THE APPEARANCE OF DAJJAL
The root of dajjal is ‘dajl’, which means to deceive. When a metal is given a gold polish to simulate gold, this process of polishing is called Dajl. Dajjal means deceiver. Dajjal is the superlative degree, that is, a great deceiver.
In later times dajjal has been called the deceiver, because he will act deceitfully. He will indulge in gross misrepresentation of the truth to the people to mislead them. Another name for Dajl in ideological matters is a misinterpretation, i.e., an incorrect or false explanation. Dajjal will not wield the sword for this purpose, for people cannot be misled by the sword—only false reasoning can mislead them.
Such acts of Dajl have repeatedly occurred in the world. However, the invention of the printing press and the media has enormously increased the scope of Dajl, which is now unparalleled in human history. Dajjal is no mysterious personality. The earlier dajjal who could carry out deception on a very small scale has been replaced by a dajjal who can do so on a very great scale. It is another name for the harmful use of the great opportunities produced in the wake of the discoveries made by Gog and Magog.
The Deception (Fitnah) of the Great Dajjal
There is a hadith that tells us that the words ka-fa-ra (meaning denial) will be inscribed on the forehead of Dajjal. (Musnad Ahmad, Hadith No. 14954) It shows that the period in which Dajjal will be born will be one of denial, of atheism. The evil in earlier times was not a denial of God but was rather that of associating something else with the One God. In earlier times, the existence of God was accepted as an axiom. However, in present times this axiom is not regarded as valid. Today is the age of atheism, of denial of God.
A study of the Hadith shows that dajjal or dajjaliat (dajjalism) is, in fact, a phenomenon of the scientific age. In the scientific age, a group of people will deny the truth in the name of the reason for the first time. They will give the impression that religious truths cannot test scientific rationalism.
Then, by the grace of God, an individual will arise—the hajeej—and will put an end to this dajjali menace (fitnah) by using scientific evidence. He will prove the dajjali arguments baseless by putting forward superior arguments at the ideological level. (Sahih Muslim, Hadith No. 2937) This event will be the first of this nature in the whole of human history. He will be the greatest witness of the call of truth. That is why his role has been expressed thus in the hadith: “His will be the greatest witness of truth to mankind in the eyes of God.” (Sahih Muslim, Hadith No. 2938) This great dawah event will take place before doomsday.
The Dajjali menace is not by its nature a new menace. It is only the culmination of the satanic menace. Satan has always tried to make untruth appear attractive and thus make people deviate from the truth. In the scientific age, this satanic fallacy presented in beautiful words will appear in the form of elegant scientific arguments. (15:39)
Such falsification always requires supportive resources, which, lacking in previous times, now exist in abundance. Dajjal is, in fact, that great deceiver who, employing these modern resources, will make untruth appear very attractive by the forceful presentation of falsehood, until the advent of a believer who by the special grace of God, will put this dajjaliat (deception) to an end at an ideological level.
What Is Dajjaliat?
Dajjaliat is not an evil that will appear all of a sudden. Dajjaliat is, in fact, a superlative degree of satanic deception. Deception and Dajl are almost synonymous in meaning. Deception is a common deception, while dajjaliat is a deception of a high degree. The Quran tells us that at the very time of man’s creation, Satan issued this challenge: “I shall make the path of error seem alluring to them on the earth and shall mislead them all…” (15:39). At another point in the Quran, the same threat is expressed thus: “I will surely come upon them from before them and from behind them and from their right and their left, and then you will find most of them ungrateful.” (7:17)
The Fitnah of Ungratefulness
These verses of the Quran show that the actual purpose of satanic deception is to make man ungrateful for God’s bounty. By employing an attractive strategy, Satan will lead man into ungratefulness. If a man is rightly guided, he will lead his life with feelings of gratitude, whereas he would be grievously misguided if he led his life in a state of ungratefulness. Satan has always acted thus, but in present times, Satan will cause a man to deviate on a far greater scale from the path of gratefulness to God. That is why this evil of the present age has been termed dajjaliat in the hadith.
What is gratefulness? Gratefulness is, in essence, another name for the acknowledgement of God’s blessings. This grateful behaviour has been desired of man at all times. To show gratefulness for some blessing received from a benefactor is a natural human feeling. However, acknowledgement always requires a point of reference; for instance, when you eat anything, your food is a point of reference for acknowledgement. Then you call out, “O God, I am grateful to You for giving me food to eat.”
However, anyone who has made a scientific study of the whole spectrum of the health-giving qualities of the different foods will be doubly appreciative of any given food item. His feeling of gratefulness will be far more significant in intensity than that of one who has no specialized knowledge of food so that when he utters these words: O God, I am thankful to You for having given me this food; he will do so in superlative terms. Where the layman will only be able to savour the taste of the food, the food specialist will appreciate it on a superior level, based upon his extensive knowledge of dietetics. If the acknowledgement of the former is a simple one, the acknowledgement of the latter will be on a Himalayan scale.
Food for the Human Being
In present times, food has been the subject of much research. In the wake of this research, innumerable factors have come to light, which significantly increases the possibility of the realisation of God. This God-realisation gives rise to how it happened that the food requirements of human beings are abundantly available in the external world well in advance of their needs and in perfect form. The interface between human requirements and the available food is an ocean of God-realisation for the thinking person.
In ancient times food had only one kind of significance—it was something to fill one’s stomach to satisfy one’s hunger. It was undoubtedly an excellent reason for thanksgiving, but the discoveries made in modern times have greatly expanded the reference point regarding thanksgiving. According to modern research, food is not just something with which to fill the belly; it is a means of fulfilling the varied requirements of the body. That is why food is now considered in terms of a balanced diet—a diet with the right amount, proportion and variety of the foods needed for health. According to modern research, a balanced diet contains carbohydrates, proteins, fat, vitamins, mineral salts, and fibre in the correct proportions.
This scientifically formulated balanced diet has provided us with a significant reference point for our feeling of boundless gratitude. If, according to previous information, man knew the importance of food only on an animal level, now with the benefit of modern research, he understands the importance of food and diet on a much higher level. He can now, therefore, greatly intensify his expression of gratitude to his Lord. It is only in this day and age that this addition to the point of reference has been possible. Compared with the previous centuries’ findings, modern science has achieved a remarkable feat. It has for the first time unearthed those hidden realities in nature, which are referred to in the Quran as divine signs. These scientific discoveries have greatly added to the point of reference for man regarding the blessings of God.
Similarly, for the first time, it has become possible for a man to experience divine blessings of an extremely high degree in many different spheres, causing man’s heart and mind to be filled with highly elevated feelings of gratitude to God. Thus it has become possible for modern man to experience the realisation of God on a superior plane.
Speech and Hearing
For ancient man, speech and hearing were just simple happenings, but many discoveries have been made in present times that have shown the extent to which these powers of speech and hearing are a great blessing of God—unique gifts that can induce oceans of gratitude for the benefactor. The uniqueness of this blessing is illustrated by an experiment once carried out by a scientist.
He took a glass bulb, put an electric bell inside, and sealed its mouth. He then extracted all the air from inside the bulb. The bell switch was outside the glass, and when the switch was turned on, one could see the bell ringing, but no sound could be heard.
Such experiments show that when a person hears the voice, it is by natural transmission. The voice coming out of a person’s lips creates waves in the air. These waves travel and reach another person’s ear, then that person hears and understands these sound waves as meaningful words through a highly complex hearing system. There are a number of provisions in nature that facilitate this unique system of speech and hearing. One who knows these modern discoveries of science can have such a deep feeling for his benefactor as was not possible for the man born in the pre-scientific age.
The Law of Water
In ancient times too man used to travel by sea and river. Moreover, he had the opportunity to thank God for those journeys over water. However, in modern times the research on this subject has greatly added to the point of reference for man to be grateful to God. For instance, what is the law of nature by which the boat sails on the water? Man did not possess this knowledge earlier. In present times, extensive research has greatly added to human knowledge. According to scientific discoveries, it has been revealed that the unique law of water enables boats and ships to sail across vast stretches of water and reach far-off destinations.
This water law is called hydrostatics, one aspect of which is buoyancy. Buoyancy is the upward pressure by any fluid on a body partly or wholly immersed therein: it is equal to the weight of the fluid displaced.
The sailing of the boat likewise produced within man the feeling of gratitude, but in modern times this discovery of the science of the law of buoyancy has greatly added to the point of reference for man in this regard. Now, with this newfound knowledge, when anyone sees a boat or ship sailing at great speed across the water, he is overwhelmed more than ever with feelings of gratitude. This opportunity to demonstrate a high degree of gratefulness has been created by modern scientific discoveries.
Hatred and Complaint
These are only some of the more straightforward examples out of the enormous number of modern scientific discoveries that have come to our knowledge. For the first time in human history, scientific discoveries have given believers the excellent opportunity to know the blessings of nature at a high level and acknowledge their benefactor far more deeply.
The believers had this very superb opportunity to be highly thankful to God, but at the same time, satanic deception caused their thinking to deviate and produced a negative mentality. The entire Muslim world became prey to hatred and violence. As a result, people became deprived of experiences that could have led to profound gratitude and an intense realisation of God.
This satanic deception is indeed something of enormous proportions; that is why in the hadith, this is called dajjalism. How did this dajjali come into effect? It became possible because precisely at the same time as science had revealed divine signs, non-Muslim nations equipped with modern knowledge and technology had conquered Muslims in every field. In particular, Muslims lagged behind non-Muslims in educational, economic and political fields. This backwardness on the part of Muslims was due to their shortcomings, but dajjal, using the modern media, told Muslims that it was solely the plots and oppression of other nations that were responsible for their plight. As a result of this dajjali (deception), Muslims worldwide became involved in hate and violence campaigns against non-Muslim nations. They failed to make positive use of modern opportunities, either for dawah or for God-realisation. Dajjali deception was the reason for this mentality of hatred and the propensity to complain. These non-Muslim nations were our Madu (congregation), and hating the Madu is not lawful in Islam, but Dajjal made this act appear attractive and induced Muslims to think that it was precisely in accordance with Islam.
The Period of the Appearance of Dajjal
There are several traditions about dajjal in the books of hadith. These traditions describe certain strange qualities of Dajjal, which people take in the literal sense.
All the attributes of dajjal in the hadith are expressed in symbolic language. For instance, this is the wording of one long narration about Dajjal in which he will speak with a voice that will be heard in the east and the west. Dajjal will say, ‘O my companions, come to me, O my companions, come to me. O my friends, come to me, O my friends, come to me.’ (Kanz al-Ummal, Hadith No. 39709)
This is indeed the language of symbolism. This does not mean that dajjal’s voice will be of such a high pitch or velocity that it could be heard worldwide. It was, in fact, a prediction that the appearance of dajjal would be in the age of telecommunications. He would be like an ordinary man, but it would become possible for him to make his voice travel from one end of the world to the other, thanks to mechanical communications.
These words of the narration tell us, in fact, of the opportunities of this age rather than of the unusual personality of dajjal.
Why the Traditions of the Predictions of
Doomsday Are Worded in Symbolic Language?
The absolute clarity of the statements in the Quran leaves no doubt about the approach of Doomsday. For example, chapter 7, verse 187, says: “The hour will suddenly overtake you.” Chapter 29, verse 15 has this to say: “The hour is coming, but I choose to keep it hidden, so that every human being may be recompensed in accordance with his labours.” Ibn Kathir, in his explanation of this verse of the Quran, quotes the words of Abdullah ibn Masood, the senior Companion of the Prophet: “God said, ‘I have kept Doomsday hidden from all creatures. Had it been possible, I would have kept it hidden from Myself as well.’” (Tafisr Ibn Kathir, Vol. 5, p. 245)
The stand of the religious scholars is that if any tradition contradicts the Quran, the Quran’s statements will be held to be accurate, and that particular tradition will be scrutinized. In such a situation, purely from the academic point of view, there is only one option, in terms of explanation, and that is to hold the statement of the Quran to be accurate, while the statement of the hadith should be regarded as being symbolic. There is no other way to end this contradiction.
The Negative Use of Opportunities
Dajjal will act negatively in using the opportunities available to confuse people. In this way, he will cause people’s thinking to deviate from God to non-God. This Dajjalism will be at work in both secular and religious fields. We give here a few examples to explain this more fully.
The Theory of Evolution
Organic evolution falls into the category of dajjali concepts. Charles Darwin (d. 1882) and other biologists discovered that different living species have striking similarities in their physical structure. For instance, take the cat and the tiger. By referring to this similarity, evolutionists have formulated the theory that an evolutionary process has taken place in the world of biology. One species develops automatically into some other kinds of (more developed) species during this process.
It was indeed a very great deception. What is indicated by the similarities between different species is nothing but a variety in the species. Although the Creator chose similarity in physical structure to create species, every species was a separate, unique creation. The evolutionists’ observations indicated variety, but they were fallaciously interpreted to prove the concept of organic evolution.
This theory does not deny the existence of God. However, in effect, it amounts to making God irrelevant in the whole process of creation. According to the theory of evolution, the whole process of life takes place by natural selection. This concept renders God’s role in the creation of life so negligible that there remains no significant difference between believing and not believing. In present times, we see that the concept of God has become almost peripheral in practical life. The major reason for this state of affairs is the general acceptance of evolution.
Material Interpretation of History
The exact sciences had simply discovered the realities of nature. Physicists performed this task with great rigour and objectivity. The realities of nature thus discovered were related to the revelation of divine signs in the universe and human beings. Their utility was as data supporting modern theology in terms of their nature. However, precisely the same period witnessed the appearance of secular philosophers and thinkers. They made harmful use of the information arising from scientific research in that they proceeded to use it to present a purely material interpretation of human history. This line of thought is outlined in Julian Huxley’s (d. 1975) book, meaningfully titled, Religion without Revelation.
Just as the west were leaders in the physical sciences in the present world, they also became leaders of the world in the interpretation of life. It was as if the task of interpreting both life and the universe could be performed only by the west. The inhabitants of the eastern world had no option but to follow the west.
The ideological task performed by the west was a material interpretation of history. During this period, many philosophers and thinkers came to the fore. They and their followers, who subscribed to their ideology, succeeded in influencing the minds of the whole world by using modern media. It has come about due to the misinterpretation of the facts. The reason is traceable to the religious scholars’ failure to play any constructive role.
Entertainment Culture
Dajjal undertook this task of deceiving the common person in another way. The new world discovered by science had great potential for guidance for the common person. For the first time, it had become possible for a man to discover the divine truth at the level of established knowledge, with better opportunities that existed for God-realisation. Scientific discoveries made it more apparent that the blessings man had received in this world were from his Benefactor and must be acknowledged as such. Thereby acknowledging the Benefactor, he could be held deserving of further blessings.
However, precisely simultaneously, dajjal appeared and misled man into a satanic entertainment culture, justifying this by invented philosophies. Everyone wanted to fulfil his or her desires right there and then. They forgot that every blessing brings with it responsibilities. Moreover, man has no right to enjoy these blessings without discharging these responsibilities.
In present times, the entertainment culture is in vogue. All men and women want to enjoy life to the full. The most popular motto of today is: right here, right now.
A significant number of books have been written to justify this ideology. One salient name in this field is Sigmund Freud (d. 1939). He was a great advocate of such thinking. He wanted to prove that human desires have a crucial role in forming the human personality. He held that by suppressing desires, one’s personality became scarred by repression, and the process of psychological growth became distorted. As such, it was necessary to satisfy one’s desires freely. Due to this misleading ideology, permissiveness prevails worldwide, and human society has been reduced to a jungle of well-clad animals.
A great fallacy lies hidden in the ideology of Sigmund Freud and other western thinkers of his ilk. They attributed the growth of personality development to the unbridled fulfilment of desires, whereas such development was a product of the human mind. Indeed, man’s mind promotes the growth of the human personality. The truth is that in this case, the fulfilment of desires is only a distraction and, as such, is an obstacle to intellectual development.
Dajjali fitnah, by its nature, is not a new evil. It has always existed in the form of satanic fitnah. What is particular about it is that this fallacious ideology has come to form the basis of a civilisation. Finding it very attractive, people, in general, will accept it. It will be the ultimate form of the grossly improper use of modern discoveries. This same dajjali culture prevails in the present age.
Dajjaliat: The Fitnah of Religious Exploitation
Imam Nawawi (d. 1277) quoted another hadith to explain this tradition: “ What I fear more than anything else for my community (ummah) is the misguided leaders who will mislead the people.” (Sahih Ibn Hibban, Hadith No. 6714)
‘Leaders of the Ummah’ here means leaders who exploit. To promote their leadership, they utter beautiful words. They mask the irreligious nature of their goals in religious terminology. A significant number of people are then misled and rally around them. In short, this is religious exploitation.
The Political Interpretation of Religion
In the age of the printing press,age, books that give a political interpretation of Islam have been printed and published on a large scale. For a variety of reasons, these books have become popular. The goal of those who have fallen under the influence of this literature has become political revolution. This political interpretation of Islam is based on a dangerous fallacy, i.e., that religion is another name for a “complete system” and that the goal of religion is not just worship of and devotion to God, but is, more importantly, the implementation and enforcement of the civil and criminal laws of religion. Since implementing these laws has never been possible without the possession of power, it is natural that the possession of power by force has become the overriding goal of these movements. This religious form of politics, when carried into effect, has caused great harm.
For the first time today, it has become possible to perform dawah work based on scientific arguments or proofs. The divine message could have been communicated worldwide far more effectively than has been done to date through modern communications. However, this great potential has not been realised simply because those who performed dawah work have become engaged in futile political activities. Negative thinking among Muslims, violence, extremism and an unsympathetic attitude towards others result from a political interpretation of Islam. This political interpretation has given birth to the hate culture among Muslims.
The Fallacy of Political Interpretation
This fallacy has resulted from deviation from the true path of religion. Religion relates basically to an individual’s life, and as such, it imparts the basic teachings regarding all aspects of life. In other words, these teachings address one’s individual life rather than the political system in the external world. One method adopted to formulate a political interpretation of religion was to take religious teachings meant to be followed in one’s own life, at the individual level, and treat them as something to be imposed on the external world. For instance, according to Islam, man ought to act with total fairness in all his dealings (57:25). This teaching, which deals with man’s personal life, was changed by giving this verse a political connotation, i.e., if a man had to establish justice everywhere in the world, he was obliged to do so by force. Another Islamic teaching was that man should observe God’s commands in his life. This was misrepresented as meaning that a believer was God’s vicegerent on earth and, as such, it was his duty—as His deputy—to enforce God’s commands here on earth.
The Concept of Complete Religion
Another basis for the political interpretation of Islam was the concept of a “complete religion”. “Complete religion” meant that civil and criminal laws must also be enforced together, along with commands on belief and worship in a religion. As per this interpretation, all the parts of religion must be treated as a whole. Otherwise, adherence to religion would remain incomplete. However, the truth is that worship is the real or fundamental part of religion, while the enforcement of laws is a relative part. The religious part has to be observed in all circumstances by every believer, whereas the enforcement of laws is a societal concern. If society is prepared to enforce laws, that becomes its religious responsibility, but if it is not prepared to do so, the enforcement of laws will remain in abeyance.
The fallacy behind the concept of complete religion is that both the real and relative parts of religion have been given equal status, regardless of the circumstances. This has been the root cause of all evil. The desirability of the fundamental part of religion is eternal, while the desirability of the social part of the religion depends upon the actual condition of society. Complete Islam for an individual is only required of him according to his capacity.
A political interpretation of Islam was disseminated to implement the ‘complete Islam’. However, as to the practical result, it became akin to total deviation from real Islam. It was a case of totally distorting the reality of Islam in terms of consequences. Of the ensuing evils, the first kind of harm done by the political interpretation of Islam was changing the real target of the Islamic mission. According to the Quran, the real goal is: “To seek ways to come closer to Him.” (5:35). However, according to the political interpretation, the “real” goal of Islam became, on the contrary, to overthrow the existing political regime in order to enforce the “complete Islam” throughout the world.
The second harm of this interpretation was that by adherence to this concept the nature of social relationships changed. According to Islam, Muslims and non-Muslims are dayee (addressor) and madu (addressee). However, this political interpretation changed this relationship into one of political rivalry. As a result, non-Muslims were no longer considered Muslims’ well-wishers and people to whom the divine message had to be conveyed. They instead became their rivals. In this way, a political culture instead of a dawah culture came into existence.
It was as a result of this political interpretation that, throughout the whole world, Islamic action became synonymous with violent action. Activists began their work by employing peaceful means but soon found that overturning the rulers was not possible in this way. Therefore, they opted for a violent course of action to attain their objectives. They even went to the extent of holding suicide bombings lawful. When put into practice, the concept of political revolution thus resulted in nothing but so much hate and violence. Those who came under the influence of this political interpretation engaged themselves in a wholly unlawful course in Islam, i.e., revolt against an established Muslim government. In the present day, all Muslim rulers have received modern education, and because of this background, although religious in their personal lives, the majority of them have adopted a modern outlook in political matters. This is why the upholders of the political interpretation of Islam insist that since their rulers are not enforcing “complete Islam” in their country, they feel duty-bound to rebel against them, unseat them from power and replace them with such individuals as will enforce complete Islam.
This theory has resulted in a division of the people into two groups—the rulers and the ruled, with Muslims beginning to fight against the rulers of their respective countries. This line of action on the part of the Muslims, in the terminology of Islamic law (fiqh), is that of revolt (khurooj), which is unlawful (haraam) in Islam.
The 20th century was a period of feverish activity set in motion by this political interpretation of Islam. It was precisely at this moment that the discoveries of science, in the words of the Quran, had made significant revelations of the divine signs lying hidden in the universe. The need of the hour was to give the call of truth at a very high level, supported by scientific discoveries. However, at that very time, our leaders, under this tragic misapprehension, became embroiled in political activities. As a result, the call of truth could not be given, despite all the opportunities to present themselves at a very high level.
This example can gauge the political extremism of Muslim leaders: Syed Jamaluddin Afghani (d. 1897), the leader of the radical political activities of his group in Paris, was asked in 1884 by his disciple, Mufti Mohd. Abduh (d. 1905), why they should not leave this futile task (politics) and engage themselves in peaceful dawah work and in the field of education, where there would be many opportunities for such work. Jamaluddin Afghani replied: “You talk of disheartenment.” (Jamaluddin Afghani, by Mahmood Abu Riyya, Cairo, 1966, p. 50).
It was indeed a grave tragedy resulting from the political interpretation of Islam. There were two negative results of this interpretation: failure to utilize modern dawah opportunities and the generation of the culture of hatred and violence in the name of political revolution. The negative result of this political interpretation of religion was that calling people to God was stopped.
With very few exceptions, people became engaged in bringing about “complete Islamic political rule” based on their self-styled interpretation of Islam. This, however, was just not possible according to the law of nature. In this way, trying to achieve something impossible yielded a negative result, which was entirely possible, i.e., peaceful dawah work, could not be achieved either.
The Requirement of a New Prophet
Then we have another example that pertains to those who claim that since circumstances have changed in the 20th century, we need a new prophet. They claimed that their leader was the Prophet of the New age by advancing this theory.
This whole matter is based on a fallacy because a new prophet is not sent to the world because of the changed situation. The changed situation only establishes the need for ijtihaad rather than a new prophet. Whenever any prophet is sent to the world, it is only for two reasons. Firstly, no prophet has been sent to that region and, therefore, due to the absence of prophetic guidance, a prophet has to be sent. Secondly, the teachings of the previous prophets, having been subjected to human interpolation, the authentic source of divine religion, is not available to man.
In present times neither of the conditions mentioned above is valid, considering that a final prophet came in the form of Muhammad ibn Abdullah ibn Abdul Muttalib, who was God’s prophet for all time for the entire world, and the teachings of this prophet have been fully preserved. Therefore, there is no need for any other prophet.
There is no doubt about it that circumstances have changed. However, what is required is that, by the exercise of ijtihaad, we must present the teachings of the final prophet of Islam in a manner that is entirely understandable to the modern mind so that people may find his teachings relevant in the modern world as they were in the past. The change in circumstances only proves the necessity for ijtihaad rather than the need for the coming of a new prophet.
