Island of Dajjal (Part 2)

بسم الله الرحمـن الرحيم

والصلاة والسلام على نبيه الكريم

وعلى اهل بيته الطيبين الطاهرين المظلومين

والعاقبة للمتقين

The matter of the Dajjal (Antichrist) is somewhat complex and technical, and there is a great amount of differing concerning his reality. When the Prophet Muhammad (sall Allahu alayhi wasallam) heard the account of Tamim al-Dari (radi Allahu anh) on his meeting with the Dajjal, he became happy that Tamim’s account was in accordance with what he had been informing the people all along:

وَلَكِنْ جَمَعْتُكُمْ لأَنَّ تَمِيمًا الدَّارِيَّ كَانَ رَجُلاً نَصْرَانِيًّا فَجَاءَ فَبَايَعَ وَأَسْلَمَ وَحَدَّثَنِي حَدِيثًا وَافَقَ الَّذِي كُنْتُ أُحَدِّثُكُمْ عَنْ مَسِيحِ الدَّجَّالِ

“I have gathered you because Tamim al-Dari, a Christian man who came, gave the Bay’a and became a Muslim, told me something that agrees with what I was telling you concerning the Antichrist.” (Sahih Muslim)

Tamim al-Dari related that he had met the Dajjal on an island, and found him chained and shackled in a monastery:

فَإِذَا فِيهِ أَعْظَمُ إِنْسَانٍ رَأَيْنَاهُ قَطُّ خَلْقًا وَأَشَدُّهُ وِثَاقًا مَجْمُوعَةٌ يَدَاهُ إِلَى عُنُقِهِ مَا بَيْنَ رُكْبَتَيْهِ إِلَى كَعْبَيْهِ بِالْحَدِيدِ

“In it there was a large human, with his hands tied to his neck and having iron shackles between his two knees to his ankles.” (ibid)

Mulla Ali Qari has hinted at the Dajjal being in another dimension, Alam al-Mithal (the world of similitudes), where he is chained and shackled, an indication that the meeting with the Dajjal was in this other dimension and not necessarily of this world. Commenting on the story of Tamim al-Dari negating the idea of the Dajjal being Ibn Sayyad, Mulla Ali Qari writes:

أقول : ولا ينافيه قصة تميم الداري إذ يمكن أن يكون له أبدان مختلفة ، فظاهره في عالم الحس والخيال دائر مع اختلاف الأحوال ، وباطنه في عالم المثال مقيد بالسلاسل والأغلال

میں (ملا علی قاری) کہتا ہوں کہ تمیم الداری کا قصہ اس کے منافی نہیں کیونکہ ممکن ہے کہ دجال کے مختلف ابدان ہوں۔ اس کا ظاہر عالم حس وخیال میں احوال کے اختلاف کے ساتھ بدلتا رہتا ہو، اور اس کا باطن عالم مثال میں زنجیروں اور بیڑیوں کے ساتھ ہو۔

“I (Mulla Ali Qari) say that the story of Tamim al-Dari does not negate this, because it is possible that Dajjal has different bodies. His zahir (actual appearance) is in the physical world and changes according to different conditions, while his batin (inner reality) is in the alam al-mithal (world of similitudes), in chains and fetters.” (Mirqat al-Mafatih v.10 p.149)

 

Interestingly, there is a Jewish tradition that their Messiah at present imprisoned and chained, being tormented and punished by God:

“Moreover, this distinctive story about an enchained eschatological actor is surely a dark parody of the odd Jewish tradition about an ‘imprisoned Messiah’ who currently bides his time in a secluded chamber within Gan Eden…Bear the torment and judgment of your Lord while He punishes you for the sin of Israel, for scripture says ‘he is pierced for our rebellions, crushed for our transgressions' (Isa 53:5) – until the time when the End (הקצ) arrives…Bear the judgment of your Lord, for the End has almost arrived, and the chains which are on your neck will be snapped off and you will go forth to freedom!” (Reeves, John C. Trajectories in Near Eastern Apocalyptic: A Postrabbinic Jewish Apocalypse Reader, p. 23)