Sahih Muslim: 2933
This is a narration by Ans bin Malik (rh): The Prophet Muhammad (s) said, “I am forewarning you of the Antichrist (Dajjal). As for him, he shall be blind in his right eye and verily, your Lord is not one-eyed. It shall be written between his eyes: Kaf Fey Rey.”
This hadith implies that the Dajjal will be blind in his right eye, but our Lord won’t be. What does it mean? If we take the literal meaning of this sentence, the Dajjal’s right eye will be blind physically. Okay? But the problem lies in the following sentence that states our Lord (Allah) is not one-eyed. Does it make any sense? All we know that it is quite impossible that Allah can be one-eyed. Then why did our Prophet Muhammad (s) compare Dajjal’s eyes to our Lord’s eyes. Is it not a stupidity? Off course it is. So, if we take the literal meaning of this sentence, it makes no sense. There must be an esoteric meaning behind this statement made by our Prophet (s).
Allah has imparted two types of knowledge to us. One is material knowledge and the another is ethereal knowledge. Knowledge enlightens us. And our eyes make this world visible to us. So, knowledge is like our eyes. Material knowledge is known as Shariah and ethereal knowledge is known as Tariqah and Haqiqah. In this hadith our Prophet Muhammad (s) indicates our two eyes for two types of knowledge – left eye for material knowledge (Shariah) and right eye for ethereal knowledge (Tariqah and Haqiqah). That the Dajjal will be blind in his right eye means he will have no ethereal knowledge. He will only possess material knowledge like the Iblish (The Devil) does. Allah didn’t give any access to ethereal knowledge to Iblish. On the other hand, Allah possesses all types of knowledge. So, He is not one-eyed. All our prophets, messengers and saints (walies) are also given access to both types of knowledge. So, they are not blind at their right eyes unlike the Dajjal. Allah has rendered both types of knowledge but the Dajjal will have only one type of knowledge. This is the actual esoteric interpretation of this hadith. The last part of this hadith indicates, “It shall be written in the middle of his eyes: Kaf Fey Rey”. Let us discuss this issue now. If a kafir (disbeliever) has ‘kafir’ stamped on his forehead, then a momin (believer) should have ‘momin’ stamped on his forehead, a prophet should have ‘prophet’, a messenger should have ‘messenger’ and a wali (saint) should have ‘wali’. Although it is a fact and it is truly written on their foreheads. Every single person has this type of stamp on his forehead – either heaven-bound or hell-bound. But the question is who can see it? Only the People of Sight can see it. It is not possible to be seen by general people. So, it is impossible for general people to identify the Dajjal by seeing the letters written on his forehead.
Now, let’s talk about another hadith regarding the Dajjal.
Mishkat Sharif: 5254
This is a narration by Abu Sayeed Al-Khudri (rh): The Prophet Muhammad (s) said, “70,000 Muslim scholars shall pledge allegiance at the hands of the Antichrist”.
Think by your mind. How will it be possible? Will all of those 70,000 Muslim scholars be absolutely stupid? Will they be dim-witted? If they can see the letters ‘Kaaf Fey Rey’ written on the forehead of Dajjal, why should they pledge allegiance at the hands of the Dajjal? Does that make any sense to us? So, it is clear that all of us will not be able to see the letters. Only the People of Sight shall be able to see it.
The word ‘Dajjal’ literally means deceiver. If someone’s title is deceiver, what kind of deception would he do? There are different types of deceptions. If someone leave you in the lurch, that is a deception. But how will the Dajjal deceive? He will only possess material knowledge of our religion (Shariah); he will not possess esoteric knowledge (Tariqah and Haqiqah). He will be a strict follower of Islamic Shariah. He will say that the religion only consists of exoteric knowledge, there is no scope of esoteric knowledge in the religion. His exoteric knowledge will be richest enough to allure Muslim scholars. He will adhere to the laws of Shariah. He will observe the Shariah so stringently that no other religious clergy could emulate it, which is why they will bow before him. He will also possess a lot of magical powers that will certainly make them to believe him as Imam Mehdi (as). So, the majority of human beings who are the followers of those scholars will also begin to believe the Dajjal as Imam Mehdi (as) and they all will pledge allegiance to him. This is how the Dajjal will deceive the majority of us.
How can we recognise Dajjal? It will only be possible to differentiate between Imam Mehdi (as) and Dajjal if you possess divine energy (Allah’s Noor) in your heart. Imam Mehdi (as) is a spheroid of divine light and those who possess divine light in their hearts (enlightened by the name of Allah) shall be pulled towards Him like a magnet. No matter how many hadith one has memorised, one day he shall become the follower of the Dajjal, if he does not possess any divine light of Alllah in his heart. Only enlightened heart can protect us from the deception of Dajjal.
It is also mentioned in a hadith that every nation will have an antichrist. So how can I say that the Dajjal will be from the Jews? How will the Jews Dajjal deceive you? Why will the 70,000 Muslim scholars pledge allegiance to the Jews Dajjal? Does it make any sense? The fact is that Dajjal is a group of people who have gone astray from the right path of their religions. They will be the strict followers of their religious rituals (Shariah). But they will be far away from the esoteric part, indeed the actual part, of their respective religions. That means they will be blind at their right eyes as our Prophet (s) said. It is known that Allah has sent a set of 360 saints of lower status throughout the ages for the salvation of general people. Similarly, every nation has encountered 100 antichrists of lower status throughout the ages and there has been always one mega antichrist. Our nation has also encountered a series of antichrists. However, there will be one champion Antichrist in the last phase of this world. The greatest Antichrist. The most powerful Antichrist. The most prolific Antichrist. Indeed, this Dajjal is the talk of the town to whom our 70,000 Muslim scholars will swear fealty. This Dajjal will be encountered by our Imam Mehdi (as). But the Imam Mehdi (as) will not do anything by Himself. Rather it will be the Jesus Christ, the commander in chief of Imam Mehdi’s Legion, who will rage war against the Dajjal.