The Imposter Christ

Dajjāl is the word in Arabic for Antichrist, which is better translated by the Arabs in the Arabic language as the imposter Christ — al-Masīḥ al-Dajjāl, the false messiah. Jesus is seen as the messiah, so this is to be an anti-Jesus.

And it is interesting, because if one studies the Islamic Jesus it gives a very good picture of the idea of an anti-Jesus. "Anti" in Greek — antis — also means "in place of", "instead of"; it does not really mean "against". The original meaning of "anti" in Greek as a prefix is "instead of", and that is closer to the Arabic interpretation, which is imposter, or in place of, pretending to be.

All of the Arabic sayings of Jesus have in fact been translated into English, a collection it is hoped to bring out within the year, because there is a very large body of them: there are more sayings of Jesus in the Islamic tradition than there are in the New Testament, and most of them deal with the dangers of the world, of materialism. So it is really interesting that this idea of an imposter stands against the whole thrust of the Islamic Jesus, which is salvation through giving up material wants; while the idea of an Antichrist is salvation through desire for material goods — that it is material goods that will make you happy, that it is material goods that will save you. So there is a very materialistic element in here.

And also the idea of being one-eyed: part of binocular vision is depth perception, which is lost with one eye. So the idea is that the Dajjāl, the Antichrist, does not have depth perception. He is a two-dimensional being. He sees things in two dimensions. Some of the Muslim scholars do not consider him an individual, but most do.

Having one eye is one of the meanings. Also, to gild a thing — in other words, you take lead and you put gold over it; that is yudajjil. So: to make something that is cheap or insignificant look very worthwhile or significant. To cover the land with water. He put his land into a right or proper state, prepared it, improved it with dung — so, to spread dung on the earth, to spread faeces on the earth: dajjala; dung for manuring land. And then dujjāl is refuse: the lowest, basest or meanest sort of people. The lowest, basest or meanest sort of people. Dajjāl: a gilder, a liar, who conceals truth with falsehood, who deceives, deludes, beguiles, circumvents, outwits, much or often; very deceitful. The great deceiver. And then, a great company of men: dajjālah in Arabic means a great company of men journeying together, covering the ground by their multitude, or a company of men journeying together carrying goods for sale — so, trafficking goods all over the place. Al-Masīḥ al-Kadhdhāb, the false Christ or Antichrist, is to be a certain man who comes forth in the last days, having one eye, or one eyebrow.

So one gets the idea there. This is classical, coming out of classical dictionaries. The idea of the Antichrist is that towards the end there will be a type of false salvation through love of the world and material things and these things. And the Muslims definitely have a very strong sense of the Dajjāl, because at the end of the prayer one actually makes a supplication that says: and I seek refuge from the tribulation of the Dajjāl in the last period. And the Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) said: every prophet has warned his people about the Dajjāl, but I will tell you something that no other prophet told his people — he only has one eye. So that was the tradition that he said about the Dajjāl: that he would have one eye.