A Test for People at the End of Time

[ابوالوليد المسلم]

A Test for People at the End of Time

Imam Ibn Kathir


The Hadith of Al-Mughirah ibn Shu'bah:
Al-Mughirah ibn Shubah said, "No-one asked the Prophet (sallallahu alayhe 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’." (Reported by Muslim.)

Al-Mughirah ibn Shu'bah said, "No-one asked the Prophet (sallallahu alayhe 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 (sallallahu alayhe wa sallam) said, 'He is too insignificant in the sight of Allah to have all that’." (Reported by Muslim.)

From these Ahadith, we can see that Allah will test His servants with the Dajjal and by the miracles which he will be permitted to perform: as, 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 Hadith: "...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 Hadith narrated by al-Tabarani, in which he reports that Ibn 'Abbas said, "The Prophet (sallallahu alayhe 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’an 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..." (Surah Al-An’am, 6:158)

Abu Hurairah said, "The Prophet (sallallahu alayhe 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 Judgment, he will be a witness against them." (Surah An-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 Judgment, 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 Messiah 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’an 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’an. 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 (sallallahu alayhe wa sallam).

One could argue that Allah has mentioned Pharaoh and his false claims, such as "I am your Lord, Most High" (Surah Al-Naziat, 79:24) and "O Chiefs! No god do I know for you but myself ..." (Surah Al-Qasas, 28:38), in the Qur’an. 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'an 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 (sallallahu alayhe wa sallam) was terminally ill, he wanted to write a document confirming that Abu Bakr would be the Khalifah after him. Then he abandoned this idea, and said, "Allah and the believers will not accept anyone other than Abu Bakr." He decided not to write the document because he knew of Abu 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'an.

Allah did not mention the Dajjal in the Qur’an because He (subhanahu wa ta'ala) 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 (sallallahu alayhe wa sallam) spoke."