This report has indeed proved true of the imams of mosques: they have ceased mentioning the Dajjāl from the pulpits, although they are the elite of the community. What, then, must be the state of ordinary people?! If Allah, Blessed and Exalted, has in His wisdom appointed a cause for everything, then I have no doubt that this failure to mention him—despite the Messenger’s (peace and blessings be upon him) utmost concern to warn against his trial, as you will see at the beginning of the account of the Dajjāl below—is due solely to doubts cast by certain members of the elite upon the hadiths concerning him. Sometimes they dispute their authenticity and allege that they were not mass-transmitted; at other times, they dispute what they signify, as explained earlier.

It was therefore necessary for scholars to fulfil their duty by explaining to the community what the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) told them about the trial of the Dajjāl and his being slain by Jesus (peace and blessings be upon him). They must do so through the very means by which the community receives from the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) everything pertaining to its religion—beliefs, worship, dealings, morals, and other matters—namely, prophetic hadith.

In this way, the cause just mentioned will be eliminated, and people will once again speak of the Dajjāl and his trial and take measures to guard against it. They will not be taken in by his deceptions and distortions, which only a believer accepts could occur at the hands of someone like him—a believer who has not the slightest doubt about the various trials that have been foretold.

“And your Lord creates what He wills and chooses; the choice is not theirs. Glorified and exalted is Allah above what they associate with Him.” [al-Qasas: 68]

When the believer learns of this and believes it, he takes the measures that will protect him from the Dajjāl’s trial. These are: