The root of dajjal is ‘dajl’, which means to deceive. When a metal is given a gold polish to simulate gold, this process of polishing is called Dajl. Dajjal means deceiver. Dajjal is the superlative degree, that is, a great deceiver.
In later times dajjal has been called the deceiver, because he will act deceitfully. He will indulge in gross misrepresentation of the truth to the people to mislead them. Another name for Dajl in ideological matters is a misinterpretation, i.e., an incorrect or false explanation. Dajjal will not wield the sword for this purpose, for people cannot be misled by the sword—only false reasoning can mislead them.
Such acts of Dajl have repeatedly occurred in the world. However, the invention of the printing press and the media has enormously increased the scope of Dajl, which is now unparalleled in human history. Dajjal is no mysterious personality. The earlier dajjal who could carry out deception on a very small scale has been replaced by a dajjal who can do so on a very great scale. It is another name for the harmful use of the great opportunities produced in the wake of the discoveries made by Gog and Magog.
The Deception (Fitnah) of the Great Dajjal
There is a hadith that tells us that the words ka-fa-ra (meaning denial) will be inscribed on the forehead of Dajjal. (Musnad Ahmad, Hadith No. 14954) It shows that the period in which Dajjal will be born will be one of denial, of atheism. The evil in earlier times was not a denial of God but was rather that of associating something else with the One God. In earlier times, the existence of God was accepted as an axiom. However, in present times this axiom is not regarded as valid. Today is the age of atheism, of denial of God.
A study of the Hadith shows that dajjal or dajjaliat (dajjalism) is, in fact, a phenomenon of the scientific age. In the scientific age, a group of people will deny the truth in the name of the reason for the first time. They will give the impression that religious truths cannot test scientific rationalism.
Then, by the grace of God, an individual will arise—the hajeej—and will put an end to this dajjali menace (fitnah) by using scientific evidence. He will prove the dajjali arguments baseless by putting forward superior arguments at the ideological level. (Sahih Muslim, Hadith No. 2937) This event will be the first of this nature in the whole of human history. He will be the greatest witness of the call of truth. That is why his role has been expressed thus in the hadith: “His will be the greatest witness of truth to mankind in the eyes of God.” (Sahih Muslim, Hadith No. 2938) This great dawah event will take place before doomsday.
The Dajjali menace is not by its nature a new menace. It is only the culmination of the satanic menace. Satan has always tried to make untruth appear attractive and thus make people deviate from the truth. In the scientific age, this satanic fallacy presented in beautiful words will appear in the form of elegant scientific arguments. (15:39)
Such falsification always requires supportive resources, which, lacking in previous times, now exist in abundance. Dajjal is, in fact, that great deceiver who, employing these modern resources, will make untruth appear very attractive by the forceful presentation of falsehood, until the advent of a believer who by the special grace of God, will put this dajjaliat (deception) to an end at an ideological level.
What Is Dajjaliat?
Dajjaliat is not an evil that will appear all of a sudden. Dajjaliat is, in fact, a superlative degree of satanic deception. Deception and Dajl are almost synonymous in meaning. Deception is a common deception, while dajjaliat is a deception of a high degree. The Quran tells us that at the very time of man’s creation, Satan issued this challenge: “I shall make the path of error seem alluring to them on the earth and shall mislead them all…” (15:39). At another point in the Quran, the same threat is expressed thus: “I will surely come upon them from before them and from behind them and from their right and their left, and then you will find most of them ungrateful.” (7:17)
The Fitnah of Ungratefulness
These verses of the Quran show that the actual purpose of satanic deception is to make man ungrateful for God’s bounty. By employing an attractive strategy, Satan will lead man into ungratefulness. If a man is rightly guided, he will lead his life with feelings of gratitude, whereas he would be grievously misguided if he led his life in a state of ungratefulness. Satan has always acted thus, but in present times, Satan will cause a man to deviate on a far greater scale from the path of gratefulness to God. That is why this evil of the present age has been termed dajjaliat in the hadith.
What is gratefulness? Gratefulness is, in essence, another name for the acknowledgement of God’s blessings. This grateful behaviour has been desired of man at all times. To show gratefulness for some blessing received from a benefactor is a natural human feeling. However, acknowledgement always requires a point of reference; for instance, when you eat anything, your food is a point of reference for acknowledgement. Then you call out, “O God, I am grateful to You for giving me food to eat.”
However, anyone who has made a scientific study of the whole spectrum of the health-giving qualities of the different foods will be doubly appreciative of any given food item. His feeling of gratefulness will be far more significant in intensity than that of one who has no specialized knowledge of food so that when he utters these words: O God, I am thankful to You for having given me this food; he will do so in superlative terms. Where the layman will only be able to savour the taste of the food, the food specialist will appreciate it on a superior level, based upon his extensive knowledge of dietetics. If the acknowledgement of the former is a simple one, the acknowledgement of the latter will be on a Himalayan scale.
