The Hour will not come until...

IT was reported from Abu Sa'id al-Khudri that the Prophet (sallallahu
alayhe wa sallam) said, "Thunderbolts will increase so much as the Hour
approaches that when a man comes to a people, he will ask, 'Who amongst
you was struck by a thunderbolt this morning?' and they will say,
'So-and-so and so-and-so was struck'." (Ahmad)

Heavy rain before the Day of Resurrection.

It was reported from Abu Hurairah that the Prophet (sallallahu alayhe wa
sallam) said, "The hour will not come until there has been rain which will
destroy all dwellings except tents."

We have already mentioned many Ahadith about the signs of the Hour. Now we
will turn our attention to some Ahadith which could indicate that the Hour
is close at hand.

It was reported from Abu Hurairah that the Prophet (sallallahu alayhe wa
sallam) said: "The Hour will not come until the following events have come
to pass: people will compete with one another in constructing high
buildings; two big groups will fight one another, and there will be many
casualties - they will both be following the same religious teaching;
earthquakes will increase; time will pass quickly; afflictions and killing
will increase; nearly thirty dajjals will appear, each of them claiming to
be a messenger from Allah; a man will pass by a grave and say, 'Would that
I were in your place'; the sun will rise from the West; when it rises and
the people see it, they will all believe, but that will be the time when
'No good will it do to a soul to believe in them then, if it believed not
before' (al-An'am 6:158); and a wealthy man will worry lest no-one accept
his Zakat." (Bukhari, Muslim).

It was reported from Anas that the Prophet (sallallahu alayhe wa sallam)
said: "Among the signs of the Hour are the following: knowledge will
decrease and ignorance will prevail; fornication and the drinking of wine
will be common; the number of men will decrease and the number of women
will increase, until one man will look after fifty women." (Bukhari.)

'A'ishah said, "I heard the Prophet (sallallahu alayhe wa sallam) say,
'Day and night will not pass away until people begin to worship Lat and
'Uzza' (two goddesses of pre-Islamic Arabic). I said, 'O Messenger of
Allah, I thought that when Allah revealed the Ayah "It is He Who has sent
His Apostle with Guidance and the Religion of Truth, to proclaim over all
religion, even though the Pagans may detest (it)" (al-Tawbah 9:33), it
implied that (this promise) would be fulfilled'. The Prophet (sallallahu
alayhe wa sallam) said, 'It will happen as Allah wishes. Then Allah will
send a pleasant breeze, which will take everyone who has as much faith as
a grain of mustard-seed in his heart. Only those with no goodness in them
will be left, and they will revert to the religion of their forefathers'."
(Muslim)

It was from Abu Hurairah that one day, while the Prophet (sallallahu
alayhe wa sallam) was sitting with the people, a Bedouin came to him and
asked him about Iman and Islam ' then he asked, "O Messenger of Allah,
when will the Hour be?" He said, "The one who is asked about it does not
know more than the one who asks, but I tell you about its signs. When a
slave gives birth to her mistress, and when the bare-footed and naked
become the chiefs of the people - these are among the signs of the Hour.
There are five things which no-one knows except Allah." Then he recited:

"Verily the knowledge of the Hour is with God (alone). It is He Who sends
down rain, and He Who knows what is in the wombs. Nor does anyone know
what it is that he will earn on the morrow: nor does anyone know in what
land he is to die. Verily God is All-Knowing, All Aware." (Luqman 31:34).

Then the man went away, and the Prophet (sallallahu alayhe wa sallam)
said, "Call him back to me," but when the people went to call him, they
could not see anything. The Prophet (sallallahu alayhe wa sallam) said,
"That was Gabriel, who came to teach the people their religion." (Bukhari,
Muslim).

"The bare-footed and naked paupers will compete with one another in
constructing high buildings" means that they will become the chiefs of
people. They will become rich, and their only concern will be to compete
in constructing high buildings. This is as in the Hadith we shall see
later: "The Hour will not come until the happiest people in the world will
be the depraved sons of the depraved."

It was reported from Abu Sa'id that the Prophet (sallallahu alayhe wa
sallam) said: "The Hour will not come until the time when a man will leave
his home, and his shoes or whip or stick will tell what is happening to
his family." (Ahmad).

It was reported from Abu Sa'id that the Prophet (sallallahu alayhe wa
sallam) said: "By Him in Whose hand is my soul, the Hour will not come
until wild animals talk to men, and a man speaks to his whip or his shoe,
and his thigh will tell him about what happened to his family after he
left."

Anas said, "We were discussing the fact that the Hour would not come until
there is no rain, the earth does not produce crops, and fifty women will
be cared for by one man; and if a woman passes by a man, he will look at
her and say, 'This woman once had a husband'." (Ahmad.)

Abu Hurairah said: "The Prophet (sallallahu alayhe wa sallam) said: 'The
Hour will not come until time passes so quickly that a year will be like a
month, a month like a week, a week like a day, a day like an hour, and an
hour like the time it takes for a palm-leaf to burn'." (Ahmad.)

Abu Hurairah said, "The Prophet (sallallahu alayhe wa sallam) said: 'The
world will not pass away until the one who enjoys it the most is the
depraved son of the depraved'." (Ahmad.)

Abu Hurairah said, "The Prophet (sallallahu alayhe wa sallam) said,
'Before the Hour comes, there will be years of deceit, in which a truthful
person will be disbelieved and a liar will be believed; and the
insignificant will have a say'." (Ahmad)

Abu Hurairah said: "I heard the Prophet (sallallahu alayhe wa sallam) say:
'The Hour will not come until the sheep with horns no longer fights the
sheep without horns'." (Ahmad.)

It was reported from Abu Hurairah that the Prophet (sallallahu alayhe wa
sallam) said, "The Hour will not come until wealth increases so much that
a wealthy man will be worried lest no-one accept his Sadaqah: tribulations
will appear; and there will be much Harj." The people asked, "What is
Harj", O Messenger of Allah?" He said, "Killing, killing" (Ahmad.)

It was reported from Abu Hurairah that the Prophet (sallallahu alayhe wa
sallam) said, "By Him Who sent me with the Truth, this earth will not pass
away until people are afflicted with landslides, are pelted with stones,
and are transformed into animals." The people asked, "When will that be, O
Messenger of Allah?" He said, "When you see women riding in the saddle,
when singers are common, when bearing false witness becomes widespread,
and when men lie with men and women with women".

Tariq ibn Shihab said, "We were sitting with 'Abd Allah ibn Mas'ud, when a
man came and told us that the time for prayer had come. So we got up and
went to the mosque. After the prayer, a man came to 'Abd Allah ibn Mas'ud
and said, 'As-salam 'alayka (Peace be upon you), O Abu 'Abd al-Rahman'.
'Abd Allah answered, 'Allah and His Messenger have spoken the truth'. When
we went back, we asked one another, 'Did you hear the answer he gave? Who
is going to ask him about it? I said, 'I will ask him'; so I asked him
when he came out. He narrated from the Prophet (sallallahu alayhe wa
sallam): 'Before the Hour comes, there will be a special greeting for the
people of distinction; trade will become so widespread that a woman will
help her husband in business; family ties will be cut; the giving of false
witness will be common, while truthful witness will be rare; and writing
will be widespread." (Ahmad.)

DESCRIPTION OF THE PEOPLE WHO

WILL BE ALIVE AT THE END OF TIME

It was reported from 'Abd Allah ibn 'Amr that the Prophet (sallallahu
alayhe wa sallam) said, "The Hour will not come until Allah takes away the
best people on earth; only the worst people will be left; they will not
know any good or forbid any evil." (Ahmad.)

'Abd Allah ibn Mas'ud said, "I heard the Prophet (sallallahu alayhe wa
sallam) say: Eloquence can be bewitching; the worst of the people are
those upon whom the Hour will come while they are still alive, and those
who turn graves into mosques'." (Ahmad.)

It was reported from Anas that the Prophet (sallallahu alayhe wa sallam)
said, "The Hour will not come until no-one on earth says 'La ilaha illa
Allah'." (Ahmad.)

It was also reported from Anas that the Prophet (sallallahu alayhe wa
sallam) said: "The Hour will not come until no-one on earth says, 'Allah,
Allah'." (Ahmad.)

There are two suggestions as to the meaning of the phrase, "until no-one
on earth says 'Allah, Allah'":

1. It could mean that no-one will forbid evil, or try to correct another
if he sees him doing something wrong. We have already come across this in
the Hadith of 'Abd Allah ibn 'Amr: "Only the worst people will be left;
they will not know any good or forbid any evil."

2. It could mean that Allah will no longer be mentioned, and His Name will
not be known; this will be part of the prevalent corruption and Kufr, as
in the previous Hadith, "Until no-one on earth says 'La ilaha illa
Allah'."

'A'ishah said. "The Prophet (sallallahu alayhe wa sallam) came in, saying
'O 'A'ishah, your people will be the first of my Ummah to join me. When he
sat down, I said, 'O Messenger of Allah, may I be sacrificed for you! When
you came in, you were saying something which scared me. He asked, 'What
was that?' I said, 'You said that my people would be the first of your
Ummah to join you.' He said, 'Yes' I asked, 'Why is that? He said, 'Death
will be widespread among them, and their relatives will be jealous of
them.'I said, 'How will people be after that?' He said, 'Like locusts: the
strong will devour the weak, until the Hour comes.'" (Ahmad.)

'Alba'al-Salami said, "I heard the Prophet (sallallahu alayhe wa sallam)
say: 'The Hour will only come upon the worst of the people'." (Ahmad.)

The emergence of the beast

AMONG the signs of the Hour will be the emergence of a beast from the
earth. It will be very strange in appearance, and extremely huge; one
cannot even imagine what it will look like. It will emerge from the earth
and shake the dust from its head. It will have with it the ring of Solomon
and the rod of Moses. People will be terrified of it and will try to run
away, but they will not be able to escape, because such will be the decree
of Allah. It will destroy the nose of every unbeliever with the rod, and
write the word "Kafir" on his forehead; it will adorn the face of every
believer and write the word "Mu'min" (true believer) on his forehead, and
it will speak to people.

Allah SWT said:

"And when the Word is fulfilled against them (the unjust), We shall
produce from the earth a Beast to (face) them: it will speak to them,'"
(al-Naml 27.82)

Ibn 'Abbas, al-Hasan and Qutadah said that "It will speak to them"
(tukallimuhum) means that it will address them. Ibn Jarir suggested that
it means that the Beast will address them with the words "'for that
mankind did not believe with assurance in Our Sings" (al-Naml 27:82 -
latter part of the Ayah). Ibn Jarir reported this from 'Ali and 'Ata' It
was reported from Ibn 'Abbas that tukallimuhum means that the Beast will
cut them, i e, it will write the word "Kafir" on the forehead of the
unbeliever. It was also reported from Ibn 'Abbas that he will both address
them and cut them; this suggestion incorporates both of the previous
suggestions; and Allah knows best.

We have already mentioned the Hadith of Hudhayfah ibn Usayd, in which the
Prophet (sallallahu alayhe wa sallam) is reported to have said, "The Hour
will not come until you see ten signs: the smoke; the Dajjal; the Beast;
the sun rising from the West; the descent of Jesus son of Mary; Gog and
Magog; and three landslides - one in the East, one in the West, and one in
Arabia, at the end of which fire will burst forth from the direction of
Aden (Yemen) and drive people to the place of their final assembly."

Abu Hurairah said: "The Prophet (sallallahu alayhe wa sallam) said,
'Hasten to do good deeds before six things happen: the rising of the sun
from the West, the smoke, the Dajjal, the Beast, the (death) of one of you
or general tribulation." (Muslim.)

Baridah said: "The Prophet (sallallahu alayhe wa sallam) took me to a
place in the desert, near Makkah. It was a dry piece of land surrounded by
sand. The Prophet (sallallahu alayhe wa sallam) said, 'The Beast will
emerge from this place. It was a very small area." (Ibn Majah.)

It was reported from Abu Hurairah that the Prophet (sallallahu alayhe wa
sallam) said, "The Beast of the Earth will emerge, and will have with it
the rod of Moses and the ring of Solomon." It was also reported that he
said, "(The Beast) will destroy the noses of the unbelievers with the
ring, - so that people seated around one table will begin to address one
another with the words "O Believer!" or "O Unbeliever!" (i e, everyone's
status will become clear). (Ibn Majah.)

'Abd Allah ibn 'Amr said, "I memorised a Hadith from the Prophet
(sallallahu alayhe wa sallam) which I have not forgotten since. I heard
the Prophet (sallallahu alayhe wa sallam) say, 'The first of the signs (of
the Hour) to appear will be the rising of the sun from the West and the
appearance of the Best before the people in the forenoon. Whichever of
these two events happens first, the other will follow immediately.'"
(Muslim). That is to say, these will be the first extraordinary signs. The
Dajjal, the descent of Jesus (alayhe salam), the emergence of Gog and
Magog, are less unusual in that they are all human beings. But the
emergence of the Beast, whose form will be very strange, its addressing
the people and classifying them according to their faith or unbelief, is
something truly extraordinary. This is the first of the earthly signs, as
the rising of the sun from the West is the first of the heavenly signs.

THE RISING OF THE SUN FROM THE WEST

ALLAH SWT says: "Are they waiting to see if the angels come to them, or
thy Lord (Himself), or certain of the Signs of thy Lord? The day that
certaof thesigns of thy Lord do come, no good will it do to a soul to
believe in them then, if it believed not before nor earned righteousness
through its faith. Say: 'Wait ye: we too are waiting'" (al-Anam 6:158.)

It was reported from Abu Sa'id al-Khudri that the Prophet (sallallahu
alayhe wa sallam) explained, "The day that certain of the Signs of thy
Lord do come, no good will it do to a soul to believe in them then",
referring to the rising of the sun from the West. (Ahmad.)

Abu Hurairah said, "The Prophet (sallallahu alayhe wa sallam) said, 'The
Hour will not come until the sun rises from the West. When the people see
it, whoever is living on earth will believe, but that will be the time
when - No good will it do to a soul to believe in them then, if it
believed not before'" (Bukhari.)

It was also reported from Abu Hurairah that the Prophet (sallallahu alayhe
wa sallam) said, "The Hour will not come until the sun rises from the
West. When it rises and the people see it, they will all believe. But that
will be the time when 'No good will it do to a soul to believe in them
then'" (Bukhari.)

It was reported from Abu Hurairah that the Prophet (sallallahu alayhe wa
sallam) said, "There are three things which, if they appear, 'No good will
it do to a soul to believe in them then, if it believed not before nor
earned righteousness through its faith' They are: the rising of the sun
from the West, the Dajjal, and the Beast of the Earth." (Ahmad, Muslim,
Tirmidhi.)

Abu Dharr said, "The Prophet (sallallahu alayhe wa sallam) asked me, 'Do
you know where the sun goes when it sets? I said, 'I do not know'He said,
'It travels until it prostrates itself beneath the Throne, and asks for
permission to rise again. But a time will come when it will be told, 'Go
back whence you came.' That will be the time when 'No good will it do to a
soul to believe in them then, if it believed not before nor earned
righteousness through its faith'" (Bukhari.)

'Amr ibn Jarir said, "Three Muslims were sitting with Marwan in Madinah,
and heard him say, whilst talking about the Signs of the Hour, that the
first of them would be the appearance of the Dajjal. The three went to
'Abd Allah ibn 'Amr, and told him what they had heard Marwan say
concerning the Signs. 'Abd Allah said, 'Marwan has not said much. I
memorised a Hadith like that from the Prophet (sallallahu alayhe wa
sallam) which I have not forgotten since. I heard the Prophet (sallallahu
alayhe wa sallam) say: The first of the signs will be the rising of the
sun from the West, and the emergence of the Beast in the forenoon.
Whichever of the two comes first, the other will follow immediately'"

"The 'Abd Allah, who was widely-read, said, 'I think that the first to
happen will be the rising of the sun from the West. Every time it sets, it
goes beneath the Throne, prostrates itself, and seeks permission to rise
again. A time will come when three times it will seek permission and will
receive no reply, until, when part of the night has passed and it realises
that even if it were given permission, it would not be able to rise on
time, it will say: "O my Lord, how far the rising-point is from me! What
can I do for the people now?" Then it will seek permission to go back, and
it will be told: 'Rise from where you are now' - and it will rise from the
West'" Then 'Abd Allah recited the Ayah:

"No good will it do to a soul to believe in them then, if it believed not
before nor earned righteousness through its faith." (Ahmad.)

Some scholars interpret "the rising of the sun from the West" as meaning
that Islam will appear in the West, as strong as it was in the beginning,
and that the people of the West will carry the flag of Islam.

THE SMOKE WHICH WILL APPEAR AT THE END OF TIME

MASRUQ said: "While a man was giving a speech among the people of Kindah,
he said, 'There will be smoke on the Day of Resurrection which will
deprive the hypocrites of their hearing and sight, but the believers will
only suffer something like a cold' We were terrified, so we went to Ibn
Masud, who was reclining. When he heard about this, he became angry and
sat up, and said: 'O people, whoever knows a thing, let him say it; but
whoever does not know, let him say, "Allah knows best." It is a part of
knowledge, when one does not know something, to say "Allah knows best."
Allah SWT said to His Prophet Mohammad (sallallahu alayhe wa sallam):
"Say: 'No reward do I ask of you for this (Qur'an), nor am I a pretender'"
(Sad 38:86.)

"Quraysh were being slow in embracing Islam, so the Prophet (sallallahu
alayhe wa sallam) prayed against them, saying, 'O Allah, help me against
them by sending seven years of famine like those of Joseph.' They were
afflicted by a year of famine in which they were destroyed, and ate dead
animals and bones. They began to see something like smoke between the sky
and the earth. Abu Sufyan came and said, 'O Mohammad! You came to command
us to keep good relations with our relatives, and your people have
perished, so pray that Allah may relieve them'"

The Ibn Mas'ud recited,

"Then watch thou for the Day that the sky will bring forth a kind of smoke
(or mist) plainly visible,

Enveloping the people: this will be a Penalty Grievous.

(They will say:) 'Our Lord! Remove the Penalty from us, for we do truly
believe!

How shall the Message be (effectual) for them, seeing that an Apostle
explaining things clearly has (already) come to them?

Yet they return away from him and say: 'Tutored (by others), a man
possessed!

We shall indeed remove the Penalty for a while, (but) truly ye will revert
(to your ways)." (al-Dukhan 44:10-15)

Ibn Maud asked: "Will their punishment in the Hereafter be removed so they
can go back to their Kufr?"

Allah SWT said:

"One day We shall seize you with a mighty onslaught: We will indeed (then)
exact Retribution!"

(al-Dukhan 44:16)

"...and soon will come the inevitable (punishment)!" (al-Furqan 25:77)

These Ayat refer to the Day (Battle) of Badr.

Allah SWT said:

"Alif-Lam-Mim. The Romans (Byzantines) have been defeated - in a land
close by; but they, (even) after (this) defeat of theirs, will soon be
victorious - within a few years'"

(al-Rum 30: 1-3) (Bukhari.)

This speaker's suggestion - that the idea that the smoke would be on the
Day or Resurrection was not a good one - made Ibn Masud react angrily. But
the smoke will appear before the Day of Resurrection; it will be one of
the signs, which are: the Beast, the Dajjal, the Smoke, and Gog and Magog,
as the Ahadith narrated from Abu Sarihah, Abu Hurairah and other Sahabah
indicate.

As mentioned in the Sahih Ahadith, the fire which will appear before the
Day of Resurrection will burst forth from the direction of Aden, and drive
the people to the place of their final assembly. It will move with them
and halt with them, and will devour any who lag behind.

The descent of Jesus at the end of time

Abd Allah ibn 'Amr said, "The Prophet (sallallahu alayhe wa sallam) said,
'The Dajjal will appear in my Ummah, and will remain for forty - "I cannot
say whether he meant forty days, forty months or forty years." Then Allah
will send Jesus (alayhe salam), the son of Mary, who will resemble 'Urwah
ibn Mas'ud. He will chase the Dajjal and kill him. Then the people will
live for seven years during which there will be no enmity between any two
persons. Then Allah will send a cold wind from the direction of Syria,
which will take the soul of everyone who has the slightest speck of good
or faith in his heart. Even if one of you were to enter the heart of a
mountain, the wind would reach him there and take his soul.

"Only the most wicked people will be left; they will be as careless as
birds, with the characteristics of beasts, and will have no concern for
right and wrong. Satan will come to them in the form of man and will say,
"Don't you respond?" They will say, "What do you order us to do?" He will
order them to worship idols, and in spite of that they will have
sustenance in abundance, and lead comfortable lives.

"Then the Trumpet will be blown, and everyone will tilt their heads to
hear it. The first one to hear it will be a man busy repairing a trough
for his camels. He and everyone else will be struck down. Then Allah will
send (or send down) rain like dew, and the bodies of the people (ie the
dead) will grow out of it. Then the trumpet will be sounded again, and the
people will get up and look around. Then it will be said, "O people, go to
your Lord and account for yourselves." It will be said, "Bring out the
people of Hell," and it will be asked, "How many are there?" - the answer
will come: "Nine hundred and ninety-nine out of every thousand." On that
day a child will grow old and the shin will be laid bare." (Al-Qalam
68:42) (Muslim)

Abu Hurairah said, "The Prophet (sallallahu alayhe wa sallam) said, 'The
son of Mary will come down as a just leader. He will break the cross, and
kill the pigs. Peace will prevail and people will use their swords as
sickles. Every harmful beast will be made harmless; the sky will send down
rain in abundance, and the earth will bring forth its blessings. A child
will play with a fox and not come to any harm; a wolf will graze with
sheep and a lion with cattle, without harming them." (Ahmad)

Abu Hurairah said, "The Prophet (sallallahu alayhe wa sallam) said, 'By
Him in Whose hand is my soul, surely the son of Mary will come down among
you as a just ruler. He will break the cross, kill the pigs and abolish
the Jizyah. Wealth will be in such abundance that no-one will care about
it, and a single prostration in prayer will be better than the world and
all that is in it." Abu Hurairah said, 'If you wish, recite the Ayah:

"And there is none of the People of the Book but must believe in him
before his death; and on the Day of Judgment he will be a witness against
them ..." (Al-Nisa 4:159) (Bukhari, Muslim)

Abu Hurairah reported that the Prophet (sallallahu alayhe wa sallam) said,
"The Prophets are like brothers; they have different mothers but their
religion is one.Iam the closest of all the people to Jesus son of Mary,
because there is no other Prophet between him and myself. He will come
again, and when you see him, you will recognise him. He is of medium
height and his colouring is reddish-white. He will be wearing two
garments, and his hair will look wet. He will break the cross, kill the
pigs, abolish the Jizyah and call the people to Islam. During his time,
Allah will end every religion and sect other than Islam, and will destroy
the Dajjal. Then peace and security will prevail on earth, so that lions
will graze with camels, tigers with cattle, and wolves with sheep;
children will be able to play with snakes without coming to any harm.
Jesus will remain for forty years, then die, and the Muslims will pray for
him." (Ahmad)

Ibn Masud reported that the Prophet (sallallahu alayhe wa sallam) said,
"On the night of the Isra (night journey), I met my father Abraham, Moses
and Jesus, and they discussed the Hour. The matter was referred first to
Abraham, then to Moses, and both said, 'I have no knowledge of it. Then it
was referred to Jesus, who said, 'No-one knows about its timing except
Allah; what my Lord told me was that the Dajjal will appear, and when he
sees me he will begin to melt like lead. Allah will destroy him when he
sees me. The Muslims will fight against the Kafirs, and even the trees and
rocks will say, "O Muslim, there is a Kafir hiding beneath me - come and
kill him!" Allah will destroy the Kafirs, and the people will return to
their own lands. Then Gog and Magog will appear from all directions,
eating and drinking everything they find. The people will complain to me,
so I will pray to Allah and He will destroy them, so that the earth will
be filled with their stench. Allah will send rain which will wash their
bodies into the sea. My Lord has told me that when that happens, the Hour
will be very close, like a pregnant woman whose time is due, but her
family do not know exactly when she will deliver'" (Ahma, Ibn Majah)

DESCRIPTION OF THE MESSIAH JESUS SON OF MARY, MESSENGER OF ALLAH

Abu Hurairah said, "The Prophet (sallallahu alayhe wa sallam) said, 'On
the night of the Isra' (miraculous journey to Jerusalem) I met Moses - he
was a slim man with wavy hair, and looked like a man from the Shanu'ah
tribe. I also met Jesus - he was of medium height and of a red complexion,
as if he had just come out of the bath'" (Bukhari, Muslim)

The Prophet (sallallahu alayhe wa sallam) said, "Whilst I was asleep, I
saw myself (in a dream) making Tawaf around the Ka'bah. I saw a
brown-skinned man, with straight hair, being supported by two men, and
with water dripping from his head. I said, 'Who is this?' They said, 'The
son of Mary'I turned around and saw a fat, ruddy man, with curly hair, who
was blind in his right eye; his eye looked like a floating grape. I asked,
'Who is this?' They said, 'The Dajjal' The one who most resembles him is
Ibn Qatan." Al-Zuhri explained: Ibn Qatan was a man from Khuzaah who died
during the Jahiliyyah (before the coming of Islam). (Bukhari)

THE APPEARANCE OF GOG AND MAGOG

They (two tribes or peoples) will appear at the time of Jesus son of Mary,
after the Dajjal. Allah will destroy them all in one night, in response to
the supplication of Jesus.

Abu Hurairah reported that the Prophet (sallallahu alayhe wa sallam) said,
"Every day, Gog and Magog are trying to dig a way out through the barrier.
When they begin to see sunlight through it, the one who is in charge of
them says, 'Go back; you can carry on digging tomorrow,' and when they
come back, the barrier is stronger than it was before. This will continue
until their time comes and Allah wishes to send them forth. They will dig
until they begin to see sunlight, then the one who is in charge of them
will say, 'Go back; you can carry on digging tomorrow, insha'Allah.' In
this case he will make an exception by saying insha' Allah, thus relating
the matter to the Will of Allah. They will return on the following day,
and find the hole as they left it. They will carry on digging and come out
against the people. They will drink all the water, and the people will
entrench themselves in their fortresses. Gog and Magog will fire their
arrows into the sky, and they will fall back to earth with something like
blood on them. Gog and Magog will say, 'We have defeated the people of
earth, and overcome the people of heaven. Then Allah will send a kind of
worm in the napes of their necks, and they will be killed by it' 'By Him
in Whose hand is the soul of Muhammad, the beasts of the earth will become
fat.'"

Gog and Magog are two groups of Turks, descended from Yafith (Japheth),
the father of the Turks, one of the sons of Noah. At the time of Abraham
(alayhe salam), there was a king called Dhu'l-Qarnayn. He performed Tawaf
around the Ka'bah with Abraham (alayhe salam) when he first built it; he
believed and followed him. Dhu'l-Qarnayn was a good man and a great king;
Allah gave him great power and he ruled the east and west. He held sway
over all kings and countries, and travelled far and wide in both east and
west. He travelled eastwards until he reached a pass between two
mountains, through which people were coming out. They did not understand
anything, because they were so isolated; they were Gog and Magog. They
were spreading corruption through the earth, and harming the people, so
the people sought help from Dhu'l-Qarnayn. They asked him to build a
barrier between them and Gog and Magog. He asked them to help him to build
it, so together they built a barrier by mixing iron, copper and tar.

Thus Dhu' -Qarnayn restrained Gog and Magog behind the barrier. They tried
to penetrate the barrier, or to climb over it, but to no avail. They could
not succeed because the barrier is so huge and smooth. They began to dig,
and they have been digging for centuries; they will continue to do so
until the time when Allah decrees that they come out. At that time the
barrier will collapse, and Gog and Magog will rush out in all directions,
spreading corruption, uprooting plants, killing people. When Jesus (AS)
prays against them, Allah will send a kind of worm in the napes of their
necks, and they will be killed by it.

THE DESTRUCTION OF THE KA'BAH

At the end of time, Dhu'l-Suwayqatayn, who will come from Abyssinia
(al-Habash), will destroy the Ka'bah in order to steal its treasure and
Kiswah (cloth covering). The Ka'bah is the ancient building which was
built by Abraham, and whose foundations were laid by Adam.

As Tafsir (interpretation) of the Ayah "Until the Gog and Magog (people)
are let through (their barrier)'" (al-Anbiya 21:96), it was reported from
Ka'b al-Ahbar that Dhu'l-Suwayqatayn will first emerge at the time of
Jesus, son of Mary. Allah will send Jesus at the head of a vanguard of
between seven and eight hundred. While they are marching towards
Dhu'l-Suwayqatayn, Allah will send a breeze from the direction of Yemen,
which will take the soul of every believer. Only the worst of people will
be left, and they will begin to copulate like animals. Ka'b said: "At that
time, the Hour will be close at hand."

'Abd Allah ibn 'Amr said, "I heard the Prophet (sallallahu alayhe wa
sallam) say, Dhu'l-Suwayqatayn from Abyssinia will destroy the Ka'bah and
steal its treasure and Kiswah. It is as if I could see him now: he is
bald-headed and has a distortion in his wrists. He will strike the Ka'bah
with his spade and pick-axe'." (Ahmad)

It was reported from 'Abd Allah ibn 'Umar that the Prophet (sallallahu
alayhe wa sallam) said, "Leave the Abyssinians alone so long as they do
not disturb you, for no-one will recover the treasure of the Ka'bah except
Dhu'l-Suwayqatayn from Abyssinia." (Abu Dawud, in the chapter on the
prohibition of provoking the Abyssinians)

Ibn 'Abbas narrated that the Prophet (sallallahu alayhe wa sallam) said,
"It is as if I can see him now: he is black and his legs are widely
spaced. He will destroy the Ka'bah stone by stone." (Ahmad)

The Prophet (sallallahu alayhe wa sallam) said, "The Hour will not come
until a man from Qahtan appears and rules the people." (Muslim; similar
Hadith in Bukhari) This man could be Dhu'l-Suwayq, someone else, because
this man comes from Qahtan, while other reports say that Dhu'l-Suwayqatayn
comes from Abyssinia; and Allah knows best.

Abu Hurairah said, "The Prophet (sallallahu alayhe wa sallam) said, 'Day
and night will not come to an end until a freed man called Jahjah holds
sway'" (Ahmad) This could be the name of Dhul-Suwayqatayn from Abyssinia;
and Allah knows best.

'Umar ibn al-Khattab reported that he heard the Prophet (sallallahu alayhe
wa sallam) say: "The people of Makkah will leave, and only a few people
will pass through it. Then it will be resettled and rebuilt; then the
people will leave it again, and no-one will ever return."

MADINAH WILL REMAIN INHABITED AT THE TIME OF THE DAJJAL

It has been proven in the Sahih Ahadith, as already stated, that the
Dajjal will not be able to enter Makkah and Madinah, and that there will
be angels at the gates of Makkah to ward him off and prevent him from
entering.

It was reported from Abu Hurairah that the Prophet (sallallahu alayhe wa
sallam) said, "Neither the Dajjal nor plague will be able to enter
Madinah." As mentioned above, the Dajjal will camp outside Madinah, and it
will be shaken by three tremors. Every hypocrite and sinner will go out to
join the Dajjal, and every believer and Muslim will stay. That day will be
called the Day of Purification (Yawm al-Khalas). Most of those who go out
to join the Dajjal will be women. As the Prophet (sallallahu alayhe wa
sallam) said, "Verily it (Madinah) is good; its evil will be eliminated
and its goodness will be obvious."

Allah SWT said:

"Women impure are for men impure, and men impure for women impure, and
women of purity are for men of purity, and men of purity are for women of
purity'" (Al-Nur 24-26)

Madinah will remain inhabited during the days of the Dajjal, and during
the time of Jesus son of Mary (AS), until he dies and is buried there.
Then it will be destroyed.

'Umar ibn al-Khattab said, "I heard the Prophet (sallallahu alayhe wa
sallam) say, 'A rider will go around Madinah and say, There used to be
many Muslims here'" (Ahmad)

FOOTNOTE:

*Dhu'l-Suwayqatayn: al-Suwayqatayn is the diminutive of al-Saqayn (legs);
his legs are described as being "small" because they are thin. Thin legs
are, in general, a characteristic of the Sudanese and people of the Horn
of Africa.

A test for people at the end of time

THE HADITH OF AL-MUGHIRAH IBN SHU'BAH

Al-Mughirah ibn Shubah said, "No-one asked the Prophet (sallallahu alayhe
wa sallam) more questions about the Dajjal than I did. He said, 'You
should not worry about him, because he will not be able to harm you. I
said, 'But they say that he will have much food and water! He said, 'He is
too insignificant in the sight of Allah to have all that." (Muslim.)

Al-Mughirah ibn Shu'bah said, "No-one asked the Prophet (sallallahu alayhe
wa sallam) more questions about the Dajjal than I did." One of the
narrators said, "What did you ask him?" Al-Mughirah said, "I said, 'They
say that the Dajjal will have a mountain of bread and meat, and a river of
water. The Prophet (sallallahu alayhe wa sallam) said, 'He is too
insignificant in the sight of Allah to have all that." (Muslim.)

>From these Ahadith, we can see that Allah will test His servants with the
Dajjal and by the miracles which he will be permitted to perform: as we
have already mentioned, the Dajjal will order the sky to rain for those
who accept him, and will order the earth to bring forth its fruits so that
they and their livestock will eat of it, and their flocks will return fat
and with their udders full of milk. Those who reject the Dajjal and refuse
to believe in him will suffer drought and famine; people and livestock
will die, and wealth and supplies of food will be depleted. People will
follow the Dajjal like swarms of bees, and he will kill a young man and
bring him back to life.

This is not a kind of magic; it will be something real with which Allah
will test His servants at the end of time. Many will be led astray, and
many will be guided by it. Those who doubt will disbelieve, but those who
believe will be strengthened in their faith.

Al-Qadi 'Iyad and others interpreted the phrase "He is too insignificant
in the sight of Allah to have all that" as meaning that the Dajjal is too
insignificant to have anything that could lead the true believers astray,
because he is obviously evil and corrupt. Even if he brings great terror,
the word Kafir will be clearly written between his eyes; one report
explains that it will be written "Kaf, Fa, Ra," from which we can
understand that it will be written perceptibly, not abstractly, as some
people say.

One of his eyes will be blind, protruding and repulsive; this is the
meaning of the Hadith: "...as if it were a grape floating on the surface
of the water." Other reports say that it is "dull, with no light in it,"
or "like white spittle on a wall," i e, it will look ugly.

Some reports say that it is his right eye which will be blind; others say
that it is his left eye.

He could be partly blind in both eyes, or there could be a fault in both
eyes. This interpretation could be supported by the Hadith narrated by
al-Tabarani, in which he reports that Ibn 'Abbas said, "The Prophet
(sallallahu alayhe wa sallam) said, "The Dajjal is curly-haired and
white-skinned. His head is like the branch of a tree; his left eye is
blind, and the other eye looks like a floating grape. "

One may ask: if the Dajjal is going to cause such widespread evil and his
claim to be a"lord" will be so widely believed - even though he is
obviously a liar, and all the Prophets have warned against him - why does
the Quran not mention him by name and warn us against his lies and
stubbornness?

The answer is:-

1. The Dajjal was referred to in the Ayah:

"... The day that certain of the signs of thy Lord do come, no good will
it do to a soul to believe in them then, if it believed not before nor
earned righteousness through its Faith..." (al-Anam 6:158)

Abu Hurairah said, "The Prophet (sallallahu alayhe wa sallam) said, 'There
are three things which, when they appear, no good will it do a soul to
believe in them then, if it believed not before nor earned righteousness
through its Faith. They are: The Dajjal, the Beast, and the rising of the
sun from the west."

2. Jesus son of Mary will descend from Heaven and kill the Dajjal, as we
have already mentioned. The descent of Jesus is mentioned in the Ayat:

"That they said (in boast), 'We killed Christ Jesus the son of Mary, the
Apostle of Allah; - but they killed him not nor crucified him, but so it
was made to appear to them, and those who differ therein are full of
doubts, with no (certain) knowledge, but only conjecture to follow, for of
a surety they killed him not:-

Nay, Allah raised him up unto Himself; and Allah is exalted in Power,
Wise;-

And there is none of the People of the Book but must believe in him before
his death; and on the Day of Judgment, he will be a witness against them."
(al-Nisa 4:157-9)

We think that the Tafsir (interpretation) of this Ayah is that the pronoun
in "before his death" (qabla mawtihi) refers to Jesus; i e, he will
descend and the People of the Book who differed concerning him will
believe in him. The Christians claimed that he was divine, while the Jews
made a slanderous accusation, i e that he was born from adultery. When
Jesus descends before the Day of Judgment, he will correct all these
differences and lies.

On this basis, the reference to the descent of the Messiah Jesus son of
Mary also includes a reference to the Dajjal (false Mesor Antichrist), who
is the opposite of the true Messiah, because sometimes the Arabs refer to
one of two opposites and not the other, but mean both.

3. The Dajjal is not mentioned by name in the Quran because he is so
insignificant: he claims to be divine, but he is merely a human being. His
affairs are too contemptible to be mentioned in the Quran. But the
Prophets, out of loyalty to Allah, warned their people about the Dajjal
and the tribulations and misguiding miracles he would bring. It is enough
for us to know the reports of the Prophets and the many reports from the
Prophet Mohammad (sallallahu alayhe wa sallam).

One could argue that Allah has mentioned Pharaoh and his false claims,
such as "I am your Lord, Most High" (al-Naziat 79:24) and "O Chiefs! No
god do I know for you but myself ..." (al-Qasas 28:38), in the Quran. This
can be explained by the fact that Pharaoh and his deeds are in the past,
and his lies are clear to every believer. But the Dajjal is yet to come,
in the future; it will be a Fitnah and a test for all people. So the
Dajjal is not mentioned in the Qur'an because he is contemptible; and the
fact that he is not mentioned means that it will be a great test.

The facts about the Dajjal and his lies are obvious and do not need
further emphasis. This is often the case when something is very clear. For
example, when the Prophet (sallallahu alayhe wa sallam) was terminally
ill, he wanted to write a document confirming that Abu Bakr would be the
Khalifah after him. Then he abandoned this idea, and said, "Allah and the
believers will not accept anyone other than Abu Bakr." He decided not to
write the document because he knew of Abu Bakr's high standing among the
Sahabah (Companions) and was sure that they would not choose anyone else.
Similarly, the facts about the Dajjal are so clear that they did not need
to be mentioned in the Qur'an.

Allah did not mention the Dajjal in the Quran because He (subhanahu wa
ta'ala) knew that the Dajjal would not be able to lead His true servants
astray; he would only increase their faith, their submission to Allah and
His Messenger, their belief in the Truth, and their rejection of
falsehood. For this reason the believer whom the Dajjal overpowers will
say, when he revives him, "By Allah, it has only increased my
understanding that you are the one-eyed liar about whom the Prophet
(sallallahu alayhe wa sallam) spoke."

MORE AHADITH ABOUT THE DAJJAL

The Prophet (sallallahu alayhe wa sallam) said, "The Dajjal will emerge in
a land in the east called Khurasan. His followers will be people with
faces like hammered shields."

Asma' bint Yazid al-Ansariyyah said, "The Prophet (sallallahu alayhe wa
sallam) said, 'During the three years just before the Dajjal comes, there
will be one year when the sky will withhold one third of its rain and the
earth one-third of its fruits. In the second year the sky will withhold
two-thirds of its rain, and the earth two-thirds of its fruits. In the
third year the sky will withhold all of its rain, and the earth all of its
fruits, and all the animals will die. It will be the greatest tribulation:
the Dajjal will bring a Bedouin and say to him, "What if I bring your
camels to life for you? Will you agree that I am your lord?" The Bedouin
will say "Yes." So devils will assume the forms of his camels, with the
fullest udders and the highest humps. Then he will bring a man whose
father and brother have died, and will ask him, "What do you think if I
bring your father and brother back to life? Will you agree that I am your
lord?" The man will say "Yes," so the devils will assume the forms of his
father and brother. Then the Prophet (sallallahu alayhe wa sallam) went
out for something, and then returned. The people were very concerned about
what he had told them. He stood in the doorway and asked, 'What is wrong,
Asma'? I said, 'O Messenger of Allah, you have terrified us with what you
said about the Dajjal. He said, 'He will certainly appear. If I am still
alive, I will contend with him on your behalf; otherwise Allah will take
care of every Muslim on my behalf. I said, 'O Messenger of Allah, we do
not bake our dough until we are hungry, so how will it be for the
believers at that time? The Prophet (sallallahu alayhe wa sallam) said,
'The glorification of Allah which suffices the people of Heaven will be
sufficient for them."

Abu Hurairah (radiallahu anhu) said, "The Prophet (sallallahu alayhe wa
sallam) said, 'The Hour will not come until the Muslims fight the Jews and
kill them. When a Jew hides behind a rock or a tree, it will say, "O
Muslim, O servant of Allah! There is a Jew behind me, come and kill him!"
All the trees will do this except the box-thorn (al-Gharqad), because it
is the tree of the Jews." (Ahmad.)

PROTECTION AGAINST THE DAJJAL

1. Seeking refuge with Allah from his tribulation.

It is proven in the Sahih (authentic) Ahadith that the Prophet (sallallahu
alayhe wa sallam) used to seek refuge with Allah from the tribulation of
the Dajjal in his prayers, and that he commanded his Ummah to do likewise:

Allahumma inna naudhu bika min 'adhabi jahannam, wa min 'adhabi 'l-qabr,
wa min fitnati 'l-mahya'i wa'l-mamat, wa min fitnati' l-masihi 'd-dajjal."

"O Allah! We seek refuge with You from the punishment of Hell, from the
punishment of the grave, from the tribulations of life and death, and from
the tribulation of the False Messiah (Dajjal)." This Hadith was narrated
by many Sahabah, including Anas. Abu Hurairah, 'A'ishah, Ibn 'Abbas, and
Sa'd.

2. Memorising certain Ayat from Surat al-Kahf.

Al-Hafiz al-Dhahabi said, "Seeking refuge with Allah from the Dajjal is
mentioned in many Mutawatir Ahadith (those with numerous lines of
narrators). One way of doing this is to memorise ten Ayat from Surat
al-Kahf."

Abul-Dira reported that the Prophet (sallallahu alayhe wa sallam) said,
"Whoever memorises the first ten Ayat of Surat al-Kahf will be protected
from the Dajjal." (Abu Dawud.)

3. Keeping away from the Dajjal

One way to be protected from the tribulation of the Dajjal is to live in
Madinah or Makkah.

Abu Hurairah reported that the Prophet (sallallahu alayhe wa sallam) said,
"There are angels standing at the gates of Madinah; neither plague nor the
Dajjal can enter it." (Bukhari, Muslim.)

Abu Bakr reported that the Prophet (sallallahu alayhe wa sallam) said,
"The terror caused by the Dajjal will not enter Madinah. At that time it
will have seven gates; there will be two angels guarding every gate."
(Bukhari.)

Anas said, "The Prophet (sallallahu alayhe wa sallam) said, 'The Dajjal
will come to Madinah, and he will find angles guarding it. Neither plague
nor the Dajjal will enter it, in sha Allah." (Tirmidhi, Bukhari.)

It has been proven in the Sahih Ahadith that the Dajjal will not enter
Makkah or Madinah, because the angels will prevent him from entering these
two places which are sanctuaries and are safe from him. When he camps at
the salt-marsh (Sabkhah) of Madinah, it will be shaken by three tremors -
either physically or metaphorically - and every hypocrite will go out to
join the Dajjal. On that day, Madinah will be cleansed of its dross and
will be refined and purified; and Allah knows best.

THE LIFE AND DEEDS OF THE DAJJAL

The Dajjal will be a man, created by Allah to be a test for people at the
end of time. Many will be led astray through him, and many will be guided
through him; only the sinful will be led astray.

Al-Hafiz Ibn 'Ali al-Abar wrote in his book of history (al-Tarikh) that
the Dajjal's Kunyah (nickname or paternal title) would be Abu Yusuf.

Abu Bakrah said, "The Prophet (sallallahu alayhe wa sallam) said, "The
Dajjal's parents will remain childless for thirty years, then a one-eyed
child will be born to them. He will be very bad and will cause a great
deal of trouble. When he sleeps, his eyes will be closed but his heart (or
mind) will still be active. Then he described his parents: 'His father
will be a tall and bulky man, with a long nose like a beak; his mother
will be a huge, heavy-breasted woman."

Abu Bakrah said, "We heard that a child had been born to some of the Jews
in Madinah. Al-Zubayr ibn al-Awam and I went see his pa, and found that
they matched the description given by the Prophet (sallallahu alayhe wa
sallam). We saw the boy lying in the sun, covered with a blanket,
murmuring to himself. We asked his parents about him, and they said, 'We
remained childless for thirty years, then this one-eyed boy was born to
us. He is very bad and causes a great deal of trouble. When we went out,
we passed the boy. He asked us, 'What were you doing?.We said, 'Did you
hear us?. He said, 'Yes; when I sleep, my eyes are closed but my heart
(mind) is still active. That boy was Ibn Sayyad." (Ahmad, Tirmidhi; this
Hadith is not very strong.)

As we have already seen in the Sahih Ahadith, Malik and others think that
Ibn Sayyad was not the Dajjal; he was one of a number of "lesser dajjals."
Later he repented and embraced Islam; Allah knows best his heart and
deeds.

The "greater" Dajjal is the one mentioned in the Hadith of Fatimah bint
Qays, which she narrated from the Prophet (sallallahu alayhe wa sallam),
from Tamim al-Dari, and which includes the story of the Jassasah. The
Dajjal will be permitted to appear at the end of time, after the Muslims
have conquered a Roman city called Constantinople. He will first appear in
Isfahan, in an area known as the Jewish quarter (al-Yahudiyyah). He will
be followed by seventy thousand Jews from that area, all of them armed.
Seventy thousand Tatars and many people from Khurasan will also follow
him. At first he will appear as a tyrannical king, then he will claim to
be a prophet, then a lord. Only the most ignorant of men will follow him;
the righteous and those guided by Allah will reject him.

He will start to conquer the world country by country, fortress by
fortress, region by region, town by town; no place will remain unscathed
except Makkah and Madinah. The length of his stay on earth will be forty
days: one day like a year, one day like a month, one day like a week, and
the rest of the days like normal days, i e his stay will be approximately
one year and two and a half months. Allah will grant him many miracles,
through which whoever He wills will be astray, and the faith of the
believers will be strengthened. The descent of Jesus son of Mary, the true
Messiah, will happen at the time of the Dajjal, the false messiah. He will
descend to the minaret in the east of Damascus. The believers and true
servants of Allah will gather to support him, and the Messiah Jesus son of
Mary will lead them against the Dajjal, who at that time will be heading
for Bayt al-Maqdis (Jerusalem). He will catch up with him at 'Aqabah
'Afiq. The Dajjal will run away from him, but Jesus will catch up with him
at the gate of Ludd, and will kill him with his spear just as he is
entering it. He will say to him, "I have to deal you a blow; you cannot
escape."

When the Dajjal faces him, he will begin to dissolve like salt in water.
So Jesus will kill him with his spear at the gate of Ludd, and he will die
there, as many Sahih Ahadith indicate.

Majma ibn Jariyah is reported to have said, "I heard the Prophet
(sallallahu alayhe wa sallam) saying, 'The son of Mary will kill the
Dajjal at the gate of Ludd." (Tirmidhi.)

FOOTNOTE:

"When he (Dajjal) sleeps, his eyes will be closed but his heart (or mind)
will still be active" - means that his evil ideas will still come to him
even while he is asleep.

Warnings against the Dajjal

THE HADITH OF AL-NUWAS IBN SAM'AN AL-KILABI

Al-Nuwas ibn Saman said, "One morning the Prophet (sallallahu alayhe wa
sallam) spoke about the Dajjal. Sometimes he described him as
insignificant, and sometimes he described him as so dangerous that we
thought he was in the clump of date-palms nearby. When we went to him
later on, he noticed that fear in our faces, and asked, 'What is the
matter with you? We said, 'O Messenger of Allah, this morning you spoke of
the Dajjal; sometimes you described him as insignificant, and sometimes
you described him as being so dangerous that we thought he was in the
clump of date-palms nearby.

"The Prophet (sallallahu alayhe wa sallam) said, 'I fear for you in other
matters besides the Dajjal. If he appears whilst I am among you, I will
contend with him on your behalf. But if he appears while I am not among
you, then each man must contend with him on his own behalf, and Allah will
take care of every Muslim on my behalf. The Dajjal will be a young man,
with short, curly hair, and one eye floating. I would liken him to 'Abd
al-Uzza ibn Qatan. Whoever amongst you lives to see him should recite the
opening Ayat of Surat al-Kahf. He will appear on the way between Syria and
Iraq, and will create disaster left and right. O servants of Allah, adhere
to the Path of Truth."

"We said, 'O Messenger of Allah, for the day which is like a year, will
one days prayers be sufficient? He said, 'No, you must make an estimate of
the time, and then observe the prayers."

"We asked, 'O Messenger of Allah, how quickly will he walk upon the earth?
He said, 'Like a cloud driven by the wind. He will come to the people and
call them (to a false religion), and they will believe in him and respond
to him. He will issue a command to the sky, and it will rain; and to the
earth, and it will produce crops. After grazing on these crops, their
animals will return with their udders full of milk and their flanks
stretched. Then he will come to another people and will call them (to a
false religion), but they will reject his call. He will depart from them;
they will suffer famine and will possess nothing in the form of wealth.
Then he will pass through the wasteland and will say, 'Bring forth your
treasures, and the treasures will come forth, like swarms of bees. Then he
will call a man brimming with youth; he will strike him with a sword and
cut him in two, then place the two pieces at the distance between an
archer and his target. Then he will call him, and the young man will come
running and laughing."

"At that point, Allah will send the Messiah, son of Mary, and he will
descend to the white minaret in the east of Damascus, wearing two garments
dyed with saffron, placing his hands on the wings of two angels. When he
lowers his head, beads of perspiration will fall from it, and when he
raises his head, beads like pearls will scatter from it. Every Kafir who
smells his fragrance will die, and his breath will reach as far as he can
see. He will search for the Dajjal until he finds him at the gate of
Ludd*, where he will kill him."

"Then a people whom Allah has protected will come to Jesus son of Mary,
and he will wipe their faces (ie wipe the traces of hardship from their
faces) and tell them of their status in Paradise. At that time Allah will
reveal to Jesus: "I have brought forth some of My servants whom no-one
will be able to fight. Take My servants safely to al-Tur."

"Then Allah will send Gog and Magog, and they will swarm down from every
slope. The first of them will pass by the Lake of Tiberias, and will drink
some of its water; the last of them will pass by it and say, "There used
to be water here." Jesus, the Prophet of Allah, and his Companions will be
besieged until a bull's head will be dearer to them than one hundred
dinars are to you nowadays."

"Then Jesus and his Companions will pray to Allah, and He will send
insects who will bite the people of Gog and Magog on their necks, so that
in the morning they will all perish as one. Then Jesus and his Companions
will come down and will not find any nook or cranny on earth which is free
from their putrid stench. Jesus and his Companions will again pray to
Allah, Who will send birds like the necks of camels; they will seize the
bodies of Gog and Magog and throw them wherever Allah wills. Then Allah
will send rain which no house or tent will be able to keep out, and the
earth will be cleansed, until it will look like a mirror. Then the earth
will be told to bring forth its fruit and restore its blessing. On that
day, a group of people will be able to eat from a single pomegranate and
seek shelter under its skin (ie the fruit would be so big). A milch camel
will give so much milk that a whole party will be able to drink from it; a
cow will give so much milk that a whole tribe will be able to drink from
it; and a milch-sheep will give so much milk that a whole family will be
able to drink from it. At that time, Allah will send a pleasant wind which
will soothe them even under their armpits, and will take the soul of every
Muslim. Only the most wicked people will be left, and they will fornicate
like asses; then the Last Hour will come upon them." (Muslim)

A HADITH NARRATED FROM ABU UMAMAH AL-BAHILI

ABU Umamah al-Bahili said, "The Prophet (sallallahu alayhe wa sallam)
delivered a speech to us, most of which dealt with the Dajjal and warned
us against him. He said, 'No tribulation on earth since the creation of
Adam will be worse than the tribulation of the Dajjal. Allah has never
sent a Prophet who did not warn his Ummah against the Dajjal. I am the
last of the Prophets, and you are the last Ummah. The Dajjal is emerging
among you and it is inevitable. If he appears while I am still among you,
I will contend with him on behalf of every Muslim. But if he appears after
I am gone, then every person must contend with him on his own behalf. He
will appear on the way between Syria and Iraq, and will spread disaster
right and left. O servants of Allah adhere to the path of Truth. I shall
describe him for you in a way that no Prophet has ever done before.

He will start by saying that he is a Prophet, but there will be no Prophet
after me. Then he will say, "I am your Lord," but you will never see your
Lord until you die. The Dajjal is one-eyed, but your Lord, glorified be
He, is not one-eyed. On his forehead will be written the word Kafir, which
every Muslim, literate or illiterate, will be able to read. Among the
trhewill bring will be the Paradise and Hell he will offer; but that which
he calls Hell will be Paradise, and that which he calls Paradise will be
Hell. Whoever enters his Hell, let him seek refuge with Allah and recite
the opening Ayat of Surat al-Kahf, and it will become cool and peaceful
for him, as the fire became cool and peaceful for Abraham.

"He will say to a Bedouin, What do you think if I bring your father and
mother back to life for you? Will you bear witness that I am your lord?
The Bedouin will say Yes, so two devils will assume the appearance of his
father and mother, and will say, "O my son, follow him for he is your
lord."

"He will be given power over one person, whom he will kill and cut in two
with a saw. Then he will say, 'Look at this slave of mine, now I will
resurrect him, but he will still claim that he has a Lord other than me.
Allah will resurrect him, and this evil man (the Dajjal) will say to him,
'Who is your Lord? The man will answer, 'My Lord is Allah, and you are the
enemy of Allah. You are the Dajjal. By Allah, I have never been more sure
of this than I am today."

Abu Said said, "The Prophet (sallallahu alayhe wa sallam) said, 'That man
will have the highest status among my Ummah in Paradise."

Abu Said said, "By Allah, we never thought that that man would be any
other than 'Umar ibn al-Khattab, until he passed away."

Al-Muharibi said: "Then we referred to the Hadith of Abu Rafii, which
said, 'Part of his Fitnah will be the fact that he will pass through an
area whose people will deny him, and none of their livestock will remain
alive. Then he will pass through a second area whose people will believe
in him; he will order the sky to rain and the earth to bring forth crops,
and their flocks will return from grazing fatter than they have ever been,
with their flanks stretched, their udders full. He will pass through every
place on earth - except Makkah and Madinah, which he will never enter, for
there are angels guarding every gate of them with unsheathed swords -
until he reaches al-Zarib al-Ahmar and camps at the edge of the
salt-marsh. Madinah will be shaken by three tremors, after which every
Munafiq (hypocrite) will leave it, and it will be cleansed of evil, as
iron is cleansed of dross. That day will be called Yawm al-Khalas (The Day
of Purification)."

Umm Sharik bint Abil-Akr said, "O Messenger of Allah, where will the Arabs
be at that time?" He said, "At that time they will be few; most of them
will be in Bayt al-Maqdis (Jerusalem), and their Imam will be a righteous
man. Whilst their Imam is going forward to lead the people in praying
Salat al-Subh (the morning prayer), Jesus son of Mary will descend. The
Imam will step back, to let Jesus lead the people in prayer, but Jesus
will place his hand between the mans shoulders and say, 'Go forward and
lead the prayer, for the Iqamah was made for you. So the Imam will lead
the people in prayer, and afterwards Jesus (alayhe salam) will say, 'Open
the gate. The gate will be opened, and behind it will be the Dajjal and a
thousand Jews, each of them bearing a sword and shield. When the Dajjal
sees Jesus, he will begin to dissolve like salt in water, and will run
away.

Jesus will say, 'You will remain alive until I strike you with my sword.
He will catch up with him at the eastern gate of Ludd* and will kill him.
The Jews will be deflated with the help of Allah. There will be no place
for them to hide; they will not be able to hide behind any stone, wall,
animal or tree - except the boxthorn (al-Gharqarah) - without saying, 'O
Muslim servant of Allah! here is a Jew, come and kill him!" The Prophet
(sallallahu alayhe wa sallam) said, "The time of the Dajjal will be forty
years; one year like half a year, one year like a month, and one month
like a week. The rest of his days will pass so quickly that if one of you
were at one of the gates of Madinah, he would not reach the other gate
before evening fell."

Someone asked, "O Messenger of Allah, how will we pray in those shorter
days?" He said, "Work out the times of prayer in the same way that you do
in these longer days, and then pray." The Prophet (sallallahu alayhe wa
sallam) said, "Jesus son of Mary will be a just administrator and leader
of my Ummah. He will break the cross, kill the pigs, and abolish the
Jizyah (tax on non-Muslims). He will not collect the Sadaqah,* so he will
not collect sheep and camels. Mutual enmity and hatred will disappear.
Every harmful animal will be made harmless, so that a small boy will be
able to put his hand into a snakes mouth without being harmed, a small
girl will be able to make a lion run away from her, and a wolf will go
among sheep as if he were a sheepdog. The earth will be filled with peace
as a container is filled with water. People will be in complete agreement,
and only Allah will be worshipped. Wars will cease, and the authority of
Quraysh will be taken away. The earth will be like a silver basin, and
will produce fruits so abundantly that a group of people will gather to
eat a bunch of grapes or one pomegranate and will be satisfied. A bull
will be worth so much money, but a horse will be worth only a few
dirhams."

Someone asked, "O Messenger of Allah, why will a horse be so cheap?" He
said, "Because it will never be ridden in war." He was asked, "Why will
the bull be so expensive?" He said, "Because it will plough the earth. For
three years before the Dajjal emerges, the people will suffer severe
hunger. In the first year, Allah will order the sky to withhold a third of
its rain, and the earth to withhold two-thirds of its fruits. In the third
year, He will order the sky to withhold all of its rain, and the earth to
withhold all of its fruits, so that nothing green will grow. Every
cloven-hoofed creature will die except for whatever Allah wills." Someone
asked, "How will the people live at that time?" He said, "By saying La
ilaha illa Allah, Allahu Akbar, Subhan Allah and Al-Hamdu-lillah. This
will be like food for them."

The Prophet (sallallahu alayhe wa sallam) said, "The Dajjal will come
forth, and one of the Believers will go towards him. The armed men of the
Dajjal will ask him, 'Where are you going? He will say, 'I am going to
this one who has come forth. They will say, 'Kill him! Then some of them
will say to the others, 'Hasnt your lord [ie the Dajjal] forbidden you to
kill anyone without his permission?" So they will take him to the Dajjal,
and when the Believer sees him, he will say, 'O People, this is the Dajjal
whom the Prophet (sallallahu alayhe wa sallam) told us about. Then the
Dajjal will order them to seize him and wound him in the head; they will
inflict blows all over, even in his back and stomach. The Dajjal will ask
him, 'Dont you believe in me? He will say, 'You are a false Messiah. The
Dajjal will order that he be sawn in two from the parting of his hair to
his legs; then he will walk between the two pieces. Then he will say
'Stand! and the man will stand up. The Dajjal will say to him, 'Dont you
believe in me? The believer will say, 'It has only increased my
understanding that you are the Dajjal. Then he will say, 'O people! he
will not treat anyone else in such a manner after me. The Dajjal will
seize him to slaughter him, but the space between his neck and collar-bone
will be turned into copper, and the Dajjal will not be able to do anything
to him. He will take the man by his arms and legs and throw him away; the
people will believe that he has been thrown into Hell, whereas in fact he
will have been thrown into Paradise." The Prophet (sallallahu alayhe wa
sallam) said, "He will be the greatest of martyrs in the sight of Allah,
the Lord of the Worlds." (Muslim).

To be continued Insha Allah

FOOTNOTES:

*Ludd: the biblical Lydda, now known as Lod, site of the zionist states
major airport.

* "He will break the cross and kill pigs", ie Christianity will be
annulled.

"He will not collect the Sadaqah (ie Zakat) - because there will be so
much wealth, and no-one will be in need of Sadaqah.

Ahadith about the Dajjal

'Abd Allah ibn 'Umar said, "'Umar ibn al-Khattab went along with the
Prophet and a group of people to Ibn Sayyad, and found him playing with
some children near the battlement of Banu Maghalah. At that time Ibn
Sayyad was on the threshold of adolescence; he did not realise that
anybody was near until the Prophet struck him on the back. The Prophet (S)
said to him: 'Do you bear witness than I am the Messenger of Allah?' Ibn
Sayyad looked at him and said, 'I bear witness that you are the Prophet of
the unlettered.' Then Ibn Sayyad said to the Prophet, 'Do you bear witness
that I am the Messenger of Allah?' The Prophet dismissed this and said, 'I
believe in Allah and His Messengers.' Then the Prophet asked him, 'What do
you see?' Ibn Sayyad said, 'Sometimes a truthful person comes to me, and
sometimes a liar.' The Prophet said to him, 'You are confused', then he
said, 'I ahiding something from you.' Ibn Sayyad said, 'It is Dukh.' The
Prophet said, 'Silence! You will not be able to go beyond your rank.'
'Omar ibn al-Khattab said, 'O Messenger of Allah, shall I cut off his
head?' The Prophet said, 'If he is (the Dajjal) you will not be able to
overpower him, and if he is not, then killing will not do you any good.'"

Salim ibn 'Abd Allah said, "I heard 'Abd Allah ibn 'Omar say, 'After that,
the Prophet and Ubayy ibn Ka'b went along to the palm trees where Ibn
Sayyad was. The Prophet started to hide behind a tree, with the intention
of hearing something from Ibn Sayyad before Ibn Sayyad saw him. The
Prophet saw him lying on a bed, murmuring beneath a blanket. Ibn Sayyad's
mother saw the Prophet hiding behind a tree, and said to her son, "O Saf
(Ibn Sayyad's first name), here is Mohammad!" Ibn Sayyad jumped up, and
the Prophet said, "If you had left him alone, he would have explained
himself.''

Salim said, "Abd Allah ibn 'Omar said, The Prophet stood up to address the
people. He praised Allah as He deserved to be praised, then he spoke about
the Dajjal: 'I warn you against him; there is no Prophet who has not
warned his people against him ? even Noah warned his people against him.
But I will tell you something which no other Prophet has told his people.
You must know that the Dajjal is one-eyed, and Allah is not one-eyed.'"

Ibn Shihab said: "'Omar ibn Thabit al-Ansari told me that some of the
Companions of the Prophet told him that on the day when he warned the
people about the Dajjal, the Prophet said: "There will be written between
his eyes the word Kafir (unbeliever). Everyone who resents his bad deeds -
or every believer- will be able to read it." He also said, "You must know
that no one of you will be able to see his Lord until he dies.'" (Muslim,
Bukhari).

Ibn 'Omar said, "The Prophet mentioned the Dajjal to the people. He said,
"Allah is not one-eyed, but the Dajjal is blind in his right eye, and his
eye is like a floating grape.'" (Muslim)

Anas ibn Malik said, "The Prophet said, 'there has never been a Prophet
who did not warn his people against that one-eyed liar. Verily he is
one-eyed and your Lord is not one-eyed. On his forehead will be written
the letter Kaf, Fa, Ra (Kafir).'" (Muslim, Bukhari)

Hudhayfah said, "The Prophet said, 'I know more about the powers which the
Dajjal will have than he will know himself. He will have two flowing
rivers: one will appear to be pure water, and the other will appear to be
flaming fire. Whosoever lives to see that, let him choose the river which
seems to be fire, then let him close his eyes, lower his head and drink
from it, for it will be cold water. The Dajjal will be one-eyed; the place
where one eye should be will be covered by a piece of skin. On his
forehead will be written the word Kafir, and every believer, whether
literate or illiterate, will be able to read it.'" (Muslim)

Abu Hurayrah said, "The Prophet said, 'Shall I tell you something about
the Dajjal which no Prophet has ever told his people before me? The Dajjal
is one-eyed and will bring with him something which will resemble Paradise
and Hell; but that which he calls Paradise will in fact be Hell. I warn
you against him as Noah warned his people against him.'" (Bukhari, Muslim)

Mohammad ibn Munkadir said: "I saw Jabir ibn 'Abd Allah swearing by Allah
that Ibn Sayyad was the Dajjal, so I asked him, 'Do you swear by Allah?'
He said, 'I heard 'Omar swear to that effect in the presence of the
Prophet, and the Prophet did not disapprove of it.'"

Some 'ulama' (scholars) say that some of the Sahabah (Companions of the
Prophet) believed Ibn Sayyad to be the greater Dajjal, but that is not the
case: Ibn Sayyad was a lesser dajjal.

Ibn Sayyad travelled between Makkah and Madinah with Abu Sa'id, and
complained to him about the way that people were saying that he was the
Dajjal. Then he said to Abu Sa'id, "Did not the Prophet say that the
Dajjal would not enter Madinah? I was born there. Did not he say that he
would not have any children? - I have children. Did not he say that he
would be a Kafir? - I have embraced Islam. Of all the people, I know the
most about him: I know where he is now. If I were given the opportunity to
be in his place, I would not resent it.'" (Bukhari, Muslim)

There are many Ahadith about Ibn Sayyad, some of which are not clear as to
whether he was the Dajjal or not. We shall see Ahadith which indicates
that the Dajjal is not Ibn Sayyad, as in the Hadith of Fatimah Bint Qays
al-Fahriyyah, although this does not mean that he was not one of the
lesser Dajjal; but Allah knows best.

THE HADITH OF FATIMAH BINT QAYS: 'Amir ibn Sharahil Sha'bi Sha'b Hamdan
reported that he asked Fatimah bint Qays, the sister of Dahhak ibn Qays,
who was one of the first Muhajirat, "Tell me a Hadith which you heard
directly from the Prophet with no narrator in between." She said, "I can
tell you if you like." He said, 'Yes, please tell me," she said, "I
married Ibn al-Mughirah, who was one of the best of the youth of Quraysh
in those days. But he fell in the first Jihad on the side of the Prophet.

"When I became a widow, 'Abd al-Rahman ibn 'Awf, one of the companions of
the Prophet sent me a proposal of marriage. The Prophet also sent me a
proposal of marriage on behalf of his freedman Usamah ibn Zayd. I had been
told that the Prophet had said, 'He who loves me should also love Usamah.'
When the Prophet spoke to me, I said, 'It is up to you: marry me to
whomever you wish.'

"The Prophet said, 'Go and stay with Umm Sharik.' Umm Sharik was a rich
Ansari (Muslim originally from Madinah) woman, who spent much in the way
of Allah and entertained many guests. I said, 'I will do as you wish.'
Then he said, 'Don't go. Umm Sharik has many guests, and I would not like
it if your head or leg were to become uncovered accidentally and people
saw something you would not wish them to see. It is better if you go and
stay with your cousin 'Abd Allah ibn 'Amr ibn Umm Maktum' (Abd Allah was
of the Banu Fihr of Quraysh, the same tribe as that to which Fatima
belonged).

"So I went to stay with him, and when I had completed my 'Iddah (perio of
waiting), I heard the Prophet's announer calling for congregational
prayer. I went out to the mosque, and prayed behind the Prophet. I was in
the women's row, which was at the back of the congregation. When the
Prophet had finished his prayer, he sat on the pulpit, smiling, and said,
'Everyone should stay in his place.' Then he said, 'Do you know why I had
asked you to assemble?' The people said, 'Allah and His Messenger know
best.'

"He said, 'By Allah, I have not gathered you here to give you an
exhortation or a warning. I have kept you here because Tamim al-Dari, a
Christian man who has come and embraced Islam, told me something which
agrees with that which I have told you about the Dajjal. He told me that
he had sailed in a ship with 30 men from Banu Lakhm and Banu Judham. The
waves had tossed them about for a month, then they were brought near to an
island, at the time of sunset. They landed on the island, and were met by
a beast who was so hairy that they could not tell its front from its back.
They said, "Woe to you! What are you?" It said, "I am al-Jassasah." They
said, "What is al-Jassasah?" It said, "O people, go to this man in the
monastery, for he is very eager to know about you." Tamim said that when
it named a person to us, we were afraid lest it be a devil.

"Tamim said, 'We quickly went to the monastery. There we found a huge man
with his hands tied up to his neck and with iron shackles between his legs
up to the ankles. We said, "Woe to you, who are you?" He said, "You will
soon know about me. Tell me who you are." We said, "We are people from
Arabia. We sailed in a ship, but the waves have been tossing us about for
a month, and they brought us to your island, where we met a beast who was
so hairy that we could not tell its front from its back. We said to it,
"Woe to you! What are you? and it said , "I am al-Jassasah." We asked,
"What is al-Jassasah?" and it told us, "Go to this man in the monastery,
for he isvery eager to know about you." So we came to you quickly,
fearinthat it might be a devil.'

"The man said, "Tell me about the date-palms of Baysan.' We said, 'What do
you want to know about them?" He said, 'I want to know whether these trees
bear fruit or not.' We said, 'Yes.' He said, 'Soon they will not bear
fruit.' Then he said, "Tell me about the lake of al-Tabariyyah [Tiberias,
in Palestine].' We said, 'What do you want to know about it?" He asked,
'Is there water in it?' We said, 'There is plenty of water in it.' He
said, 'Soon it will become dry.' Then he said, 'Tell me about the spring
of Zughar.' We said, 'What do you want to know about it?' He said, 'Is
there water in it, and does it irrigate the land?" We said, 'Yes, there is
plenty of water in it, and the people use it to irrigate the land.'

"Then he said, "Tell me about the unlettered Prophet ' what has he done?'
We said, 'He has left Makkah and settled in Yathrib.' He asked, 'Do the
Arabs fight against him?' We said, 'Yes.' He said, 'How does he deal with
them?' So we told him that the Prophet had overcome the Arabs around him
and that they had followed him. He asked, 'Has it really happened?' We
said, 'Yes.' He said, 'It is better for them if they follow him. Now I
will tell you about myself. I am the Dajjal. I will soon be permitted to
leave this place: I will emerge and travel about the earth. In 40 nights I
will pass through every town, except Makkah and Madinah, for these have
been forbidden to me. Every time I try to enter either of them, I will be
met by an angel bearing an unsheathed sword, who will prevent me from
entering. There will be angels guarding them at every passage leading to
them.'

Fatimah said, "The Prophet striking the pulpit with his staff, said: 'This
is Tayyibah, this is Tayyibah, this is Tayyibah, [ie Madinah]. Have I not
told you something like this?' The people said, 'Yes.' He said, 'I liked
the account given to me by Tamim because it agrees with that which I have
told you about the Dajjal, and about Makkah and Madinah. Indeed he is in
the Syrian sea or the Yemen sea. No, on the contrary, he is in the East,
he is in the East, he is in the East' and he pointed towards the East.
Fatimah said: I memorised this from the Prophet." (Muslim).

'Abd Allah ibn 'Umar said, "The Prophet (S) said, 'While I was asleep, I
saw myself a dream performing Tawaf (circumambulation) around the Ka'bah.
I saw a ruddy man with lank hair and water dripping from his head. I said,
'Who is he?" and they said, "The son of Mary." Then I turned around and
saw another man with a huge body, red complexion, curly hair and one eye.
His other eye looked like a floating grape. They said, "This is the
Dajjal." The one who most resembles him is Ibn Qatan, a man from the tribe
of al-Khuza'ah'." (Bukhari, Muslim).

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).

Appearance of Dajjal

First of all, we will quote the reports which mention the liars and
"dajjals" who will precede the coming off the Dajjal, or Antichrist, who
will be the last of them; may Allah curse them and punish them with
Hell-fire.

Jabir ibn Samurah said, "I heard the Prophet say, 'Just before the Hour
there will be many liars.'" Jabir said, "Be on your guard against them."
(Muslim).

Jabir said, "I heard the Prophet say, 'Just before the Hour there will be
many liars; among them is the one in al-Yamamah, the 'Ansi in San'a', the
one in Himyar, and the Dajjal. This will be the greatest fitnah.'''
(Ahmad.)

Abu Hurayrah said, "The Prophet said, "The Hour will not come ... until
nearly 30 "dajjals" (liars) appear, each one claiming to be a messenger
from Allah.'" (Bukhari Muslim.)

Abu Hurayrah said, "The Prophet said, 'The Hour will not come until 30
"dajjals" appear, each of them claiming to be a messenger from Allah,
wealth increases, tribulations appear and al-Harj increases.'" Someone
asked, 'What is al-Harj?' He said, 'Killing, killing.' (Ahmad.)

Abu Hurayrah said, "The Prophet said, 'The Hour will not come until 30
"dajjals" appear, all of them lying about Allah and His Messenger." (Abu
Dawud.)

Abu Hurayrah said, "The Prophet said, 'Just before the Hour, there will be
30 "dajjals", each of whom will say, I am a Prophet.'" (Ahmad.)

Abu Hurayrah said, "The Prophet said, 'There will be "dajjals" and liars
among my Ummah. They will tell you something new, which neither you nor
your forefathers have heard. Be on your guard against them, and do not let
them lead you astray.'" (Ahmad.)

Thawban said, "The Prophet said, 'There will be 30 liars among my Ummah.
Each one will claim that he is a prophet; but I am the last of the
Prophets (Seal of the Prophets), and there will be no Prophet after me.'"
(Ahmad.)

The Prophet said, "Verily before the Day of Resurrection there will appear
the Dajjal, and 30 or more liars." (Ahmad.)

Ibn 'Umar said, "I heard the Prophet say, 'Among my Ummah there will be
more than 70 callers, each of whom will be calling people to Hell-fire. If
I wished, I could tell you their names and tribes.'"

Abu Bakrah said, "The people spoke a great deal against Musaylimah before
the Prophet said anything about him. Then the Prophet got up to give a
speech and said: '...as for this man about whom you have spoken so much -
he is one of the 30 liars who will appear before the Hour, and there is no
town which will not feel the fear of the Antichrist.'" (Ahmad.)

In another version of this report, the Prophet said, "He is one of the 30
liars who will appear before the Dajjal. There is no town which will
escape the fear of the Djjal, apart from Madinah. At that time there will
be two angels at every entrance of Madinah, warding off the fear of the
Antichrist."

Anas ibn Malik said, "The Prophet said, 'The time of the Dajjal will be
years of confusion. People will believe a liar, and disbelieve one who
tells the truth. People will distrust one who is trustworthy, and trust
one who is treacherous; and the Ruwaybidah will have a say.' Someone
asked, 'Who are the Ruwaybidah?' He said, 'Those who rebel against Allah
and will have a say in general affairs.'" (Ahmad.)