The Dajjal

   

Dear reader, salam aleikum,

I have been motivated to write a blog to raise (more) awareness about the Dajjal or 'the Anti-Chirst'. I have been pondering about this specific subject for quite some time,

tonight I decided to act upon these thoughts and inform my readers about the Dajjal.

The Prophet (peace be upon him) told his companions about the Dajjal, although He knew exactly what the Dajjal looked like, he had to simplify the information to convey the image of the Dajjal properly. This was so that the people in that time could understand the severity of the arrival of this evil figure. The Prophet (a.s.) explained to his people that the Dajjal will be blind to the right eye and that true believers could read the word 'Kafir' (unbeliever) on its forehead.

 Furthermore, the Dajjal will be so large that it will have one foot in the East and one in the West and that it will be fast, like the clouds driven by the wind.(Abu Huraera (ra)-Baihaqi, Meshkat). And that it can travel around the world in less time than is needed to prepare and attend Jummah (Friday) prayers. (Nawas (ra) bin So'man -Moslem, Tirmizi). These Hadiths can be interpreted literally, however why would the Prophet compare the speed of any giant to clouds driven by the wind? The Prophet (a.s.) merely tried to explain to the people of his time, that travel in the time of the Dajjal will be of very high speed. The time it takes to say Jummah prayers (roughly 90 minutes), is approximately the same amount of time it takes for orbiting satellites to circle the earth once. These Hadiths therefore should not be interpreted in the literal sense of a giant roaming the earth, rather that they signify the advanced technology of high speed aeroplanes and satellites, for any other explanation would have been incomprehensible for the people living in that time.

 Another Hadith states that the Dajjal will have a space of '70 hands' between its two ears, and that it will be able to hear and see what happens on both sides of the world simultaneously. The word '70' in Arabic means countless;  imagining a giant with a unmeasurable distance between its two ears, encircling the earth and taking a relatively long time (90 minutes) seems impossible. However when we focus on the organ which is described, namely the ear, we can think of modern technology which symbolizes these two ears thousands of miles apart. Think of the telephone, the internet, the radio and other media technology, we can hear in an instant what is being said half-way across the world, for example when we use skype to call distant relatives.

As this phenomenon was completely foreign to the people of this time, over 1400 years ago, the interpretations of the Hadiths should not be taken literally now. Many have expected the occurrence of the Dajjal in the form of a great one-eyed giant, however the symbolism in the Hadiths speak of much more than is imaginable in a giant. However in this modern age of so-called 'reason and freedom', we can not imagine anything like this occurring or having occurred already. Despite the fact that the Dajjal has been prophesied to appear in the 'final hours' of the world, it seems that the Dajjal has already come to our world. He has brought with him an image of Paradise and Hell. What he will portray as Paradise, although will in fact be Hell. This central idea comes with the new age of technology, mass media, modern societies, food industry, politics, educations and eventually a whole new way thinking. What do we see as better, what do we prefer to eat, what do we prefer to wear, what do we prefer to listen to, who do we vote for to represent us globally? Who decides what is 'in' and what is 'out', what is normal and what is not? 

The answer to this question is Western Modern Civilization, with this however is not meant the hard working people living in Western countries, no. It is the invisible power that is ruling the world:

with its feasible social networks and modern technology to track whatever we are doing, where we are and what we are saying, whenever!

 with its industrialized food systems, genetically altering animals to produce more meat without any thought of the health consequences to the animals or the humans consuming the genetically engineered meat.

with brutal colonization, leaving countries bare and broken. Letting the poor get poorer and the rich get even richer. Having its own people still in place in these countries as the 'political leaders' working under the hidden agenda of the Western Civilization

with its globalization, taking away the people's heritage, culture, morals, language and even religion, by conforming the world to the views found correct by the Western Civilization.

with its mass media, portraying any people differing from the Western norm as evil, fuelling the increase of xenophobia and immoral hatred all over the world. Decreasing the tolerance and acceptance of individual differences and increasing discrimination and violence amongst the people.

The deceptions of this world are all around us, the billboards showing us what to wear, the TV shows telling us how to act, the advertisement telling us what to eat, these products, these lifestyles, these mentalities all seem to be created especially for us. To make us happy, but how far does this happiness go?

If we have everything we want, can eat whatever we want and go whatever we want, don't we just want more and more? Where does this end? When will we be satisfied?

I will tell you when...never. For the seductions of this world will never fill the hole that is left inside, the hole where true belief, piety and kindness should be.

The common phrases: "You only live once" or " There might be no tomorrow" are very true and are morally founded, cognition following from these sayings should be promoting a good and honest life, for your life could end at any time. The context in which these phrases are used in modern Western Civilization are however far from pious. They are used to justify to drinking even more, eat even more, pollute the environment even more, party even more, sleep around even more, killing more innocent people, accumulate riches in any way possible and to deny any type of responsibilities for one's acts, for tomorrow could never come. However when tomorrow never comes and these people are brought to be face true justice on the Day of Judgement, none will have any explanation for their acts other than their own ignorance.

To summarize the Dajjal is an evil figure which will deceive the people by offering them anything they want and seducing them to stray from the righteous Path, the path of Allah (swt). We must steer clear from the seductions of this world and this life, we should focus on the eternal life which follows. By living a pious and truthful life, one can achieve paradise. And who wouldn't want everything they wanted for eternity, rather than for a life time?

We need to wake up and break the invisible chains of this world!

The information used in this blog was based on literature and video research, two important sources were the 'Wake Up Project' and a Documentary written by Mohammed Bayazeed Khan Pani.

Feel free to suggest changes or correct errors.

Peace be unto you and so may the mercy of Allah and His blessings