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The Messenger of Allah has said, 'There will be no greater event from the creation of Adam to the Last day, than the appearance of the
Dajjal'. -Emran bin Hussain (r.a),
Muslim.
This is perhaps one of the most important Hadis regarding the
Dajjal since it encompasses the entire history of mankind, from the creation to its end; which includes the Great Deluge, the World Wars and everything in between. Yet, the Messenger has stressed the event of the Dajjal as being the Akbar, greater in significance than any other. Therefore, it leaves little doubt as regards to its gravity. The
Messenger of Allah had been made aware of all things great and small in the world's history: there was not a single important issue in the history of this world that he had no knowledge of; he has nevertheless stressed on the gravity of the Dajjal as being the gravest of all. Therefore, the very fact that he has placed the Dajjal as being more significant than either the great World Wars or the deluge of Noah's era when the whole world was submerged gives ample indications towards its significance and gravity. Given this fact, it seems highly ironic that we are so little concerned about it!
Now let us gauge as to why this Dajjal, the materialistic, technological Judeo-Christian civilization poses such an enormous threat to mankind? To do so we need to go back in time to the creation of Man, to get a better understanding of the subject.
All it took Allah to create this entire universe, the limits of which remain unknown to man, was the command, 'Kun', 'Be', and there it was. Within this infinite creation, there is not one atom that can do what it pleases, not one tiny particle that can break out of the sphere fixed for it and disobey its Creator. He has not given any one of them that capability to do so, not bestowed the gift of free-will power on any other among His creation. This power to do what they please is something even His angels do not possess either. They all remain in their own places, each doing what they are ascribed by their Lord. It was after everything He Wished for had been created that He wished for a creature on whom
He would bestow His attributes along with His own free-will and see what it would do with it.[1] And so He made Adam. As He wished to breathe His spirit into this new creature, it was not made with the mere command of 'Be', rather with the Lord's own hands.
[2] With the breathing from Allah's Spirit into Adam,
[3] he rose in rank above all other creations, becoming the Ashraf-ul- Makhlukat, (the most honored in the creation) because along with the spirit, blown into him by Allah he came into possession of each and every one of Allah's qualities, attributes or 'sifats', including that of Allah's free will. This was the attribute, which
Allah had retained to Himself all this while, now, it came to dwell in Adam as well. This is His 'Amanat', Trust unto us, something no other creature in this vast universe is in possession of.[4] In order to test Man to see how he would use his free-will, there was a need for an opposing force, and Eblis (Lucifer) came up to do the job. It would have otherwise been similar to scoring a goal in an empty field and therefore worthless. Eblis was given the permission to enter Adam's body and soul and provoke him to disobey his Creator, to do wrong.
[5] Eblis was among the angels when
Allahasked their opinion about the creation of His Khalifa, representative or vice-gerent on earth.
He and all other angels had asked the same thing, 'Will Thou place therein (earth) one who will do injustices, create turmoil and shed blood, while we, hymn Thy praise and sanctify Thee?'
[6] It is interesting to note that at this point,
Allah had only asked their opinion about creating Adam, he had not been created yet.
So how did the angels know in advance what these creatures, Adam's children would do on earth?
[7] The answer lies in the word Allah chose to describe Adam. Had He said that He wished to create a creature called Adam, the angels would have probably said 'As Thou Wish, Lord'-but in Allah's proclamation of sending His representative, His vice-gerent on earth, they understood clearly this new creation would not be just another new being; as Allah's representative, it would acquire all of Allah's attributes and qualities, including His free-will, albeit in a very small quantity; like a drop of water taken from the ocean- which has all the properties of the ocean present in it, only in an infinitesimally smaller quantity than the great ocean itself.
[1] The Qur'an- Sura Dahar-2, 3.
[2] The Qur'an- Sura Saad-75.
[3] The Qur'an- Sura Hijr-29, Sura Sajda- 9, Sura Saad-72.
[4] The Qur'an- Sura Ahzab-72.
[5] The Qur'an- Sura Nesa-119.
[6] The Qur'an- Sura Baqara-30.
[7] The Qur'an- Sura Baqarah-30.
