Major Signs Before the Day of Judgement

[ابوالوليد المسلم]

Major Signs Before the Day of Judgement (1/2)

Imaam Muhammad bin Saalih Al-`Uthaymeen



1. The Emergence of the Dajjaal - Linguistically, Dajjaal is derived from the word dajl, which means lying and impostering. Religiously, it refers to a man who is an imposter and who will appear during the Last Days, claiming lordship.
His emergence is established in the Sunnah as well as the Ijmaa' (consensus). The Prophet (sallAllahu 'alayhi wa sallam) said: "Say: 'O Allah, verily I seek refuge in you from the punishment of the Hellfire, and I seek refuge in you from the punishment of the grave, and I seek refuge in you from the trial of Maseeh Ad-Dajjaal. And I seek refuge in you from the trial of life and death."[1]
"The Prophet (sallAllahu 'alayhi wa sallam) would seek refuge from him during prayer"[2] and the Muslims have agreed upon his emergence.
His story: He will emerge from a road in an area between Shaam and 'Iraaq and will begin to call the people to worship him. A majority of the people that will follow him will be from the Jews, women and Bedouins. Seventy-thousand Jews from Asfahaan (in present-day Iran) will follow him and he will travel throughout the entire earth, just as the wind blows rain in all directions, except for Makkah and Madeenah, for he will be prevented from entering them.
The length of his stay will be forty days. One day will be like a year, one day like a month, one day like a week and the rest of the days will be as normal. He is one-eyed (i.e. one eye is good and the other is defective) and between his two eyes will be written KA FA RA (i.e. kaafir or disbeliever). Only the believers will be able to read it. He will bring about great trials, some of which are that he will command the heavens and it will rain and he will command the earth and it will produce vegetation. He will have with him a Garden and a Fire. However, his garden will be a fire, and his fire will be a garden.
The Prophet (sallAllahu 'alayhi wa sallam) warned of him by saying: "Whosoever hears of him, then let him distance himself from him. And whosoever has him reach him, then let him recite the opening verses of Surah Kahf upon him" - or - "...let him recite the opening verses of Surah Kahf."[3]
2. The Descent of 'Eesaa Ibn Maryam - The descent of 'Eesaa Ibn Maryam is established in the Qur'aan, the Sunnah and the consensus of the Muslims. Allah says:
"And there is none of the People of the Scripture, except that he must believe in him ('Eesaa) before his death."[4]
This refers to the death of 'Eesaa which will occur after his descent, as has been interpreted by Abu Hurairah. The Prophet (sallAllahu 'alayhi wa sallam) said: "I swear by Allah, 'Eesaa Ibn Maryam will indeed descend judging (mankind) with justice." This hadeeth is agreed upon.[5]
The Muslims have unanimously agreed upon his descent. He will descend by the white minaret in the east of Damascus, placing his hands upon the wings of two angels. Then it will not be possible for a disbeliever to perceive the scent of his breath, except that he will die. And his breath will extend as far his eyesight extends. He will search for the Dajjaal until he reaches him by the gate of Ludd, where he will kill him. He will break the cross and abolish the jizyah (taxation collected from subjected disbelievers). And the prostration (of worship) will be only one - for Allah the Lord of the universe. He will also perform Hajj and 'Umrah. All of this is confirmed in Saheeh Muslim and some of it in both Saheehs.[6]
Imaam Ahmad and Abu Dawood reported that "'Eesaa will remain for forty years after killing the Dajjaal. Then he will die and the Muslims will pray the funeral prayer (Janaazah) over him."[7] Al-Bukhari mentioned in his At-Tareekh that he will be buried next to the Prophet (sallAllahu 'alayhi wa sallam) and Allah knows best.[8]



(Continued)


[1] Saheeh Muslim: Book of Masjids and Places of Prayer (no. 590) from the hadeeth of Ibn 'Abbaas (radyAllahu ‘anhu). Checking of Hadeeth and Footnotes by Ashraf Ibn 'Abdul-Maqsood.

[2] Saheeh Al-Bukhari: Book of the Call to Prayer (no. 832) and Saheeh Muslim: Book of Masjids and Places of Prayer (no. 589) from the hadeeth of 'Aa'ishah (radyAllahu ‘anhaa)). Also in this section is the hadeeth of Abu Hurairah (radyAllahu ‘anhu) found in Saheeh Muslim (no. 588).

[3] Refer to the hadeeth of An-Nuwaas Ibn Sam'aan (radyAllahu ‘anhu) in Saheeh Muslim: Book of Tribulations (no. 2937).

[4] Surat-an-Nisaa (4): 159

[5] Saheeh Al-Bukhari: Book of Business Transactions (no. 2222) and in the Book of Prophets (no. 3448). It is also found in Saheeh Muslim: Book of Faith (no. 155).

[6] Refer to the hadeeth of An-Nuwaas Ibn Sam’aan t in Saheeh Muslim (no. 2937). As for his saying: "He will break the cross and abolish the jizyah (taxation collected from subjected disbelievers). And the prostration (of worship) will be only one - for Allah the Lord of the universe" then it is found in the hadeeth of Abu Hurairah t in Saheeh Al-Bukhari (no. 3448) and Saheeh Muslim (no. 155). And there occurs in both Saheehs: "...until the single prostration becomes better than the world and what is in it." However, the wording that the Shaikh (Ibn Saalih Al-‘Uthaimeen) mentioned has been attributed by Al-Haafidh Ibn Hajr in Al-Fath (6/492) to Ibn Mardaweeh. As for his saying: "He will perform Hajj and 'Umrah", then it is found in Saheeh Muslim: Book of Hajj (no. 1252) from the hadeeth of Abu Hurairah (radyAllahu ‘anhu), that the Prophet (sallAllahu 'alayhi wa sallam) said: "By He whose Hand my soul is in, (‘Eesaa) Ibn Maryam) will surely invoke Allah’s name (i.e. Tahleel) in the valley of Rauhaa, making Hajj or ‘Umrah or a combination of the two."

[7] Hadeeth Saheeh: An authentic hadeeth reported by Ahmad (9259), Abu Dawood (4324), Ibn Hibbaan (8/277) and Al-Haakim (2/595) who authenticated it and Adh-Dhahabee agreed. It is also reported by Ibn Abee Shaibah (15/158) and Ibn Jareer (9/388) from the hadeeth of Abu Hurairah, Ahmad Shaakir graded its chain saheeh in his notes to Al-Musnad.

[8] Reported by Al-Bukhari in At-Taareekh-ul-Kabeer (1/263), At-Tirmidhee (3617) and Al-Aajuree in Ash-Sharee’ah (pg. 381) from the path of: ‘Uthmaan Ibn Ad-Dahhaak on Muhammad Ibn Yoosuf Ibn ‘Abdillaah Ibn Salaam on his father on the authority of his granfather who said that: "It is written in the Torah, the description of Muhammad and the description of ‘Eesaa Ibn Maryam. And he will be buried with him." Al-Bukhari said: "This is not authentic in my opinion and should not be followed." At-Tirmidhee said: "This is a hasan ghareeb hadeeth." Al-Haafidh Ibn Hajr said in Al-Fath (7/66): "And it is reported on her - meaning ‘Aa’ishah (radyAllahu ‘anhaa) - in a hadeeth that is not established, that she asked permission of the Prophet r, that if she were to outlive him, that she be buried alongside him. So he (sallAllahu 'alayhi wa sallam) said: ‘And how can you do that when there is nothing in that place except for my grave and the graves of Abu Bakr, ‘Umar and ‘Eesaa Ibn Maryam.’ And in the reports of Madeenah (Akhbaar-ul-Madeenah) from a weak source, it is reported that Sa’eed Ibn Al-Musayyib (ra) said: ‘Verily, the three graves are in a section of ‘Aa’ishah’s house. And there is the place where the grave of ‘Eesaa Ibn Maryam is located.’"