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Ibn Kathir’s The Signs Before the Day of Judgment Part 3
Shaykh Faraz Rabbani
12-23-2024
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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.)
Abu 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.'” (Bukhari Muslim.)
Abu 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.)
Abu Hurayrah said, “The Prophet said, ‘The Hour will not come until 30 “dajjals” appear, all of them lying about Allah and His Messenger.” (Abu Dawud.)
Abu Hurayrah said, “The Prophet said, ‘Just before the Hour, there will be 30 “dajjals”, each of whom will say, I am a Prophet.'” (Ahmad.)
Abu 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.'”
Abu 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 Djjal, apart from Madinah. At that time there will be two angels at every entrance of Madinah, 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.)
Ahadith about the Dajjal
‘Abd Allah 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 ahiding 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 ‘Abd Allah said, “I heard ‘Abd Allah 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, “Abd Allah 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, Bukhari).
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, Bukhari)
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)
Abu 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.'” (Bukhari, Muslim)
Mohammad ibn Munkadir said: “I saw Jabir ibn ‘Abd Allah 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 Madinah with Abu Sa’id, and complained to him about the way that people were saying that he was the Dajjal. Then he said to Abu Sa’id, “Did not the Prophet say that the Dajjal would not enter Madinah? 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.'” (Bukhari, Muslim)
There are many Ahadith about Ibn Sayyad, some of which are not clear as to whether he was the Dajjal or not. We shall see Ahadith which indicates that the Dajjal is not Ibn Sayyad, as in the Hadith 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 HADITH 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 Hadith 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 Madinah) 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 ‘Abd Allah ibn ‘Amr ibn Umm Maktum’ (Abd Allah 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 (perio of waiting), I heard the Prophet’s announer 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 isvery eager to know about you.” So we came to you quickly, fearinthat 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 Madinah, 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 Madinah]. 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 Madinah. 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).
‘Abd Allah 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’.” (Bukhari, Muslim).
Jabir ibn ‘Abd Allah 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 Madinah, 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 Imam lead the prayer.” Their Imam 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 HADITH OF AL-NUWAS IBN SAM’AN AL-KILABI
Al-Nuwas ibn Saman said, “One morning the Prophet (sallallahu alayhe 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 (sallallahu alayhe 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)
Footnotes: First published on : http://www.islamworld.net/hour/
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