Ad-Dajjal’s Physical Description

Narrated ibn ‘Umar radiyallahu ‘anhu: Once Allah’s Apostle stood amongst the people, glorified and praised Allah as He deserved and then mentioned the Dajjal saying, “l warn you against him (i.e. the Dajjal) and there was no prophet but warned his nation against him. No doubt, Noah warned his nation against him but I tell you about him something of which no prophet told his nation before me. You should know that he is one-eyed, and Allah is not one-eyed.”

[Bukhari, 4/55/553]

RasulAllah sallallahu ‘alayhi wa sallam says that there is no fitna, from the creation of Adam until the day of judgement that is greater than the trial and the tribulation of ad-dajjaal.

Narrated ‘Ubadah ibn As-Samit: The Prophet sallallahu ‘alayhi wa sallam said: “I have told you so much about the Dajjal (Antichrist) that I am afraid you may not understand. The Antichrist is short, hen-toed, woolly-haired, one-eyed, an eye-sightless, and neither protruding nor deep-seated. If you are confused about him, know that your Lord is not one-eyed.” [Abu Dawood, B.37, #4306]

Why did RasulAllah sallallahu ‘alayhi wa sallam say that Allah is not one-eyed? Because, eventually ad-dajjaal will claim he is god. RasulAllah sallallahu ‘alayhi wa sallam is saying that he is not your God. This is a very important description of ad-dajjaal – he is one-eyed.

In a hadith by Bukhaari, RasulAllah sallallahu ‘alayhi wa sallam says that every prophet has warned his people from the one-eyed liar. He is one-eyed and your Lord is not one-eyed. And between his eyes is written ‘kaafir.’

In another hadith in Muslim, RasulAllah sallallahu ‘alayhi wa sallam says that ‘kaafir’ is written between his eyes and it can be read by the literate and the illiterate. Therefore, it crosses the boundaries of language and literacy. If a person is a mu’min (believer), they will be able to recognize the sign, that this man is a disbeliever.

Tamim ad-Daari, a Sahaabah of RasulAllah sallallahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, saw ad-Dajjaal. He said that we never saw a man that was bigger/larger than him. Ad-dajjaal is very huge.

Keep in mind that in the other hadith by Abu Dawood, it said that ad-Dajjaal was short. This can be problematic at time when we read about his description; it gets very confusing. The hadith of RasulAllah sallallahu ‘alayhi wa sallam are sufficient for us for when he does appear. We might not be able to have an exact perception of what he is now, but when he does come out, we’ll understand. Looking at these ahaadith, they may seem contradictory, but they are not; they are describing different things about ad-dajjaal.

Abu Sa’eed reported: I accompanied Ibn Sayyad to Mecca and he said to me: “What I have gathered from people is that they think that I am Dajjal. Have you not heard Allah’s Messenger (may peace upon him) as saying: ‘He will have no children?’” I said: “Yes, of course.” Thereupon he said: “But I have children. Have you not heard Allah’s Messenger (may peace be upon him) as saying: ‘He would not enter Mecca and Medina?’” I said: “Yes, of course.” Thereupon he said, “I have been once in Medina and now I intend to go to Mecca.” And he said to me at the end of his talk: “By Allah: I know his place of birth his abode where he is just now.” He (Abu Sa’eed) said: “This caused confusion in my mind (in regard to his identity).”

[Muslim, B.41, #6994] This is another description of ad-dajjaal – he will have no children.

There’s a hadth in At-Tirmidhi and Ahmad that the scholars have authenticated. RasulAllah sallallahu ‘alayhi wa sallam said that the Dajjaal will come out of a land in the east called Khurasaan. Khurasaan, Allahu ‘Alam, is a place in Iran or Central Asia. There’s currently a state in Iran called Khurasaan.