The Major Signs of the Day of Judgment (part 4 of 7): The False Messiah II

One of the many aspects that one learns about via the story of the Dajjaal is that worldly wealth and achievements are not what determine a person’s worth and true value.  Indeed, a person could possess all that the world contains yet if he is devoid of faith in his heart, he is truly worth nothing.  Thus, another hadeeth in Saheeh Muslim reads:

Mugheerah ibn Shu’ba stated: No one asked God’s Messenger, may the mercy and blessings of God be upon him, more about the Dajjaal than I.  He said (to me), “He should not be a source of worry to you for he would not be able to do any harm to you.”  I said, “God’s Messenger, it is alleged that he would have along with him (abundance of) food and water.”  Thereupon he said, “He (the Dajjaal) and his ability to misguide the believers with what God has allowed to be created by his (the Dajjaal’s) hands (i.e., the large quantities of food and water with him) would be insignificant in comparison to God’s ability to make these events a source for increasing the faith of the believers.”

Also mentioned in Saheeh Muslim are some hadeeths in which the Prophet Muhammad stated:

“There will be no land which the Dajjaal would not pass through or traverse except for Mecca and Medina, and there would no passage out of the passages leading to them which would not be guarded by angels arranged in rows.  Then he (the Dajjaal) would appear in some tracts of land (which contain high concentrations of salt and wherein seepage occurs causing them to be barren) adjacent to the city of Medina and it (Medina) would sake violently such that every unbeliever and hypocrite would exit from it and move towards him (the Dajjaal).”

The Prophet also described the followers of the Dajjaal when he said:

“The Dajjaal would be followed by seventy thousand Jews of Isfahan wearing Persian shawls.”

The following longer hadeeth from Saheeh Muslim gives a more detailed account of the exploits of the Dajjaal and it will lead directly into the next occurring major sign of the Day of Judgment, the return of Jesus:

An-Nawwas ibn Sam’aan reported that God’s Messenger made a mention of the Dajjaal one day in the morning.  He sometimes described him to be insignificant and sometimes described (his turmoil) as very significant and we felt as if he were in the cluster of the date-palm trees.  When we went to him (to the Prophet) in the evening and he read (the signs of fear) in our faces, he said, “‘What is the matter with you?’  We said, ‘God’s Messenger, you made a mention of the Dajjaal in the morning (sometimes describing him) to be insignificant and sometimes very important, until we began to think as if he were present in some (near) part of the cluster of the date-palm trees.’  Thereupon he said, ‘I harbor fear in regard to you in so many other things besides the Dajjaal.  If he comes forth while I am among you, I shall contend with him on your behalf, but if he comes forth while I am not among you, a man must contend on his own behalf and God would take care of every Muslim on my behalf (and safeguard him against his evil).  He (the Dajjaal) would be a young man with twisted, contracted hair, and a blind eye.  I compare him to Abd−ul−’Uzza b. Qatan.  He who among you would survive to see him should recite over him the opening verses of Surah al-Kahf.  He would appear on the way between Syria and Iraq and would spread mischief right and left.  O servant of God!  Adhere (to the path of Truth).’  We said, ‘God’s Messenger, how long would he stay on the earth?’  He said, ‘For forty days, one day like a year and one day like a month and one day like a week and the rest of the days would be like your (normal) days.’  We said, ‘God’s Messenger, would one day’s prayer suffice for the prayers of day equal to one year?’  Thereupon he said, ‘No, but you must make an estimate of time (and then observe prayer).’  We said, ‘God’s Messenger, how quickly would he walk upon the earth?’  Thereupon he said, ‘Like a cloud driven by the wind.  He would come to the people and invite them (to a wrong religion) and they would affirm their faith in him and respond to him.  He would then give a command to the sky and there would be rainfall upon the earth and it would grow crops.  Then in the evening, their posturing animals would come to them with their humps very high and their udders full of milk and their flanks stretched.  He would then come to another people and invite them.  But they would reject him and he would go away from them and there would be drought for them and nothing would be left with them in the form of wealth.  He would then walk through the waste land and say to it, ‘Bring forth your treasures,’ and the treasures would come out and collect (themselves) before him like the swarm of bees.  He would then call a person brimming with youth and strike him with the sword and cut him into two pieces and (make these pieces lie at a distance which is generally) between the archer and his target.  He would then call (that young man) and he will come forward laughing with his face gleaming (with happiness) and it would at this very time that God would send Christ, son of Mary…’”