Further indications of the ambiguity surrounding his case and of his being one of the lying impostors include his saying to the Prophet ﷺ, “Do you testify that I am Allah’s Messenger?!”; his claim that a truthful one and a liar come to him; that he sees a throne above the water; that he would not dislike being the Dajjāl; that he knows his whereabouts; his statement, “I certainly know him, know his birthplace, and know where he is now”; and his swelling up until he filled the street.

As for his professing Islam, performing Hajj, taking part in jihad, and abandoning his former ways, none of this definitively proves that he is not the Dajjāl.” (1)

This statement of al-Nawawī implies that he considered it more likely that Ibn Sayyad was the Dajjāl.

Al-Shawkānī said, “People differed greatly concerning Ibn Sayyad. His case was so perplexing that every conceivable view was expressed about him. The apparent meaning of the aforementioned hadith is that the Prophet ﷺ was uncertain whether or not he was the Dajjāl. ...

“Two explanations have been offered for the Prophet’s ﷺ uncertainty:

“The first is that he was uncertain before Allah informed him that Ibn Sayyad was the Dajjāl. Once Allah informed him, he did not object to Umar’s oath.

“The second is that the Arabs sometimes phrase a statement as though it were doubtful, even when there is no uncertainty about what is being reported.

“Among the evidence that he was the Dajjāl is the report narrated by Abd al-Razzāq (2), with a sound chain of transmission, from Ibn Umar, who said, ‘One day I met Ibn Sayyad, accompanied by a Jewish man. His eye had gone blind and was protruding like a donkey’s eye. When I saw it, I said: I adjure you by Allah, O