In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful

The Emergence and Appearance of Dajjāl (Major Signs of the Day of Judgment)

(In the Light of Ḥadīth)

Dajjāl will appear before the Day of Judgment:

    Abū Bakr al-Ṣiddīq (may Allah be pleased with him) reported that the Messenger of Allah ﷺ informed us:
    “Dajjāl will emerge from a land in the East called Khurāsān. With him will be people whose faces resemble broad, heavy shields.”
    (Sunan Ibn Mājah)

    Explanation: By “faces like broad, heavy shields” is meant people with fleshy and flat faces. And Allah knows best.

Anger will be among the causes of Dajjāl’s emergence:

    Ḥafṣah (may Allah be pleased with her) narrated that the Messenger of Allah ﷺ said:
    “The first cause of Dajjāl’s appearance before the people will be an outburst of anger that will provoke him.”
    (Ṣaḥīḥ Muslim)

Where is Dajjāl?

    Fāṭimah bint Qays (may Allah be pleased with her) narrated that the Messenger of Allah ﷺ said:
    “Be aware, Dajjāl is in the sea of Syria or Yemen.”
    Then he said: “No, rather he is in the East; he is in the East; he is in the East,”
    and he pointed with his blessed hand toward the East.
    (Ṣaḥīḥ Muslim)

    Explanation: The Messenger of Allah ﷺ first mentioned the sea of Syria or Yemen and then immediately corrected it, emphatically indicating the East. The commentators of ḥadīth have explained that this correction was based on revelation. And Allah knows best.

The physical description of Dajjāl:

    ʿAbdullāh ibn ʿUmar (may Allah be pleased with them both) narrated that the Messenger of Allah ﷺ said:
    “I saw in a dream that I was performing ṭawāf, and I saw a man of wheat-colored complexion with straight hair from which water was dripping as if he had just bathed. I asked: ‘Who is this?’ They said: ‘ʿĪsā ibn Maryam (peace be upon him).’ Then I turned and saw another man — reddish in complexion, stout, with curly hair, and one blind eye, like a swollen grape. I asked: ‘Who is this?’ They replied: ‘This is Dajjāl.’”
    (Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī)

The word “kāfir” will be written between his eyes:

    Anas (may Allah be pleased with him) narrated that the Prophet ﷺ said:
    “There was no prophet who did not warn his nation about the one-eyed liar (Dajjāl). Be aware: he is one-eyed, and your Lord is not one-eyed. Between his eyes will be written ‘kāfir.’”
    (Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī)

    Explanation: The Prophet ﷺ also stated that every believer will be able to read the word “kāfir,” whether literate or illiterate.

Dajjāl will have abundant hair on his head:

    Ḥudhayfah (may Allah be pleased with him) narrated that the Messenger of Allah ﷺ said:
    “Dajjāl will be blind in his left eye. He will have abundant hair on his head. With him will be something resembling Paradise and Hell — but his Hell will be Paradise, and his Paradise will be Hell.”
    (Sunan Ibn Mājah)

Further material in this series will address: The trial of Dajjāl, its severity, and its duration (in the light of ḥadīth), in the forthcoming section, inshāʾAllāh.