—and thereby their faith only increases upon the faith they already possess, and their guidance deepens upon the guidance they have been granted. During those very days the descent of Jesus son of Mary—may Allah have mercy on them—will take place: the Messiah of guidance appearing while the Antichrist, the messiah of misguidance, is abroad. He will alight at the eastern minaret of Damascus; the believers will converge around him, and the devout servants of Allah will rally to his side. He will lead them straight toward the Dajjal, who by then will be heading for Jerusalem. Jesus will overtake him at the Pass of Afiq, causing the Dajjal to flee. Jesus will pursue him until he meets him at the gate of the city of Ludd, and there he will kill him with his lance as the Dajjal attempts to enter it.
Jesus will declare to him, “I have a single blow for you that you shall not escape.” The moment the Dajjal faces him he will dissolve like salt melting in water, whereupon Jesus will finish him off with his lance at the gate of Ludd. Thus will the Dajjal perish—may Allah curse him—as corroborated by numerous sound hadiths from several routes, as has passed and as will follow.
Al-Tirmidhi said: “Qutaybah ibn Saʿid related to us—al-Layth narrated to us—from Ibn Shihab, who said: I heard ʿUbayd Allah (1) ibn ʿAbd Allah ibn Thaʿlabah al-Ansari relate from ʿAbd al-Rahman ibn Yazid al-Ansari of the clan of ʿAmr ibn ʿAwf, who said: I heard my uncle Mujammiʿ ibn Jariyah al-Ansari say: I heard the Messenger of Allah ﷺ say, ‘The son of Mary will slay the Dajjal at the gate of Ludd.’”
Ahmad also transmitted it—from Abu al-Nadr, from al-Layth—from al-Zuhri with the same chain; from Sufyan ibn ʿUyaynah, from al-Zuhri with it; from Muhammad ibn Musʿab, from al-Awzaʿi, from al-Zuhri with it; and from ʿAbd al-Razzaq, from Maʿmar, from al-Zuhri. The hadith is therefore well-preserved in al-Zuhri’s narration, and everyone after him in the chain is trustworthy.
For this reason al-Tirmidhi, having cited it, remarked: “This hadith is sound.” He added: “There are also reports on the matter from ʿImran ibn Husayn, Nafiʿ ibn ʿUtbah, Abu Barzah, Hudhayfah ibn Asid, Abu Hurayrah, Kaysan, ʿUthman ibn Abi al-ʿAs, Jabir, Abu Umamah, Ibn Masʿud, ʿAbd Allah ibn ʿAmr, Samurah ibn Jundub, al-Nawas ibn Samʿan, ʿAmr ibn ʿAwf, and Hudhayfah ibn al-Yaman (2).”
Abu Bakr ibn Abi Shaybah likewise recorded—from Sufyan ibn ʿUyaynah, from al-Zuhri, from Salim, from his father—that ʿUmar once asked a Jew about the Dajjal, and he replied, “By the God of the Jews, the son of Mary will most certainly kill him in the courtyard of Ludd.” (3)
Description of the Dajjal—may Allah deform, curse, disgrace, and abase him
The hadiths have already stated that he is one-eyed, fair-complexioned and ruddy (azhar hijān), broad-built in the manner of the Byzantines (fīlamāniyy), and very hairy. Some narrations describe him as short and bow-legged (4), while another declares him tall. It is also reported that the span between the ears of his donkey is forty cubits, as mentioned in the hadith of Jabir. Another report says seventy fathoms, but it is not authentic, and even the first wording is open to scrutiny.