Deducing Dajjal’s Further Profile

  

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

Deducing Dajjal’s Further Profile

 

The historical record reveals that a large number of Jewish tribes were resident in Yathrib (a city located north of Makkah in Arabia) prior to the birth of Prophet Muhammad ṣallā -llāhu taʿālā ʿalayhī wa-sallam.  We know that they were present in Yathrib when the Prophet arrived in that city—having migrated from his native Makkah, since the Mithaq or constitutional agreement successfully negotiated by the Prophet upon his arrival in Yathrib, with which he brought into being (a plural model of) a state, makes mention of several Jewish tribes who were party to the agreement. Muhammad Hamidullah mentions in his book entitled ‘First Written Constitution in the World’ (Ashraf, Lahore 1994) that “ .  .  .  the Arab section of the population was divided into twelve tribes of Aws and Khazraj, the Jews were divided into the ten tribes of Banu Nadir and Banu Qurayzah”. It should thus be clear that Jews, who were a non-Arab people who considered themselves superior to Arabs, constituted a substantial proportion of the population of an Arab city located close to the very heart of Arabia, i.e., close to Makkah. 

 

It is quite appropriate that we enquire what brought so many Jewish tribes to the city of Yathrib. It is not enough to claim, as some do, that they were expelled by the Christians from Jerusalem and hence they fled to Yathrib. Refugees, who considered themselves, arrogantly so, to be superior to a native population, would be courting grave danger if they allowed themselves to grow in numbers to such an extent that they approached half the size of the whole population. There had to be a compelling reason which would justify such growth in numbers of an arrogant alien population in an Arab city. 

 

We recall that they had rejected the claim of Jesus, the son of the Virgin Mary, who claimed that he was their Promised Messiah. They had rejected that claim on the grounds that his mother had conceived him without being married (which was, of course, true) and they had concluded, falsely so, that he was born in sin. They therefore remained adamantly in wait of the Messiah promised to them by the One God. 

 

They were privy to information conveyed to them through the many Prophets who were raised from their midst, that a divinely-appointed person would appear in Yathrib. It was clear that they perceived it possible that he could be their Messiah since they even boasted to the Arabs in Arabia that he would so empower them that they would then have the upper hand against the Arabs. This fact is mentioned in several books of Sirah, i.e., biographies of the Prophet.

 

When Prophet Muhammad ṣallā -llāhu taʿālā ʿalayhī wa-sallam arrived in Yathrib with the startling claim that he was a divinely-appointed Prophet and Messenger, they were shocked and rattled since he did not conform to their profile of the expected Messiah, or even of a Prophet. 

 

Is it possible for us to deduce what kind of person the Jews were expecting, and are still expecting, who would be their Messiah? If we can discover that profile, we would then know more of the profile of Dajjal who is divinely-programmed to impersonate the Messiah. What was, and is, that profile?

 

Firstly, the Jews believed, and still believe, that they are the chosen people of the One God to the exclusion of the rest of mankind. The Qur’an rejected this (false) belief of theirs. It did so in verses which challenged them to seek death if they really believed they were Allah’s chosen people. Here is one such verse:

 

(Qur’an, al-Jumu’ah, 62:6)

The Qur’an addresses the Jews and invites them, bluntly so: If you believe that you are the chosen people of Allah, to the exclusion of all other people, then why do you not long for death—if what you say is true? 

 

In consequence of their (false) belief that they are the chosen people of the Lord-God, it was clear to them that the Messiah had to belong to the chosen people, hence he had to be a Jew. Muhammad ṣallā -llāhu taʿālā ʿalayhī wa-sallam was not a Jew! 

 

Secondly, they believed that the advent of the Messiah would result in a return of the golden age of power that they had enjoyed when the Lord-God chose David, i.e., Nabi Daud ʿalayhī as-salām, as a King and ruler, and bestowed on him a mighty kingdom. That kingdom subsequently became a ruling State in the time of his son, Solomon, i.e., Nabi Sulaiman ʿalayhi as-salām. It is possible for us to deduce that the Jews awaited a Messiah who would restore Holy Israel as a ruling State, and whose lineage could be traced to David, the divinely-appointed King of Israel. The Jews would also expect him to display the unique powers that both David and Solomon possessed. The Messiah could not be just another King; rather he would have to possess a unique stature and status comparable to that of David and Solomon, and he would also have to possess divinely-bestowed miraculous powers comparable to that which they possessed.  

 

If the above deduction is correct, then it would be essential for us to carefully study the profile of those two Prophet-Kings who were the founding fathers of Holy Israel, since it would be that profile which Dajjal would have to emulate or match.   

 

Source