“I am the last of a thousand prophets and more. No prophet with followers was sent without warning his people about the Dajjāl. Things about him have been made clear to me that were not made clear to anyone else. He is one-eyed, whereas your Lord is not one-eyed. His right eye is defective and protruding…” The hadith continues up to the words “filled with smoke.”

Ahmad (3/79) recorded it.

I say: Mujālid is not strong as a narrator, while Abū al-Waddāk is better than him. Thus, the hadith is good when its two chains are considered together. And Allah knows best.

Someone other than Mujālid also narrated it from Abū al-Waddāk with different wording; it will appear later (p. 80).

Sixth: Jābir reported that the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, said:

“There has been no prophet who did not warn his people about the Dajjāl. I shall certainly tell you something about him that no one before me has mentioned.” He then placed his hand over his eyes and said:

“I bear witness that Allah, Mighty and Majestic, is not one-eyed.”

Al-Hākim (1/24) and Ibn Mandah in al-Tawhīd (82/2) recorded it. The latter said:

“The narrators of this chain are well known.”

I say: Its chain of transmission is sound, and its narrators are trustworthy. Ibn Mandah also cited a similar hadith from Ibn ʿUmar without a complete chain of transmission. It includes the words: “He gestured towards his eyes with his hand.” (1)

(1) Al-Bukhārī (13/332) recorded it with a connected chain of transmission. This additional wording is corroborated by Jābir’s hadith cited later (pp. 89–90), and by the hadith of Abū Hurayrah, who said concerning the verse:

“Indeed, Allah commands you to render trusts to whom they are due and when you judge between people to judge with justice. Excellent is that which Allah instructs you. Indeed, Allah is ever Hearing and Seeing.” [al-Nisāʾ: 58]:

“I saw the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, place his thumb on his ear and the finger next to it on his eye.” Abū Hurayrah said: “I saw the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, do that.”

Abū Dāwūd (2/277–278), Ibn Khuzaymah in al-Tawhīd (p. 31), al-Hākim (1/24), al-Bayhaqī in al-Asmāʾ (p. 178), and also Ibn Mandah (82/2) recorded it. Ibn Mandah said:

“Abū Maʿshar narrated it from al-Maqburī, from Abū Hurayrah. Ibn Lahīʿah narrated it from Yazīd ibn Abī Habīb, from Abū al-Khayr Marthad ibn ʿAbd Allāh, from ʿUqbah ibn ʿĀmir. A similar report was also narrated from al-Hasan ibn Thawbān, from Abū al-Khayr, from ʿUqbah ibn ʿĀmir.”

I say: The chain of Abū Hurayrah’s hadith is authentic according to Muslim’s criteria. Al-Hākim, al-Dhahabī, and al-Hāfiz (13/318) stated the same. Al-Kawtharī, however, alleged a defect in it in his annotations on al-Asmāʾ, without any evidence, as is his habit with hadiths concerning the divine attributes.