The story of Dajjal (or anti-Christ)

How did the story of Masih ad-Dajjal come about in Islam? It's NOT from the Glorious Quran. In fact, the jurists officially acknowledge that the Quran makes NO references of Dajjal, yet they adhere to it blindly. Why? Because it's a Hadith myth and for the "ahl-Sunnah" the Hadith takes precedence over the Noble Quran .. a blasphemous approach but unfortunately true. Before discussing how the guesswork of Dajjal became a part of Islam, let's take a look at what the theory of Dajjal means in Islam.

The story of Dajjal as accepted by Muslims:
You will find an array of humbug on Dajjal in one of the most popular Hadith sites, Muttaqun. What's most infuriating is the audacity of the storytellers to falsely involve the Quran and the Prophet (S) into it. You will find the heading on Dajjal that states "according to Quran and Sunnah." But scan the page for yourself and see if you can find a single word on Dajjal from the Quran. It's all from the deviations of the man-written Hadith. The myth of Masih-ad- Dajjal is a typical rhetorical drama for the purpose of making lectures interesting for spiritually (and otherwise) uneducated commoners who have no desire for the quest of Quranic knowledge nor are they interested in reflecting on Quranic contents for themselves. These folks take the spoon-fed lies of their clerics as law, regardless of its contradiction or non-conformity with the Quran.

Dajjal legend is akin to cultish beliefs. The idea is to basically prevent people from spreading vices by frightening them with horrific legendary descriptions of a monstrous villian. It's also often used for constructing the signs of Qaiamah (Day of Resurrectiion), such as, people will stop offering their prayers, dishonesty & immorality will be the way of life, falsehood will become a virtue etc. etc. But such vices have existed in all communities of the world at all times and will continue to do so. Allah, The Exalted, has made it clear in the Noble Quran that the Last Day will have no signs and will come unawares, suddenly. Even if there is a warning, it will be too short with no time for turning back or making amends. Furthermore, the Quran has made it abundantly clear that the Prophet (S) was NOT avid of the unseen and could NOT predict future events.

Dajjal myth is also frilled with imaginary details that he will appear somewhere between Syria and Iraq and will travel the whole world preaching his falsehood, but will be unable to enter Makkah or Medinah. Essa (Jesus) will return, and the Dajjal will gather an army of those he deceived and lead them in a war against Jesus, who shall be accompanied by an army of the righteous. Only a person who has completely renounced the Quranic instruction of NOT accepting information for which Allah Almighty has given no warrant will probably believe in such stories. No sensible believer with a shred of loyalty toward Allah and His Messenger will ever conceive of accepting these gossips and whispers as a part of the true Faith.


Dajjal story commonly accepted by both Sunnis and Shiias:
The only difference being that the Sunnis believe Dajjal will be killed by Essa (son of virgin Maryam) on his "return" as the Christians do, and Shiias believe that Dajjal will be knocked down dead upon the "return of Imam Mahdi."

This reminds me, there's also a false and ridiculous Hadith attributed to Imam Ali bin Abi Talib on Dajjal which I quote: "His right eye will be punctured, and his left eye would be raised to his forehead and will be sparkling like a star. Only the believers will be able to read the word ‘Kufr’ [disbelief], inscribed in bold letters, on his forehead. There will be big mountains of smoke at both front and backsides of his caravan. People will anticipate food within those mountains, during the severe famine. He will be riding on a huge white coloured 'donkey' who will cover a mile in a single stride. All rivers, falling in his way, will become dry and he will call upon people in aloud voice, "O my friends come to me! I am your lord who has made your limbs and given you sustenance."


The origin of the concept of Dajjal:
The idea of Dajjal arises from the theological legend of eschatology. "Eschat" is a Greek term meaning "last" and "logy" means "study." The reference is, "end of time" stories. It's another one of those myths borrowed from altered Christianity, Judaism, and from non-Divine faiths like hinduism, buddhism, zorastrism etc. In altered Christianity it starts from the story that Essa (son of virgin Maryam) will return (which the Noble Quran does NOT confirm nor refer to at all). From this tale of the return of Jesus, the story of the false messiah coming prior to the real one has been concocted. Thus, the Arabic term "dajjal" means deceit. This guy, Dajjal, is supposed to be an end-of-times deceiver.

The Dajjal story has a very non-Monotheistic root, based on pure imagination of the human mind. Christian eschatology is concerned with anti-Christ (Dajjal in Arabic) and then return of Jesus before the end to times. Jewish eschatology involves the return of a Jewish Messiah. The Jewish messiah is supposed to be a human leader (name and particulars not known), physically descended from the Davidic line who will rule and unite the people of Israel and will usher universal peace (indeed a sharp contrast from the murders and brigandry the Zionists are carrying out at present). The Jewish messiah is not considered to be divine nor is he considered to be Jesus. The hindu eschatology is about some character named Kalki descending from heaven before time draws to a close. The term used by zorastrians for end of time is "frashokereti" which is supposed to be a doctrine of a final renovation of the universe, when evil will be destroyed. In inter-faith dialogues "the end of time" notion is referred to as Apocalypticism. It refers to the belief that end of time will be within one's own lifetime. This belief is accompanied by the idea that civilization will soon come to a tumultuous end with some sort of catastrophic global event such as war. Probably America's ever-growing destructive foreign policies have brought this idea in the minds of some of their thinkers.

I'm sure it's now easy to perceive how this myth of Dajjal being symbolic of "end times" has crept into Islam. It began with the gross and corrupt Hadith narrations of the half-hearted Makkan converts, and a little later, these false narrations were edited and compiled by the medieval imams or the writers/collectors of the Hadith literature who loved to integrate Islam with man-made faiths.

May Allah, The Exalted, grant us protection from such gross misguidance.