Signs of the Day of Judgement
When dealing with understanding the signs of the Day of Judgement or what is going to occur in the future according to the Prophet ﷺ, we must understand that the scholars have divided the signs into two categories: Major Signs and Minor Signs.
Minor Signs:
These refer to the more shrewd, progressive and subtle signs that will occur. For example:
Construction of tall buildings
Appearance of the Khawarij
Fire in Hijaz
Major Signs:
These are shocking in nature and everyone will notice them. For example:
Dajjal
Descent of Eesa (AS)
Coming of the beast
According to most scholars the Major Signs are limited to 10.
Literal, Not Figurative
The Dajjal is someone whom the Prophet ﷺ said every Messenger had warned his people against. He is physical person and not a figurative concept, like modern Islamic thinkers like to theorise. This clearly shows their lack of understanding and background in the Islamic science of Aqeedah and Hadith. Had they realized the correct methodology in deriving our belief and how we understand Hadith from the Prophet ﷺ, they would realize that it is not possible for the Dajjal to be a concept rather than a person.
This is illustrated in the understanding of the Prophet ﷺ himself and his companions. The fact that the Prophet ﷺ thought that one of the people in Madinah was the dajjal (until further inspection), shows us that the Prophet ﷺ knew that the dajjal would be a person, which is why he further inquired about him.
This person in Madinah who was the alleged dajjal at the time of the Prophet ﷺ was known as Safi ibn Sayyad.
“'Abdullah ibn Masʼud reported: We were along with Allah's Messenger ﷺ that we happened to pass by children amongst whom there was Ibn Sayyad. The children made their way but Ibn Sayyad kept sitting there (and it seemed) as if Allah's Messenger ﷺ did not like it (his sitting with the children) and said to him: May your nose he besmeared with dust, don't you bear testimony to the fact that I am the Messenger of Allah? Thereupon he said: No, but you should bear testimony that I am the messenger of Allah. Thereupon 'Umar b. Khattab said: Allah's Messenger, permit me that I should kill him. Thereupon Allah's Messenger ﷺ said: If he is that person who is in your mind (Dajjal), you will not be able to kill him.” (Sahih Muslim)
This is of the many encounters that Ibn Sayyad had with the Prophet ﷺ and his companions. To read through the many other interesting stories with this interesting character, refer to Kitab al-Fitan wa Ashrat as-Saʼah, which is Book 41 in Sahih Muslim. http://www.iium.edu.my/deed/hadith/muslim/041_smt.html (Go to Chapter 17).
It is interesting to note that some of the scholars of our Ummah in the past held the opinion that Ibn Sayyad is the Dajjal and that he will come back near the end of times. This was the famous opinion of Imam Qurtubi (d. 671 A.H.)
Who is the Dajjal?
So the question is, who is the Dajjal? He is the false messiah who will come at the end of times during the time of Imam Mahdi and produce much trials and tribulations for the world. He will appear when there was a time of extreme drought (over a year!). He will then use magic and make it rain, after which he will claim to be Allah.
He will spread his mischief and magic throughout the earth, entrancing people and making them part of his army. He will perform amazing feats such as cutting someone in half and then putting him back together (not like David Copperfield). These events will cause people to believe that he is Allah. This is the greatest Fitnah that the Muslims will have to face. This is why the Prophet SAW said that if you see the Dajjal, run in the other direction. This is because it is possible that he may affect you with his magic and cause you to disbelieve after your faith in Islam.
However, when Eesa A.S. descends, the Dajjal will see him and begin to melt and disintegrate. Then the Muslims will gain victory over the army of the Dajjal.
Hadith of Jabir
There is a beautiful Hadith which summarizes who the Dajjal is and what he will do:
Jabir ibn 'Abd Allah said:
"The Prophet said, 'The Dajjal will appear at the end of time, when religion is taken lightly. He will have 40 days in which to travel throughout the earth. One of these days will be like a year, another will be like a month, a third will be like a week, and the rest will be like normal days. He will be riding a donkey; the width between its ears will be 40 cubits.
He will say to the people: "I am your lord." He is one-eyed, but your Lord is not one-eyed. On his forehead will be written the word Kafir, and every believer, literate or illiterate, will be able to read it. He will go everywhere except Makkah and Madinah, which Allah has forbidden to him; angels stand at their gates.
He will have a mountain of bread, and the people will face hardship, except for those who follow him. He will have two rivers, and I know what is in them. He will call one Paradise and one Hell. Whoever enters the one he calls Paradise will find that it is Hell, and whoever enters the one he calls Hell will find that it is Paradise. Allah will send with him devils who will speak to the people. He will bring a great tribulation; he will issue a command to the sky and it will seem to the people as if it is raining. Then he will appear to kill someone and bring him back to life. After that he will no longer have this power. The people will say, "Can anybody do something like this except the Lord?"
The Muslims will flee to Jabal al-Dukhan in Syria, and the Dajjal will come and besiege them. The siege will intensify and they will suffer great hardship. Then Jesus son of Mary will descend, and will call the people at dawn: "O people, what prevented you from coming out to fight this evil liar?" They will answer, "He is a Jinn." Then they will go out, and find Jesus son of Mary. The time for prayer will come, and the Muslims will call on Jesus to lead the prayer, but he will say, "Let your Imam lead the prayer." Their Imam will lead them in praying Salat al-Subh (Morning prayer), then they will go out to fight the Dajjal. When the liar sees Jesus, he will dissolve like salt in water. Jesus will go to him and kill him, and he will not let anyone who followed him live'." (Ahmad).
The Palestinian Sahabi who Met the Dajjal
According to the strongest and majority opinion of the scholars the Dajjal is alive today. This is based on the authentic report in Sahih Muslim, the famous Hadith of Tamim bin Aws Dari:
It was narrated that Faatimah bint Qays (RA) said:
I heard the voice of the caller, the caller of the Messenger of Allah ﷺ, saying: Al-salaatu jaami’ah (prayer is about to begin), so I went out to the mosque and I prayed with the Messenger of Allah ﷺ. I was in the women’s row that was closest to the people. When the Messenger of Allah ﷺ had finished his prayer, he sat on the minbar and he was smiling. He said: “Let each person stay in the place where he just prayed.” Then he said: “Do you know why I called you together?” They said: Allah and His Messenger know best.
He said: “By Allah, I did not call you together for an exhortation or for a warning. I have called you together because Tameem al-Daari was a Christian and he came and swore allegiance and became Muslim, and told me something which agrees with what I was telling you about the Dajjaal (false messiah). He told me that he sailed in a ship with thirty men of Lakhm and Judhaam and they were tossed by the waves of the sea for a month. Then they came to an island at sunset. They sat in a small rowing-boat and landed on that island. They were met by a beast with a great deal of hair and they could not distinguish his face from his back because he was so hairy. They said: ‘Woe to you, what are you?’ It said: ‘I am al-Jassaasah.’ They said: ‘What is al-Jassaasah?’ It said: ‘O people, go to this man in the monastery for he keen to know about you.’ He (the narrator) said: When it named a man for us we were afraid of it lest it be a devil.
Then we set off, rushing, until we came to that monastery, where we found the hugest man we had ever seen, bound strongly in chains with his hands tied to his neck and his legs bound from the knees to the ankles with iron shackles. We said: ‘Woe to you, who are you?’ He said: ‘You will soon find out about me; tell me who you are.’ They said: ‘We are people from Arabia who embarked on a ship, but the sea became wild and the waves tossed us about for one month, then they brought us to this island of yours. We took to the rowing-boats and landed on this island. We were met by a beast with a great deal of hair and we could not tell his front from his back because he was so hairy. We said: Woe to you, what are you? It said: I am al-Jassaasah. We said: What is al-Jassaasah? It said: Go to this man in the monastery for he is keen to know about you. So we came rushing to you and we fled from it because we could not be sure that it was not a devil.’
He (that chained person) said: ‘Tell me about the date-palm trees of Baysaan.’ We said: ‘What do you want to know about them?’ He said: ‘I am asking you whether these trees bear fruit.’ We said: ‘Yes.’ He said: ‘Soon they will not bear fruit.’ He said: ‘Tell me about the lake of Tabariyyah’ We said: ‘What do you want to know about it?’ He said: ‘Is there water in it?’ They said: ‘There is a great deal of water in it.’ He said: ‘Soon it will dry up.’ Then he said: ‘Tell me about the spring of Zughar (which is in the south of Syria).’ They said: ‘What do you want to know about it?’ He said: ‘Is there water in the spring and do the people grow crops with the water of the spring?’ We said to him: ‘Yes, there is plenty of water in it and the people grow crops with its water.’
He said: ‘Tell me about the Prophet of the unlettered; what has he done?’ We said: ‘He has left Makkah and has settled in Yathrib (Madeenah).’ He said: ‘Do the Arabs fight against him?’ We said: ‘Yes.’ He said: ‘How did he deal with them?’ We told him that he had prevailed over the Arabs in his vicinity and they had shown obedience to him. He said to us: ‘Has it really happened?’ We said: ‘Yes.’
He said: ‘If it is so that is better for them that they show obedience to him. Now I will tell you about myself. I am the Dajjaal and soon I will be given permission to emerge. So I will come out and travel in the land, and will not spare any town but I will stay for forty nights, except Makkah and Taybah (Madeenah). They are both forbidden to me; every time I try to enter one of them, I will be met by an angel with a sword in his hand, who will bar my way, and on every route there will be angels guarding it.’
She said: Then the Messenger of Allah ﷺ struck the minbar with his staff and said: “This is Taybah, this is Taybah, this is Taybah,” meaning Madeenah. “Did I net tell you this before?” The people said: Yes. [The Prophet ﷺ said:] “I liked the story of Tameem because it agrees with what I used to tell you about him and about Makkah and Madeenah. But he is in the Syrian Sea (Mediterranean) or the Yemeni Sea (Arabian Sea). No, rather he is in the east, he is in the east, he is in the east,” and he pointed towards the east with his hand. She said: I memorized this from the Messenger of Allah ﷺ.
Narrated by Muslim in his Saheeh (2942).
The majority of the scholars affirm that this person whom Tamim R.A. encountered is the Dajjal and that when Allah wills, he will be let free from the shackles and cause havoc and mischief on the earth.
Seek Refuge in Every Salah
The Prophet ﷺ instructed us—in an authentic hadith—to seek protection from four grave matters during every prayer. This duʿā’ should be recited after the Salāt Ibrāhīmiyyah and before the final salām.
اللَّهُمَّ إِنِّي أَعُوذُ بِكَ مِنْ عَذَابِ الْقَبْرِ، وَمِنْ عَذَابِ جَهَنَّمَ، وَمِنْ فِتْنَةِ الْمَحْيَا وَالْمَمَاتِ، وَمِنْ شَرِّ فِتْنَةِ الْمَسِيحِ الدَّجَّالِ
O Allah, I seek refuge in You from the punishment of the grave, from the punishment of Hellfire, from the trials of life and death, and from the evil of the trial of the False Messiah, the Dajjāl.
Make it a habit to include this powerful supplication in every prayer—a shield between you and the greatest trials of this world and the next.