The Trial of The Dajjal - Shaykh Ahsan Hanif

The Trial of The Dajjal

Our Prophet ﷺ didn't leave anything that was a trial, in which there would be any harm, except that he warned us of it ﷺ. He told us what it was, he told us how to protect and safeguard ourselves from it.

And one of the greatest examples of that which we find in the Sunnah is the many, many ahadith that speak about the greatest of all trials — and that is the trial of the Dajjal. And what is captured in the Sahih of al-Bukhari and Muslim on the authority of the Companion Abdullah ibn Umar, that the Prophet ﷺ said: that I warned you of him, meaning the Dajjal. And there was not a Prophet of Allah except that he warned his people against the Dajjal.

Even Nuh ﷺ warned his people against the Dajjal. But I will tell you something concerning him that no Prophet ever told his people. And that is that the Dajjal is one-eyed, but your Lord is not one-eyed, subhanahu wa ta'ala.

And in the other hadith — the hadith of Imran ibn Hussain رضي الله عنه, also collected in Sahih Muslim — the Prophet ﷺ said: there has not been an affair which is greater or more grave, from the time that Allah created Adam until the time of Yawm al-Qiyamah, something that will be more grave or more serious than the affair of the Dajjal.

And there are numerous ahadith that speak about the Dajjal because the Prophet ﷺ described him to us. He told us how long he would stay upon this earth. He told us what he would do during that length of time of his rule. He told us the many different trials that he would bring about and how the people would respond in various different ways depending on their levels of iman and so on and so forth. And he even told us ﷺ how that trial would end and what Allah would do to bring about the ending of that trial.

There are many ahadith. We don't have the time in this short space to go through an intensive or detailed explanation of the Dajjal. But what I want to speak to you about and what I want to emphasise today is four or five things that the Prophet ﷺ told us in the Sunnah that speak about how to protect yourself from the Dajjal.

Because even though these five things are mentioned in the context of the Dajjal, in fact they are five principles that tell us how to safeguard ourselves from any trial. You could take them and copy and paste them to any trial that you're facing, no matter how great or how small. And that is the beauty of this religion.

And it is the beauty of understanding the Qur'an and the Sunnah of our Prophet ﷺ — that those principles are transferable. Because the vast majority of people from the time of Adam until the Dajjal comes won't ever meet the Dajjal. They won't see the Dajjal. They won't experience the Dajjal. So why then did every Prophet of Allah warn his people against him? Why did Nuh tell his people, and Ibrahim and Musa and Isa? What did our Prophet ﷺ tell us, when the vast majority of the generations of Muslims will never encounter the Dajjal?

It's because these principles are important. Number one, because of what they will teach you concerning the Dajjal if he so happens to come out during your time. But number two, because those principles can be applied to other things besides the Dajjal. And so the Prophet ﷺ told us four or five things that I want to share with you today — take the principles and benefit from them.

Five Principles of Protection from the Dajjal

Principle One: Know Your Lord

The first of them — and perhaps the most important of them — is the one that I mentioned in the hadith of Ibn Umar. The Prophet ﷺ said: تَعَلَّمُوا — learn. There will be one-eyed and your Lord is not one-eyed. One of the greatest ways of overcoming trials and maintaining your iman is to know your Lord subhanahu wa ta'ala, to learn about your religion, to know who Allah is, to know His names and His attributes, to know the abilities of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala and therefore what He is deserving of in terms of worship.

To know that — because the people will follow the Dajjal because his claim will be that I am your God, I am your Lord, worship me — and the vast majority of humankind will follow. Why? Because of the ignorance of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala. The Prophet ﷺ told us that your Lord is not one-eyed. The Prophet ﷺ told us that you will never see your Lord until you die — meaning in this life it is physically impossible for you with your eyes to see Allah. But the Dajjal will appear before the people saying I am Allah, and the people will follow him. Why? Because of how ignorant they will be of their religion, how distanced they will be from Islam, how little understanding they will have of the Qur'an and the Sunnah of the Prophet ﷺ.

So the Prophet ﷺ told us: learn about your Lord. تَعَلَّمُوا — learn who Allah is. Learn the names and attributes of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala. And the Qur'an, as you know, is full of those names and attributes of Allah. How many of the verses of the Qur'an end with the name of Allah or an attribute of Allah. How many of Allah's attributes, how many of Allah's abilities and powers, how much of that which Allah likes and dislikes and that which is Allah's reward or punishment is mentioned throughout the Qur'an over and over and over again. Why? So that you and I can learn about our Lord. We would know who Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala is.

So then when someone brings a claim, when someone comes and stands before you and says no, actually this is your God, or that's your religion, or actually this is what the Qur'an or Sunnah says — you have at least that requisite amount of knowledge and understanding and wisdom and intelligence to know whether that person is speaking the truth or not.

Learn, learn your religion. Because if you know the names of Allah, you know the attributes of Allah, you know who Allah azza wa jal is, you have learnt that about your Lord — then you will easily be able to distinguish between those different claims that are made. And the same can be applied about the Prophets of Allah. If you know the Prophet ﷺ, then when someone comes and lays a false accusation or attacks the reputation and honour of our Prophet ﷺ, you would know how to defend him and how to respond and what is the correct position to take.

But the shame of it all is that for most of us, we probably wouldn't even recognise some of the names and attributes of Allah. Or if we do recognise them and someone says, well explain them to me, what does that even mean? — we wouldn't really know. And that is something which we have to work on, because that is one of the greatest things that protects you from any trial. Because when you know Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala and you turn to Allah azza wa jal, Allah azza wa jal gives you steadfastness. Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala protects you. Allah azza wa jal gives you His divine care. Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala allows you to have the strength of iman that will allow you then to overcome those trials.

Principle Two: Ibadah and Worship

That then brings me on to the second point — the principle that the Prophet ﷺ told us in the hadith in which he spoke of how long the Dajjal would remain upon this earth. That second principle speaks about ibadah and worship. The more you are engaged and busy yourself in the worship of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala — not just the fara'id, not just the obligations, because that is a given — but in the nawafil, in the voluntary optional deeds, to do them more and more and more, is one of the greatest ways of protection.

And that is why, when the companions were told in the hadith of the Prophet ﷺ that the Dajjal will remain upon this earth for 40 days — the first day will be the length of a year, the second the length of a month, the third the length of a week, and then the remaining days will be like normal days, meaning for about a year and a half or so will be the length of his rule — what did the companions ask? Did they ask, O Messenger of Allah, how do we fight him? What are the tactics we use? What's the plan? What's the strategy? They said, O Messenger of Allah, those days are the length of a year, a month, a week — how do we pray on those days? How are we going to offer our salah? The day is the length of a year — does that mean we just offer five salahs? Or do we pray as if it is the prayer of a year and estimate? The Prophet ﷺ said: estimate.

That's what the companions were preoccupied about — because they knew that the way to overcome any trial is: the closer you are to Allah azza wa jal, the more strength you have, the more resilient you are, the more you are able to overcome those hardships and those challenges. And so the companions were people of ibadah — recitation of the Qur'an, and dhikr, and sadaqah, and nafl salah, and qiyam al-layl, and tahajjud, and du'a, and every other act of goodness that you can think of. They would strengthen themselves with that, because that's what they learned from the example of our Prophet ﷺ.

Principle Three: Seek Allah's Protection Through Du'a

The third principle that the Prophet ﷺ gave us concerning the Dajjal — that we can apply to any trial — is that he told us to seek protection from the Dajjal, make du'a to Allah, seek Allah's protection, seek refuge in Allah from the harm of the Shaytan, from the harm of the Dajjal.

In the hadith in Sahih al-Bukhari and Muslim of Abu Hurairah رضي الله عنه, the Prophet ﷺ told us:

(Sahih al-Bukhari, Hadith 1377; Sahih Muslim, Hadith 588)

If one of you makes the tashahud in the salah, then let them seek protection from Allah from four things. And if you were to look throughout the Sunnah at the numerous du'as — not only in the Sunnah but also in the Qur'an — but if you were just to look at the Sunnah, the numerous du'as in which the Prophet ﷺ would seek protection from something, you would be amazed at their sheer number. How many times, how many different things, how many different potential harms and dangers the Prophet ﷺ would seek protection from. He would seek protection from laziness and procrastination, and from miserliness, and from the evil of being rich and wealthy, and from the evil of poverty, and so many other things ﷺ.

But in this particular hadith he said: seek refuge in Allah from four — from the punishment of the Fire, and the punishment of the grave, and the trials of life and death, and the trials of the Dajjal. Every single salah you are meant to be seeking protection from Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala from the greatest of dangers that surround you, the greatest of dangers that may come upon you. That's our religion.

And so when a challenge comes upon you, when you find a difficulty or a trial is coming your way, or you see around you things that haven't yet affected you but are happening around you — you seek Allah's protection. Ask Allah for His strength. Ask Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala for steadfastness. Ask Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala for resilience. Ask Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala that as other people are being misguided and other people are being overcome by those doubts and desires, as Shaytan is coming and fooling others, that Allah azza wa jal doesn't make you like them — that Allah keeps you strong, and your family and your loved ones, that Allah azza wa jal gives you that strength of iman. That is what our Prophet ﷺ told us.

Principle Four: Recite and Study Surah al-Kahf

From the principles that the Prophet ﷺ gave to us concerning the Dajjal — number four — is what he ﷺ told us concerning reading Surah al-Kahf. Whoever memorises the first ten verses of Surah al-Kahf will be safe from the Dajjal. And in the other narration, whoever memorises the last ten verses of Surah al-Kahf will be safe from the Dajjal. And in the third wording, when the Prophet ﷺ was asked: O Messenger of Allah, if the Dajjal comes out amongst us, what do we do? He said: read to him the opening passage of Surah al-Kahf.

And some of the scholars said that these different wordings indicate that you're meant to know and read and understand the whole of the surah, because what that surah does is it gives you principles and lessons that will help you to recognise those dangers and overcome them. And that's principle number four.

The stronger your connection to the Book of Allah and the Qur'an — the more of it that you read, the more of it that you memorise, the more of it that you study, the more of it that you seek to understand, the more of it that you apply — the closer that you are to the Book of Allah, the greater the blessings of Allah upon you and the greater the protection that Allah azza wa jal gives to you. And the easier it is for you to be able to recognise between truth and falsehood, by Allah's permission.

The people of the Qur'an — there are so many ahadith that speak about the virtues of the Qur'an and the people of the Qur'an, and this is from them. From all of the things that you can do for protection is to know the Qur'an and read the Qur'an. The Qur'an is full of principles, full of those types of things that you and I need to know in order to overcome trials and safeguard ourselves from them.

Principle Five: Do Not Run Towards Fitnah

Principle number five that the Prophet ﷺ told us is that you don't go running towards fitnah. Don't go seeking out trials. Don't be from those people who want to see just in case, or who are just curious, or because everyone else is moving towards something they want to be part of that group, the trend, the pattern. Be aware of that.

The Prophet ﷺ, in the hadith of al-Nawwas ibn Sam'an collected in Sunan Abi Dawud, said: don't go out seeking the Dajjal, because a person will go to him thinking that he has iman, and when he hears him he will follow him because of the doubts that he will bring. And there are numerous ahadith that speak about what the Dajjal will do — what Allah will give to him of that river of fire and that river of water, where the water is actually fire and the fire is actually water. The way that he will come and extract the treasures of the earth for people. The way that he will point to the sky and tell it to bring down rain, and the ground to bring forth its vegetation, and he will do so all seemingly by his command. And it's a trial for the people.

So the person that seeks him out thinking I have iman, I know — that person may fall into that. You don't know. No one knows. No one has that guarantee that they have that strength of iman, that they have been guaranteed iman, that they will die upon iman. Don't go out seeking the Dajjal. And that is why the Prophet ﷺ said that a man will tie up the members of his family to the pillars of his house out of fear that they will go and seek the Dajjal. It's dangerous.

Whenever there is a trial, you don't run towards the trial. You seek Allah's protection from it. You run away from it. You ask Allah for strength, that you're not overcome by it, that those doubts don't take you away as they take others. And so the Prophet ﷺ told us to stay away from that.

Summary of the Five Principles

These are five principles that I wanted to share with you — in a summarised fashion — that not only speak about how you seek protection from the Dajjal, but also how they are transferable to any type of trial:

To learn about your Lord, to understand your tawheed of Allah, your belief in Allah. To be a person of ibadah, and especially those optional deeds of worship that give you strength and resilience. To make du'a to Allah and seek His protection from any type of evil and harm and trial. To be from the people of the Qur'an — to read, to understand, to study and memorise the Book of Allah. And to stay away, to the best of your ability, from those trials that may harm you or weaken your resolve and your iman.

We ask Allah that He gives us the strength of iman and that He protects and preserves it for us, and that Allah safeguards us and our families and our children and our spouses and our loved ones from all of the different trials that are out there. We ask Allah that He gives us the strength of iman.

Every Trial Has a Beginning and an End

From the benefits of studying the Dajjal and the trials that it will bring, and how the Sunnah encourages us and teaches us how we face that trial and overcome it, one of the benefits is to know that every trial has a beginning and an end. No trial lasts forever. Every challenge and trial has a beginning, and every trial and challenge has an end.

And that is why Allah tells us in the Qur'an:

With hardship there will come ease. And that is why the Prophet ﷺ told us about the emergence of the Dajjal, but he also told us how the Dajjal will end. Every trial comes to an end. And that is why the Shari'ah tells you to be people of patience and steadfastness and resilience, and to hope in Allah and pray to Him. And Allah changes affairs. It may seem like a long time. It may seem like it's never ending. It may look like there is no hope. But Allah is the One with Whom lies all hope.

The Danger of Being Consumed by the Dajjal

From the things that I also wanted to share with you — and one of the dangers of these types of trials — is that a person can become consumed by them. That's all that they think about. And so they become almost like a conspiracy theorist. Everything around them is the Dajjal, the Dajjal, the Dajjal. And that's also not from our religion. Because even if that is the case, just for the sake of argument, the Shari'ah, the religion, the Qur'an and Sunnah told us how to overcome that, told us how to deal with it, so that you don't have to be consumed by it — because the believer isn't consumed by those things.

And that is why the companions weren't people who were consumed by the Dajjal, even though they asked questions and they wanted to know — but they wanted to know to learn, and they wanted to know to protect themselves, and they wanted to know to understand.

And so in the hadith of Sunan Ibn Majah, Abu Sa'id al-Khudri رضي الله عنه says that the Prophet ﷺ came out one day upon them and some of them were speaking about the Dajjal. And they were just going on and on about it — because that is the nature of people: curiosity, wanting to ask more and wanting to understand and know those things that don't necessarily benefit them. There's not really any great practical lesson to be taken, but it's just because they're curious and they want to know. It becomes a discussion point.

So the Prophet ﷺ gave to them an important lesson — not only for them, but for you and I. He said ﷺ:

(Sunan Ibn Majah, Hadith 3989; also reported by Ahmad)

Shall I not inform you of something that I fear more for you than the trial of the Dajjal? — that trial that he just said in the other hadith, that there's no trial that is worse than it, there's nothing more severe than it, that every Prophet warned his people about. Shall I not tell you of something that I fear for you more than that? They said, yes, O Messenger of Allah. He said:

(Sunan Ibn Majah, Hadith 3989)

The hidden shirk. What is the hidden shirk? He said: there is one of you that stands to pray — you stand to pray and then you beautify your prayer because you realise that someone is watching you. That is hidden shirk — showing off. I fear more for you than anything else, even the Dajjal.

And that's because the Dajjal will come and he will appear when Allah decrees for him to come. And it will last for that period of time that Allah decrees for him to last. And the people at that time will have to deal with that trial and that test. But for everyone else — all of us, on a daily basis — hidden shirk is something that is a major danger. It comes and it attacks our iman and our sincerity and our deeds. So much of what we do, especially in a time like today when everything is visible and everything is public and everything is publicised — even the acts of worship that we do, we don't always have ikhlas and sincerity in them.

So now people give sadaqah, or they pray, or they teach, or they do whatever — but they're going to spread it across the world so that everyone can see and everyone can praise them. How much sincerity is there in that for every person? That is something which is dangerous. And so the Prophet ﷺ said beware of that. That's more dangerous for you. That's something you have to fight every single day, every act of worship, every time you stand to pray, every time you give sadaqah, every time someone sees you reading Qur'an or making du'a or making dhikr of Allah. That's something which you have to face.

And so that is the beauty of our religion. Not only does it give us principles and teach us how to overcome things, but it always gives us balance as well, so that you understand that things have to be measured in the correct way, understood in the correct way.

Du'a

We ask Allah that He safeguards our iman and the iman of our families and our children and our youngsters. We ask Allah that He protects us from the trials of the Dajjal. We ask Allah that He protects us from all of the trials in which there is harm and anything which diminishes our iman. We ask Allah that He shows us His mercy and His ease and His felicity upon all of those who are suffering. We ask Allah that He makes the affairs of our brothers and sisters easy across the world who are suffering. We ask Allah that He lifts from them their harm, that Allah showers His forgiveness and mercy and blessings upon them, that Allah protects them in their blood, in their family, in their wealth, in their property.