Question: When the Mahdi appears, the Dajjal will appear, too. Therefore, those who claim that the Mahdi has appeared fabricate an explanation for the Dajjal, saying, "Contrary to what the ahadith state, the Dajjal is not a human; it is atheism. Since atheism has no scientific bases anymore, that is, has died, the Dajjal has died consequently." But won't the killer of the Dajjal be Hadrat 'Isa? The Dajjal will have many distinguishing characteristics. Since the Dajjal will be a human, how can it be ever said that the Dajjal is atheism?
ANSWER
It is not true that the Dajjal has appeared or has died. When one claims that the Mahdi has emerged, one knows that his emergence must be accompanied by the descent of Hadrat 'Isa and by the emergence of Dajjal, which is the reason why inconceivable interpretations are made. Some people say that Hadrat 'Isa will not come in person, but will come as a spiritual personage, as a movement. Some others say that Hadrat 'Isa will descend, but not everybody will recognize him. As for the Dajjal, while some people construe him as such dictators as Mao and Lenin, some others say that the Dajjal is a system. In the past, there were people who maintained that the Dajjal was America. However, leaving no need for further clarification, our master the Prophet expressed clearly that the Dajjal, Hadrat Isa, and Hadrat Mahdi would come as humans and that the Muslims living during their times would recognize them. Some pertinent hadith-i sharifs declare:
(The Dajjal will emerge from the East.) [Muslim, Abu Dawud, Tirmidhi, Ibn Majah, Imam-i Ahmad, Ibn Abi Shayba, Hakim]

(The Dajjal cannot enter Mecca and Medina.) [Bukhari, Muslim, Tirmidhi, Imam-i Ahmad]

(The Dajjal will be blind in one eye.) [Bukhari, Muslim, Abu Dawud, Abu Nu’aym]

(The Dajjal will be short and have curly hair.) [Abu Dawud] (Will they interpret this hadith-i sharif as that atheists have curly hair? If the Dajjal is interpreted as atheism, does atheism have curly hair?)

(The Dajjal will not have children.) [Imam-i Ahmad]

(When the Dajjal appears, he will claim divinity. He who believes in his divinity will become a disbeliever.) [Ibn Abi Shayba]

(The Dajjal will kill a person and then resurrect him.) [Bukhari, Muslim]

(I also saw the Dajjal during the Mi’raj.) [Bukhari, Muslim, Imam-i Ahmad]

(When 'Isa descends, he will kill the Dajjal.) [Muslim, Abu Dawud]

(After ‘Isa kills the Dajjal, there will be no hostility between two people.) [Muslim] (If the Dajjal has died, why do hostility and wars still prevail?)

(The sustenance of the Believers living during the time of the Dajjal will be tasbih, like the sustenance of angels. Allahu ta'ala will then satisfy the hunger of those who will make tasbih.) [Hakim] (Since the Dajjal emerged in their opinion, how to interpret Muslims' getting hungry then?)

When our master the Prophet said, “The final days of the Dajjal will be very short, so much so that when one of you exits the gate of Medina, evening will fall before he reaches its hill,” they asked, “O Messenger of Allah! How will we perform salat during those short days?” In answer to their question, he stated, “You will make an estimate of it as you make an estimate of it during those long days” [Ibn Majah]. (Since the Dajjal died according to them, when did those short days come and go?)

(The first of the signs of Doomsday is the sun's rising from where it sets and the emergence of the Dabbat al-ard to people at forenoon. Of them, whichever appears first will immediately be followed by the other.) [Muslim, Abu Dawud]

A Qur'anic verse purports:
(On the day when some of the signs of your Lord come, believing then will be of no avail to a person who did not believe before, or who did not earn some good through his faith.) [Surat al-An'am 158]

Our master the Prophet explains this Qur'anic verse as follows:
(When these three things appear, believing then will be of no avail to a person who did not believe before or who did not earn some good through his faith: the sun’s rising in the west, the Dajjal, and the Dabbat al-ard.) [Muslim, Tirmidhi, Bayhaqi]

This means to say that everybody will believe when the Dajjal emerges, but belief will not be accepted anymore as extraordinary signs start to appear. Supposing that the Dajjal really appeared and was killed, then why do they struggle so that people have faith? We wonder whether the âyât and ahadith about this subject are rejected. Some more hadith-i sharifs about the Dajjal are as follows:
(Medina will expel the Dajjal, just as a pair of bellows expels rust from iron.) [Bukhari, Muslim]

(Every prophet frightened his people with the Dajjal.) [Bukhari, Muslim]

(Of my Ummah, those who continue on the right path will also fight the Dajjal.) [Abu Dawud]

(While ‘Isa is fighting the Dajjal, the Mahdi will be with him.) [Imam-i Suyuti]

(Doomsday will not come before ten presages appear. One of them is the Dajjal.) [Muslim, Abu Dawud, Tirmidhi, Ibn Majah]

(From Adam 'alaihis-salam to Doomsday, there is no fitnah greater than the Dajjal.) [Muslim]

Hadrat Muhammad bin Hasan Askari stated:
A person who says that he/she has seen the Dajjal before he has emerged is a liar. (Shawahid-un-Nubuwwa)

It was reported from Hadrat Ibn Abbas that Hadrat 'Umar said:
(There will appear people who will deny rajm, the Dajjal, the sun's rising in the west, the torment in the grave, intercession, Muslims' being taken out of Hell after they burn as much as their sins.) [Ibn Abd-il barr, Qurtubi]

Though there are no people who say openly that the Dajjal will not appear or the sun will not rise in the west, there are those who interpret them into different things such as, "The Dajjal refers to atheism, and the sun's rising in the west refers to the spreading of Islam from the west." Hadrat 'Umar informed us about such people with this statement of his.

The emergence of the Dajjal
Question: According to what is written in hadith books, when the Sahaba asked the Messenger of Allah how long the Dajjal would stay, he said, “He will stay for 40 days. The first day will be like a year in length; the second day, like a month; the third day, like a week; and the remaining days will be like your days.” Is it reasonable? Is it possible for a day to be like a year in length? Rotation of the earth is fixed, so this hadith must be interpreted in a different way. The Mahdi and the Dajjal are nonmaterial beings, and they will not come as humans. Is it not wrong to write them [ahadith] without giving them a different sense?
ANSWER
It is not wrong. They do not call for a different interpretation. When this issue was mentioned to the Ashab-i Kiram, they did not ask what its interpretation was; instead, they asked, “O Messenger of Allah! On the day when a day will equal a year, will one day’s salat suffice for us?” He replied, “No, you will make an estimate of the days.”

This means that a day will be as long as a year. Our scholars stated that it is necessary to offer salats and fasts according to the time found after estimation in the regions with a six-month-long night and a six-month-long day, such as poles, or with days and nights shorter or longer than these. That is, in such regions one fasts for a certain period of time and performs salat at arranged intervals. If a day were not as long as a year, he would not have ordered us to perform salat in this manner.