Dajjal is an evil figure in Islamic eschatology who will pretend to be the promised Messiah and later claim to be God, appearing before the Day of Judgment according to the Islamic eschatological narrative. The word "Dajjal" is taken from the expression "Dajjala al-ba’eer (he smeared the camel)", referring to when they covered it with tar. Here are some key points about Dajjal:
-
Physical Appearance: Dajjal will be a young man with a ruddy complexion, with thick curly hair, blind or defective in the right eye, and his left eye will be covered with a thick piece of flesh growing at the edge of his eye. Separate Arabic letters "Kaf, Fa, Ra" ("Kafir" when letters are joined) will be written between his eyes, and every believer will be able to read it.
-
Attributes: Dajjal will have many attributes that were described in the ahadith to acquaint people with him and to warn them of his evil. He will be a man from among the sons of Adam. He will be sterile, with no children born to him.
-
Location: According to the Hadiths, Dajjal will visit and enter every city, every town, and every place on earth except Makkah and Madinah (Masjid Al-Haram and Masjid Al-Nabawi). It is forbidden for Dajjal to enter these two places. Dajjal will not spare any town where he would not stay for 40 nights except Makkah and Madinah.
Dajjal is not mentioned in the Quran, but he is mentioned and described in the ḥadīth literature. Muslims use the word "Dajjal" to refer in particular to the Deceiver (al-Masih al-Dajjal), the false Messiah.
