Dajjal (Arabic: المسيح الدجّال Dajjāl, “the false messiah, liar, the deceiver”; Syriac: ܡܫܝܚܐ ܕܓܠܐ Mšiha Daggala) is an evil figure in Islamic eschatology. He is said to have come from several different locations, but generally from the East, usually between Syria and Iran, comparable to Christian understanding of the appearance of the Antichrist in Christian eschatology.
Name
Dajjāl (Arabic: دجال) means “deceiver” and also appears in Classical Syriac: daggala (ܕܓܠܐ). Al-Masīḥ ad-Dajjāl, with the definite article al- (“the”), refers to “the deceiving Messiah”, a specific end times deceiver. The Dajjāl is an evil being who will seek to impersonate the true Messiah
Characteristics
A number of locations are associated with the emergence of the Dajjal, but usually, he emerges from the East. He is usually described as blind in one eye, however, which eye is disputed. Possessing a defective eye is often regarded as giving more powers to achieve evil goals. He would travel the whole world entering every city except Mecca and Medina. As a false Messiah, it is believed that many will be deceived by him and join his ranks, among them Jews, Bedouins, weavers, magicians. Further he is assisted by an army of demons. Nevertheless, the most reliable supporters will be the Jews, to whom he will be the incarnation of God. The notion of Jews comprising the majority of Dajjals’ followers is probably a remnant from Christian Antichrist legends. The Dajjal will be able to perform miracles, such as healing the sick, raising the dead (although only when supported by his demonic followers it seems), causing the earth to grow vegetation, causing livestock to prosper and to die and stopping the sun’s movement. His miracles resemble those performed by Jesus. The relation between the two is obscure. In one tradition, it is known that Jesus circumambulating the Kaaba, the Dajjal following him, depicting the Dajjal as an evil shadowy Doppelganger of the real Jesus. At the end, the Dajjal will be killed by Jesus. In many versions by Jesus’ simply looking at him, indicating, he is indeed merely a shadow of Jesus without any independent existence. Similar to the ambiguous status of Jesus in the Quran, who is not divine, but nevertheless more than a human and, it seems, more than a usual prophet, the nature of the Dajjal is ambiguous as well. Although the nature of his birth indicates that the first generations of apocalyptists regarded him as human, he is also identified rather as a demon (shaytan) in human form in Islamic traditions.
Hadith
According to hadith, Muhammad prophesied that the Masih ad-Dajjal would be the last of a series of thirty Dajjal or “deceivers”.
Muhammad is reported to have said:
If he comes forth while I am among you I shall be the one who will dispute with him on your behalf, but if he comes forth when I am not among you, a man must dispute on his own behalf, and God will take my place in looking after every Muslim. Those of you who live up to his time should recite over him the opening verses of Surat al–Kahf, for they are your protection from his trial. We asked: How long will he remain on the earth? He replied: Forty days, one like a year, one like a month, one like a week, and rest of his days like yours. We asked: Messenger of Allah, will one day’s prayer suffice us in this day which will be like a year? He replied: No, you must make an estimate of its extent. Then prophet Isa son of Maryam will descend at the white minaret to the east of Damascus. He will then catch him up at the gate of Ludd and kill him.
Muhammad is reported to have said:
The flourishing state of Jerusalem will be when Yathrib is in ruins, the ruined state of Yathrib will be when the great war comes, the outbreak of the great war will be at the conquest of Constantinople and the conquest of Constantinople when the Dajjal (Antichrist) comes forth. He (the Prophet) struck his thigh or his shoulder with his hand and said: This is as true as you are here or as you are sitting (meaning Mu’adh ibn Jabal).
Narrated Abu Huraira:
— sahih al bukhari, vol2, No.459
Prophet Muhammad used to invoke (Allah): “Allahumma ini a’udhu bika min ‘adhabi-l-Qabr, wa min ‘adhabi-nnar, wa min fitnati-l-mahya wa-lmamat, wa min fitnati-l-masih ad-dajjal. (O Allah! I seek refuge with you from the punishment in the grave and from the punishment in the Hell fire and from the afflictions of life and death, and the afflictions of Al-Masih Ad-Dajjal.”
