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Hazrat Mirza Ghulam Ahmad (as), the Promised Messiah & Imam Mahdi
The Promised Messiah (as) wrote over 80 books in Arabic, Urdu, and Persian. Excerpts of his collected works have been translated into English and organised by topic.
The Review of Religions is pleased to present these excerpts as part of a monthly feature. In this issue, the Promised Messiah (as) elucidates the true meaning of Dajjal, also known as the Antichrist in various faiths.
This is the first part of a multi-part series. Extracts from The Essence of Islam – Vol. III, pp. 279-287.
The word Dajjal has two connotations: First, it signifies a group which supports falsehood and works with cunning and deceit. Secondly, it is the name of the Satan who is the father of all falsehood and corruption.
—Haqiqat al-Wahi, Ruhani Khaza’in, vol. 22, p. 326
Dajjal and Satan
The Dajjal mentioned in the Ahadith is described by the Holy Qur’an as the Satan, whom it quotes as saying:
قَالَ أَنظِرْنِي إِلَىٰ يَوْمِ يُبْعَثُونَ * قَالَ إِنَّكَ مِنَ الْمُنظَرِينَ
‘He (Satan) pleaded in the presence of God to be granted respite until those who are dead of heart are revived. God said: You are given respite till that time.’[1]
Thus the Dajjal who is mentioned in the Ahadith is none other than the Satan who will be slain in the latter days. This is recorded in the book of Daniel as well as in some Ahadith. As Christianity is the perfect manifestation of Satan, Surah al-Fatihah makes no mention of Dajjal, but prescribes supplication for refuge against the evil of the Christians. If the Dajjal had been some other mischief-maker, the Holy Qur’an would not have enjoined us to seek refuge against the mischief of Dallin [those who have gone astray] but for security against the Dajjal.
The verse إِلَىٰ يَوْمِ يُبْعَثُونَ mentioned above does not mean the day of resurrection, because Satan will remain alive only so long as men are alive. Satan does not operate on his own, but through his agents, who are the people who deify a human being. Being a group of people, they are called Dajjal, as in Arabic Dajjal also connotes a group.
If Dajjal is taken to mean someone other than the misguided preachers of Christianity, this would entail a contradiction, because the very Ahadith which indicate that the Dajjal will prevail over the earth in the latter days, also indicate that in those days the power of the church will overwhelm all religions. This contradiction can only be solved by affirming that the two are one and the same.
—Haqiqat al-Wahi, Ruhani Khaza’in, vol. 22, p. 41
The Word Dajjal Signifies a Group
Dajjal is not the name of one man. According to the Arabic lexicon, Dajjal signifies a group of people who present themselves as trustworthy and pious, but are neither trustworthy nor pious. Rather, everything they say is full of dishonesty and deceit. This characteristic is to be found in the class of Christians known as the clergy. Another group is that of the philosophers and thinkers who are busy trying to assume control of machines, industries and the divine scheme of things.
They are the Dajjal because they deceive God’s creatures by their actions and tall claims as if they are partners in God’s dominion. The clergy are arrogating to themselves the status of prophethood because they ignore the true heavenly Gospel and spread a perverted and corrupted version as the supposed translation of the Gospel.
—Kitab al-Bariyyah, Ruhani Khaza’in, vol. 13, pp. 243-244, footnote
Christian Priests as Dajjal
Dajjal in fact is none other than the people known as Christian missionaries and European philosophers. They act like the two jaws of the Promised Dajjal with which he devours people’s faith like a python. First, it is the common and ignorant people who get caught in the wiles of the missionaries; and then, those who happen to escape their clutches, being disgusted with the disgraceful and false beliefs, are caught in the net of the European philosophers. I see that the common people are more vulnerable to the lies of the clergy, whereas the intellectual ones are more susceptible to the falsehood spread by the philosophers.
—Kitab al-Bariyyah, Ruhani Khaza’in, vol. 13, pp. 252-253, footnote
There have been many Dajjals and there may be more to come. But the greatest Dajjal, whose deceit is so vile in God’s estimation that heaven might well be rent asunder by it, is the group which deifies a mere human being. God Almighty has set forth in the Holy Qur’an various kinds of deceit practised by the Jews, the polytheists and others, but does not single out any which might cause heaven to be rent asunder. Therefore, we should not designate any group as the greatest Dajjal but the one so designated by God in His holy word. It would be most unfair and cruel to try to find someone else as the greatest Dajjal.
On no account can we justify the existence of a greater Dajjal than the present-day Christian clergy. Whereas God has designated them in His holy word as the greatest Dajjal, it would be the height of faithlessness to consider anyone else to be the greatest Dajjal in contrast to the word of God. Had there been any possibility at any other time of the existence of such a Dajjal, God Almighty, Whose knowledge transcends the past, the present and the future, would have designated him and not these people as the great Dajjal.
The sign of the great Dajjal, which we can clearly deduce from the Hadith of Bukhari is يَكْسِرُ الصَّلِيْبَ [2], that the great Dajjal would deify Jesus and would attribute salvation to the cross. It is a matter of great delight for the knowledgeable that on this point, the definitive verses of the Holy Qur’an and authentic Ahadith are both in agreement. Thus, the truth about this controversial issue has come to the open. The Holy Qur’an unambiguously designates the Christian clergy as the greatest Dajjal and terms their lies to be so great as could destroy heaven and earth. And the Hadith also specifies that the true sign of the Promised Messiah would be that he would break the cross and slay the great Dajjal. Our stupid Maulavis do not seem to reflect that the main objective of the Promised Messiah is the breaking of the cross and slaying of the great Dajjal. The Holy Qur’an has foretold that the great deception and mischief whereby the order of the entire universe might be upset and the world brought to an end is the mischief of the Christian missionaries. From this, it clearly follows that there is no greater Dajjal than the clergy and that he who, having witnessed the revelation of this great mischief, waits for some other, denies the truthfulness of the Holy Qur’an.
Moreover, as the literal meaning of the word Dajjal is a group that pollutes the earth with its deceit, and, according to the Ahadith, the singular sign of the great Dajjal would be his advocacy of the cross, if someone still fails to consider the Christian clergy as the great Dajjal, he is indeed spiritually blind.
—Anjam-e-Atham, Ruhani Khaza’in, vol. 11, pp. 46-48
The Holy Qur’an then specifies that in the latter days the Christians will dominate the earth, and they shall be the cause of all kinds of mischief running rampant. Waves of calamities will rise on all sides and will race down from every height…They will possess great material strength and dominion, against which all other powers and states will seem powerless. They will also enjoy supremacy in all kinds of knowledge and sciences and establish new and wonderful industries. They will also be dominant in their policies, projects, and good administration, and will show great resolve in their worldly enterprises and will also excel in their endeavour to spread their faith. They will leave behind all other nations in their social, agricultural and commercial policies, as indeed in everything else. This is the meaning of:
مِن كُلِّ حَدَبٍ يَنسِلُونَ [3]
Hadab means high ground and Nasal means to run ahead and to excel. In other words, they will leave behind every other nation in whatever is great and prestigious. This is the major sign of the people of the latter days who were designated as Gog and Magog and this is also the sign of the mischievous group of Christian clerics who are called the Promised Dajjal. Since Hadab means an elevated part of the earth, this indicates that they will achieve all earthly heights but will be deprived of the spiritual heights. This proves that these people are called Gog and Magog in view of their national dominance. Among them are the people who have left no stone unturned in spreading misguidance and consequently came to be known as the Great Dajjal. And God Almighty has said that at the height of misguidance, the trumpet will be blown and people of all faiths will be assembled at one place.
—Shahadat al-Qur’an, Ruhani Khaza’in, vol. 6, pp. 361-362
Dajjal and the Misguided Maulavis
Remember, the sum total of the evils which the Holy Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) prophesied would spread in the latter days, is Dajjaliyyat, of which the Holy Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) has said there are hundreds of branches. Hence, those Maulavis are also branches of the tree of Dajjaliyyat who blindly follow the beaten path and have abandoned the Holy Qur’an, so that though they recite it, it doesn’t get past their tongues. Today Dajjaliyyat is spreading its web like a spider. The disbeliever with his disbelief, the hypocrite with hypocrisy, the alcoholic with his drinking, and the Maulavi with his preaching without practice and with his black heart, are all weaving the net of Dajjaliyyat. Nothing can break up this web but the heavenly weapon, and no one can wield this weapon but ‘Isa who should descend from that very heaven. So ‘Isa has descended and the promise of God was bound to be fulfilled.
—Nishan-e-Asmani, Ruhani Khaza’in, vol. 4, p.369
The word ‘Messiah’ refers to the truthful one whose Masah (i.e. touch) has been blessed by God, and whose breath, word and speech have been given the power to give life. This word particularly applies to the prophet who does not wage war and reforms mankind through his spiritual power alone. As against this, the word ‘Messiah’ also applies to the Promised Dajjal whose evil power and influence produce calamities, atheism and faithlessness. Even without employing coercive means to destroy the truth, he can make righteousness and love for God grow cold merely by concentration, speech, writing, association and by the influence of his satanic spirit. On the other hand, misconduct, drunkenness, lying, promiscuity, materialism, fraud, tyranny, oppression, famine and epidemics become the order of the day. These are the meanings which emerge from a collective study of standard Arabic lexicons like Lisan al-‘Arab; and these are the meanings which God has disclosed to me.
—Ayyam al-Sulh, Ruhani Khaza’in, vol. 14, p. 294
Remember, it is also written about the Messiah – the bearer of spiritual blessings, whose advent in the latter days has been promised to the Muslims – that he would slay the Promised Dajjal. But it does not mean he will actually kill him with a gun or a sword. What it means is that he will do away with all deceitful innovations in religion.
A study of Ahadith reveals that Dajjal is actually the name of Satan. And the people whom Satan will employ to serve his purpose are also metaphorically called Dajjal, because they are like his limbs. The following verse of the Holy Qur’an means that the creation of God is far greater than that of men:
لَخَلْقُ السَّمَاوَاتِ وَالْأَرْضِ أَكْبَرُ مِنْ خَلْقِ النَّاسِ[4]
It refers the people concerning whom it is written that they would make great inventions in the latter days and will try to interfere with God’s creation. According to the commentators [of the Holy Qur’an], the people mentioned here are actually the Dajjal. This indicates that Dajjal does not mean one single person, or else the expression Nas [people] would not have been applied to him. The word undoubtedly refers to a group of people. The group that acts under the command of Satan is called Dajjal. This is also indicated by the sequence of the Holy Qur’an, which begins with the verse:
الْحَمْدُ لِلَّهِ رَبِّ الْعَالَمِينَ[5]
and concludes with:
*الَّذِي يُوَسْوِسُ فِي صُدُورِ النَّاسِ
[6] مِنَ الْجِنَّةِ وَالنَّاسِ
In this verse too the word Nas refers to the Dajjal…Mentioning these people at the end also indicates that this group of people will be supreme in the latter days, and they will be accompanied by: [7]
i.e., Christian women who will go from house to house seeking to separate wives from their husbands, and to break the bond of marriage.
It should never be forgotten that the last three chapters of the Holy Qur’an contain a warning about the age of Dajjal and we have been enjoined to seek refuge with God against the mischief of that time. This is an indication that the mischief of those days will only be dispelled through the heavenly light and blessings which the heavenly Messiah will bring with him.
—Ayyam al-Sulh, Ruhani Khaza’in, vol. 14, pp. 296-297
ENDNOTES
1. The Holy Qur’an, 7:15-16.
2. ‘He (the Promised Messiah) will break the Cross.’
3. ‘The shall hasten forth from every height.’ – The Holy Qur’an, 21:97.
4. The Holy Qur’an, 40:58.
5. ‘All praise belongs to Allah.’ – The Holy Qur’an, 1:2.
6. ‘Who whispers in the hearts of men, from among the Jinn and mankind.’ – The Holy Qur’an, 114:6-7.
7. The Holy Qur’an, 113:5.
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