it up with their sheilds.
Someone will come and say, 'The Dajjal has appeared in your land', but he will
be lying. Anyone who takes notice of him will regret it, and anyone who ignores
him will regret it." (Ibn Majah.) Nafi' ibn 'Utbah said, "The
Prophet said, 'You will attack Arabia, and Allah will
enable you to conquer it. Then you will attack Persia, and Allah will enable you
to conquer it. Then you will attack Rome, and Allah will enable you to conquer
it. Then you will attack the Dajjal, and Allah will enable you to conquer him.'
" (Muslim) When Mustawrid al-Qurashi was
sitting with 'Amr ibn al-'As, he said, "I heard the Prophet say,
'The Hour will come when the Romans will be in the
majority.' 'Amr asked him, "What are you
saying?" He said, "I am repeating that which I heard from the Prophet." 'Amr
said, "If you say this, it is true, because they have four good characteristics:
they are the most able to cope with tribulation, the quickest to recover after
disaster and to return to the fight after disaster, and are the best as far as
treating the poor, weak and orphans is concerned. They have a fifth
characteristic which is very good; they do not allow themselves to be oppressed
by their kings." The Prophet said, "You will
fight the Romans, and Believers from the Hijaz will fight them after you, until
Allah enables them to conquer Constantinople and Rome with Tasbih and Takbir
("Subhan Allah" and "Allāhu Akbar"). Its fortifications will collapse, and they
will obtain booty the like of which has never been seen, so that they will share
it out by scooping it up with their shields. Then someone will cry, 'O Muslims!
the Dajjal is in your country, with your families', and the people will leave
the wealth. Anyone who takes notice will regret it and anyone who ignores it
will regret it. They will ask, 'Who shouted?' but they will not know who he is.
They will say, you will hear about his deeds.' So they will go and see, and if
they see that everything is normal, they will say, 'No-one would give a shout
like that for no reason, so let us go together to Ilya'.' If we find the Dajjal
there we will fight him together, until Allah decides between us and him. If we
do not find the Dajjal, we will go back to our country and our families.' " Mu'adh ibn Jabal said, "The
Prophet said, 'The building of Bayt al-Maqdis (in
Jerusalem) will be followed by the destruction of Yathrib (Madīnah), which will
be followed by the conquest of Constantinople, which will be followed by the
appearance of the Dajjal.' Then he put his
hand on the thigh or the shoulder of the one with whom he was speaking (i.e.
Mu'adh), and said, 'This is as true as the fact that you are here (or as true as
you are sitting here).' " This does not mean that Madīnah
will be destroyed completely before the appearance of the Day, but that will
happen at the end of time, as we shall see in some authentic Ahadīth. But the
building of Bayt al-Maqdis will be the cause of the destruction of Madīnah, as
it was proven in the Hadīth that the Dajjal will not be able to enter Madīnah.
He will be prevented from doing so because it is surrounded by angles bearing
unsheathed swords. Abū Hurayrah said, "The Prophet said about Madīnah:
'Neither plague nor the Dajjal can enter it.'
" (al-Bukhārī)
Appearance of Dajjal First of all, we will quote the
reports which mention the liars and "dajjals" who will precede the coming off
the Dajjal, or Antichrist, who will be the last of them; may Allah curse them
and punish them with Hell-fire. Jabir ibn Samurah said, "I heard
the Prophet say, 'Just before the Hour there will be
many liars.'" Jabir said, "Be on your guard against them." (Muslim). Jabir said, "I heard the Prophet
say, 'Just before the Hour there will be many liars;
among them is the one in al-Yamamah, the 'Ansi in San'a', the one in Himyar, and
the Dajjal. This will be the greatest fitnah.''' (Ahmad) Abū Hurayrah said, "The Prophet
said, "The Hour will not come ... until nearly 30
"dajjals" (liars) appear, each one claiming to be a messenger from Allah.'"
(al-Bukhārī Muslim.) Abū Hurayrah said, "The Prophet
said, 'The Hour will not come until 30 "dajjals"
appear, each of them claiming to be a messenger from Allah, wealth increases,
tribulations appear and al-Harj increases.'" Someone asked, 'What is al-Harj?'
He said, 'Killing, killing.' (Ahmad) Abū Hurayrah said, "The Prophet
said, 'The Hour will not come until 30 "dajjals"
appear, all of them lying about Allah and His Messenger." (Abū Dāwūd) Abū Hurayrah said, "The Prophet
said, 'Just before the Hour, there will be 30
"dajjals", each of whom will say, I am a Prophet.'" (Ahmad) Abū Hurayrah said, "The Prophet
said, 'There will be "dajjals" and liars among my
Ummah. They will tell you something new, which neither you nor your forefathers
have heard. Be on your guard against them, and do not let them lead you astray.'"
(Ahmad) Thawban said, "The Prophet said,
'There will be 30 liars among my Ummah. Each one will
claim that he is a prophet; but I am the last of the Prophets (Seal of the
Prophets), and there will be no Prophet after me.'" (Ahmad) The Prophet said,
"Verily before the Day of Resurrection there will
appear the Dajjal, and 30 or more liars." (Ahmad) Ibn 'Umar said, "I heard the
Prophet say, 'Among my Ummah there will be more than 70
callers, each of whom will be calling people to Hell-fire. If I wished, I could
tell you their names and tribes.'" Abū Bakrah said,
"The people spoke a great deal against Musaylimah
before the Prophet said anything about him. Then the Prophet got up to give a
speech and said: '...as for this man about whom you have spoken so much - he is
one of the 30 liars who will appear before the Hour, and there is no town which
will not feel the fear of the Antichrist.'" (Ahmad) In another version of this
report, the Prophet said, "He is one of the 30 liars
who will appear before the Dajjal. There is no town which will escape the fear
of the Dajjal, apart from Madīnah. At that time there will be two angels at
every entrance of Madīnah, warding off the fear of the Antichrist."
Anas ibn Malik said, "The Prophet said, 'The time of
the Dajjal will be years of confusion. People will believe a liar, and
disbelieve one who tells the truth. People will distrust one who is trustworthy,
and trust one who is treacherous; and the Ruwaybidah will have a say.'
Someone asked, 'Who are the Ruwaybidah?' He said,
'Those who rebel against Allah and will have a say in general affairs.'"
(Ahmad) Ahadīth
about the Dajjal 'Abdullāh ibn 'Umar said, "'Umar
ibn al-Khattab went along with the Prophet and a group of people to Ibn Sayyad,
and found him playing with some children near the battlement of Banu Maghalah.
At that time Ibn Sayyad was on the threshold of adolescence; he did not realise
that anybody was near until the Prophet struck him on the back. The Prophet (S)
said to him: 'Do you bear witness than I am the
Messenger of Allah?' Ibn Sayyad looked at him and said, 'I bear
witness that you are the Prophet of the unlettered.' Then Ibn Sayyad said to the
Prophet, 'Do you bear witness that I am the Messenger of Allah?' The Prophet
dismissed this and said, 'I believe in Allah and His Messengers.' Then the
Prophet asked him, 'What do you see?' Ibn Sayyad said, 'Sometimes a truthful
person comes to me, and sometimes a liar.' The Prophet said to him,
'You are confused', then he said, 'I am hiding something from you.'
Ibn Sayyad said, 'It is Dukh.' The Prophet said,
'Silence! You will not be able to go beyond your rank.' 'Omar ibn
al-Khattab said, 'O Messenger of Allah, shall I cut off his head?' The Prophet
said, 'If he is (the Dajjal) you will not be able to
overpower him, and if he is not, then killing will not do you any good.'" Salim ibn 'Abdullāh said, "I
heard 'Abdullāh ibn 'Omar say, 'After that, the Prophet and Ubayy ibn Ka'b went
along to the palm trees where Ibn Sayyad was. The Prophet started to hide behind
a tree, with the intention of hearing something from Ibn Sayyad before Ibn
Sayyad saw him. The Prophet saw him lying on a bed, murmuring beneath a blanket.
Ibn Sayyad's mother saw the Prophet hiding behind a tree, and said to her son,
"O Saf (Ibn Sayyad's first name), here is Mohammad!"
Ibn Sayyad jumped up, and the Prophet said, "If you had
left him alone, he would have explained himself.'' Salim said, "'Abdullāh ibn 'Omar
said, The Prophet stood up to address the people. He praised Allah as He
deserved to be praised, then he spoke about the Dajjal:
'I warn you against him; there is no Prophet who has not warned his people
against him, even Noah warned his people against him. But I will tell you
something which no other Prophet has told his people. You must know that the
Dajjal is one-eyed, and Allah is not one-eyed.'" Ibn Shihab said: "'Omar ibn
Thabit al-Ansari told me that some of the Companions of the Prophet told him
that on the day when he warned the people about the Dajjal, the Prophet said:
"There will be written between his eyes the word Kafir
(unbeliever). Everyone who resents his bad deeds - or every believer- will be
able to read it." He also said, "You must
know that no one of you will be able to see his Lord until he dies.'"
(Muslim, al-Bukhārī). Ibn 'Omar said, "The Prophet mentioned the Dajjal to the
people. He said, "Allah is not one-eyed, but the Dajjal
is blind in his right eye, and his eye is like a floating grape.'"
(Muslim) Anas ibn Malik said, "The Prophet said, 'there
has never been a Prophet who did not warn his people against that one-eyed liar.
Verily he is one-eyed and your Lord is not one-eyed. On his forehead will be
written the letter Kaf, Fa, Ra (Kafir).'" (Muslim, al-Bukhārī) Hudhayfah said, "The Prophet
said, 'I know more about the powers which the Dajjal
will have than he will know himself. He will have two flowing rivers: one will
appear to be pure water, and the other will appear to be flaming fire. Whosoever
lives to see that, let him choose the river which seems to be fire, then let him
close his eyes, lower his head and drink from it, for it will be cold water. The
Dajjal will be one-eyed; the place where one eye should be will be covered by a
piece of skin. On his forehead will be written the word Kafir, and every
believer, whether literate or illiterate, will be able to read it.'"
(Muslim) Abū Hurayrah said, "The Prophet
said, 'Shall I tell you something about the Dajjal
which no Prophet has ever told his people before me? The Dajjal is one-eyed and
will bring with him something which will resemble Paradise and Hell; but that
which he calls Paradise will in fact be Hell. I warn you against him as Noah
warned his people against him.'" (al-Bukhārī, Muslim) Mohammad ibn Munkadir said: "I
saw Jabir ibn 'Abdullāh swearing by Allah that Ibn Sayyad was the Dajjal, so I
asked him, 'Do you swear by Allah?' He said, 'I heard 'Omar swear to that effect
in the presence of the Prophet, and the Prophet did not disapprove of it.'" Some
'ulama' (scholars) say that some of the Sahabah (Companions of the Prophet)
believed Ibn Sayyad to be the greater Dajjal, but that is not the case: Ibn
Sayyad was a lesser dajjal. Ibn Sayyad travelled between Makkah and Madīnah with
Abū Sa'id, and complained to him about the way that people were saying that he
was the Dajjal. Then he said to Abū Sa'id, "Did not the Prophet say that the
Dajjal would not enter Madīnah? I was born there. Did not he say that he would
not have any children? - I have children. Did not he say that he would be a
Kafir? - I have embraced Islam. Of all the people, I know the most about him: I
know where he is now. If I were given the opportunity to be in his place, I
would not resent it.'" (al-Bukhārī, Muslim) There are many Ahadīth about Ibn
Sayyad, some of which are not clear as to whether he was the Dajjal or not. We
shall see Ahadīth which indicates that the Dajjal is not Ibn Sayyad, as in the
Hadīth of Fatimah Bint Qays al-Fahriyyah, although this does not mean that he
was not one of the lesser Dajjal; but Allah knows best. THE HADĪTH OF FATIMAH BINT QAYS: 'Amir ibn Sharahil Sha'bi Sha'b
Hamdan reported that he asked Fatimah bint Qays, the sister of Dahhak ibn Qays,
who was one of the first Muhajirat, "Tell me a Hadīth which you heard directly
from the Prophet with no narrator in between." She said, "I can tell you if you
like." He said, 'Yes, please tell me," she said, "I married Ibn al-Mughirah, who
was one of the best of the youth of Quraysh in those days. But he fell in the
first Jihad on the side of the Prophet. "When I became a widow, 'Abd al-Rahman
ibn 'Awf, one of the companions of the Prophet sent me a proposal of marriage.
The Prophet also sent me a proposal of marriage on behalf of his freedman Usamah
ibn Zayd. I had been told that the Prophet had said,
'He who loves me should also love Usamah.' When the Prophet spoke to
me, I said, 'It is up to you: marry me to whomever you wish.' "The Prophet said,
'Go and stay with Umm Sharik.' Umm Sharik
was a rich Ansari (Muslim originally from Madīnah) woman, who spent much in the
way of Allah and entertained many guests. I said, 'I will do as you wish.' Then
he said, 'Don't go. Umm Sharik has many guests, and I
would not like it if your head or leg were to become uncovered accidentally and
people saw something you would not wish them to see. It is better if you go and
stay with your cousin 'Abdullāh ibn 'Amr ibn Umm Maktum' ('Abdullāh
was of the Banu Fihr of Quraysh, the same tribe as that to which Fatima
belonged). "So I went to stay with him, and
when I had completed my 'Iddah (period of waiting), I heard the Prophet's
announcer calling for congregational prayer. I went out to the mosque, and
prayed behind the Prophet. I was in the women's row, which was at the back of
the congregation. When the Prophet had finished his prayer, he sat on the
pulpit, smiling, and said, 'Everyone should stay in his
place.' Then he said, 'Do you know why I had
asked you to assemble?' The people said, 'Allah and His Messenger
know best.' "He said, 'By Allah, I have not gathered
you here to give you an exhortation or a warning. I have kept you here because
Tamim al-Dari, a Christian man who has come and embraced Islam, told me
something which agrees with that which I have told you about the Dajjal. He told
me that he had sailed in a ship with 30 men from Banu Lakhm and Banu Judham. The
waves had tossed them about for a month, then they were brought near to an
island, at the time of sunset. They landed on the island, and were met by a
beast who was so hairy that they could not tell its front from its back. They
said, "Woe to you! What are you?" It said, "I am al-Jassasah." They said, "What
is al-Jassasah?" It said, "O people, go to this man in the monastery, for he is
very eager to know about you." Tamim said that when it named a person to us, we
were afraid lest it be a devil." Tamim said, 'We quickly went to the monastery.
There we found a huge man with his hands tied up to his neck and with iron
shackles between his legs up to the ankles. We said, "Woe to you, who are you?"
He said, "You will soon know about me. Tell me who you are." We said, "We are
people from Arabia. We sailed in a ship, but the waves have been tossing us
about for a month, and they brought us to your island, where we met a beast who
was so hairy that we could not tell its front from its back. We said to it, "Woe
to you! What are you? and it said , "I am al-Jassasah." We asked, "What is
al-Jassasah?" and it told us, "Go to this man in the monastery, for he is very
eager to know about you." So we came to you quickly, fearing that it might be a
devil.' "The man said, "Tell me about the date-palms of Baysan.' We said, 'What
do you want to know about them?" He said, 'I want to know whether these trees
bear fruit or not.' We said, 'Yes.' He said, 'Soon they will not bear fruit.'
Then he said, "Tell me about the lake of al-Tabariyyah [Tiberias, in
Palestine].' We said, 'What do you want to know about it?" He asked, 'Is there
water in it?' We said, 'There is plenty of water in it.' He said, 'Soon it will
become dry.' Then he said, 'Tell me about the spring of Zughar.' We said, 'What
do you want to know about it?' He said, 'Is there water in it, and does it
irrigate the land?" We said, 'Yes, there is plenty of water in it, and the
people use it to irrigate the land.' "Then he said, "Tell me about the
unlettered Prophet ' what has he done?' We said, 'He has left Makkah and settled
in Yathrib.' He asked, 'Do the Arabs fight against him?' We said, 'Yes.' He
said, 'How does he deal with them?' So we told him that the Prophet had overcome
the Arabs around him and that they had followed him. He asked, 'Has it really
happened?' We said, 'Yes.' He said, 'It is better for them if they follow him.
Now I will tell you about myself. I am the Dajjal. I will soon be permitted to
leave this place: I will emerge and travel about the earth. In 40 nights I will
pass through every town, except Makkah and Madīnah, for these have been
forbidden to me. Every time I try to enter either of them, I will be met by an
angel bearing an unsheathed sword, who will prevent me from entering. There will
be angels guarding them at every passage leading to them.' Fatimah said, "The
Prophet striking the pulpit with his staff, said: 'This is Tayyibah, this is
Tayyibah, this is Tayyibah, [ie Madīnah]. Have I not told you something like
this?' The people said, 'Yes.' He said, 'I liked the account given to me by
Tamim because it agrees with that which I have told you about the Dajjal, and
about Makkah and Madīnah. Indeed he is in the Syrian sea or the Yemen sea. No,
on the contrary, he is in the East, he is in the East, he is in the East'
and he pointed towards the East. Fatimah said: I memorised this from the
Prophet." (Muslim). 'Abdullāh ibn 'Umar said, "The
Prophet (S) said, 'While I was asleep, I saw myself a
dream performing Tawaf (circumambulation) around the Ka'bah. I saw a ruddy man
with lank hair and water dripping from his head. I said, 'Who is he?" and they
said, "The son of Mary." Then I turned around and saw another man with a huge
body, red complexion, curly hair and one eye. His other eye looked like a
floating grape. They said, "This is the Dajjal." The one who most resembles him
is Ibn Qatan, a man from the tribe of al-Khuza'ah'." (al-Bukhārī,
Muslim). Jabir ibn 'Abdullāh said, "The
Prophet said, 'The Dajjal will appear at the end of
time, when religion is taken lightly. He will have 40 days in which to travel
throughout the earth. One of these days will be like a year, another will be
like a month, a third will be like a week, and the rest will be like normal
days. He will be riding a donkey; the width between its ears will be 40 cubits.
He will say to the people: "I am your lord." He is one-eyed, but your Lord is
not one-eyed. On his forehead will be written the word Kafir, and every
believer, literate or illiterate, will be able to read it. He will go everywhere
except Makkah and Madīnah, which Allah has forbidden to him; angels stand at
their gates. He will have a mountain of bread, and the people will face
hardship, except for those who follow him. He will have two rivers, and I know
what is in them. He will call one Paradise and one Hell. Whoever enters the one
he calls Paradise will find that it is Hell, and whoever enters the one he calls
Hell will find that it is Paradise. Allah will send with him devils who will
speak to the people. He will bring a great tribulation; he will issue a command
to the sky and it will seem to the people as if it is raining. Then he will
appear to kill someone and bring him back to life. After that he will no longer
have this power. The people will say, "Can anybody do something like this except
the Lord?" The Muslims will flee to Jabal al-Dukhan in Syria, and the Dajjal
will come and besiege them. The siege will intensify and they will suffer great
hardship. Then Jesus son of Mary will descend, and will call the people at dawn:
"O people, what prevented you from coming out to fight this evil liar?" They
will answer, "He is a Jinn." Then they will go out, and find Jesus son of Mary.
The time for prayer will come, and the Muslims will call on Jesus to lead the
prayer, but he will say, "Let your Imām lead the prayer." Their Imām will lead
them in praying Salat al-Subh (Morning prayer), then they will go out to fight
the Dajjal. When the liar sees Jesus, he will dissolve like salt in water. Jesus
will go to him and kill him, and he will not let anyone who followed him live'."
(Ahmad). Warnings
against the Dajjal THE Hadīth OF AL-NUWAS IBN SAM'AN
AL-KILABI Al-Nuwas ibn Saman said, "One
morning the Prophet - sallallāhu ’alayhi wa sallam - spoke about the Dajjal.
Sometimes he described him as insignificant, and sometimes he described him as
so dangerous that we thought he was in the clump of date-palms nearby. When we
went to him later on, he noticed that fear in our faces, and asked,
'What is the matter with you?' We said, 'O
Messenger of Allah, this morning you spoke of the Dajjal; sometimes you
described him as insignificant, and sometimes you described him as being so
dangerous that we thought he was in the clump of date-palms nearby. "The Prophet
- sallallāhu ’alayhi wa sallam - said, 'I fear for you
in other matters besides the Dajjal. If he appears whilst I am among you, I will
contend with him on your behalf. But if he appears while I am not among you,
then each man must contend with him on his own behalf, and Allah will take care
of every Muslim on my behalf. The Dajjal will be a young man, with short, curly
hair, and one eye floating. I would liken him to 'Abd al-Uzza ibn Qatan. Whoever
amongst you lives to see him should recite the opening Ayat of Surat al-Kahf. He
will appear on the way between Syria and Iraq, and will create disaster left and
right. O servants of Allah, adhere to the Path of Truth." "We said,
'O Messenger of Allah, for the day which is like a year, will one days prayers
be sufficient? He said, 'No, you must make an estimate
of the time, and then observe the prayers." "We asked, 'O Messenger
of Allah, how quickly will he walk upon the earth? He said,
'Like a cloud driven by the wind. He will come to the
people and call them (to a false religion), and they will believe in him and
respond to him. He will issue a command to the sky, and it will rain; and to the
earth, and it will produce crops. After grazing on these crops, their animals
will return with their udders full of milk and their flanks stretched. Then he
will come to another people and will call them (to a false religion), but they
will reject his call. He will depart from them; they will suffer famine and will
possess nothing in the form of wealth. Then he will pass through the wasteland
and will say, 'Bring forth your treasures, and the treasures will come forth,
like swarms of bees. Then he will call a man brimming with youth; he will strike
him with a sword and cut him in two, then place the two pieces at the distance
between an archer and his target. Then he will call him, and the young man will
come running and laughing." "At that point,
Allah will send the Messiah, son of Mary, and he will descend to the white
minaret in the east of Damascus, wearing two garments dyed with saffron, placing
his hands on the wings of two angels. When he lowers his head, beads of
perspiration will fall from it, and when he raises his head, beads like pearls
will scatter from it. Every Kafir who smells his fragrance will die, and his
breath will reach as far as he can see. He will search for the Dajjal until he
finds him at the gate of Ludd*, where he will kill him." "Then a people whom
Allah has protected will come to Jesus son of Mary, and he will wipe their faces
(ie wipe the traces of hardship from their faces) and tell them of their status
in Paradise. At that time Allah will reveal to Jesus: "I have brought forth some
of My servants whom no-one will be able to fight. Take My servants safely to
al-Tur." "Then Allah will send Gog and Magog, and they will swarm down from
every slope. The first of them will pass by the Lake of Tiberias, and will drink
some of its water; the last of them will pass by it and say, "There used to be
water here." Jesus, the Prophet of Allah, and his Companions will be besieged
until a bull's head will be dearer to them than one hundred dinars are to you
nowadays." "Then Jesus and his Companions will pray to Allah, and He will send
insects who will bite the people of Gog and Magog on their necks, so that in the
morning they will all perish as one. Then Jesus and his Companions will come
down and will not find any nook or cranny on earth which is free from their
putrid stench. Jesus and his Companions will again pray to Allah, Who will send
birds like the necks of camels; they will seize the bodies of Gog and Magog and
throw them wherever Allah wills. Then Allah will send rain which no house or
tent will be able to keep out, and the earth will be cleansed, until it will
look like a mirror. Then the earth will be told to bring forth its fruit and
restore its blessing. On that day, a group of people will be able to eat from a
single pomegranate and seek shelter under its skin (ie the fruit would be so
big). A milch camel will give so much milk that a whole party will be able to
drink from it; a cow will give so much milk that a whole tribe will be able to
drink from it; and a milch-sheep will give so much milk that a whole family will
be able to drink from it. At that time, Allah will send a pleasant wind which
will soothe them even under their armpits, and will take the soul of every
Muslim. Only the most wicked people will be left, and they will fornicate like
asses; then the Last Hour will come upon them." (Muslim) A Hadīth NARRATED FROM Abū UMAMAH
AL-BAHILI Abū Umamah al-Bahili said, "The
Prophet - sallallāhu ’alayhi wa sallam - delivered a speech to us, most of which
dealt with the Dajjal and warned us against him. He said,
'No tribulation on earth since the creation of Adam will
be worse than the tribulation of the Dajjal. Allah has never sent a Prophet who
did not warn his Ummah against the Dajjal. I am the last of the Prophets, and
you are the last Ummah. The Dajjal is emerging among you and it is inevitable.
If he appears while I am still among you, I will contend with him on behalf of
every Muslim. But if he appears after I am gone, then every person must contend
with him on his own behalf. He will appear on the way between Syria and Iraq,
and will spread disaster right and left. O servants of Allah adhere to the path
of Truth. I shall describe him for you in a way that no Prophet has ever done
before. He will start by saying that he is a Prophet, but there will be no
Prophet after me. Then he will say, "I am your Lord," but you will never see
your Lord until you die. The Dajjal is one-eyed, but your Lord, glorified be He,
is not one-eyed. On his forehead will be written the word Kafir, which every
Muslim, literate or illiterate, will be able to read. Among that which he will
bring will be the Paradise and Hell he will offer; but that which he calls Hell
will be Paradise, and that which he calls Paradise will be Hell. Whoever enters
his Hell, let him seek refuge with Allah and recite the opening Ayat of Surat
al-Kahf, and it will become cool and peaceful for him, as the fire became cool
and peaceful for Abraham. "He will say to a Bedouin, What do you think if I
bring your father and mother back to life for you? Will you bear witness that I
am your lord? The Bedouin will say Yes, so two devils will assume the appearance
of his father and mother, and will say, "O my son, follow him for he is your
lord." "He will be given power over one person, whom he will kill and cut in two
with a saw. Then he will say, 'Look at this slave of mine, now I will resurrect
him, but he will still claim that he has a Lord other than me. Allah will
resurrect him, and this evil man (the Dajjal) will say to him, 'Who is your
Lord? The man will answer, 'My Lord is Allah, and you are the enemy of Allah.
You are the Dajjal. By Allah, I have never been more sure of this than I am
today." Abū Said said, "The Prophet -
sallallāhu ’alayhi wa sallam - said, 'That man will
have the highest status among my Ummah in Paradise." Abū Said said,
"By Allah, we never thought that that man would be any other than 'Umar ibn
al-Khattab, until he passed away." Al-Muharibi said: "Then we referred to the
Hadīth of Abū Rafii, which said, 'Part of his Fitnah
will be the fact that he will pass through an area whose people will deny him,
and none of their livestock will remain alive. Then he will pass through a
second area whose people will believe in him; he will order the sky to rain and
the earth to bring forth crops, and their flocks will return from grazing fatter
than they have ever been, with their flanks stretched, their udders full. He
will pass through every place on earth - except Makkah and Madīnah, which he
will never enter, for there are angels guarding every gate of them with
unsheathed swords - until he reaches al-Zarib al-Ahmar and camps at the edge of
the salt-marsh. Madīnah will be shaken by three tremors, after which every
Munafiq (hypocrite) will leave it, and it will be cleansed of evil, as iron is
cleansed of dross. That day will be called Yawm al-Khalas (The Day of
Purification)." Umm Sharik bint Abil-Akr said, "O
Messenger of Allah, where will the Arabs be at that time?" He said,
"At that time they will be few; most of them will be in
Bayt al-Maqdis (Jerusalem), and their Imām will be a righteous man. Whilst their
Imām is going forward to lead the people in praying Salat al-Subh (the morning
prayer), Jesus son of Mary will descend. The Imām will step back, to let Jesus
lead the people in prayer, but Jesus will place his hand between the mans
shoulders and say, 'Go forward and lead the prayer, for the Iqamah was made for
you. So the Imām will lead the people in prayer, and afterwards Jesus - ’alayhis
salām - will say, 'Open the gate. The gate will be opened, and behind it will be
the Dajjal and a thousand Jews, each of them bearing a sword and shield. When
the Dajjal sees Jesus, he will begin to dissolve like salt in water, and will
run away. Jesus will say, 'You will remain alive until I strike you with my
sword. He will catch up with him at the eastern gate of Ludd* and will kill him.
The Jews will be deflated with the help of Allah. There will be no place for
them to hide; they will not be able to hide behind any stone, wall, animal or
tree - except the boxthorn (al-Gharqarah) - without saying, 'O Muslim servant of
Allah! here is a Jew, come and kill him!" The Prophet - sallallāhu ’alayhi
wa sallam - said, "The time of the Dajjal will be forty
years; one year like half a year, one year like a month, and one month like a
week. The rest of his days will pass so quickly that if one of you were at one
of the gates of Madīnah, he would not reach the other gate before evening fell."
Someone asked, "O Messenger of Allah, how will we pray in those shorter days?"
He said, "Work out the times of prayer in the same way
that you do in these longer days, and then pray." The Prophet -
sallallāhu ’alayhi wa sallam - said, "Jesus son of Mary
will be a just administrator and leader of my Ummah. He will break the cross,
kill the pigs, and abolish the Jizyah (tax on non-Muslims). He will not collect
the Sadaqah,* so he will not collect sheep and camels. Mutual enmity and hatred
will disappear. Every harmful animal will be made harmless, so that a small boy
will be able to put his hand into a snakes mouth without being harmed, a small
girl will be able to make a lion run away from her, and a wolf will go among
sheep as if he were a sheepdog. The earth will be filled with peace as a
container is filled with water. People will be in complete agreement, and only
Allah will be worshipped. Wars will cease, and the authority of Quraysh will be
taken away. The earth will be like a silver basin, and will produce fruits so
Abūndantly that a group of people will gather to eat a bunch of grapes or one
pomegranate and will be satisfied. A bull will be worth so much money, but a
horse will be worth only a few dirhams." Someone asked, "O Messenger
of Allah, why will a horse be so cheap?" He said,
"Because it will never be ridden in war." He was asked, "Why will the
bull be so expensive?" He said, "Because it will plough
the earth. For three years before the Dajjal emerges, the people will suffer
severe hunger. In the first year, Allah will order the sky to withhold a third
of its rain, and the earth to withhold two-thirds of its fruits. In the third
year, He will order the sky to withhold all of its rain, and the earth to
withhold all of its fruits, so that nothing green will grow. Every cloven-hoofed
creature will die except for whatever Allah wills." Someone asked,
"How will the people live at that time?" He said, "By
saying La ilaha illa Allah, Allāhu Akbar, Subhan Allah and Al-Hamdu-lillah. This
will be like food for them." The Prophet - sallallāhu ’alayhi wa
sallam - said, "The Dajjal will come forth, and one of
the Believers will go towards him. The armed men of the Dajjal will ask him,
'Where are you going? He will say, 'I am going to this one who has come forth.
They will say, 'Kill him! Then some of them will say to the others, 'Hasnt your
lord [ie the Dajjal] forbidden you to kill anyone without his permission?" So
they will take him to the Dajjal, and when the Believer sees him, he will say,
'O People, this is the Dajjal whom the Prophet - sallallāhu ’alayhi wa sallam -
told us about. Then the Dajjal will order them to seize him and wound him in the
head; they will inflict blows all over, even in his back and stomach. The Dajjal
will ask him, 'Dont you believe in me? He will say, 'You are a false Messiah.
The Dajjal will order that he be sawn in two from the parting of his hair to his
legs; then he will walk between the two pieces. Then he will say 'Stand! and the
man will stand up. The Dajjal will say to him, 'Dont you believe in me? The
believer will say, 'It has only increased my understanding that you are the
Dajjal. Then he will say, 'O people! he will not treat anyone else in such a
manner after me. The Dajjal will seize him to slaughter him, but the space
between his neck and collar-bone will be turned into copper, and the Dajjal will
not be able to do anything to him. He will take the man by his arms and legs and
throw him away; the people will believe that he has been thrown into Hell,
whereas in fact he will have been thrown into Paradise." The Prophet
- sallallāhu ’alayhi wa sallam - said, "He will be the
greatest of martyrs in the sight of Allah, the Lord of the Worlds."
(Muslim). FOOTNOTES: *Ludd: the biblical Lydda, now
known as Lod, site of the zionist states major airport. * "He will break the cross and
kill pigs", ie Christianity will be annulled. "He will not collect the Sadaqah
(ie Zakat) - because there will be so much wealth, and no-one will be in need of
Sadaqah. A Test
for the People at the End of Time THE Hadīth OF AL-MUGHIRAH IBN
SHU'BAH Al-Mughirah ibn Shubah said,
"No-one asked the Prophet - sallallāhu ’alayhi wa sallam - more questions about
the Dajjal than I did. He said, 'You should not worry
about him, because he will not be able to harm you.' I said, 'But
they say that he will have much food and water! He said,
'He is too insignificant in the sight of Allah to have all that.'
(Muslim.) Al-Mughirah ibn Shu'bah said,
"No-one asked the Prophet - sallallāhu ’alayhi wa sallam - more questions about
the Dajjal than I did." One of the narrators said, "What did you ask him?"
Al-Mughirah said, "I said, 'They say that the Dajjal will have a mountain of
bread and meat, and a river of water. The Prophet - sallallāhu ’alayhi wa sallam
- said, 'He is too insignificant in the sight of Allah
to have all that.' (Muslim.) From these Ahadīth, we can see
that Allah will test His servants with the Dajjal and by the miracles which he
will be permitted to perform: as we have already mentioned, the Dajjal will
order the sky to rain for those who accept him, and will order the earth to
bring forth its fruits so that they and their livestock will eat of it, and
their flocks will return fat and with their udders full of milk. Those who
reject the Dajjal and refuse to believe in him will suffer drought and famine;
people and livestock will die, and wealth and supplies of food will be depleted.
People will follow the Dajjal like swarms of bees, and he will kill a young man
and bring him back to life. This is not a kind of magic; it will be something
real with which Allah will test His servants at the end of time. Many will be
led astray, and many will be guided by it. Those who doubt will disbelieve, but
those who believe will be strengthened in their faith. Al-Qadi 'Iyad and others
interpreted the phrase "He is too insignificant in the
sight of Allah to have all that" as meaning that the Dajjal is too
insignificant to have anything that could lead the true believers astray,
because he is obviously evil and corrupt. Even if he brings great terror, the
word Kafir will be clearly written between his eyes; one report explains that it
will be written "Kaf, Fa, Ra," from which we can understand that it will be
written perceptibly, not abstractly, as some people say. One of his eyes will be
blind, protruding and repulsive; this is the meaning of the Hadīth:
"...as if it were a grape floating on the surface of
the water." Other reports say that it is
"dull, with no light in it," or "like white
spittle on a wall," i e, it will look ugly. Some reports say that it is his
right eye which will be blind; others say that it is his left eye. He could be
partly blind in both eyes, or there could be a fault in both eyes. This
interpretation could be supported by the Hadīth narrated by al-Tabarani, in
which he reports that Ibn 'Abbas said, "The Prophet - sallallāhu ’alayhi wa
sallam - said, "The Dajjal is curly-haired and
white-skinned. His head is like the branch of a tree; his left eye is blind, and
the other eye looks like a floating grape. " One may ask: if the
Dajjal is going to cause such widespread evil and his claim to be a "lord" will
be so widely believed - even though he is obviously a liar, and all the Prophets
have warned against him - why does the Qur'ān not mention him by name and warn
us against his lies and stubbornness? The answer is:- 1. The Dajjal was referred to in
the Ayah: "... The day that certain of the signs of thy
Lord do come, no good will it do to a soul to believe in them then, if it
believed not before nor earned righteousness through its Faith..."
(al-Anam 6:158) Abū Hurayrah said, "The Prophet -
sallallāhu ’alayhi wa sallam - said, 'There are three
things which, when they appear, no good will it do a soul to believe in them
then, if it believed not before nor earned righteousness through its Faith. They
are: The Dajjal, the Beast, and the rising of the sun from the west.'
" 2. Jesus son of Mary will descend
from Heaven and kill the Dajjal, as we have already mentioned. The descent of
Jesus is mentioned in the Ayat: "That they said (in
boast), 'We killed Christ Jesus the son of Mary, the Apostle of Allah; - but
they killed him not nor crucified him, but so it was made to appear to them, and
those who differ therein are full of doubts, with no (certain) knowledge, but
only conjecture to follow, for of a surety they killed him not:- Nay, Allah
raised him up unto Himself; and Allah is exalted in Power, Wise;- And there is
none of the People of the Book but must believe in him before his death; and on
the Day of Judgement, he will be a witness against them." (al-Nisa
4:157-9) We think that the Tafsir
(interpretation) of this Ayah is that the pronoun in
"before his death" (qabla mawtihi) refers to Jesus; i e, he will
descend and the People of the Book who differed concerning him will believe in
him. The Christians claimed that he was divine, while the Jews made a slanderous
accusation, i.e. that he was born from adultery. When Jesus descends before the
Day of Judgement, he will correct all these differences and lies. On this basis,
the reference to the descent of the Messiah Jesus son of Mary also includes a
reference to the Dajjal (false Mesor Antichrist), who is the opposite of the
true Messiah, because sometimes the Arabs refer to one of two opposites and not
the other, but mean both. 3. The Dajjal is not mentioned by
name in the Qur'ān because he is so insignificant: he claims to be divine, but
he is merely a human being. His affairs are too contemptible to be mentioned in
the Qur'ān. But the Prophets, out of loyalty to Allah, warned their people about
the Dajjal and the tribulations and misguiding miracles he would bring. It is
enough for us to know the reports of the Prophets and the many reports from the
Prophet Mohammad - sallallāhu ’alayhi wa sallam -. One could argue that Allah has
mentioned Pharaoh and his false claims, such as "I am
your Lord, Most High" (al-Naziat 79:24) and
"O Chiefs! No god do I know for you but myself ..." (al-Qasas 28:38),
in the Qur'ān. This can be explained by the fact
that Pharaoh and his deeds are in the past, and his lies are clear to every
believer. But the Dajjal is yet to come, in the future; it will be a Fitnah and
a test for all people. So the Dajjal is not mentioned in the Qur'ān because he
is contemptible; and the fact that he is not mentioned means that it will be a
great test. The facts about the Dajjal and his lies are obvious and do not need
further emphasis. This is often the case when something is very clear. For
example, when the Prophet - sallallāhu ’alayhi wa sallam - was terminally ill,
he wanted to write a document confirming that Abū Bakr would be the Khalifah
after him. Then he abandoned this idea, and said,
"Allah and the believers will not accept anyone other than Abū Bakr."
He decided not to write the document because he knew of Abū Bakr's high standing
among the Sahabah (Companions) and was sure that they would not choose anyone
else. Similarly, the facts about the
Dajjal are so clear that they did not need to be mentioned in the Qur'ān. Allah
did not mention the Dajjal in the Qur'ān because He - subhānahu wa Ta’āla
- knew that the Dajjal would not be able to lead His true servants astray; he
would only increase their faith, their submission to Allah and His Messenger,
their belief in the Truth, and their rejection of falsehood. For this reason the believer whom
the Dajjal overpowers will say, when he revives him, "By Allah, it has only
increased my understanding that you are the one-eyed liar about whom the Prophet
- sallallāhu ’alayhi wa sallam - spoke." MORE Ahadīth ABOUT THE DAJJAL The Prophet - sallallāhu ’alayhi
wa sallam - said, "The Dajjal will emerge in a land in
the east called Khurasan. His followers will be people with faces like hammered
shields." Asma' bint Yazid al-Ansariyyah said, "The Prophet -
sallallāhu ’alayhi wa sallam - said, 'During the three
years just before the Dajjal comes, there will be one year when the sky will
withhold one third of its rain and the earth one-third of its fruits. In the
second year the sky will withhold two-thirds of its rain, and the earth
two-thirds of its fruits. In the third year the sky will withhold all of its
rain, and the earth all of its fruits, and all the animals will die. It will be
the greatest tribulation: the Dajjal will bring a Bedouin and say to him, "What
if I bring your camels to life for you? Will you agree that I am your lord?" The
Bedouin will say "Yes." So devils will assume the forms of his camels, with the
fullest udders and the highest humps. Then he will bring a man whose father and
brother have died, and will ask him, "What do you think if I bring your father
and brother back to life? Will you agree that I am your lord?" The man will say
"Yes," so the devils will assume the forms of his father and brother. Then the
Prophet - sallallāhu ’alayhi wa sallam - went out for something, and then
returned. The people were very concerned about what he had told them. He stood
in the doorway and asked, 'What is wrong, Asma'? I said, 'O Messenger
of Allah, you have terrified us with what you said about the Dajjal. He said,
'He will certainly appear. If I am still alive, I will
contend with him on your behalf; otherwise Allah will take care of every Muslim
on my behalf.' I said, 'O Messenger of Allah, we do not bake our
dough until we are hungry, so how will it be for the believers at that time? The
Prophet - sallallāhu ’alayhi wa sallam - said, 'The
glorification of Allah which suffices the people of Heaven will be sufficient
for them.' " Abū Hurayrah (radiAllāhu anhu)
said, "The Prophet - sallallāhu ’alayhi wa sallam - said,
'The Hour will not come until the Muslims fight the Jews and kill them. When
a Jew hides behind a rock or a tree, it will say, "O Muslim, O servant of Allah!
There is a Jew behind me, come and kill him!" All the trees will do this except
the box-thorn (al-Gharqad), because it is the tree of the Jews.' "
(Ahmad) PROTECTION AGAINST THE DAJJAL 1. Seeking refuge with Allah from
his tribulation. It is proven in the Saheeh (authentic) Ahadīth that the Prophet
- sallallāhu ’alayhi wa sallam - used to seek refuge with Allah from the
tribulation of the Dajjal in his prayers, and that he commanded his Ummah to do
likewise: Allāhumma inna naudhu bika min 'adhabi jahannam, wa min 'adhabi
'l-qabr, wa min fitnati 'l-mahya'i wa'l-mamat, wa min fitnati' l-masihi
'd-dajjal." "O Allah! We seek refuge with You from the punishment of Hell, from
the punishment of the grave, from the tribulations of life and death, and from
the tribulation of the False Messiah (Dajjal)." This Hadīth was narrated by many
Sahabah, including Anas. Abū Hurayrah, 'A'ishah, Ibn 'Abbas, and Sa'd. 2. Memorising certain Ayat from
Surat al-Kahf. Al-Hafiz al-Dhahabi said, "Seeking refuge with Allah from the
Dajjal is mentioned in many Mutawatir Ahadīth (those with numerous lines of
narrators). One way of doing this is to memorise ten Ayat from Surat al-Kahf."
Abūl-Dira reported that the Prophet - sallallāhu ’alayhi wa sallam - said,
"Whoever memorises the first ten Ayat of Surat al-Kahf
will be protected from the Dajjal." (Abū Dāwūd) 3. Keeping away from the Dajjal
One way to be protected from the tribulation of the Dajjal is to live in Madīnah
or Makkah. Abū Hurayrah reported that the Prophet - sallallāhu ’alayhi wa sallam
- said, "There are angels standing at the gates of
Madīnah; neither plague nor the Dajjal can enter it." (al-Bukhārī,
Muslim.) Abū Bakr reported that the Prophet - sallallāhu ’alayhi wa sallam -
said, "The terror caused by the Dajjal will not enter
Madīnah. At that time it will have seven gates; there will be two angels
guarding every gate." (al-Bukhārī) Anas said, "The Prophet -
sallallāhu ’alayhi wa sallam - said, 'The Dajjal will
come to Madīnah, and he will find angles guarding it. Neither plague nor the
Dajjal will enter it, in sha Allah.' " (at-Tirmidhī, al-Bukhārī) It has been proven in the Saheeh
Ahadīth that the Dajjal will not enter Makkah or Madīnah, because the angels
will prevent him from entering these two places which are sanctuaries and are
safe from him. When he camps at the salt-marsh (Sabkhah) of Madīnah, it will be
shaken by three tremors - either physically or metaphorically - and every
hypocrite will go out to join the Dajjal. On that day, Madīnah will be cleansed
of its dross and will be refined and purified; and Allah knows best. THE LIFE AND DEEDS OF THE DAJJAL The Dajjal will be a man, created
by Allah to be a test for people at the end of time. Many will be led astray
through him, and many will be guided through him; only the sinful will be led
astray. Al-Hafiz Ibn 'Alī al-Abar wrote in his book of history (al-Tarikh) that
the Dajjal's Kunyah (nickname or paternal title) would be Abū Yusuf. Abū Bakrah said, "The Prophet -
sallallāhu ’alayhi wa sallam - said, "The Dajjal's
parents will remain childless for thirty years, then a one-eyed child will be
born to them. He will be very bad and will cause a great deal of trouble. When
he sleeps, his eyes will be closed but his heart (or mind) will still be
active.' Then he described his parents: 'His
father will be a tall and bulky man, with a long nose like a beak; his mother
will be a huge, heavy-breasted woman.' Abū Bakrah said,
"We heard that a child had been born to some of the Jews
in Madīnah. Al-Zubayr ibn al-Awam and I went see his pa, and found that they
matched the description given by the Prophet - sallallāhu ’alayhi wa sallam -.
We saw the boy lying in the sun, covered with a blanket, murmuring to himself.
We asked his parents about him, and they said, 'We remained childless for thirty
years, then this one-eyed boy was born to us. He is very bad and causes a great
deal of trouble. When we went out, we passed the boy. He asked us, 'What were
you doing?' We said, 'Did you hear us?. He said, 'Yes; when I sleep, my eyes are
closed but my heart (mind) is still active. That boy was Ibn Sayyad."
(Ahmad, at-Tirmidhī; this Hadīth is not very strong.) As we have already seen in
the Saheeh Ahadīth, Malik and others think that Ibn Sayyad was not the Dajjal;
he was one of a number of "lesser dajjals." Later he repented and embraced
Islam; Allah knows best his heart and deeds. The "greater" Dajjal is the one
mentioned in the Hadīth of Fatimah bint Qays, which she narrated from the
Prophet - sallallāhu ’alayhi wa sallam -, from Tamim al-Dari, and which includes
the story of the Jassasah. The Dajjal will be permitted to
appear at the end of time, after the Muslims have conquered a Roman city called
Constantinople. He will first appear in Isfahan, in an area known as the Jewish
quarter (al-Yahudiyyah). He will be followed by seventy thousand Jews from that
area, all of them armed. Seventy thousand Tatars and many people from Khurasan
will also follow him. At first he will appear as a tyrannical king, then he will
claim to be a prophet, then a lord. Only the most ignorant of men will follow
him; the righteous and those guided by Allah will reject him. He will start to conquer the
world country by country, fortress by fortress, region by region, town by town;
no place will remain unscathed except Makkah and Madīnah. The length of his stay
on earth will be forty days: one day like a year, one day like a month, one day
like a week, and the rest of the days like normal days, i e his stay will be
approximately one year and two and a half months. Allah will grant him many
miracles, through which whoever He wills will be astray, and the faith of the
believers will be strengthened. The descent of Jesus son of Mary, the true
Messiah, will happen at the time of the Dajjal, the false messiah. He will
descend to the minaret in the east of Damascus. The believers and true servants
of Allah will gather to support him, and the Messiah Jesus son of Mary will lead
them against the Dajjal, who at that time will be heading for Bayt al-Maqdis
(Jerusalem). He will catch up with him at 'Aqabah 'Afiq. The Dajjal will run
away from him, but Jesus will catch up with him at the gate of Ludd, and will
kill him with his spear just as he is entering it. He will say to him, "I have
to deal you a blow; you cannot escape." When the Dajjal faces him, he will begin
to dissolve like salt in water. So Jesus will kill him with his spear at the
gate of Ludd, and he will die there, as many Sahīh Ahadīth indicate. Majma ibn
Jariyah is reported to have said, "I heard the Prophet - sallallāhu ’alayhi wa
sallam - saying, 'The son of Mary will kill the Dajjal
at the gate of Ludd.' " (at-Tirmidhī.) FOOTNOTE: "When he (Dajjal) sleeps, his
eyes will be closed but his heart (or mind) will still be active" - means that
his evil ideas will still come to him even while he is asleep. The
Descent of Jesus at the End of Time 'Abdullāh ibn 'Amr said, "The
Prophet - sallallāhu ’alayhi wa sallam - said, 'The
Dajjal will appear in my Ummah, and will remain for forty - "I cannot
say whether he meant forty days, forty months or forty years." -
Then Allah will send Jesus - ’alayhis salām -, the son
of Mary, who will resemble 'Urwah ibn Mas'ud. He will chase the Dajjal and kill
him. Then the people will live for seven years during which there will be no
enmity between any two persons. Then Allah will send a cold wind from the
direction of Syria, which will take the soul of everyone who has the slightest
speck of good or faith in his heart. Even if one of you were to enter the heart
of a mountain, the wind would reach him there and take his soul. "Only the most
wicked people will be left; they will be as careless as birds, with the
characteristics of beasts, and will have no concern for right and wrong. Satan
will come to them in the form of man and will say, "Don't you respond?" They
will say, "What do you order us to do?" He will order them to worship idols, and
in spite of that they will have sustenance in Abūndance, and lead comfortable
lives. "Then the Trumpet will be blown, and everyone will tilt their heads to
hear it. The first one to hear it will be a man busy repairing a trough for his
camels. He and everyone else will be struck down. Then Allah will send (or send
down) rain like dew, and the bodies of the people (ie the dead) will grow out of
it. Then the trumpet will be sounded again, and the people will get up and look
around. Then it will be said, "O people, go to your Lord and account for
yourselves." It will be said, "Bring out the people of Hell," and it will be
asked, "How many are there?" - the answer will come: "Nine hundred and
ninety-nine out of every thousand." "On that
day a child will grow old and the shin will be laid bare." (Al-Qalam
68:42) (Muslim) Abū Hurayrah said, "The Prophet -
sallallāhu ’alayhi wa sallam - said, 'The son of Mary
will come down as a just leader. He will break the cross, and kill the pigs.
Peace will prevail and people will use their swords as sickles. Every harmful
beast will be made harmless; the sky will send down rain in Abūndance, and the
earth will bring forth its blessings. A child will play with a fox and not come
to any harm; a wolf will graze with sheep and a lion with cattle, without
harming them.' (Ahmad) Abū Hurayrah said, "The Prophet -
sallallāhu ’alayhi wa sallam - said, 'By Him in Whose
hand is my soul, surely the son of Mary will come down among you as a just
ruler. He will break the cross, kill the pigs and abolish the Jizyah. Wealth
will be in such Abūndance that no-one will care about it, and a single
prostration in prayer will be better than the world and all that is in it.'
" Abū Hurayrah said, 'If you wish,
recite the Ayah: "And there is none of the People of
the Book but must believe in him before his death; and on the Day of Judgement
he will be a witness against them ..." (Al-Nisa 4:159) (al-Bukhārī,
Muslim) Abū Hurayrah reported that the
Prophet - sallallāhu ’alayhi wa sallam - said, "The
Prophets are like brothers; they have different mothers but their religion is
one. I am the closest of all the people to Jesus son of Mary, because there is
no other Prophet between him and myself. He will come again, and when you see
him, you will recognise him. He is of medium height and his colouring is
reddish-white. He will be wearing two garments, and his hair will look wet. He
will break the cross, kill the pigs, abolish the Jizyah and call the people to
Islam. During his time, Allah will end every religion and sect other than Islam,
and will destroy the Dajjal. Then peace and security will prevail on earth, so
that lions will graze with camels, tigers with cattle, and wolves with sheep;
children will be able to play with snakes without coming to any harm. Jesus will
remain for forty years, then die, and the Muslims will pray for him."
(Ahmad) Ibn Masud reported that the
Prophet - sallallāhu ’alayhi wa sallam - said, "On the
night of the Isra (night journey), I met my father Abraham, Moses and Jesus, and
they discussed the Hour. The matter was referred first to Abraham, then to
Moses, and both said, 'I have no knowledge of it. Then it was referred to Jesus,
who said, 'No-one knows about its timing except Allah; what my Lord told me was
that the Dajjal will appear, and when he sees me he will begin to melt like
lead. Allah will destroy him when he sees me. The Muslims will fight against the
Kafirs, and even the trees and rocks will say, "O Muslim, there is a Kafir
hiding beneath me - come and kill him!" Allah will destroy the Kafirs, and the
people will return to their own lands. Then Gog and Magog will appear from all
directions, eating and drinking everything they find. The people will complain
to me, so I will pray to Allah and He will destroy them, so that the earth will
be filled with their stench. Allah will send rain which will wash their bodies
into the sea. My Lord has told me that when that happens, the Hour will be very
close, like a pregnant woman whose time is due, but her family do not know
exactly when she will deliver'" (Ahmad, Ibn Majah) DESCRIPTION OF THE MESSIAH JESUS
SON OF MARY, MESSENGER OF Allah Abū Hurayrah said, "The Prophet -
sallallāhu ’alayhi wa sallam - said, 'On the night of
the Isra' (miraculous journey to Jerusalem) I met Moses - he was a slim man with
wavy hair, and looked like a man from the Shanu'ah tribe. I also met Jesus - he
was of medium height and of a red complexion, as if he had just come out of the
bath'" (al-Bukhārī, Muslim) The Prophet - sallallāhu ’alayhi
wa sallam - said, "Whilst I was asleep, I saw myself
(in a dream) making Tawaf around the Ka'bah. I saw a brown-skinned man, with
straight hair, being supported by two men, and with water dripping from his
head.' I said, 'Who is this?' They said, 'The son of Mary' I turned around and
saw a fat, ruddy man, with curly hair, who was blind in his right eye; his eye
looked like a floating grape. I asked, 'Who is this?' They said, 'The Dajjal'
The one who most resembles him is Ibn Qatan." Al-Zuhri explained: Ibn Qatan was
a man from Khuzaah who died during the Jahiliyyah (before the coming of Islam).
(al-Bukhārī) THE APPEARANCE OF GOG AND MAGOG They (two tribes or peoples) will
appear at the time of Jesus son of Mary, after the Dajjal. Allah will destroy
them all in one night, in response to the supplication of Jesus. Abū Hurayrah
reported that the Prophet - sallallāhu ’alayhi wa sallam - said,
"Every day, Gog and Magog are trying to dig a way out
through the barrier. When they begin to see sunlight through it, the one who is
in charge of them says, 'Go back; you can carry on digging tomorrow,' and when
they come back, the barrier is stronger than it was before. This will continue
until their time comes and Allah wishes to send them forth. They will dig until
they begin to see sunlight, then the one who is in charge of them will say, 'Go
back; you can carry on digging tomorrow, insha'Allāh.' In this case he will make
an exception by saying insha' Allah, thus relating the matter to the Will of
Allah. They will return on the following day, and find the hole as they left it.
They will carry on digging and come out against the people. They will drink all
the water, and the people will entrench themselves in their fortresses. Gog and
Magog will fire their arrows into the sky, and they will fall back to earth with
something like blood on them. Gog and Magog will say, 'We have defeated the
people of earth, and overcome the people of heaven. Then Allah will send a kind
of worm in the napes of their necks, and they will be killed by it' 'By Him in
Whose hand is the soul of Muhammad, the beasts of the earth will become fat.'"
Gog and Magog are two groups of Turks, descended from Yafith (Japheth), the
father of the Turks, one of the sons of Noah. At the time of Abraham - ’alayhis
salām -, there was a king called Dhu'l-Qarnayn. He performed Tawaf around the
Ka'bah with Abraham - ’alayhis salām - when he first built it; he believed and
followed him. Dhu'l-Qarnayn was a good man and a great king; Allah gave him
great power and he ruled the east and west. He held sway over all kings and
countries, and travelled far and wide in both east and west. He travelled
eastwards until he reached a pass between two mountains, through which people
were coming out. They did not understand anything, because they were so
isolated; they were Gog and Magog. They were spreading corruption through the
earth, and harming the people, so the people sought help from Dhu'l-Qarnayn.
They asked him to build a barrier between them and Gog and Magog. He asked them
to help him to build it, so together they built a barrier by mixing iron, copper
and tar. Thus Dhu' -Qarnayn restrained Gog and Magog behind the barrier. They
tried to penetrate the barrier, or to climb over it, but to no avail. They could
not succeed because the barrier is so huge and smooth. They began to dig, and
they have been digging for centuries; they will continue to do so until the time
when Allah decrees that they come out. At that time the barrier will collapse,
and Gog and Magog will rush out in all directions, spreading corruption,
uprooting plants, killing people. When Jesus (AS) prays against them, Allah will
send a kind of worm in the napes of their necks, and they will be killed by it." THE DESTRUCTION OF THE KA'BAH At the end of time,
Dhu'l-Suwayqatayn, who will come from Abyssinia (al-Habash), will destroy the
Ka'bah in order to steal its treasure and Kiswah (cloth covering). The Ka'bah is
the ancient building which was built by Abraham, and whose foundations were laid
by Adam. As Tafsir (interpretation) of the Ayah "Until the
Gog and Magog (people) are let through (their barrier)" (al-Anbiya
21:96), it was reported from Ka'b al-Ahbar that Dhu'l-Suwayqatayn will first
emerge at the time of Jesus, son of Mary. Allah will send Jesus at the head
of a vanguard of between seven and eight hundred. While they are marching
towards Dhu'l-Suwayqatayn, Allah will send a breeze from the direction of Yemen,
which will take the soul of every believer. Only the worst of people will be
left, and they will begin to copulate like animals. Ka'b said: "At that time,
the Hour will be close at hand." 'Abdullāh ibn 'Amr said, "I heard the Prophet -
sallallāhu ’alayhi wa sallam - say, 'Dhu'l-Suwayqatayn
from Abyssinia will destroy the Ka'bah and steal its treasure and Kiswah. It is
as if I could see him now: he is bald-headed and has a distortion in his wrists.
He will strike the Ka'bah with his spade and pick-axe.' " (Ahmad) It was reported from 'Abdullāh
ibn 'Umar that the Prophet - sallallāhu ’alayhi wa sallam - said,
"Leave the Abyssinians alone so long as they do not disturb you, for no-one will
recover the treasure of the Ka'bah except Dhu'l-Suwayqatayn from Abyssinia."
(Abū Dāwūd, in the chapter on the prohibition of provoking the
Abyssinians) Ibn 'Abbas narrated that the
Prophet - sallallāhu ’alayhi wa sallam - said, "It is
as if I can see him now: he is black and his legs are widely spaced. He will
destroy the Ka'bah stone by stone." (Ahmad) The Prophet - sallallāhu
’alayhi wa sallam - said, "The Hour will not come until
a man from Qahtan appears and rules the people." (Muslim; similar
Hadīth in al-Bukhārī) This man could be Dhu'l-Suwayq, someone else, because this
man comes from Qahtan, while other reports say that Dhu'l-Suwayqatayn comes from
Abyssinia; and Allah knows best. Abū Hurayrah said, "The Prophet - sallallāhu
’alayhi wa sallam - said, 'Day and night will not come
to an end until a freed man called Jahjah holds sway'" (Ahmad) This could be the name of
Dhul-Suwayqatayn from Abyssinia; and Allah knows best. 'Umar ibn al-Khattab
reported that he heard the Prophet - sallallāhu ’alayhi wa sallam - say:
"The people of Makkah will leave, and only a few people
will pass through it. Then it will be resettled and rebuilt; then the people
will leave it again, and no-one will ever return." Madīnah WILL REMAIN INHABITED AT
THE TIME OF THE DAJJAL It has been proven in the Saheeh
Ahadīth, as already stated, that the Dajjal will not be able to enter Makkah and
Madīnah, and that there will be angels at the gates of Makkah to ward him off
and prevent him from entering. It was reported from Abū Hurayrah that the
Prophet - sallallāhu ’alayhi wa sallam - said, "Neither
the Dajjal nor plague will be able to enter Madīnah." As mentioned
above, the Dajjal will camp outside Madīnah, and it will be shaken by three
tremors. Every hypocrite and sinner will go out to join the Dajjal, and every
believer and Muslim will stay. That day will be called the Day of Purification
(Yawm al-Khalas). Most of those who go out to join the Dajjal will be women. As
the Prophet - sallallāhu ’alayhi wa sallam - said,
"Verily it (Madīnah) is good; its evil will be eliminated and its goodness will
be obvious." Allah - subhānahu wa Ta’āla -
said: "Women impure are for men impure, and men impure
for women impure, and women of purity are for men of purity, and men of purity
are for women of purity" (Al-Nur 24-26) Madīnah will remain inhabited
during the days of the Dajjal, and during the time of Jesus son of Mary (AS),
until he dies and is buried there. Then it will be destroyed. 'Umar ibn
al-Khattab said, "I heard the Prophet - sallallāhu ’alayhi wa sallam - say,
'A rider will go around Madīnah and say, There used to
be many Muslims here' " (Ahmad) FOOTNOTE: *Dhu'l-Suwayqatayn:
al-Suwayqatayn is the diminutive of al-Saqayn (legs); his legs are described as
being "small" because they are thin. Thin legs are, in general, a characteristic
of the Sudanese and people of the Horn of Africa. The
Emergence of the Beast AMONG the signs of the Hour will
be the emergence of a beast from the earth. It will be very strange in
appearance, and extremely huge; one cannot even imagine what it will look like.
It will emerge from the earth and shake the dust from its head. It will have
with it the ring of Solomon and the rod of Moses. People will be terrified of it
and will try to run away, but they will not be able to escape, because such will
be the decree of Allah. It will destroy the nose of every unbeliever with the
rod, and write the word "Kafir" on his forehead; it will adorn the face of every
believer and write the word "Mu'min" (true believer) on his forehead, and it
will speak to people. Allah - subhānahu wa Ta’āla -
said: "And
when the Word is fulfilled against them (the unjust), We shall produce from
the earth a Beast to (face) them: it will speak to them..."
(al-Naml 27:82) Ibn 'Abbas, al-Hasan and Qutadah
said that "It will speak to them"
(tukallimuhum) means that it will address them. Ibn Jarir suggested that it
means that the Beast will address them with the words
"...for that mankind did not believe with assurance in Our Signs..."
(al-Naml 27:82 - latter part of the Ayah). Ibn Jarir reported this from 'Alī
and 'Ata' It was reported from Ibn 'Abbas that tukallimuhum means that the Beast
will cut them, i e, it will write the word "Kafir" on the forehead of the
unbeliever. It was also reported from Ibn 'Abbas that he will both address them
and cut them; this suggestion incorporates both of the previous suggestions; and
Allah knows best. We have already mentioned the Hadīth of Hudhayfah ibn Usayd,
in which the Prophet - sallallāhu ’alayhi wa sallam - is reported to have said,
"The Hour will not come until you see ten signs: the
smoke; the Dajjal; the Beast; the sun rising from the West; the descent of Jesus
son of Mary; Gog and Magog; and three landslides - one in the East, one in the
West, and one in Arabia, at the end of which fire will burst forth from the
direction of Aden (Yemen) and drive people to the place of their final
assembly." Abū Hurayrah said: "The Prophet -
sallallāhu ’alayhi wa sallam - said, 'Hasten to do good
deeds before six things happen: the rising of the sun from the West, the smoke,
the Dajjal, the Beast, the (death) of one of you or general tribulation.'
" (Muslim.) Baridah said: "The Prophet - sallallāhu ’alayhi wa sallam - took me
to a place in the desert, near Makkah. It was a dry piece of land surrounded by
sand. The Prophet - sallallāhu ’alayhi wa sallam - said,
'The Beast will emerge from this place. It was a very small area.'
" (Ibn Majah) It was reported from Abū Hurayrah
that the Prophet - sallallāhu ’alayhi wa sallam - said,
"The Beast of the Earth will emerge, and will have with it the rod of Moses
and the ring of Solomon." It was also reported that he said,
"(The Beast) will destroy the noses of the unbelievers
with the ring, - so that people seated around one table will begin to address
one another with the words "O Believer!" or "O Unbeliever!" (i e,
everyone's status will become clear). (Ibn Majah.) 'Abdullāh ibn 'Amr said, "I
memorised a Hadīth from the Prophet - sallallāhu ’alayhi wa sallam - which I
have not forgotten since. I heard the Prophet - sallallāhu ’alayhi wa sallam -
say, 'The first of the signs (of the Hour) to appear
will be the rising of the sun from the West and the appearance of the Best
before the people in the forenoon. Whichever of these two events happens first,
the other will follow immediately.' " (Muslim). That is to say, these will be the
first extraordinary signs. The Dajjal, the descent of Jesus - ’alayhis salām,
the emergence of Gog and Magog, are less unusual in that they are all human
beings. But the emergence of the Beast, whose form will be very strange, its
addressing the people and classifying them according to their faith or unbelief,
is something truly extraordinary. This is the first of the earthly signs, as the
rising of the sun from the West is the first of the heavenly signs. The
Rising of the Sun from the West Allah - subhānahu wa Ta’āla -
says: "Are they waiting to see if the angels come to
them, or thy Lord (Himself), or certain of the Signs of thy Lord? The day that
certain of the signs of thy Lord do come, no good will it do to a soul to
believe in them then, if it believed not before nor earned righteousness through
its faith. Say: 'Wait ye: we too are waiting.' " (al-Anam 6:158) It was reported from Abū Sa'id
al-Khudri that the Prophet - sallallāhu ’alayhi wa sallam - explained,
"The day that certain of the Signs of thy Lord do come,
no good will it do to a soul to believe in them then...", referring
to the rising of the sun from the West. (Ahmad) Abū Hurayrah said, "The Prophet -
sallallāhu ’alayhi wa sallam - said, 'The Hour will not
come until the sun rises from the West. When the people see it, whoever is
living on earth will believe, but that will be the time when - No good will it
do to a soul to believe in them then, if it believed not before' "
(al-Bukhārī) It was also reported from Abū
Hurayrah that the Prophet - sallallāhu ’alayhi wa sallam - said,
"The Hour will not come until the sun rises from the
West. When it rises and the people see it, they will all believe. But that will
be the time when 'No good will it do to a soul to believe in them then'"
(al-Bukhārī) It was reported from Abū Hurayrah
that the Prophet - sallallāhu ’alayhi wa sallam - said,
"There are three things which, if they appear, 'No good will it do to a soul
to believe in them then, if it believed not before nor earned righteousness
through its faith' They are: the rising of the sun from the West, the Dajjal,
and the Beast of the Earth." (Ahmad, Muslim, at-Tirmidhī.) Abū Dharr said, "The Prophet -
sallallāhu ’alayhi wa sallam - asked me, 'Do you know
where the sun goes when it sets?' I said, 'I do not know' He said,
'It travels until it prostrates itself beneath the
Throne, and asks for permission to rise again. But a time will come when it will
be told, 'Go back whence you came.' That will be the time when 'No good will it
do to a soul to believe in them then, if it believed not before nor earned
righteousness through its faith' " (al-Bukhārī) 'Amr ibn Jarir said, "Three
Muslims were sitting with Marwan in Madīnah, and heard him say, whilst talking
about the Signs of the Hour, that the first of them would be the appearance of
the Dajjal. The three went to 'Abdullāh ibn 'Amr, and told him what they had
heard Marwan say concerning the Signs. 'Abdullāh said, 'Marwan has not said
much. I memorised a Hadīth like that
from the Prophet - sallallāhu ’alayhi wa sallam - which I have not forgotten
since. I heard the Prophet - sallallāhu ’alayhi wa sallam - say:
"The first of the signs will be the rising of the sun from
the West, and the emergence of the Beast in the forenoon. Whichever of the two
comes first, the other will follow immediately" Then 'Abdullāh, who was
widely-read, said, 'I think that the first to happen will be the rising of the
sun from the West. Every time it sets, it goes beneath the Throne, prostrates
itself, and seeks permission to rise again. A time will come when three times it
will seek permission and will receive no reply, until, when part of the night
has passed and it realises that even if it were given permission, it would not
be able to rise on time, it will say: "O my Lord, how far the rising-point is
from me! What can I do for the people now?" Then it will seek permission to go
back, and it will be told: 'Rise from where you are now' - and it will rise from
the West'" Then 'Abdullāh recited the Ayah: "No good will it do to a soul to
believe in them then, if it believed not before nor earned righteousness through
its faith." (Ahmad) Some scholars interpret "the
rising of the sun from the West" as meaning that Islam will appear in the West,
as strong as it was in the beginning, and that the people of the West will carry
the flag of Islam. The Smoke
which will appear at the End of Time MASRUQ said: "While a man was
giving a speech among the people of Kindah, he said, 'There will be smoke on the
Day of Resurrection which will deprive the hypocrites of their hearing and
sight, but the believers will only suffer something like a cold' We were
terrified, so we went to Ibn Masud, who was reclining. When he heard about this,
he became angry and sat up, and said: 'O people, whoever knows a thing, let him
say it; but whoever does not know, let him say, "Allah knows best." It is a part
of knowledge, when one does not know something, to say "Allah knows best." Allah - subhānahu wa Ta’āla -
said to His Prophet Mohammad - sallallāhu ’alayhi wa sallam -:
"Say: 'No reward do I ask of you for this (Qur'ān), nor am I a pretender'"
(Sad 38:86.) "Quraysh were being slow in
embracing Islam, so the Prophet - sallallāhu ’alayhi wa sallam - prayed against
them, saying, 'O Allah, help me against them by sending
seven years of famine like those of Joseph.' They were afflicted by a
year of famine in which they were destroyed, and ate dead animals and bones.
They began to see something like smoke between the sky and the earth. Abū Sufyan came and said, 'O
Mohammad! You came to command us to keep good relations with our relatives, and
your people have perished, so pray that Allah may relieve them'" The Ibn Mas'ud
recited, "Then watch thou for the Day that the sky will bring forth a kind of
smoke (or mist) plainly visible, Enveloping the people: this will be a Penalty
Grievous. (They will say:) "Our Lord! Remove the
Penalty from us, for we do truly believe! How shall the Message be (effectual)
for them, seeing that an Apostle explaining things clearly has (already) come to
them? Yet they return away from him and say: 'Tutored (by others), a man
possessed! We shall indeed remove the Penalty for a while, (but) truly ye will
revert (to your ways)." (al-Dukhan 44:10-15) Ibn Maud asked: "Will their
punishment in the Hereafter be removed so they can go back to their Kufr?" Allah
- subhānahu wa Ta’āla - said: "One
day We shall seize you with a mighty onslaught: We will indeed (then) exact
Retribution!" (al-Dukhan 44:16)
"...and soon will come the inevitable (punishment)!" (al-Furqan
25:77) These Ayat refer to the Day
(Battle) of Badr. Allah - subhānahu wa Ta’āla - said:
"Alif-Lam-Mim. The Romans (Byzantines) have been defeated - in a land close
by; but they, (even) after (this) defeat of theirs, will soon be victorious
- within a few years." (al-Rum 30: 1-3) (al-Bukhārī) This speaker's suggestion - that
the idea that the smoke would be on the Day or Resurrection was not a good one -
made Ibn Masud react angrily. But the smoke will appear before the Day of
Resurrection; it will be one of the signs, which are: the Beast, the Dajjal, the
Smoke, and Gog and Magog, as the Ahadīth narrated from Abū Sarihah, Abū Hurayrah
and other Sahabah indicate. As mentioned in the Sahīh Ahadīth, the fire which
will appear before the Day of Resurrection will burst forth from the direction
of Aden, and drive the people to the place of their final assembly. It will move
with them and halt with them, and will devour any who lag behind. The Hour
will not come until... IT was reported from Abū Sa'id
al-Khudri that the Prophet - sallallāhu ’alayhi wa sallam - said,
"Thunderbolts will increase so much as the Hour
approaches that when a man comes to a people, he will ask, 'Who amongst you was
struck by a thunderbolt this morning?' and they will say, 'So-and-so and
so-and-so was struck.' " (Ahmad) Heavy rain before the Day of
Resurrection It was reported from Abū Hurayrah
that the Prophet - sallallāhu ’alayhi wa sallam - said,
"The hour will not come until there has been rain which
will destroy all dwellings except tents." We have already mentioned many
Ahadīth about the signs of the Hour. Now we will turn our attention to some
Ahadīth which could indicate that the Hour is close at hand. It was reported from Abū Hurayrah
that the Prophet - sallallāhu ’alayhi wa sallam - said:
"The Hour will not come until the following events have come to pass: people
will compete with one another in constructing high buildings; two big groups
will fight one another, and there will be many casualties - they will both be
following the same religious teaching; earthquakes will increase; time will pass
quickly; afflictions and killing will increase; nearly thirty dajjals will
appear, each of them claiming to be a messenger from Allah; a man will pass by a
grave and say, 'Would that I were in your place'; the sun will rise from the
West; when it rises and the people see it, they will all believe, but that will
be the time when 'No good will it do to a
soul to believe in them then, if it believed not before...' (al-An'am
6:158); and a wealthy man will worry lest no-one accept
his Zakat." (al-Bukhārī, Muslim) It was reported from Anas that
the Prophet - sallallāhu ’alayhi wa sallam - said:
"Among the signs of the Hour are the following: knowledge will decrease and
ignorance will prevail; fornication and the drinking of wine will be common; the
number of men will decrease and the number of women will increase, until one man
will look after fifty women." (al-Bukhārī) 'A'ishah said, "I heard
the Prophet - sallallāhu ’alayhi wa sallam - say, 'Day
and night will not pass away until people begin to worship Lat and 'Uzza'
(two goddesses of pre-Islāmic Arabic). I said, 'O Messenger of Allah, I thought
that when Allah revealed the Ayah "It is He Who has
sent His Apostle with Guidance and the Religion of Truth, to proclaim over all
religion, even though the Pagans may detest (it)" (al-Tawbah 9:33),
it implied that (this promise) would be fulfilled'. The Prophet - sallallāhu
’alayhi wa sallam - said, 'It will happen as Allah
wishes. Then Allah will send a pleasant breeze, which will take everyone who has
as much faith as a grain of mustard-seed in his heart. Only those with no
goodness in them will be left, and they will revert to the religion of their
forefathers'." (Muslim) It was from Abū Hurayrah that one
day, while the Prophet - sallallāhu ’alayhi wa sallam - was sitting with the
people, a Bedouin came to him and asked him about Iman and Islam, then he asked,
"O Messenger of Allah, when will the Hour be?" He said,
"The one who is asked about it does not know more than the one who asks, but
I tell you about its signs. When a slave gives birth to her mistress, and when
the bare-footed and naked become the chiefs of the people - these are among the
signs of the Hour. There are five things which no-one knows except Allah."
Then he recited: "Verily the knowledge of the Hour is
with God (alone). It is He Who sends down rain, and He Who knows what is in the
wombs. Nor does anyone know what it is that he will earn on the morrow: nor does
anyone know in what land he is to die. Verily God is All-Knowing, All Aware."
(Luqman 31:34). Then the man went away, and the Prophet - sallallāhu ’alayhi wa
sallam - said, "Call him back to me," but when the people went to call him, they
could not see anything. The Prophet - sallallāhu ’alayhi wa sallam - said,
"That was Gabriel, who came to teach the people their
religion." (al-Bukhārī, Muslim). "The
bare-footed and naked paupers will compete with one another in constructing high
buildings" means that they will become the chiefs of people. They
will become rich, and their only concern will be to compete in constructing high
buildings. This is as in the Hadīth we shall
see later: "The Hour will not come until the happiest
people in the world will be the depraved sons of the depraved." It
was reported from Abū Sa'id that the Prophet - sallallāhu ’alayhi wa sallam -
said: "The Hour will not come until the time when a man
will leave his home, and his shoes or whip or stick will tell what is happening
to his family." (Ahmad) It was reported from Abū Sa'id
that the Prophet - sallallāhu ’alayhi wa sallam - said:
"By Him in Whose hand is my soul, the Hour will not come until wild animals
talk to men, and a man speaks to his whip or his shoe, and his thigh will tell
him about what happened to his family after he left." Anas said, "We
were discussing the fact that the Hour would not come until there is no rain,
the earth does not produce crops, and fifty women will be cared for by one man;
and if a woman passes by a man, he will look at her and say, 'This woman once
had a husband'." (Ahmad) Abū Hurayrah said: "The Prophet -
sallallāhu ’alayhi wa sallam - said: 'The Hour will not
come until time passes so quickly that a year will be like a month, a month like
a week, a week like a day, a day like an hour, and an hour like the time it
takes for a palm-leaf to burn'." (Ahmad) Abū Hurayrah said, "The Prophet -
sallallāhu ’alayhi wa sallam - said: 'The world will
not pass away until the one who enjoys it the most is the depraved son of the
depraved'." (Ahmad) Abū Hurayrah said, "The Prophet -
sallallāhu ’alayhi wa sallam - said, 'Before the Hour
comes, there will be years of deceit, in which a truthful person will be
disbelieved and a liar will be believed; and the insignificant will have a say'."
(Ahmad) Abū Hurayrah said: "I heard the
Prophet - sallallāhu ’alayhi wa sallam - say: 'The Hour
will not come until the sheep with horns no longer fights the sheep without
horns'." (Ahmad) It was reported from Abū Hurayrah
that the Prophet - sallallāhu ’alayhi wa sallam - said,
"The Hour will not come until wealth increases so much that a wealthy man
will be worried lest no-one accept his Sadaqah: tribulations will appear; and
there will be much Harj." The people asked, "What is Harj", O
Messenger of Allah?" He said, "Killing, killing"
(Ahmad) It was reported from Abū Hurayrah
that the Prophet - sallallāhu ’alayhi wa sallam - said,
"By Him Who sent me with the Truth, this earth will not pass away until
people are afflicted with landslides, are pelted with stones, and are
transformed into animals." The people asked, "When will that be, O
Messenger of Allah?" He said, "When you see women
riding in the saddle, when singers are common, when bearing false witness
becomes widespread, and when men lie with men and women with women". Tariq ibn Shihab said, "We were
sitting with 'Abdullāh ibn Mas'ud, when a man came and told us that the time for
prayer had come. So we got up and went to the mosque. After the prayer, a man
came to 'Abdullāh ibn Mas'ud and said, 'As-salam 'alayka (Peace be upon you), O
Abū 'Abd al-Rahman'. 'Abdullāh answered, 'Allah and His Messenger have spoken
the truth'. When we went back, we asked one another, 'Did you hear the answer he
gave? Who is going to ask him about it? I said, 'I will ask him'; so I asked him
when he came out. He narrated from the Prophet -
sallallāhu ’alayhi wa sallam -: 'Before the Hour comes,
there will be a special greeting for the people of distinction; trade will
become so widespread that a woman will help her husband in business; family ties
will be cut; the giving of false witness will be common, while truthful witness
will be rare; and writing will be widespread.' (Ahmad) DESCRIPTION OF
THE PEOPLE WHO WILL BE ALIVE AT THE END OF TIME It was reported from 'Abdullāh
ibn 'Amr that the Prophet - sallallāhu ’alayhi wa sallam - said,
"The Hour will not come until Allah takes away the best
people on earth; only the worst people will be left; they will not know any good
or forbid any evil." (Ahmad) 'Abdullāh ibn Mas'ud said, "I
heard the Prophet - sallallāhu ’alayhi wa sallam - say:
Eloquence can be bewitching; the worst of the people are those upon whom the
Hour will come while they are still alive, and those who turn graves into
mosques'." (Ahmad) It was reported from Anas that
the Prophet - sallallāhu ’alayhi wa sallam - said, "The
Hour will not come until no-one on earth says 'La ilaha illa Allah'."
(Ahmad) It was also reported from Anas that the Prophet - sallallāhu ’alayhi wa
sallam - said: "The Hour will not come until no-one on
earth says, 'Allah, Allah'." (Ahmad) There are two suggestions as to
the meaning of the phrase, "until no-one on earth says
'Allah, Allah'": 1. It could mean that no-one will
forbid evil, or try to correct another if he sees him doing something wrong. We
have already come across this in the Hadīth of 'Abdullāh ibn 'Amr:
"Only the worst people will be left; they will not know
any good or forbid any evil." 2. It could mean that Allah will
no longer be mentioned, and His Name will not be known; this will be part of the
prevalent corruption and Kufr, as in the previous Hadīth,
"Until no-one on earth says 'La ilaha illa Allah'." 'A'ishah said.
"The Prophet - sallallāhu ’alayhi wa sallam - came in, saying
'O 'A'ishah, your people will be the first of my Ummah
to join me. When he sat down, I said, 'O Messenger of Allah, may I be
sacrificed for you! When you came in, you were saying something which scared me.
He asked, 'What was that?' I said, 'You said
that my people would be the first of your Ummah to join you.' He said,
'Yes' I asked, 'Why is that? He said,
'Death will be widespread among them, and their
relatives will be jealous of them.' I said, 'How will people be after
that?' He said, 'Like locusts: the strong will devour
the weak, until the Hour comes.' " (Ahmad) 'Alba'al-Salami said, "I heard
the Prophet - sallallāhu ’alayhi wa sallam - say:
'The Hour will only come upon the worst of the people'." (Ahmad) From sunnahonline.com