The concept of the antichrist, which means "liar and cheat; the one who confuses good and bad, as well as truth and superstition in the people's hearts and minds; who gilds the surface of things and conceals their true nature; the evil and inauspicious one who travels to all places," is described as a person who will appear in the End Times and who will be the source and representative of all evil and strife. However, the antichrist may not actually be a human being; rather, this person may be a system or an ideology that represents a way of thinking or practice that is against religious moral values. Many hadith contain a great deal of information about the antichrist, and several verses refer to the antichrist's morality and system. This individual's emergence is reported as being one of the End Times' major signs:
Abu Hurayra narrated: "There are three things that, when they are manifested, will be of no benefit to the faith of a person who did not have faith before: the antichrist, the beast, and the sun rising in the west."11
Abu Hanifa said this about the hadith that refer to the antichrist and other signs:
The emergence of the antichrist and of Gog and Magog is a reality; the rising of the Sun in the west is a reality; the descent of Jesus (pbuh) from the heavens is a reality; and all the other signs of the Day of Resurrection, as contained in authentic traditions, are established realities.12
In addition to the signs of the antichrist's coming, the hadith also reveal his characteristics in considerable detail: The antichrist will cause people to turn away from the true path, portray good as evil and evil as good, deceive those who follow him with so-called blessings, oppress those who fail to obey him, wreak confusion upon the world, encourage conflict, oppose religious moral values, and seek to turn people away from those values. The antichrist's time on Earth will be one when true believers experience many troubles and difficulties, and when most people turn away from religious moral values.
The antichrist's emergence will have a profound effect on the whole world, and will be the source of developments that will inflict many catastrophes and troubles upon humanity. Since his main target will be religious moral values and true believers, the period in question may be a particularly difficult one for the believers. In addition, many people will believe in his deceptions and follow him. Such an environment will have to be opposed by all people of good conscience and believers. In addition, they will have to wage a powerful intellectual struggle against this environment, one in which, by Allah's will, they will be victorious. However, the Prophet (may Allah bless him and grant him peace) revealed that this individual's wickedness will be on a scale never before seen in history, and warned believers to avoid it:
I tell you these things so that you may understand the situation and not fall into his snare, and so that you may tell those who come after, because his wickedness is the worst wickedness of all.13
This advice, as well as his prayer for shelter in Allah from the strife caused by the antichrist, is a guide for Muslims. Muslims from different sects and races ask Allah during their five daily prayers to protect them from the antichrist's evil. As the hadith reveal, the prayer that our beloved Prophet (may Allah bless him and grant him peace) taught to believers is as follows:
Our Prophet (may Allah bless him and grant him peace) stated that: "When one of you finishes his prayer, let him seek Allah's protection from four things by saying: Oh Allah, I seek your protection from the suffering of Hell, the agony of the tomb, the wickedness of life and death, and the wickedness of the antichrist."14
The fact that the Prophet (may Allah bless him and grant him peace) taught this prayer to his followers in person and recommended that they say it during the daily prayers shows how important the question of the antichrist is for believers. We know that after their daily prayers, Islamic scholars also added the words Allahumma ajirni min fitna al-Masih al-Dajjal wa al-Sufyan (O Allah, protect me from the wickedness of the antichrist and the sufyan). Aware of the immense scale of the antichrist's evil, Muslims seek Allah's protection with this prayer in their own daily prayers. This shows that Muslims are spiritually prepared for the antichrist. However, the most important preparation to be taken against the antichrist is exactly the one that must be taken to prepare for the Prophet Jesus' (pbuh) coming.
In one respect, the second coming will manifest the fact that this prayer has been heard. This is because the hadith reveal that the antichrist's wickedness can only be done away with by the Prophet Jesus' (pbuh) return to Earth, and that when the antichrist sees the Prophet Jesus (pbuh), "he will dissolve like salt in water." Some of the hadith reveal how the Prophet Jesus (pbuh) will scholarly eliminate the antichrist, as follows:
As the antichrist spreads evil through the world, Allah will send the Messiah, Jesus (pbuh), son of Maryam … Jesus (pbuh) will meet the antichrist at the gate of Ludd [near Jerusalem] and eliminate him [spiritually make him ineffective] .15
When Allah's enemy [the antichrist] sees him, he will dissolve like salt in water. Although he would dissolve until he has been completely destroyed, even if left on his own, Allah will still [spiritually] destroy the antichrist by the hand of Jesus (pbuh)...16
Jesus (pbuh) will soon return, and will then [spiritually] destroy the antichrist the malicious, the inauspicious one.17
Therefore, it is a matter of the greatest importance that all believers and those who wish to be protected from the antichrist's evil should fully support the Prophet Jesus (pbuh) and strive to prepare the best possible environment before he actually returns.
On the one hand, Muslims must uncover the antichrist's wickedness and deceptions and wage an intellectual struggle against those elements that comprise the ideological foundations of the antichrist's system. On the other hand, they must prepare the groundwork for the great intellectual struggle that the Prophet Jesus (pbuh) will wage after his return, and must prepare themselves to support him. The information provided in the Qur'an and the developments described in the hadith indicate that one of history's most important periods is approaching.
Those who will enjoy the honor of living at such a historic time should feel great excitement at this prospect and should be aware of the scale of their responsibility. One of the first things that such people have to do is to prepare themselves and those around them for the Prophet Jesus' (pbuh) return.
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