Dajjal in a Hadith
Narrated Fatimah, daughter of Qays and sister of
ad-Dahhak ibn Qays
Amir ibn Sharahil ash-Sha'bi said: Fatimah bint Qays
was among the first emigrant women. I asked her to
narrate to me a hadith which she had heard directly
from Allah's Apostle (peace be upon him) and there was
no extra link between them.
She said: Very well, if you
like, I am prepared to do that.
He said to her: Well, do
so and narrate it to me.
She said: I married the son of
Mughirah and he was a chosen young man of Quraysh
at that time, but he fell as a martyr in the first Jihad
(fighting on the side of Allah's Apostle (peace be upon
him)). When I became a widow, AbdurRahman ibn Awf,
one of the group of the companions of Allah's Apostle.
sent me a proposal of marriage. Allah's Apostle (peace
be upon him) also sent me such a message for his freed
slave, Usamah ibn Zayd. It had been conveyed to me
that Allah's Apostle (peace be upon him) had said
(about Usamah): He who loves me should also love
Usamah.
When Allah's Apostle (peace be upon him)
talked to me (about this matter), I said: My affairs are in
your hands. You may marry me to anyone you wish. He
said: You had better move now to the house of Umm
Sharik. Umm Sharik was a rich lady from among the
Ansar. She spent generously for the cause of Allah and
entertained guests very hospitably. I said: Well, I shall
do as you wish. He said: Do not do that because Umm
Sharik is a woman who is very frequently visited by
guests and I do not like your head to be uncovered or
removed from your shank and the strangers may catch
sight of that which you abhor. You had better move to
the house of your cousin, Abdullah ibn Amr ibn Umm
Maktum. He was one of the Banu Fihr branch of the
Quraysh, and he belonged to that tribe (to which
Fatimah) belonged. So I moved to that house, and
when my period of waiting was over, I heard the voice
of an announcer making an announcement that the
prayer would be observed in the mosque (where)
congregational prayer (is observed). So I set out
towards the mosque and observed prayer with the
Allah's Apostle (peace be upon him) and I was in the
row of the women which was near the row of men.
When Allah's Apostle (peace be upon him) had finished
his prayer, he sat on the pulpit, smiling, and said: Every
worshipper should remain sitting in his place. He then
said: Do you know why I have asked you to assemble?
They said: Allah and His apostle know best. He said: By
Allah, I have not made you assemble for exhortation or
for a warning. I have detained you here because Tamim
Dari, a Christian who came and accepted Islam, told me
something which agrees with what I was telling you
about the Dajjal.
He narrated to me that he had
sailed in a ship with thirty men of Banu Lakhm and Banu
Judham and had been tossed by waves in the ocean for
a month. Then these (waves) took them (near) the land
within the ocean (island) at the time of sunset. They sat
in a small rowing-boat and landed on that island. There
was a beast with long thick hair (and because of this)
they could not distinguish his face from his back. They
said: Woe to you, who can you be? Thereupon it said: I
am al-Jassasah. They said: What is al-Jassasah?
It said:
O people, go to this person in the monastery as he is
very much eager to know about you. He (the narrator)
said: When it named a person for us we were afraid of
it lest it should be a Devil. Then we hurried on till we
came to that monastery and found a well-built person
there with his hands tied to his neck and iron shackles
gripping his legs by the ankles. We said: Woe to you,
who are you? He said: You soon come to know about
me, but tell me who you are. We said: We are people
from Arabia and we embarked upon a boat but the
waves had been driving us for one month and they
brought us near this island. We took to the
rowing-boats and landed on this island. Here a beast
with profusely thick hair met us and because of the
thickness of his hair his face could not be distinguished
from his back. We said: Woe be to thee, who are you?
It said: I am al- Jassasah. We said: What is
al-Jassasah? It said: You go to this very person in the
monastery for he is eagerly waiting for you to know
about you. So we came to you in hot haste fearing that
that might be the Devil.
He (that chained person) said:
Tell me about the date-palm trees of Baysan. We said:
In which respect do you seek information about it? He
said: I ask you whether these trees bear fruit or not.
We said: Yes. Thereupon he said: I think these will not
bear fruit. He said: Inform me about the lake of
Tabariyyah? We said: What do you want to know about
it? He said: Is there water in it? They said: There is an
abundance of water in it. Thereupon he said: I think it
will soon dry up. He again said: Inform me about the
spring of Zughar. They said: What do you want to know
about it? He (the chained person) said: Is there water
in it and does it irrigate (the land)? We said to him: Yes,
there is an abundance of water in it and the inhabitants
(of Medina) irrigate (land) with its help.
He said: Inform
me about the unlettered Prophet; what has he done?
We said: He has left Mecca and has settled in Yathrib
(Medina). He said: Do the Arabs fight against him? We
said: Yes. He said: How does he deal with him? We
informed him that he had overcome those in his
neighbourhood and they had submitted themselves
before him. Thereupon he said to us: Had it actually
happened? We said: Yes. Thereupon he said: If it is so
that is better for them that they show obedience to him.
I am going to tell you about myself.
I am the Dajjal
and will be soon permitted to leave. So I shall leave and
travel in the land, and shall not spare any town where I
shall not stay for forty nights except Mecca and Medina:
these two (places) are prohibited (areas) for me and I
shall not attempt to enter either of them. An angel with
a sword in his hand will confront me and bar my way
and there will be angels to guard every road leading to
it.
Then Allah's apostle (peace be upon him) striking the
pulpit with the help of the end of his staff said: This
implies Tayba meaning Medina. Have I not told you an
account (of the Dajjal) like this? The people said: Yes,
and this account narrated by Tamim Dari was liked by
me for it corroborates the account which I gave to you
in regard to him (Dajjal) at Medina and Mecca. Behold
he (Dajjal) is in the Syrian sea (Mediterranean) or the
Yemen sea (Arabian sea). Nay, on the contrary, he is in
the east, he is in the east, he is in the east, and he
pointed with his hand towards the east.
I (Fatimah bint
Qays) said: I preserved it in my mind (this narration
from Allah's Messenger (peace be upon him).
(Sahih Muslim)
