Three brief matters in addition to the previous twenty matters
THE FIRST MATTER
Question: In narrations, both Prophet Jesus, upon him be peace, and the two Dajjals are referred to as “the Messiah;”103 in all narrations it is said: “We seek refuge in God from the corruption and disorder of the Messiah Antichrist (al-Masihu’d-Dajjal)!”104 What is the wisdom and meaning of this?
The answer: While God knows best, the wisdom in it is this: in order to lighten their “burden” and make the Shari‘a easier to practice in new conditions, at God’s command, Prophet Jesus, upon him be peace, abrogated some of the burdensome ordinances of the Mosaic Law, making lawful some things that had hitherto been unlawful. Similarly, but in a spirit of rebellion against God and His Law and at the command of Satan and through his temptations, the great Dajjal will annul the injunctions of Christian law and by destroying the bonds that hold together the social life of the Christians, he will prepare the ground for anarchy and the advent of Gog and Magog. Likewise, the Sufyan—the Dajjal who will appear among the Muslims—will, through the intrigues and seduction of Satan and his evil commanding soul, try to annul some of the eternal injunctions of the Shari‘a of Muhammad, upon him be peace and blessings. Destroying the material and spiritual bonds of humankind, and leaving reckless, drunken, giddy souls free, he will unfasten the luminous chains of social life, such as respect and compassion. By giving people a freedom which is in reality pure despotism, by allowing them to fall on one another in a swamp of putrid lust, he will open up the way to the most terrible anarchy. There will then be no way other than the most repressive despotism to keep people under control.
THE SECOND MATTER
Question: Narrations mention the exceptional achievements of the two Dajjals, together with their extraordinary power and majesty. It is foretold that some unfortunate individuals will even attribute a sort of divinity to them. What is the reason for this?
The answer: While the knowledge is with God, their achievements will be great and extraordinary because such actions will consist mostly of destruction and the exciting of the appetite. It is because of the ease with which the two Dajjals carry out these extraordinary works that one narration tells us: “A single day of theirs is a year.” That is, the works they carry out in one year could not normally be carried out in three hundred years. Their power appears to be superhuman for the following four reasons and perspectives:
THE FIRST PERSPECTIVE AND REASON: As the result of God’s will to gradually lead them to perdition because of their haughtiness and rebellion, the agreeable things and advances that are achieved through the strength of brave armies and active peoples in their despotic, huge states will be unjustly attributed to them; this in turn will cause others to imagine that these individuals have the power of thousands of men. But by rights, the agreeable things, the honor and merits that are won through the actions of a community should be divided up among the members of that community, and any evil, destruction or losses should be attributed to the leader’s imprudence, faults and lack of foresight. For example, if a battalion conquers a citadel, the gains and honor are thanks to their bayonets. However, if there are any losses on account of faulty planning and lack of foresight, this is usually the fault of the commander.
Thus, entirely contrary to this fundamental principle of truth and reality, since positive advances and agreeable achievements are attributed to such fearsome leaders, and any disagreeable developments or evil are imputed to their unfortunate peoples, it is God’s will that they be gradually led to perdition due to their haughtiness and rebellion. Thus, such persons who in fact deserve public opprobrium are rather loved by all the heedless and neglectful.
THE SECOND PERSPECTIVE AND REASON: Since both Dajjals employ the harshest despotism, the cruelest tyranny and the maximum amount of violence and terror, they appear to have extremely vast power. Their despotism is such that under the veil of laws they interfere with everyone’s conscience and sacred values, dictating everything in their lives, even down to the clothes that they should wear. I think that with a presentiment, the Muslim and Turkish lovers of freedom at the end of the previous (19th) and beginning of the last (20th) century perceived this awesome despotism and, shooting arrows at it, attacked it. But they were bitterly misled and attacked the wrong target on the wrong front. The tyranny and coercion employed by the Dajjals are such that they devastate a hundred villages because of one man, punishing hundreds of innocent people and ruining them by forced migrations.
THE THIRD PERSPECTIVE AND REASON: Since both Dajjals will win the assistance of certain secret committees which cherish an awful desire to wreak revenge on Islam and Christianity, and use women’s liberation as a screen, and since the Dajjal that appears among the Muslims will deceive even certain secret lodges and win their support, they will be seen as having tremendous power. Also, it can be understood from the spiritual unveilings of some saints that the Dajjal called Sufyan who will come to lead the Muslim government will have a capable, intelligent, and hardworking grand vizier (prime minister) who is not fond of show and who attaches no importance to personal rank and glory. He will also have a bold, forceful, steadfast, and energetic commander-in-chief who does not condescend to fame-seeking. The Sufyan will subjugate that vizier and commander to himself. Taking advantage of the fact that they give no importance to show, he will have their exceptional accomplishments attributed to himself, as well as the reforms and advancements achieved by the army and government, driven as they are by the severe need arising from the changes brought about by the World War; he will have it announced and spread everywhere by his adulators that he possesses an awesome and extraordinary power.
THE FOURTH PERSPECTIVE AND REASON: The great Dajjal will have spellbinding, charismatic qualities, while the Dajjal who appears among the Muslims will also have hypnotic powers, but in one eye only. By announcing that “The Dajjal will be blind in one eye,”105 Prophetic Traditions draw our attention to their eyes. That is, one of the great Dajjal’s eyes will be blind, while one eye of the other Dajjal will be blind in comparison to his other eye. That is, since both will be absolute unbelievers, they will in effect have only one eye, and that eye will be restricted to this world; they will have no eyes with which to see the Hereafter or the consequences of their actions. I once had a vision of the Dajjal who is to appear among the Muslims. I observed with my own eyes that he had a spellbinding hypnotic power in one of his eyes, and I understood that he would be an absolute denier of the Religion of Islam. He will attack religious values with an audacity and insolence that stem from absolute denial. But since the common people will not know the truth of the matter, they will suppose that he possesses extraordinary power and courage.
Also, since a glorious, heroic nation will have a successful, famous, fortunate, and cunning leader at the time of their defeat, without considering his secret and fearsome true nature, they will applaud him for their love of heroism; they accept him as their leader and ignore his iniquities. However, it can be understood from narrations that through the light of belief and the Qur’an in their spirits, the heroic army and religious nation will see the truth and try to repair the terrible damage done by that leader.
THE THIRD MATTER
This consists of three incidents, each full of lessons.
THE FIRST INCIDENT: Once, God’s noblest Messenger, upon him be peace and blessings, pointed out to ‘Umar, may God be pleased with him, a child among a group of non-Muslim children and said: “That is his very image!” ‘Umar said: “Then I will kill him!” But God’s Messenger declared: “If that is the Sufyan, you cannot kill him. And if he is not, he cannot be killed by killing his image.”106
This narration indicates that at the time of his rule, the Sufyan’s image will appear in a number of ways, and that he will be born among non-Muslims in Muslim lands.107 It is strange that although ‘Umar, may God be pleased with him, felt so strongly on this matter that he was ready to kill a child who looked like the Sufyan, he [i.e. ‘Umar] will be one the Sufyan most admires, appreciates, and praises highly.
THE SECOND INCIDENT: Many people narrate that the Dajjal who will appear among the Muslims is highly curious about the meaning of the Suratu’t-Tin (Chapter 95), which begins with By the fig and the olive, and will ask about it.
It is strange that the verse, No, indeed, man is unruly and rebels (96:6) in the following Sura—Suratu’l-‘Alaq, beginning with Read in the Name of your Lord Who creates, alludes to the time and person of the Sufyan, and also indicates in the succeeding verses (9–10) that he will rail with overweening vanity against the mosques and the people who perform the canonical Prayers. In other words, that man, whose successes will lead him to perdition, perceives that a short Sura is concerned with him, but falls into confusion and knocks instead on the door of its neighbor.
THE THIRD INCIDENT: It says in a narration: “The Sufyan will appear in the vicinity of Khorasan.”108
While none knows the Unseen save God, an interpretation of this narration is as follows: when the noblest Messenger, upon him be peace and blessings, gave this news, the Turks, who were the most courageous, numerous, and powerful people of the east and who were to form the heroic army of Islam, were around the region of Khorasan and had not yet made their homeland in Anatolia. By mentioning the region where they were found at that time, the hadith could indicate that the Sufyan would appear among the Turks.
It is exceedingly strange that the Sufyan will, even though for a short time, try to use Turkism and the Turkish nation, which for seven hundred years has been a honorable, flashing diamond “sword” in the hand of the Qur’an and Muslim religiousness, against some of the public symbols of Islam. But he will not be successful and will withdraw. It is understood from the narrations that the heroic army will take its reins from his hand.
None knows the Unseen save God.
And God knows best what is right.
Said Nursi
103 al-Bukhari, “Anbiya” 48; Muslim, “Iman” 273–275.
104 al-Bukhari, “Adhan” 149; Muslim, “Masajid” 129; Abu Dawud, “Salah” 148–149.
105 Muslim, “Fitan” 104, 105; Ahmad ibn Hanbal, al-Musnad, 3:201.
106 Muslim, “Fitan” 95; at-Tirmidhi, “Fitan” 63.
107 Muslim, “Fitan” 33; Ahmad ibn Hanbal, al-Musnad, 3:224.
108 at-Tirmidhi, “Fitan” 57; Ibn Maja, “Fitan” 33.