“No prophet was sent but to warn his one-eyed liar nation, except that he is one-eyed, and that your Lord is not one-eyed, and between his eyes it is written: An infidel.”
(Sharif hadith)
The seriousness of the issue of the Antichrist in the Islamic conception lies in the fact that it is linked to the events of the end of all human history, and that it is one of the ten major signs that reveal - according to this conception - the approaching of the promised day, the day of conquest, defeat and resurrection, and the end of human life on earth for people to meet their fate;
Either heaven or hell.
And the Antichrist, although not mentioned in the Noble Qur’an, was mentioned extensively in the authentic hadiths of the Prophet in the highest degrees of authenticity, and it is a revelation that is revealed, and the second source of Islamic legislation, and the Prophet - may God’s prayers and peace be upon him - told what Imam Al-Bukhari narrated in his Sahih through Anas. -May God be pleased with him-: “No prophet was sent except to warn his one-eyed liar nation, except that he is one-eyed, and that your Lord is not one-eyed, and between his eyes it is written: An infidel.”[1]
And the Prophet, may God’s prayers and peace be upon him, did not tire of warning his companions of the fitnah of this antichrist against all of humanity, as he brings tools that the mind cannot believe, and people feel that he is a god, so he confuses them with their religion, and leads groups of them to misguidance and disbelief in God either out of desire, or in fear and fatigue And tortured, the Messenger of God - may God’s prayers and peace be upon him - said: “The Antichrist is one-eyed in the left eye, has curly hair (i.e. a lot of hair), with him is heaven and fire, his fire is paradise, and his garden is fire,” as Imam Muslim narrated in his Sahih.
And one of his trials and abilities is that he comes upon the people, “so they call upon them, and they believe in him and respond to him, so he commands the sky and it rains, and the earth, and it sprouts, and its flock of them (their sheep and camels) goes as long as it was in swarm, and it is full of sacrifices, and he stretches it with strands. They have nothing of their money in their possession, and he passes by the ruins and says to it: Take out your treasures, and its treasures follow him like the eagles of bees”[2], as the Prophet - may God’s prayers and peace be upon him - said.
The Antichrist, then, has a dangerous influence on the people who see with him an alleged paradise and a blazing fire, with the ability to enrich and impoverish them in the blink of an eye, not to mention that the demons submit to him under his command and his prohibition, and his speed in moving in the earth, and his discovery of its treasures and wealth effortlessly, so he calls them and they follow him as they fly Bees, and that is a great trial, behind which the antichrist aims only to make people disbelieve in the Lord of the worlds, and for this reason it is one of the signs of the great resurrection in Islam.
But what is remarkable and strange is that during the time of the Prophet - may God’s prayers and peace be upon him - he was found in one of the Jewish neighborhoods in Medina, a boy who was close to a dream, the Prophet was hot about his news, and throughout his life he was constantly testing him, is he the antichrist who warned his nation against him or not, and for this confusion was Omar Ibn Al-Khattab -may God be pleased with him- swears by God that he is the Antichrist, so the Prophet does not deny him his oath, that is Abdullah bin Sayyad or Ibn Sayed the Jew, that eccentric boy. Was Ibn Sayed the Antichrist? And what did he say to the Companions after his conversion to Islam when they were still skeptical about it? And how did his son later become one of the senior followers of his time?
The father of Abdullah bin Sayyad was from the Jews of Medina, and he did not know who translated for him and dealt with his history from which branch of the Jews or the Arabs he was. Because of this ignorance in knowing the truth of his lineage, Ibn Sayyad and his father used to claim that they were from Bani Shuhayb Ibn al-Najjar from the tribes of Khazraj, one of the two trees of Medina with their Aws peers, but Bani al-Najjar were rejecting this claim, “and forty-nine men and a man from Bani Sa’idah swore on the pulpit of the Messenger of God. God, may God’s prayers and peace be upon him, what they are from them.” So the testimony of Bani al-Najjar was accepted among them, and Ibn Sayyad and his sons began to say after that: We are “allies of Bani Malik bin al-Najjar (the Khazarjis),” as Ibn Saad (d. 230 AH) mentions in “Tabaqat al-Kubra” [ 3].
When the young man Ibn Sayyad approached the age of puberty, it spread among the people in Medina that he speculates on the news, mentioning their secret and their future, and the Prophet - may God’s prayers and peace be upon him - wanted to test the truth of this young man, and know his sincerity from his lie, so Abdullah bin Omar bin Al-Khattab narrated that his father Al-Faruq Umar - may God be pleased with him - "He set out with the Prophet, may God bless him and grant him peace, in Rahat (group) before Ibn Sayyad, until they found him playing with boys, at the fortress of Banu Mughalah (of the Ansar), and Ibn Sayyad approached the dream, and he did not even feel The Prophet, may God’s prayers and peace be upon him, struck his hand, then said to Ibn Sayyad: Do you bear witness that I am the Messenger of God? Ibn Sayyad looked at him and said: I bear witness that you are the messenger of the illiterate. Ibn Sayyad said to the Prophet, may God’s prayers and peace be upon him: Do you bear witness that I am the Messenger of God? He rejected him and said: I believe in God and his messengers. He said to him: What do you see (in your wakefulness and sleep). Ibn Sayyad said: A true and a liar will come to me. The Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, said: You have been confused. Then the Prophet, may God’s prayers and peace be upon him, said to him: I have hidden something for you. Ibn Sayyad said: It is al-Dukh He said:Afraid, you will not transcend your destiny. Omar, may God be pleased with him, said: Let me, O Messenger of God, strike his neck. The Prophet, may God’s prayers and peace be upon him, said: If it is him, you will not have power over him, and if it is not him, then there is no good for you in killing him.” As narrated by Al-Bukhari and Muslim in their Sahihs [4].
The Prophet tested Ibn Sayyad’s predictions of whether he truly knows the unseen, and he hid the word “dukhan” for him, so Ibn Sayyad said: “Al-Dukh.” He realized that a demon or a genie would help him in this matter, so he said to him, “Oh! The people are yours, and then Umar wanted to get rid of him so that it would not be a trial for the people, so the Prophet - may God’s prayers and peace be upon him - refused that. There is no value in killing him and no benefit.
But that did not prevent the Prophet, may God’s prayers and peace be upon him, from following up on his news and knowing his truth from time to time. “After that, the Messenger of God, may God’s prayers and peace be upon him, and Ubai bin Ka’b went to the palm trees in which Ibn Sayyad was, while he was confused (watching him in heedlessly) that He heard something from Ibn Sayyad before Ibn Sayyad saw him, so the Prophet, may God’s prayers and peace be upon him, saw him lying down.. Umm Ibn Sayyad saw the Messenger of God, may God’s prayers and peace be upon him, while he was pious (disguised) by palm trunks, so she said to Ibn Sayyad: O Safe, and it is the name of Ibn Sayyad. This is Muhammad (may God’s prayers and peace be upon him), so Ibn Sayyad rose up (and got up), so the Prophet, may God’s prayers and peace be upon him, said: “If you had left him between” [5], that is, if you had not called out to him, his secret would have been revealed and his order would be revealed to the Prophet - may God’s prayers and peace be upon him.
The Prophet, may God’s prayers and peace be upon him, once asked him about “the soil of Paradise, and he said: Darmakah (that is, like flour) is white, pure musk. The Messenger of God, may God bless him and grant him peace, said: He spoke the truth.” The Prophet - may God’s prayers and peace be upon him - asked him again, "What do you see? He said: I see a throne on the water. The Messenger of God, may God bless him and grant him peace, said: You see the throne of Satan on the sea. And what do you see? He said: I see two truthful and liars, or liars and truthful: The Messenger of God, may God’s prayers and peace be upon him, said: He was overwhelmed, let him go.”[7]
These experiences aroused the Prophet and his companions, and it seems that his matter did not reveal a revelation from heaven to the Prophet - may God’s prayers and peace be upon him-. He had sent me to his mother, he said, “Ask her how much she carried him.” So I came to her and asked her, and she said, “I carried him for twelve months.” Then he sent me to her and said: “Ask her about his cry when he was born.” He said: “I went back to her and I asked her, and she said, “The boy’s cry, son of a son.” Shahr"[8], and perhaps his mother was a liar who wanted to create more confusion and mystery about her son.
It seems that Abu Dharr - may God be pleased with him - by following the steps of the boy Ibn Sayyad or Ibn Sayed and his news, saw in him strange things that contradict people's natures and customs, so he used to say to those who asked him: "Because I swear ten times that Ibn Sayed is the Antichrist, I love it more than to swear once." One is that he does not have it” [9]. Before him, Omar Ibn Al-Khattab and Abdullah Ibn Jaber used to swear by God in front of the public and in front of the Prophet - may God’s prayers and peace be upon him- that he is an antichrist “and the Prophet, may God’s prayers and peace be upon him, did not deny him,” as Al-Bukhari narrates in his Sahih [10].
Perhaps the oath of these great companions before the Prophet - may God’s prayers and peace be upon him - and on top of them was Omar Ibn Al-Khattab because of the abilities of this young boy to tell things that could not be issued by those of his age, but the strangest thing is that Abdullah Ibn Omar Ibn Al-Khattab one day stopped him On some of the roads of Medina, he said something that angered him: So he swollen until he filled the rails, so Ibn Omar entered upon Hafsa (his sister, the wife of the Prophet, may God’s prayers and peace be upon him) and he had reached her: She said to him: “May God have mercy on you, what you wanted from Ibn Sa’id, did you not know that the Messenger of God The Messenger of God, may God bless him and grant him peace, said: “The Antichrist will only come out of his wrath by making her angry.”[11]
Ibn Sayyad swelled up and turned into something like a huge balloon due to Ibn Umar’s anger at him, and his blocking of the road, something that made it the talk of the hour at that time, and strongly resurrected people’s doubts about it.
But Ibn Sayyad embraced Islam, married and had children, and it seems that the great suspicion of the people of Medina and their fear of him made him express what was in his chest complaining to one of the companions, Abu Saeed Al-Khudri - may God be pleased with him -.
That is because Abu Saeed, Ibn Sayyad and a large group of the people of Medina went out for Hajj or Umrah in one year, Abu Saeed Al-Khudri says in a story reported by Imam Muslim in his Sahih: “We went out for pilgrims or Umrah (pilgrims) and with us was Ibn Sayed. He said: So we went down to a house ( A place between Medina and Mecca. So the people dispersed and he and I remained, so I was terrified (I was afraid) of him of a severe loneliness from what is being said about him. He brought his belongings and put it with my belongings, so I said: The heat is severe, so if you put it under that tree. He said: So he did. He said: So I rose ( We had sheep. So he went and came with a (large mug) and said: Drink Abu Saeed, so I said: It is very hot and milk is hot, but I hate that I drink from his hand - or he said I take from his hand - and he said: Abu Saeed! I wanted to take a rope and hang it on a tree, then suffocate from what people tell me, O Abu Saeed! Whoever the hadith of the Messenger of God, may God bless him and grant him peace, concealed from you, the Ansar community!Are you not the most knowledgeable of people about the hadith of the Messenger of God, may God bless him and grant him peace? Has the Messenger of God, peace and blessings be upon him, not said: He is an infidel (i.e., the Antichrist), and I am a Muslim? Is it not that the Messenger of God, may God’s prayers and peace be upon him, said: He is sterile and has no children, and I left my son in Medina? Or is it not that the Messenger of God, may God’s prayers and peace be upon him, has said that he does not enter Medina or Mecca. I came from Medina and I want Mecca? Abu Saeed Al-Khudri said: I almost excused him (and was convinced of what he said). Then he said: By God, I know him (the Antichrist), his birth and where he is now. He said: I told him: “Fuck you the rest of the day.”[12]Fuck you the rest of the day"[12].Fuck you the rest of the day"[12].
Ibn Sayyad convinced Abu Sa`id al-Khudri of his faith and his conversion to Islam, citing signs that contradict the characteristics of the antichrist that the Prophet - may God bless him and grant him peace - told them. Even if he came close to this conviction, he came back and told him that he knew who the antichrist was, where he was born and where he is now, and these are matters that he does not know except a man of two; Either he is the antichrist himself, or a demon or a genie informs him of the unseen; So, Abu Saeed was afraid of him and moved away.
However, what is striking is that Ibn Sayyad succeeded a son named Umarah bin Abdullah bin Sayyad, who was one of the great followers and the distinguished scholars in Medina. Ibn Saad Al-Basri says in “Al-Tabaqat Al-Kubra”: “(Amara) was trustworthy and had little hadith, and Malik bin Anas (the imam of the madhhab) does not give anyone precedence over him in merit.”[13] And Imam Al-Nawawi quotes Imam Abdul Ghani Al-Maqdisi, the author of “Al-Ikmal” that “This building is trustworthy. They agreed to document it (in transmitting and preserving the Prophet’s hadith). Malik narrated from him in (his book) Al-Muwatta in the book (Chapter) of the sacrifice”[14].
Just as the Companions differed and doubted about Ibn Sayyad even after the death of the Prophet - may God’s prayers and peace be upon him-, the disagreement passed to the scholars after them. Was Ibn Sayyad the greatest charlatan against whom the Prophet, may God’s prayers and peace be upon him, warned or not? Imam al-Nawawi tells us in his explanation of Sahih Muslim that “His story is problematic, and his matter is suspect, whether he is the famous Antichrist or someone else, and there is no doubt that he is an antichrist from the hen.” The scholars said: The apparent hadiths are that the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, was not revealed to him that he was the Antichrist or someone else, but rather the characteristics of the antichrist were revealed to him, and he was In Ibn Sayyad there are possible clues, so the Prophet, may God’s prayers and peace be upon him, was not certain that he was the Antichrist or someone else.”[15]
Here ends our story with Ibn Sayyad, that man who sometimes seemed to people to be the antichrist in his morals and qualities, and at other times he seemed to be a pious believer. He repented after his conversion to Islam and his son became one of the senior followers as we saw, but despite that he remained suspicious of the people of Medina, led by the senior companions and followers until they disagreed about his death, some of them say that he died and people prayed for him, and some of them say that he was lost in the famous battle of Al-Hurra in which he faced The people of Medina had the armies of Yazid bin Muawiyah in the year 63 AH. Ibn Sayed or Ibn Sayyad was strange in his life and strange in his death!
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Sources
Sahih Al-Bukhari Hadith No. (7131).
Sahih Muslim: Hadith No. (2937).
Ibn Saad: Al-Tabaqat Al-Kubra 2/274.
Al-Bukhari (1354).
Al-Bukhari (1354).
Musnad Ahmad (11002).
Muslim (2925).
Musnad Ahmad 35/247 H 21319
Musnad Ahmad h 21357.
Al-Bukhari (7355).
Muslim (2932).
Sunan al-Tirmidhi (2246).
Major classes 5/409.
Al-Nawawi: Refinement of Names and Languages, 2/299.
Al-Nawawi: Explanation of Sahih Muslim 18/46.