to me, I would not object.” (1)

There are other reports concerning Ibn Sayyād that I have omitted here to avoid undue length, and because some critical scholars—including Ibn Kathīr, Ibn Hajar, and others—rejected them due to the weakness of their chains of transmission (2).

The reports concerning Ibn Sayyād perplexed the scholars, and they found his case difficult to resolve. Some held that he was the Dajjāl, citing as evidence the aforementioned oaths of certain Companions—may Allah be pleased with them—that he was the Dajjāl, as well as what transpired between him and Ibn Umar and Abū Sa’īd—may Allah be pleased with them.

Other scholars held that Ibn Sayyād was not the Dajjāl, citing as evidence the hadith of Tamīm al-Dārī—may Allah be pleased with him. Before presenting the views of both sides, I shall relate Tamīm’s hadith in full:

Imam Muslim narrated, through his chain of transmission to Āmir ibn Sharāhīl al-Sha’bī (3)—of the clan of