except Mecca and Medina.” …

He went on to say: “The extraordinary feats attributed to him run counter to Allah Most High’s established ways in His creation. The definitive texts of the Quran establish that His way admits neither change nor alteration. These inconsistent and contradictory reports therefore cannot restrict the scope of those definitive texts or stand in opposition to them” (1).

To demonstrate the alleged contradictions among the hadiths concerning the Dajjāl, he cited reports stating—as mentioned earlier—that the Dajjāl will have mountains of bread, rivers of water and honey, and a Paradise and a Hell … and so forth. He maintained that these reports conflict with the hadith recorded in both Sahih collections from al-Mughīra ibn Shu'ba, who said: “No one asked the Prophet—peace and blessings be upon him—about the Dajjāl more than I did. He said to me, ‘What harm could he do you?’ I replied, ‘People say that he will have a mountain of bread and a river of water.’ He said, ‘Rather, he is far too insignificant in Allah’s sight for that’” (2).

Among those who denied the Dajjāl’s extraordinary feats was Abū Ubayya. Commenting on the hadiths concerning them, he said: “Could the vast multitudes of people withstand this tremendous tribulation?! He puts people to death and then restores them to life before the eyes and ears of humankind, after which Allah casts His servants into Hell because they succumbed to his temptation!! Allah—glorious and exalted is He—is too kind and merciful toward His servants to unleash upon them such an affliction, which none could withstand except someone granted an immeasurable degree of steadfast faith and strength of conviction. Indeed, the Dajjāl—that is,