Dajjal or the Antichrist

The word Dajjal has two connotations: First, it signifies a group which supports falsehood and works with cunning and deceit. Secondly, it is the name of the Satan who is the father of all falsehood and corruption.

[Haqiqat-ul-Wahi, Ruhani Khaza’in, Vol. 22, p. 326]

Dajjal and Satan

The Dajjal mentioned in the Ahadith is described by the Holy Qur’an as the Satan, whom it quotes as saying:

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‘He (Satan) pleaded in the presence of God to be granted respite until those who are dead of heart are revived. God said: You are given respite till that time.’

Thus the Dajjal who is mentioned in the Ahadith is none other than the Satan who will be slain in the latter days. This is recorded in the book of Daniel as well as in some Ahadith. As Christianity is the perfect manifestation of Satan, Surah Al-Fatihah makes no mention of Dajjal, but prescribes supplication for refuge against the evil of the Christians. If the Dajjal had been some other mischiefmaker, the Holy Qur’an would not have enjoined us to seek refuge against the mischief of Dallin [those who have gone astray] but for security against the Dajjal.

The verse mentioned above does not mean the day of resurrection, because Satan will remain alive only so long as men are alive. Satan does not operate on his own, but through his agents, who are the people who deify a human being. Being a group of people, they are called Dajjal as in Arabic Dajjal also connotes a group.

If Dajjal is taken to mean someone other than the misguided preachers of Christianity, this would entail a contradiction, because the very Ahadith which indicate that the Dajjal will prevail over the earth in the latter days, also indicate that in those days the power of the church will overwhelm all religions. This contradiction can only be solved by affirming that the two are one and the same.

[Haqiqat-ul-Wahi, Ruhani Khaza’in, Vol. 22, p. 41]

The Word Dajjal Signifies a Group

Dajjal is not the name of one man. According to the Arabic lexicon, Dajjal signifies a group of people who present themselves as trustworthy and pious, but are neither trustworthy nor pious. Rather, everything they say is full of dishonesty and deceit. This characteristic is to be found in the class of Christians known as the clergy. Another group is that of the philosophers and thinkers who are busy trying to assume control of machines, industries and the Divine scheme of things.

They are the Dajjal because they deceive God’s creatures by their actions and tall claims as if they are partners in God’s dominion. The clergy are arrogating to themselves the status of Prophethood because they ignore the true heavenly Gospel and spread a perverted and corrupted version as the supposed translation of the Gospel.

[Kitab-ul-Bariyyah, Ruhani Khaza’in, Vol. 13, pp. 243-244, footnote]

Christian Priests as Dajjal

Dajjal in fact is none other than the people known as Christian missionaries and European philosophers. They act like the two jaws of the Promised Dajjal with which he devours people’s faith like a python. First it is the common and ignorant people who get caught in the wiles of the missionaries; and then, those who happen to escape their clutches being disgusted with the disgraceful and false beliefs, are caught in the net of the European philosophers. I see that the common people are more vulnerable to the lies of the clergy, whereas the intellectual ones are more susceptible to the falsehood spread by the philosophers.

[Kitab-ul-Bariyyah, Ruhani Khaza’in, Vol. 13, pp. 252-253, footnote]

There have been many Dajjals and there may be more to come. But the greatest Dajjal, whose deceit is so vile in God’s estimation that heaven might well be rent asunder by it, is the group which deifies a mere human being. God Almighty has set forth in the Holy Qur’an various kinds of deceit practised by the Jews, the Polytheists and others, but does not single out any which might cause heaven to be rent asunder. Therefore, we should not designate any group as the greatest Dajjal but the one so designated by God in His Holy Word. It would be most unfair and cruel to try to find someone else as the greatest Dajjal.

On no account can we justify the existence of a greater Dajjal than the present day Christian clergy. Whereas God has designated them in His Holy Word as the greatest Dajjal, it would be the height of faithlessness to consider anyone else to be the greatest Dajjal in contrast to the Word of God. Had there been any possibility at any other time of the existence of such a Dajjal, God Almighty, Whose knowledge transcends the past, the present and the future, would have designated him and not these people as the great Dajjal. The sign of the great Dajjal, which we can clearly deduce from the Hadith of Bukhari 2 is that the great Dajjal would deify Jesus and would attribute salvation to the cross.

It is a matter of great delight for the knowledgeable that on this point the definitive verses of the Holy Qur’an and authentic Ahadith are both in agreement. Thus, the truth about this controversial issue has come to the open. The Holy Qur’an unambiguously designates the Christian clergy as the greatest Dajjal and terms their lies to be so great as could destroy heaven and earth. And the Hadith also specifies that the true sign of the Promised Messiah would be that he would break the cross and slay the great Dajjal. Our stupid Maulavis do not seem to reflect that the main objective of the Promised Messiah is the breaking of the cross and slaying of the great Dajjal. The Holy Qur’an has foretold that the great deception and mischief whereby the order of the entire universe might be upset and the world brought to an end is the mischief of the Christian missionaries. From this it clearly follows that there is no greater Dajjal than the clergy and that he who, having witnessed the revelation of this great mischief, waits for some other, denies the truthfulness of the Holy Qur’an.

Moreover, as the literal meaning of the word Dajjal is a group that pollutes the earth with its deceit, and, according to the Ahadith, the singular sign of the great Dajjal would be his advocacy of the cross, if someone still fails to consider the Christian clergy as the great Dajjal, he is indeed spiritually blind.

[Anjam-e-Atham, Ruhani Khaza’in, Vol. 11, pp. 46-48]

The Holy Qur’an then specifies that in the latter days the Christians will dominate the earth, and they shall be the cause of all kinds of mischief running rampant. Waves of calamities will rise on all sides and will race down from every height … They will possess great material strength and dominion, against which all other powers and states will seem powerless. They will also enjoy supremacy in all kinds of knowledge and sciences and establish new and wonderful industries. They will also be dominant in their policies, projects, and good administration, and will show great resolve in their worldly enterprises and will also excel in their endeavour to spread their faith. They will leave behind all other nations in their social, agricultural and commercial policies, as indeed in everything else. This is the meaning of:

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Hadab means high ground and Nasal means to run ahead and to excel. In other words, they will leave behind every other nation in whatever is great and prestigious. This is the major sign of the people of the latter days who were designated as Gog and Magog and this is also the sign of the mischievous group of Christian clerics who are called the Promised Dajjal. Since Hadab means an elevated part of the earth, this indicates that they will achieve all earthly heights but will be deprived of the spiritual heights. This proves that these people are called Gog and Magog in view of their national dominance. Among them are the people who have left no stone unturned in spreading misguidance and consequently came to be known as the Great Dajjal. And God Almighty has said that at the height of misguidance, the trumpet will be blown and people of all faiths will be assembled at one place.

[Shahadat-ul-Qur’an, Ruhani Khaza’in, Vol. 6, pp. 361-362]

Dajjal and the Misguided Maulavis

Remember, the sum total of the evils which the Holy Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) prophesied would spread in the latter days, is Dajjaliyyat, of which the Holy Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) has said there are hundreds of branches. Hence, those Maulavis are also branches of the tree of Dajjaliyat who blindly follow the beaten path and have abandoned the Holy Qur’an, so that though they recite it, it doesn’t get past their tongues. Today Dajjaliyat is spreading its web like a spider. The disbeliever with his disbelief, the hypocrite with hypocrisy, the alcoholic with his drinking, and the Maulavi with his preaching without practice and with his black heart, are all weaving the net of Dajjaliyat. Nothing can break up this web but the heavenly weapon, and no one can wield this weapon but ‘Isa who should descend from that very heaven. So ‘Isa has descended and the promise of God was bound to be fulfilled.

[Nishan-e-Asmani, Ruhani Khaza’in, Vol. 4, p.369]

The word ‘Messiah’ refers to the truthful one whose Masah (i.e. touch) as been blessed by God, and whose breath, word and speech have been given the power to give life. This word particularly applies to the Prophet who does not wage war and reforms mankind through his spiritual power alone. As against this, the word ‘Messiah’ also applies to the Promised Dajjal whose evil power and influence produce calamities, atheism and faithlessness. Even without employing coercive means to destroy the truth, he can make righteousness and love for God grow cold merely by concentration, speech, writing, association and by the influence of his satanic spirit. On the other hand, misconduct, drunkenness, lying, promiscuity, materialism, fraud, tyranny, oppression, famine and epidemics become the order of the day. These are the meanings which emerge from a collective study of standard Arabic lexicons like Lisan-ul-‘Arab; and these are the meanings which God has disclosed to me.

[Ayyam-us-Sulh, Ruhani Khaza’in, Vol. 14, p. 294]

Remember, it is also written about the Messiah—the bearer of spiritual blessings, whose advent in the latter days has been promised to the Muslims—that he would slay the Promised Dajjal. But it does not mean he will actually kill him with a gun or a sword. What it means is that he will do away with all deceitful innovations in religion.

A study of Ahadith reveals that Dajjal is actually the name of Satan. And the people whom Satan will employ to serve his purpose are also metaphorically called Dajjal, because they are like his limbs. The following verse of the Holy Qur’an means that the creation of God is far greater than that of men:

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It refers the people concerning whom it is written that they would make great inventions in the latter days and will try to interfere with God’s creation. According to the commentators [of the Holy Qur’an], the people mentioned here are actually the Dajjal. This indicates that Dajjal does not mean one single person, or else the expression Nas [people] would not have been applied to him. The word undoubtedly refers to a group of people. The group that acts under the command of Satan is called Dajjal. This is also indicated by the sequence of the Holy Qur’an which begins with the verse:

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and concludes with:

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In this verse too the word Nas refers to the Dajjal ... Mentioning these people at the end also indicates that this group of people will be supreme in the latter days, and they will be accompanied by:

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i.e., Christian women who will go from house to house seeking to separate wives from their husbands, and to break the bond of marriage.

It should never be forgotten that the last three chapters of the Holy Qur’an contain a warning about the age of Dajjal and we have been enjoined to seek refuge with God against the mischief of that time. This is an indication that the mischief of those days will only be dispelled through the heavenly light and blessings which the heavenly Messiah will bring with him.

[Ayyam-us-Sulh, Ruhani Khaza’in, Vol. 14, pp. 296-297]

The Meaning of Dajjal Circuiting the Ka‘Bah

Our Holy Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) saw in a vision that the Dajjal was performing the circuit of the Ka‘bah, and was doing it stealthily, like a thief, so that he could destroy the Ka‘bah whenever the opportunity offered. Obviously, no one can say that the Dajjal would actually become a Muslim and perform the circuit of the Ka‘bah. Every intelligent person will interpret this revelation as a vision through which the spiritual condition of the Dajjal was revealed to the Holy Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him), and that this allegory presented itself to him in a vision in which he saw the Dajjal was circuiting the Ka‘bah like an actual person. What it meant was that the Dajjal would be a bitter enemy of Islam and would hover around the Ka‘bah with evil intentions. We know that just as the watchman goes around the houses at night, so does a thief. But while the watchman seeks to protect the houses and to catch the thief, the thief’s motive is to steal and plunder. Thus the interpretation of this vision of the Holy Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) is that the Dajjal will be preoccupied with trying to violate the sanctity of the Ka‘bah, while the Promised Messiah, who was also seen performing circuit of the Ka‘bah, would be busy protecting the House of Allah and trying to apprehend the Dajjal.

[Ayyam-us-Sulh, Ruhani Khaza’in, Vol. 14, pp. 274-275]

The fact that both the Promised Messiah and the Dajjal will perform circuits of the Ka‘bah proves that this does not mean that they will physically perform circuits of the Ka‘bah, for in that case we would have to concede that the Dajjal will succeed in entering the Ka‘bah or that he will become a Muslim; both of which assertions go against the clear purport of Ahadith. This Hadith has to be interpreted, and the interpretation which God has made manifest to me is that, in the latter days, a group of people will emerge who will be called Dajjal. This group will be a bitter enemy of Islam, and, in order to completely bring down the structure of Islam, it will go circuiting round the Ka‘bah, which is the centre of Islam, like a thief. As against this, the Promised Messiah will also perform the circuit of the centre of Islam, which the Ka‘bah symbolises. The purpose of the Promised Messiah in performing the circuit of the Ka‘bah would be to apprehend the thief named Dajjal, and to safeguard the centre of Islam from his designs. We know that the thief goes around the houses at night and so does a watchman, but while the purpose of the thief is to rob and plunder a household, the purpose of the watchman is to apprehend the thief and to have him locked behind bars so that people are safeguarded from his mischief.

Thus this Hadith indicates that in the latter days the thief, who is designated Dajjal, will try his utmost to demolish the structure of Islam, and that the Promised Messiah, out of his devotion to Islam, will raise his supplications to heaven, and that all angels will lend him their support so that he should be victorious in this last final battle. He will neither get tired, nor dejected, nor will he slacken his efforts, but will try his utmost to catch the thief. When his supplications reach their climax, God will see how his heart has melted in his love for Islam. Heaven will do what the earth cannot. And the victory that cannot be achieved by man will be won at the hands of angels.

[Haqiqat-ul-Wahi, Ruhani Khaza’in, Vol. 22, pp. 323-324]

If—God forbid—it had truly been written in the Holy Qur’an that, contrary to the Divine law which binds all of mankind, Jesus was raised bodily to heaven and will survive till the Day of Judgement, the Christians would have been furnished with tremendous means to mislead mankind. Excellent, therefore, it is that the god of the Christians suffered death. This assault that has been mounted by this humble one, on behalf of God Almighty, in his character as messiah son of Mary, against the people of Dajjal-like character who were bestowed holy things but mixed them with pollution and who performed that which should have been performed by Dajjal, is not in any respect less than an assault with a sharp sword.

It may be asked: Jesus, son of Mary, was to come to vanquish the Dajjal, and if it is you who have come in the spirit of Jesus, son of Mary, who then is the Dajjal against you? My answer is that, though I admit the possibility of another Messiah son of Mary coming after me, and he may even be the promised one in the context of some Ahadith, and a Dajjal may also come to mislead the Muslims, yet my belief is that so far there has not been any Dajjal like the Christian clergy of these days, nor shall there ever be till the Day of Judgement. A Hadith of Muslim reads:

‘Imran son of Husain reports: I heard the Holy Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) say: From the creation of Adam (as) to the Judgement Day there will be no greater catastrophe than that of the Dajjal…

Considering the import of this Hadith of Muslim, I say that if we were to examine all documentary evidence available to us from the creation of Adam (as) to this day, and examine the activities of all those who have ever taken upon themselves to do the work of Dajjal, we shall not find anything matching the Dajjal-like activity of the Christian clergy of this day. They have in mind an imaginary Messiah who, according to them, is alive and claims to be God. Jesus son of Mary never made any such claim, rather it is these self-appointed advocates of his who claim that he is God. They have had recourse to every kind of distortion and deception in support of their claim, and there is hardly a place, with the exception of Mecca and Medina, where they have not gone in pursuit of their objective. There is no form of deception, conspiracy or design to mislead, which they have not adopted. Is it not true that in pursuit of their Dajjal-like designs they have encircled the whole world? Wherever they go and establish a mission they turn everything upside down. They are so wealthy that all the treasures of the world seem to lie at their feet. Although the British Government is concerned only with administration and has no concern with religion, the missionaries have a government of their own which possesses unlimited wealth and is spreading its tentacles all over the world. They carry with them all kinds of heaven and hell. One who is inclined to follow them is shown the heaven, and the one who chooses to oppose them is threatened with hell. They are accompanied by mountains of bread wherever they go, and many, who are the slaves of their stomachs, are carried away by the sight of white loaves of bread, and start proclaiming: ‘The Messiah is our Lord.’ There is no quality of the Messianic Dajjal that is not to be found in them. In a manner, they even revive the dead and kill the living. (Let him who possesses understating understand.) And there is no doubt that these people possess only one eye, which is the left one. If they possessed the right eye as well, they would have feared God Almighty and refrained from deifying Jesus. All previous scriptures mention this Dajjal, as do the Gospels on the authority of Jesus son of Mary. It was only proper that every Prophet should have warned against this Dajjal, and each of them has done so, whether expressly or implicitly, directly or indirectly. From the time of Noah down to the time of our lord and master, Seal of the Prophets (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him), we find warnings about this Dajjal, and this is something I can readily prove.

No one can even imagine the extent of the damage that Islam has suffered at their hands and how truth and justice have suffered. Prior to the thirteenth century of the blessed Hijra, there was no trace of such mischief. But around the middle of the thirteenth century this Dajjallike group suddenly emerged and started to expand progressively, until at the end of this century, according to Reverend Mr. Baker, half a million people had been converted to Christianity in India alone, and it is estimated that every twelve years one hundred thousands new converts enter the fold of Christianity and start to believe in a humble man as God.

No sensible person can be unaware of the fact that Christian missionaries have brought under their sway a large number of poor and needy Muslims by giving them bread and clothes; those who could not be lured by these means were seduced through women; and those who could not be so trapped were exposed to all kinds of atheistic philosophy which now holds captive hundreds of thousands of young Muslims, who make fun of the Islamic prayer and fasting and consider revelation to be a kind of hallucination. For those who are not able to learn European philosophy, a large stock of fictitious tales was cooked up—too easy a job for the clerics’ sleight of hand— which derided Islam in the guise of stories and historical events and was very widely published. In addition, they compiled countless books in refutation of Islam, blaspheming our lord and master the Holy Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) and widely distributed them free of cost. Most of these have been translated into other languages.…

Allah is Great. If our people still do not consider these missionaries to be Dajjal of the highest order, for whose refutation a Messiah is needed, then the plight of our people is pitiable indeed!

Look, ye heedless ones, just look how hard these people are trying to demolish the edifice of Islam and what large resources they have employed for this purpose. In their endeavours they have exposed their lives to danger, spent their wealth like water, and indeed they have carried their human abilities to the limit. They have adopted shameful means and implemented them to undermine righteousness, and they have laid down mines to destroy the truth and honesty. All the finely fabricated details of falsehood and pretence have been strenuously invented to bring ruin to Islam. If people’s minds could not be corrupted by other means, they invented thousands of supposed stories and dialogues to do this. Is there any method of the ruin of truth that they have not invented? Is there any way of misguidance that they have not adopted? Thus it becomes obvious that all these tricks and charms which the Christians and advocates of Trinity have resorted to, could not proceed from anyone but the great Dajjal and we have no choice but to identify this group of Christian missionaries with him. When we observe to the past history of the greater part of the world, we gain the impression that, as far as it can be ascertained, there has been no precedent of such successful deception and misguidance as undertaken by these people. And as the Ahadith say, the Dajjal will cause such mischief as would be unmatched since the beginning of the world. It follows, therefore, that these people are the great Dajjal who was to come from the church, and to counter whose magic a miracle was needed. He who disputes this should produce a matching instance from the Dajjals of the past.

[Izala-e-Auham, Ruhani Khaza’in, Vol. 3, pp. 361-366]