The Forgotten Warning: Preparing For The Trial Of Dajjal

First Khutbah: The Fitna of Al-Masih al-Dajjal

In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful. All praise is due to Allah. We praise Him, we seek His help, we seek His forgiveness, we believe in Him, and we put our trust in Him.

And we seek refuge in Allah from the evils of our souls and from the evils of our deeds. Whomsoever Allah guides, none can misguide him. And whosoever He leads astray, none can guide him.

I begin by praising Allah, the One to whom all praise belongs, and I send peace and blessings upon the Prophet, his pure wives, his noble companions, and all those who follow him until the last day.

My dear brothers and sisters, we live in an age where the adherence to the deen of Allah is increasingly being regarded as something difficult. Those who follow the dictates of Allah and His Rasul ﷺ are regarded as strange, as backwards, as those who are not enlightened.

And this is something that the Prophet ﷺ prophesized in a hadith in which he said that indeed this Islam, the deen of Allah, began as something strange, began as something which was foreign, it was ridiculed. And it shall return as something which is strange. It will return as being regarded as something strange. So let there be glad tidings for those who are strangers, for those who practice and adhere to this deen.

And we hear day by day of new tribulations, new fitan, new trials that the Muslim ummah is suffering from. Trials and tribulations that we never imagined before 10 to 15 years ago.

It seems as though the Muslim ummah collectively is suffering from a form or a type of inferiority complex — where we look at people of other faiths, of other traditions with an eye of envy, as though Islam is not sufficient to grant us Izzah.

Umar رضي الله عنه had said that we are a nation which Allah granted us honour through Islam. As long as we seek Izzah from anything besides Islam, Allah will bring us disgrace.

There are countless tribulations that the Muslim ummah is facing. And the number of these fitan and the severity of these fitan will simply increase as foretold by the Prophet ﷺ. However, my brothers and sisters, the single fitna that the Prophet ﷺ feared for us the most — a fitna so severe that all the Prophets that preceded Rasulullah ﷺ warned their respective nations of this fitna — a fitna that unfortunately we rarely hear or talk about: the fitna of Al-Masih al-Dajjal.

The Hadith on Dajjal's Appearance

The Prophet ﷺ said in a hadith narrated by Imam Ahmad in his Musnad:

(Musnad Ahmad)

That Dajjal will not appear until people have become negligent about his remembrance, about his mention. And he will not appear until the imams have forgotten his remembrance, his mention upon the pulpits.

When is the last time we have heard a khutbah about Dajjal? And you can't blame those who deliver the sermons — there are so many spiritual illnesses, so many spiritual problems that the Muslim Ummah is facing, that there is a plethora of topics that ought to be spoken about. But nonetheless it is prudent that we familiarize ourselves with this fitna, and that we speak about this fitna, so we can protect ourselves and our loved ones from it.

The Warning to Keep Distance from Dajjal

The Prophet ﷺ said in a hadith:

(Sunan Abi Dawud, Hadith 4319)

Whoever hears about Dajjal, then let him maintain a distance from him. By Allah, a man will come to Dajjal thinking that he is a believer, and he will end up following him.

Why? Due to heretical ideas and beliefs that have been planted in him by Dajjal. And so this will be the culture, the environment of Dajjal — causing doubts in the deen of Allah, such that a person will begin to adopt these heretical, unorthodox views, these unorthodox beliefs regarding his deen, all while believing that he is a Muslim and his views are Islamic.

And this is what we see happening today. We see people adopting all sorts of unorthodox and heretical beliefs while claiming that they are Muslims, while claiming that their beliefs are Islamic — and then going out and preaching about it. They are beginning to quote verses and cite ahadith in a twisted and inappropriate manner, such that the arguments they are using completely contradict those things that are known in our deen definitively — مَعْلُومٌ مِنَ الدِّينِ بِالضَّرُورَةِ.

The fitna of liberalism is becoming more and more common as we go on. People are now claiming that there is nothing wrong with living a homosexual lifestyle and being a Muslim, or changing your gender and being Muslim. All these ideas are coming about, and people are genuinely believing that these ideas are Islamic, that there is nothing contradictory to Islam in them.

They argue that the Quran ought to be changed, that the Quran is something that is outdated — it has to reform, it has to conform to the new times that we are living in, to the new culture that we are living in. This is the same line of reasoning that was echoed by the mushrikeen of Mecca. In Surah Yunus, Allah says:

That when our verses would be recited to them, those who would disbelieve in the resurrection, they would begin to say: "Bring us something besides this Quran" — don't recite this Quran, bring us something besides it, we don't like it, we don't agree with it. Or if you want to stick with the Quran, then بَدِّلْهُ — change it. Change some of the verses, tweak it.

What did Allah instruct the Prophet ﷺ to say?

It is not up to me to change the verses of the Quran as I so wish, as I so desire. Who is saying this? The best of creations, the most beloved to Allah. He is saying: Indeed, if I were to do something like this, if I were to disobey Allah, I fear a punishment on the Day of Judgment — I fear a painful torment on the Day of Judgment.

In Surah Al-Haqqah, Allah says:

If the Prophet ﷺ were he to falsely attribute anything to us, We would have seized him by his right hand. We would have severed his aorta. And none of you would have been able to prevent this from happening.

Why? Why does this book of Allah have to be preserved?

Because it is a divinely revealed book that is applicable across all times. It is never outdated. It serves as a remembrance for the God-fearing.

And yet even though the Prophet ﷺ, being the best of creations, being the most beloved to Allah, refused to endeavour upon such a task — we have people today who say, "Let's change this about the Quran, let's accept this, let's believe in this portion of the Quran and reject that."

Are you going to believe in a portion of the book of Allah and reject another portion?

People say that we are living in confusing times. However, Allah refers to the Quran as كِتَابٌ مُّبِينٌ — it is a clarifying book. The Prophet of Allah has been referred to in the Quran as الْبَيِّنَة — the clear proof of Allah. The Prophet ﷺ said in a hadith:

(Sahih al-Bukhari, Hadith 52; Sahih Muslim, Hadith 1599)

The permissible matters have been made clear and the impermissible matters have been made clear in the deen. Our deen is clear. We are the ones who are confusing ourselves. The deen of Allah has been made clear. It is the Dajjalic era — the era that precedes the coming of Dajjal — that has brought about this confusion in our deen.

The One-Eyed Dajjal — Literal and Metaphorical

The fitna of Dajjal will be such that it will create doubts in our iman. So what are we doing? What steps are we taking to ensure that our iman is strong? What steps are we taking to maintain a strong Muslim identity?

Wallahi, my brothers and sisters, us being in Chicago — we are so blessed. We have so many institutions. We have so many madaris that hold countless programs for the benefit of the community, whether it's Dar-ul-Salam, Dar-ul-Qasim — we have so many programs and so many institutions to take benefit from. Just a few days ago, Dar-ul-Salam held a conference — a winter conference — about Muslim identity. And we must ask ourselves this question: we like to dedicate a lot of time in pursuing degrees, we like to pursue a lot of time in excelling in secular studies, which is important — and we must do that to live in this world. But are we placing that same emphasis for ourselves and for our kids when it comes to learning about the deen, when it comes to learning Islamic theology, aqeedah, when it comes to learning about fiqh, how to worship Allah? Are we ensuring that our iman is strong enough to withstand the fitna of Dajjal?

So severe is this fitna of Dajjal that all the previous prophets warned their respective nations about it. And the Prophet ﷺ too warned our nation, his ummah. But he added an additional contribution — something that was not mentioned by the previous prophets. He said: know that Dajjal is one-eyed, and Allah is not one-eyed.

The Prophet ﷺ was granted the ability of speaking very few yet very comprehensive words — they had depth and meaning. And so it's very possible that this statement is not only literal — of course, it's very dangerous to interpret the statement of Dajjal being one-eyed as purely metaphorical — but it may also be metaphorical in the sense that: when a person has one eye, they are only able to focus on what is in front of them. Their peripheral vision, their field of vision, is greatly reduced.

And such will be the fitna of Dajjal. It will only focus on what is in front of a person — not what lies beyond. It will be a focus on the materialistic realm, the materialistic aspect of this life, and a neglect of the spiritual realm. It will be a focus on the temporal life of this world and a neglect of the eternal bliss of the hereafter.

Practical Steps to Protect Ourselves

So what steps can we take to protect ourselves from the fitna of Dajjal? Some practical steps:

Number one: We should hold daily sessions where we gather our family members, our kids, and we read from a book of hadith — we read about the stories of the Sahabah, we read about the stories of the Prophet ﷺ, the unseen help that they received from Allah, the mu'jizat that the prophets were able to perform. Why? Because the fitna of Dajjal, as I said, will place an emphasis on the materialistic aspect of things and neglect the ghaybi aspect — the metaphysical, the spiritual. And so we should make an effort to strengthen our conviction in the unseen and strengthen our relationship with the spiritual aspect.

Number two — which is perhaps the most well-known — is to recite Surah al-Kahf. There are two narrations: the Prophet ﷺ said that those who recite the first ten verses of Surah al-Kahf, and another narration says the last ten verses of Surah al-Kahf. If a person is able to recite both the first ten and the last ten, that is better. If a person is able to recite the entire Surah al-Kahf, that is the best. Some scholars also say that as we near the end of times, it is best to recite Surah al-Kahf on an everyday basis, to make it a part of your daily regimen.

The last point: the hadith in which the Prophet ﷺ said:

(Sahih Muslim, Hadith 2937)

The Prophet ﷺ said that if Dajjal were to appear and I am amongst you, then I will be the one to protect you from him. However, the Prophet ﷺ has passed on. And so some scholars interpret this hadith in a different light. They say that إِنْ يَخْرُجْ — if Dajjal were to appear — وَأَنَا فِيكُمْ — and I am in you — meaning: if the Prophet ﷺ is in our hearts, if the love of the Prophet ﷺ, if the reverence of the Prophet ﷺ, love for his sunnah, love for the legacy that he left behind — if we have a deep respect for him in our hearts, that will be a means of protection for us against the fitna of Dajjal.

I ask Allah that He allows us to maintain a strong Muslim identity, that He allows us to be from amongst those whose primary concern is that of the akhirah. And I ask Allah that He grants us tawfiq to act upon what has been said.

Second Khutbah: The Islamic New Year — Turning Towards Allah

Respected brothers, elders, mothers and sisters, As-salamu alaykum wa rahmatullahi wa barakatuh.

SubhanAllah, just this morning there was an article that I came across, written by Sheikh Ameen Khadwiya, حفظه الله تعالى, regarding the Islamic New Year — regarding how the New Year was established, and how the counting and the enumeration of when the New Year began. Meaning: how do we calculate the first Hijri year? How did it begin? And he recounts different types of wisdoms in that article of how the companions came about and calculated the New Year.

The Establishment of the Hijri Calendar

He writes in this article that in the life of Abu Bakr رضي الله عنه, in his Khilafah, and in the life of the Prophet of Allah, the point of reference for all events was the Amul Fil — the year in which the Prophet of Allah was born. This was a point of reference for many different events that occurred later on in Islamic history. During Abu Bakr's Khilafah this was the same. And even in the beginning years of Umar's Khilafah they used a point of reference, but they did not have some type of yearly system.

Allah dictated that there will be 12 lunar months in the year. He says:

There are 12 months in the sight of Allah. And the Prophet of Allah ﷺ mentions this also in his final khutbah to the Muslims in Hajjatul Wida'. But when do these 12 months start? What is considered the beginning point? What is the first Hijri year? This is something that was decided in the Khilafah of Umar رضي الله عنه — and not in isolation, but rather in the company of the likes of Ali رضي الله عنه and his dignitaries, everyone that he trusted.

It is said that Umar رضي الله عنه spent months in istikhara because this was a huge decision for the Muslim Ummah — when would the year start? What is considered the first Hijri year? He would contemplate: would it be when the Prophet of Allah ﷺ was born, or when he passed away? Should that be the first day? But then when looking into history, there were many Prophets that came before — they were also born and they also died (with the exception of Isa عليه السلام). So this could not be something unique to Islam.

Then he looked to other events, and he realized that a lot of them were repeated before. So after months of ijtihad and istikhara, Umar رضي الله عنه looked no further than into the Quran to find wisdom. And Allah situated the Quran in such a way that Umar رضي الله عنه realized that the answer was just a couple of ayat ahead of where Allah says إِنَّ عِدَّةَ الشُّهُورِ عِندَ اللَّهِ اثْنَا عَشَرَ شَهْرًا — that there are 12 months in the lunar calendar.

Allah, in the next ruku' in Surah Tawbah, mentions the incident of the Prophet of Allah ﷺ when he and his close companion Abu Bakr رضي الله عنه migrated from Makkah to the small town known as Yathrib — today known as Madinah al-Munawwarah. When he traveled down south and then made his way up north towards Madinah, this incident is recorded in history. Allah says:

Talking to the Sahabah, Allah says: if you are not able to help him, then know very well that Allah has already helped him. In the past, Allah already helped him — when the mushrikun expelled the Prophet of Allah ﷺ outside of Makkah, when he was told to leave even though the Prophet of Allah ﷺ did not want to leave — because this was his home, this is where he was born, where his parents lived, his grandparents, his uncle, his whole family.

ثَانِيَ اثْنَيْنِ — the second of two — referring to Ghar Thur, when they were the two of them inside the Cave of Thur. When the Prophet of Allah ﷺ said to Abu Bakr رضي الله عنه — and we gain from this that the suhbah of Abu Bakr رضي الله عنه is proven through the Quran; Allah used the word صَاحِب here — that Abu Bakr رضي الله عنه is the only one amongst the galaxy of Sahabah whose companionship is proven through the Quran. The Prophet of Allah ﷺ said to him:

Do not grieve — indeed Allah is with us.

When the mushrikun went to chase and find Muhammad ﷺ and he was hiding in the cave, they went up to this cave, and what they saw at the mouth of the cave was just a mere spider with a web — a web which was blocking the entrance — which even a flick of the finger could destroy. A flick of a finger can destroy the home of a spider. But that blocked the mouth of the cave.

And as Abu Bakr رضي الله عنه looked up at that timeless moment — if the mushrikun had looked down, that would have been the end. That would have been the end of Islam. A neutral observer, as Sheikh Ameen says in this article, if they were to look at this from an external sense, they would see that if the mushrikun were to look down, that would have been the end of Islam. But Allah made it so that at that moment was the flourishing of Islam — because at that moment, Allah made the mushrikun not look down. When they were fooled by that spider's web, that is when Muhammad ﷺ was able to evade the mushrikun. And in that moment when the Prophet ﷺ migrated — the rest is history as we know it. Islam began to flourish.

We see at this moment that when Muhammad ﷺ said لَا تَحْزَنْ إِنَّ اللَّهَ مَعَنَا, he is referring to the fact that we have to give ourselves to Allah — that Allah is the One towards whom we have to give ourselves completely and utterly. And:

There is no one we can turn to, there is no one that we can seek refuge from except to Allah.

When the Prophet of Allah ﷺ embarked on this journey of migration, he did not know what he was getting himself into. But what did he do at that moment? He trusted Allah. He trusted Allah and put all of his affairs with Allah. In that moment when he was in the cave with his companion Abu Bakr رضي الله عنه, he trusted everything upon Allah. That is what لَا تَحْزَنْ إِنَّ اللَّهَ مَعَنَا means — that we cannot control our situations; Allah is the Controller of everything.

Umar رضي الله عنه realized that this sacrifice, this faith, and this giving of oneself to Islam should be the beginning of our calendar. And that is — as we know it — what was referred to as the first Hijri year. Our calendar is referred to as Hijri, coming from the word Hijrah.

Beginning Anew: The Lesson of Tawbah

While this may not be the beginning of a new Islamic calendar year for all of us right now, we can most definitely gain a lesson from this — in that any time we see ourselves needing to make a resolution, in fact this is something that we do on a daily basis, if not even twice a day — in the morning and in the evening — when we recalibrate our compass towards Allah.

What do we do when we make tawbah? When we make tawbah, we acknowledge that there is no one that can forgive our sins, and there is no one that we can turn to. أَنَابَ يُنِيبُ in the Arabic language means to turn back towards. تَابَ يَتُوبُ means to make tawbah — to repent towards Allah. We give our affairs to Allah. There is no one whose resume says that they will forgive except Allah — لَا يَغْفِرُ الذُّنُوبَ إِلَّا أَنْتَ. This is what it means to calibrate our compass, to realign our bodies and our minds and our hearts and our souls — that Allah is the One we turn towards.

The Du'a of the Prophet at the Beginning of Salah

There is a du'a that the Prophet of Allah ﷺ would make at the beginning of his nafl salah — at the beginning of an extra or obligatory salah. Ali رضي الله عنه narrates this, mentioned in Sunan al-Nasa'i, that when the Prophet of Allah ﷺ began his salah, he would recite this du'a. And in this way, we can expand this idea — that as we begin our new year and as we begin a new phase, we can begin our new phase and new year with this du'a as well. The Prophet of Allah ﷺ pays homage to the du'a of Ibrahim عليه السلام.

Ali رضي الله عنه says that Rasulullah ﷺ when he began salah, he would say اللهُ أَكْبَرُ and then he would say:

(Sahih Muslim, Hadith 771; Sunan al-Nasa'i, Hadith 897)

The Prophet of Allah ﷺ realigns his body. He says وَجَّهْتُ وَجْهِيَ — I turn my face towards Allah. وَجْه in the Arabic language means face, but in this case it is not referring to just the face — it refers to the soul, it refers to the entire human being. And this is what we need to do — we need to realign ourselves. Am I turning towards Allah? The Prophet of Allah ﷺ, before beginning his salah, after saying اللهُ أَكْبَرُ, realigns his mind and turns towards Allah and realizes Who he is standing in front of.

لِلَّذِي فَطَرَ السَّمَاوَاتِ وَالْأَرْضَ — the One who has created the heavens and the earth. حَنِيفًا وَمَا أَنَا مِنَ الْمُشْرِكِينَ — he would say that I am not from those who would ascribe partners to Allah — again acknowledging that all my affairs are for Allah; the One who has created everything has also created the situation I am in, has also created the life that I am living.

The Prophet of Allah continues: إِنَّ صَلَاتِي وَنُسُكِي وَمَحْيَايَ وَمَمَاتِي لِلَّهِ رَبِّ الْعَالَمِينَ لَا شَرِيكَ لَهُ — again reciting a du'a echoing Ibrahim عليه السلام — he says: indeed my Salah and my sacrifice, my living and my death are nothing except for Allah, who has no partner. And I am from those who believe in Allah.

The Prophet of Allah ﷺ continues: اللَّهُمَّ أَنْتَ الْمَلِكُ — O Allah, You are the King. لَا إِلَهَ إِلَّا أَنْتَ — an acknowledgement of the Oneness of Allah. أَنَا عَبْدُكَ — I am Your servant — proclaiming the 'ubudiyyah, the fact that we are servants to Allah. This is the Prophet of Allah ﷺ saying this.

ظَلَمْتُ نَفْسِي وَاعْتَرَفْتُ بِذَنْبِي — he still hasn't made a du'a yet. The Prophet of Allah ﷺ is just acknowledging. And this is a lesson for us — when we make du'a to Allah, we begin by praising Allah and acknowledging the lowliness of our condition. We learn this also from the du'a of Ayyub عليه السلام:

Ayyub عليه السلام says: some affliction has touched me, and You are the Most Merciful of those who show mercy. He did not even formally make a du'a to Allah — but rather he said it out of humility: You are the only One that can help me.

And from the du'a of Yunus عليه السلام:

There is none worthy of worship except You; blessed and pure are You; I am from those who have oppressed themselves.

The Prophet of Allah ﷺ says: ظَلَمْتُ نَفْسِي وَاعْتَرَفْتُ بِذَنْبِي فَاغْفِرْ لِي ذُنُوبِي جَمِيعًا لَا يَغْفِرُ الذُّنُوبَ إِلَّا أَنْتَ — I have oppressed myself, I acknowledge all of my sins. O Allah, forgive all of my sins; there is none that can forgive except You.

Your resume, your business card says that You are the Forgiver. Allah says in Surah al-Hijr:

Inform My slaves that I am indeed the One who forgives and the One who is the Most Merciful. There is none that can forgive, there is none that can show mercy immensely and without any limit, except Allah.

The Prophet of Allah ﷺ continues: وَاهْدِنِي لِأَحْسَنِ الْأَخْلَاقِ لَا يَهْدِي لِأَحْسَنِهَا إِلَّا أَنْتَ — guide me towards the best of mannerisms; there is none that can guide to the best of mannerisms except You.

The Prophet of Allah ﷺ continues: لَبَّيْكَ وَسَعْدَيْكَ — I am at Your service, O Allah. وَالْخَيْرُ كُلُّهُ فِي يَدَيْكَ — all goodness comes from You. وَالشَّرُّ لَيْسَ إِلَيْكَ — evil is not attributed towards You. أَنَا بِكَ وَإِلَيْكَ — I am for You and I come towards You. تَبَارَكْتَ وَتَعَالَيْتَ — blessed are You and high and lofty are You. أَسْتَغْفِرُكَ وَأَتُوبُ إِلَيْكَ — and I seek Your forgiveness and I repent to You.

And this is the part I really want to focus on — that when we begin a new life and a new phase in our daily lives, the first thing and the most important thing that we should always do is introspect and look back for all of our mistakes that we have committed. And this is the best time to make tawbah, because the Prophet of Allah ﷺ himself says that the one who repents towards Allah is as if he has committed no sins.

To wash yourselves with the spiritual bath is a very simple thing — all you have to do is make sincere tawbah:

And thereafter you can begin a life completely anew. It is like someone who went to Hajj and came back — they are like the day that their mother gave birth to them, because they are born with no sins. A cheat code, so to speak, is to make tawbah towards Allah — not just any tawbah, but a tawbah which is sincere — and Allah will rid us of all of our sins.

The first thing we understand from the story of the Prophet of Allah ﷺ when he migrated — which marked the beginning of the Islamic calendar — is that he acknowledged his dependence towards Allah and threw himself at the mercy of Allah. And that is when he began his journey. At the point when he was in the cave, when Abu Bakr رضي الله عنه and the Prophet of Allah ﷺ were in the cave — they relied on Allah, that Allah will help them. لَا تَحْزَنْ إِنَّ اللَّهَ مَعَنَا. And that was the beginning and the flourishing of Islam.

Another last point — the best way to start a new year is to ask for repentance and forgiveness from Allah, so that we can begin on a fresh slate.

We ask Allah to give us tawfiq. We ask Allah to allow us to make a sincere repentance — a repentance that will allow us to never return to our old sins. We ask Allah to make this a blessed new year. We ask Allah to allow this year to be the year that we become closer to Him. We ask Allah to allow us to reach the month of Ramadan.

Announcements

Please pass the donation box from left to right and donate generously. Sadaqah wards off calamities and draws the mercy of Allah. The Prophet of Allah ﷺ has mentioned that charity given on the day of Jumu'ah is greater than any other day.

Please save the date for the 2023 Benefit Dinner with special guest Imam Zaid Shakir on January 28th at 5 p.m. at Shalimar Banquets. Ticket sales will be going on in the lobby. You can also purchase your tickets at masjidds.org/benefit.

As for the weekly programs here at Masjid Dar-ul-Salam: we will be on a break for about two weeks.

• Saturday Team Fajr will be off for the next two weeks and will resume on January 14th.
• Bukhari Dars will be off for the next two weeks and will resume on January 9th.
• Tuesday's Tafsir program will be off for the next two weeks and will resume on January 10th with Surah al-Mu'minun.
• The weekly Salawat gatherings on Thursday after Isha will continue as normal.

BMCC in Brentwood, California is here to collect funds for their masjid expansion project. They have made a bid for a new, larger piece of property and only have a short window of time to deposit approximately 1.5 million dollars. Please help them with your support.

As for du'a requests: Zaheer Siddiqi will be having open heart surgery; Ghulam Yazdani is in the hospital with a serious illness; and Majid Rafi' is also sick. We ask Allah to allow all of them to have a speedy recovery — a recovery where they are better than they were before the illness. We ask Allah to allow this illness to be a means of forgiving all of their sins. Ameen, ya Rabb al-'Alamin.