A Gentle Warning

 

 Dajjal (Anti-Christ), the Qur’an and the Beginning of History

Chapter One

Introducing Dajjal, The Jasad

(a Human Body without a Soul)

 

(Qur’an, al-Nahl, 16:89)

The Qur’an was sent down as Divine revelation which

would explain all things, would provide guidance, and

as grace, and glad tidings unto all who submit to Allah

Most High.

 

(Qur’an, al-Naml, 27:92)

Allah Most High has ordered that the Qur’an be

conveyed to mankind. Whoever then chooses to

follow the right path, would follow it for his own

good. A warning must be given to those who choose

to go astray that: I am only a warner.

 

 A Gentle Warning

The subject of Dajjal is perhaps the most difficult that a student or scholar can ever encounter, hence readers are gently cautioned to be patient whenever the understanding of any part of the subject becomes difficult, and not rush to premature judgment on the basis of doubt. As knowledge of the subject expands, it would become easier to connect the many parts of the subject and eventually grasp the subject as a harmonious whole.  At that time, and not before, many doubts will be cleared up Insha’ Allah, i.e., if Allah so Wills.

 

The Basic Description

Christians know him as the ‘Anti-Christ’, but Prophet Muhammad ṣallā -llāhu taʿālā ʿalayhī wa-sallam referred to him as al-Masih al-Dajjal, i.e., the Dajjal the Messiah. It is important for our readers to understand that the Prophet has not given to the Anti-Christ, the name—‘Dajjal’, for it is not a name! Rather it is a descriptive term which describes him as a ‘liar’, or as one who ‘deceives’. Hence whenever he is referred to in this book as Dajjal, readers are advised to remember that he should properly be referred to as the Dajjal. 

 

Since the Qur’an has identified Nabi ‘Isa, or Jesus, the son of the Virgin Mary ʿalayhi as-salām, as the Messiah, the implication of the description ‘al-Masih al-Dajjal’ used by the Prophet, is that Dajjal is someone who would seek to impersonate the Messiah by claiming, falsely so, to be the Messiah. It is for this reason that he is referred to in this book as Dajjal the false Messiah.

 

Prophet Muhammad ṣallā -llāhu taʿālā ʿalayhī wa-sallam prophesied that Nabi ‘Isa ʿalayhi as-salām or Jesus the true Messiah, would one day return to this world, and that his miraculous return would be a major sign of the End-Time. This writer intends to demonstrate in his second book on Dajjal entitled ‘From Jesus the True Messiah to Dajjal the False Messiah—A Journey in Islamic Eschatology’, that the Qur’an supports this prophecy of a miraculous return of the true Messiah. But the Prophet went on to prophesy that Dajjal, the false Messiah, would appear in person in the world just before the return of the true Messiah, and would seek to convince the Jews in particular, that he is indeed the true Messiah. Since Dajjal, or the Anti-Christ, is a being who belongs to the evil which was created by Allah Most High (see Qur’an, Surah al-Falaq,113:2), and he was thus programmed by Allah Most High to fulfill that evil mission of impersonation, one can expect that he will do so with astonishing accuracy.

 

It is with this fact constantly in mind that we can now proceed to attempt to deliver to the reader a profile of that extraordinary being, i.e., Dajjal, the false Messiah, who, according to our interpretation, is described in the Qur’an as a Jasad, i.e., a human body without a soul. He was placed by Allah Most High to sit on Solomon’s throne so that, as Solomon feared, he would seek to rule over Holy Israel. This subject is explained later in this chapter.

 

The Qur’an confirms that the Messiah, Jesus the son of Mariam ʿalayhi as-salām, was a human being, and that both he and his mother ate food (the Lord-God, however, does not eat food and indeed, is free from any such need):  

(Qur’an, al-Maidah, 5:75)

The Christ, son of Mary, was but a messenger of Allah Most High, and hence he was not God—nor was he the son of God! All those who preceded him as messengers of Allah Most High, have died. His mother was someone who never deviated from the truth; and they both ate food like other mortals; Behold how Allah makes clear these clarifying statements for them: and then behold how perverted are their responses! 

 

It is clear therefore, that the Jews expected a Messiah who would be a human being.

 

Prophet Muhammad ṣallā -llāhu taʿālā ʿalayhī wa-sallam gave a description of the Anti-Christ or Dajjal, as follows: “He would be a Jew, a young man, powerfully built, and with curls in his hair . . .”  (Sahih Muslim). Orthodox Jews, and, it appears, no others besides them, wear these curls in the form of sideburns (Payot) because of a Biblical injunction against shaving the “corners” of one's head:

Do not cut off the hair on the sides of your head.

(Leviticus: 19:27)

 

Although he is a Jasad, i.e., a human body without a soul, it should be obvious to our readers that the Anti-Christ or Dajjal would have to appear as a human being, and as a Jew, since his mission is to convince the Jews that he is indeed the Messiah whom they await. Unless he is a Jew, they would not accept him as the Messiah. Hence when Prophet Muhammad ṣallā -llāhu taʿālā ʿalayhī wa-sallam described Dajjal in the way that he did, i.e., as a being who would appear as a ‘person’, and a ‘Jew’, the Islamic view is that the above description of Dajjal has to be understood literally. This view from Islam differs dramatically from other well-known and sometimes frivolous views which identified the Anti-Christ, for example, with the Roman Catholic Christian Pope in Rome, or former US President Barak Obama, or with a system rather than a person, etc. 

 

Christians face some difficulties in identifying the Antichrist or Dajjal as a person, and as a Jew, because of several scriptural references to him which depart from the single most important fact which emerges from Islamic eschatology, to wit, that he is someone who will seek to impersonate the true Messiah. Consider the following:

 

Many deceivers have gone out into the world, those who do not confess that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh; any such person is the deceiver and the Antichrist! — 2 John 1:7  

 

Who is the liar but the one who denies that Jesus is the Christ? This is the Antichrist, the one who denies the Father and the Son. — 1 John 2:22 

 

By this you know the Spirit of God: every spirit that confesses that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God, and every spirit that does not confess Jesus is not from God. This is the spirit of the Antichrist, which you have heard is coming and now is in the world already. 1 John 4:2–3 

 

Despite the above, this writer urges the gentle reader to seriously consider the arguments and evidence now presented in this book for understanding and recognizing the Anti-Christ as someone who was created by the Lord-God and was sent into the world with an evil mission to impersonate Jesus, the True Messiah; as someone who would be a Jew and who would claim to be the true Messiah, and as someone who should therefore be known, properly so, as the false Messiah!

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