before any revelation had come down to the Prophet—peace and blessings be upon him—explaining the extraordinary feats that would accompany the Dajjāl. This is evident from al-Mughīra’s words to the Prophet—peace and blessings be upon him—“People say that he will have…” He did not say, “You have said such-and-such about him.” Revelation subsequently came explaining the extraordinary feats and signs that would accompany the Dajjāl. Thus, there is no conflict between the hadith of al-Mughīra and the hadiths concerning the Dajjāl.
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The Dajjāl’s extraordinary feats will be real, not illusions or deceptions. They are among the things Allah will enable him to perform as a trial and test for His servants. The Dajjāl cannot be confused with the prophets, for it has not been established that he will claim prophethood when these extraordinary feats appear at his hands. Rather, they will appear when he claims lordship (1).
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Rashīd Ridā’s dismissal of the report that the Dajjāl will appear throughout the entire earth within forty days, except in Mecca and Medina, is unsupported by any evidence. Indeed, evidence to the contrary has been reported: according to a narration in Muslim, some of the Dajjāl’s days will be as long as a year, some as long as a month, and some as long as a week… as previously mentioned (2).
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The extraordinary feats granted to the Dajjāl do not contravene Allah’s laws governing creation. Were we to apply Rashīd Ridā’s statement according to its apparent meaning, we would invalidate the miracles of the prophets, since they too depart from the customary laws governing creation. Whatever is said of the prophets’ extraordinary feats—namely, that they do not contravene Allah’s laws—also applies to the extraordinary feats granted to the Dajjāl as a means of trial, examination, and testing.
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Even if we were to concede that the Dajjāl’s extraordinary feats contravene Allah’s laws governing creation, then we