Shaytan Prepared You For Dajjal | Signs of the Hour Ep. 4 | Dr. Omar Suleiman

Introduction: From Dajjalah to Ad-Dajjal

I want to move on, بِإِذْنِ اللهِ تَعَالَى, before the next session where we will talk about the death of the Prophet ﷺ and what followed, and then the theme of the death of the righteous and all of the ahadith about that, and the minor signs that would then follow. This concept of dajjalah, and how you protect yourself from ad-Dajjal, because, clearly, this is the worst of the major signs as it pertains to the believers, is خُرُوجُ الْمَسِيحِ الدَّجَّالِ, meaning, technically speaking, if you can protect yourself from him, you can protect yourself from all the other signs as well. If you learn how to guard yourself from what that fitnah would be like when ad-Dajjal comes out, then clearly you'll be able to guard yourself from all types of fitan, بِإِذْنِ اللهِ تَعَالَى, that would follow.

The Nature of Dajjalah

So, the concept of dajjalah, what's the difference between dajjalah and kadhib? What's the difference between dajjalah and lying? Dajjalah is an added layer of lying because it's a half-truth. And a half-truth is worse than a full lie. Why? Because, just like those soothsayers, you have enough of a dosage of truth to validate what you are saying or doing to make it more credible. And that's what makes it so dangerous, so pervasive, and why we have to be that much more careful. And so, dajjalun are able to take a little bit of truth and then decorate it with a lot more to have just enough of reality to lie to you about the rest of it.

Daily Protection from Dajjalah

So, how do you protect yourself? Well, if you think about the ways that first and foremost, we might perpetuate dajjalah in this world because that's the scariest part of it all. I actually start with that because when you leave your house every single day, you should be saying:

"Oh Allah, I seek refuge in you from leading astray or being led astray, from falling or causing someone else to fall, from wronging or being wronged, or from being taken advantage of, or from doing so to someone else." So, this is what you're supposed to say as you leave your house every single morning.

And so, when you spread things about other people, you could actually be participating in dajjalah. Why? Because when you forwarded it, someone can say, well, that person sent it to me. So, someone got something from a source that wasn't right, that wasn't correct. They took some truth, they decorated with a bunch of falsehood, and then they spread it, and you chose to spread it as well. And the person who's now spreading it is banking on your credibility, on your trustworthiness. Well, that person sent it to me. So, you have to be extremely careful to not be a part of the process of dajjalah more than anything else.

Why the Quran Doesn't Mention Ad-Dajjal

You might remember I gave a khutbah, why the Quran doesn't even mention ad-Dajjal? What are the wisdoms of the Quran not mentioning ad-Dajjal? And it doesn't speak about the Mahdi, it doesn't speak about so many of these different things. And the ulama said that of the wisdoms is the tasgheer, the belittling of ad-Dajjal, like you're so irrelevant that you won't be mentioned, like Abu Jahl. Because you wanted to make yourself something, and Allah عَزَّ وَجَلَّ makes you nothing to the point that لَا يُذْكَرُ, you're not mentioned.

And one of the wisdoms as well is that the Quran is more about being a book of covenant and learning the lessons of the past and how to hold on to that ahad, how to hold on to that covenant. It's a story of the prophets and the principles that you hold on to so you don't fall in the future. The Quran is not a book of a bunch of predictions. You hold on to the Prophet's way, you hold on to the principles that you are taught in the Quran, you hold on to that ahad, and you will be able to survive everything that comes after it. So it's important to understand that. You don't know the specifics, but you know enough in order to survive.

The Years of Deception Before Ad-Dajjal

Also, to realize that ad-Dajjal does not arrive in a vacuum. And this is the hadith of Anas ibn Malik رضي الله تعالى عنه that the Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم said:

(Hadith narrated by Anas ibn Malik)

That the Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم said, that verily preceding ad-Dajjal will be years of deception in which the truthful will be considered to be liars and the liars will be believed. And he said that the trustworthy person will be considered to be discredited. And those who are treacherous will be trusted. And those who are disgraceful will speak.

So before ad-Dajjal comes, there are things that precede him. And it's a world prior to him where realities are distorted and where everything is all over the place.

Shaytan's Preparation for Ad-Dajjal's Deception

And I want you to think about it this way also. That before ad-Dajjal comes and presents you false realities, you already have someone else that's doing that too. Who is that? Shaytan. And what is the trick of Shaytan and the dajjal of Shaytan and the deception of Shaytan except that he tries to decorate the dunya for you, to decorate the life of this world for you so that you betray what Allah عَزَّ وَجَلَّ gave to you as a result of that?

So all ad-Dajjal is going to do, his fitnah, is to distort reality so much and to make the cost of embracing his reality seem like it's worth it. He's going to present you a jannah. He's going to present you a nar.

Shaytan is already making you a promise other than the promise of Allah. ad-Dajjal will come and make a promise other than the promise of Allah, but it'll be so visually compelling. It's like when you see those AI videos and you're like, wow, I thought I have a discerning eye. But even I got lost in that one. Even I thought that one was real.

And so you get to a point where your sensibilities are lost, your fitrah is compromised, and people in general, they operate only in vanity and they can't see past their surface level vision. And so as people become shallower, the tools to distort that shallow reality become more advanced. And so you couple that with desperation and vulnerability and chaos. It's a dangerous, dangerous fitnah. And we ask Allah سُبْحَانَهُ وَتَعَالَى to protect us from that fitnah. اللهم آمين.

The Toolbox for Protection

So I'm going to give you إن شاء الله تعالى two things here in this toolbox. Number one will be what the Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم specifically told us as a general framework to protect ourselves from ad-Dajjal and what is around the fitnah of ad-Dajjal because if you are protected from that, then إن شاء الله تعالى you're protected from everything else. Number two, the 20 verses that protect the person from ad-Dajjal. 20 verses in the Quran that the Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم gave to us and a brief overview of those 20 verses.

1. Al-Iman: Protecting Your Faith

Number one, al-iman, your faith. To protect your iman, to guard your iman. As the Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم mentions, الزَّمَانُ الَّذِي لَا يُقْبَلُ فِيهِ الْإِيمَانُ a time where faith is no longer accepted. When, to hold onto your faith before it becomes too extreme. And the Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم said:

(Sahih Muslim, Hadith 158)

The Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم said, there are three things that once they appear, faith will not benefit a person unless they previously believed and they derived good from that faith. And he said, صلى الله عليه وسلم, طُلُوعُ الشَّمْسِ مِنْ مَغْرِبِهَا when the sun rises from the west, وَالدَّجَّالُ وَدَابَّةُ الْأَرْضِ and ad-Dajjal and the beast of the earth.

That once that happens, if you don't have iman at that point, then you're not going to be able to survive it. And so really building your iman and building and protecting your iman and making judgment calls every day that I will not give up my iman for anything. That my faith is not compromisable. I can't sell it for anything else. The more that you make that value judgment, the more that Allah عَزَّ وَجَلَّ solidifies it in your heart. The more you nurture it, the more that إن شاء الله تعالى it takes hold. And so you nurture that iman as much as you can because ultimately all of these signs are going to try to or these fitan will try to snatch that iman away from you. And you don't want to die in any way with that iman being taken away from you, that faith being taken away from you.

2. Al-Ilm: Knowledge

Number two, al-ilm, knowledge. So some of you like all this stuff that we just covered. I don't see the practical benefit. The Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم when he says that:

(Sahih al-Bukhari, Hadith 3337)

That no prophet came except that he warned his nation about the one-eyed liar being ad-Dajjal. أَلَا إِنَّهُ أَعْوَرُ Verily, he is one-eyed. وَإِنَّ رَبَّكُمْ لَيْسَ بِأَعْوَرٍ Verily, your Lord is not one-eyed. When the Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم says that he's telling you that knowing these things, having knowledge is one of the ways that you protect yourself. And so don't discount any of this. That the sahabah were trying to interact with a reality that they believed in, they knew to be true, they just didn't know when. So don't discount it. Knowing these things about ad-Dajjal is very important and knowing these things about the fitnah.

And this is إن شاء الله تعالى where I hope this class, بِإِذْنِ اللَّهِ — it'll take about a year — will إن شاء الله تعالى be the most beneficial class for you because every sign that we cover from the Hour, we're gonna talk about how to protect your iman in that sign. And how to avoid the fitnah of that particular sign. Because if you have knowledge about it, but then you recognize it, you say, oh, wait a minute, the Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم told us this would happen.

3. The Du'a at the End of Salah

The third thing is the du'a at the end of the salah. The Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم said that when any one of you finishes his salah, not let one of you leave the place of his tashahhud. So this is before your taslim. When you're sitting down at the end of your salah. Except that he says:

I'm gonna say it again slowly. اللَّهُمَّ إِنِّي أَعُوذُ بِكَ مِنْ عَذَابِ جَهَنَّمَ — If you say عَذَابِ النَّارِ, that's also okay. It's narrated authentically. Which is the worst of the things that you could fall into. If I end up there, then what was the point of all of this? So the very first thing, "Oh Allah, I seek refuge in you from the punishment of hellfire."

وَمِنْ عَذَابِ الْقَبْرِ From the punishment of the grave. After the punishment of hellfire, the punishment of the grave.

وَمِنْ فِتْنَةِ الْمَحْيَا وَالْمَمَاتِ From the trials of life and death. This includes all the fitnah, all the trials of life and death. So the trials of delusion, the trials of desire, the trials of deception, all of the trials. You're seeking refuge in Allah سُبْحَانَهُ وَتَعَالَى from all of them. And from the fitnah at the time of death.

وَمِنْ شَرِّ فِتْنَةِ الْمَسِيحِ الدَّجَّالِ And specifically, the fitnah of al-Masih ad-Dajjal. So make that a part of your tashahhud. No matter how fast you need to go, no matter what you need to go to. Make this mandatory for your prayer.

Protection Through Prayer and Du'a

That you do not finish your salah, except that after Salah Ibrahimiyyah, you make du'a and you seek refuge in Allah from these things. SubhanAllah, there's another narration, by the way. It's about Abu Bakr as-Siddiq radiAllahu ta'ala anhu. And it's narrated by Abu Abdullah as-Sunabihi radiAllahu ta'ala anhu, one of the tabi'een. And listen to what he says. It's authentically narrated. And inshaAllah ta'ala we can practice this in this time of fitnah.

He said, I arrived in Medina during the khilafah of Abu Bakr and I prayed maghrib behind him. And in the third raka'ah, after maghrib, Abu Bakr radiAllahu ta'ala anhu would recite:

The eighth verse of Surah Ali Imran. This is an authentic narration, that he would do this during Hurub al-Ridda, during the time of severe fitnah, that he would read this verse in the third raka'ah. Of course, you don't typically read another surah after. He would read this single verse. And because this is an authentic narration from Abu Bakr, as Ibn Ashur says that this is like a personal plea to Allah from As-Siddiq radiAllahu anhu to save him from this deviation after the death of the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wasalam, we can act upon that as well.

But make this du'a in general. يَا مُقَلِّبَ الْقُلُوبِ، ثَبِّتْ قَلْبِي عَلَى دِينِكَ. رَبَّنَا لَا تُزِغْ قُلُوبَنَا بَعْدَ إِذْ هَدَيْتَنَا وَهَبْ لَنَا مِن لَّدُنكَ رَحْمَةً إِنَّكَ أَنتَ الْوَهَّابُ. And you'll find, SubhanAllah, that this du'a is one of the most important du'as in this time. So again, it is the verse on the first page of Surah Ali Imran, the eighth verse on the first page of Surah Ali Imran.

Flee from Fitnah

Number four, flee from fitnah. Flee from fitnah. Listen to what the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wasalam said: man sami'a bid-dajjal, whoever hears about dajjal, he said, sallallahu alayhi wasalam, go far away from him. Because someone's going to think, I can handle this. And he's going to come to him thinking that he's a believer, but then he's going to get confused from his shubuhaat, from all of the doubts that he puts in his mind, and he's going to leave with his iman lost.

That's actually a methodology. Don't put yourself in fitnah. Don't tell yourself, oh, I can get away with these confusing things. I can read this. I'm not going to be affected. I can watch this. I'm not going to be affected. I can listen to this. I'm not going to be affected. I can hang out with these people. I'm not going to be affected. I can put myself in this environment. It's not going to affect me.

Who was the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wasalam talking to? He was talking to the sahaba. Do any of us think that we're better than that generation of people? And the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wasalam is telling them, a people that went through Badr, Isra' ul-Mi'raj, Badr, Uhud, Khandaq, that if Dajjal comes, go away from him. Stay away from fitnah. That when fitnah becomes severe, take to the mountains and avoid it.

Get out of your mind this idea that you can put your iman in dangerous places and not lose it. Prophet sallallahu alayhi wasalam warned about losing it. To the greatest generation of iman, that existed. So this is the fourth thing.

The Protection of Surah Al-Kahf

The fifth thing. And this is inshaAllah ta'ala, where we'll spend the next ten minutes, bi-idhnillahi ta'ala. The Prophet sallallahu alayhi wasalam said that whoever memorizes ten ayahs from the beginning of Surah Al-Kahf, or in another narration, the last ten ayahs. So the first ten or the last ten ayahs of Surah Al-Kahf, then that will grant them immunity from a Dajjal.

SubhanAllah, this is an activity of tadabbur. Of reflecting on the Quran that each and every single one of you can do. This is not tafsir, this is tadabbur. This is reflecting. When the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wasalam tells us to memorize something, he's telling us to memorize and internalize and to act upon. And wallahi, I'm telling you, I swear by Allah, as a personal exercise, I just said, can I connect every single verse of this to Dajjal and his fitna and the signs of the Day of Judgment? And every single one of those verses can be connected. And I'll give you my personal tadabbur, bi-idhnillahi ta'ala, and then you think about it as well.

The First Ten Verses - A Reflection

Number one, Alhamdulillah all praise is due to Allah who revealed the book to his servants and there is no distortion in that book. What does that tell you? The Quran is your anchor always. Al-kitab. You go back to the Quran and there is no distortion in the book.

You know, the minute, subhanAllah, that you start to hear weird ideas, when your fitra is right, when your fitra is right with Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala, you know what's going to start happening? You'll start hearing some weird narrations, those WhatsApp narrations, you go, ah, it sounds kind of off. Sometimes you might be wrong because sometimes you might be like, that sounds kind of off, but it might actually be a hadith that you never heard. But the more that you familiarize yourself with the Quran and the sunnah of the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam, seriously, you almost start to get like a sunnah sense. This doesn't sound right. This feels different because your fitra opens up to good things because you're trying to be in harmony constantly with the revelation. And so Allah azawajal makes your harmony with reality in accordance with revelation.

Now your method should be if the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam said it, then he's telling the truth. I'm not going to say he didn't say it sallallahu alayhi wa sallam, and this isn't true until I verify it. But you start developing a natural, the book of Allah is straight. The sunnah is straight, like the deen is so clear. Once someone comes with something I've never heard and they start distorting ideas for me, I go back to that and I anchor myself in that revelation. So the Quran corrects your perception and Dajjal tries to disorient your perception. The Quran anchors you in revelation, anchors your perception of that.

So Allah azawajal says that it is perfectly upright and it warns of a severe punishment from Him and it gives good news to the believers who do righteous deeds that they're going to have أَجْرًا حَسَنًا that they're going to have a mighty reward with Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala. قَيِّمًا means standard. Quran sets the standard.

And when the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wasalam said, know that you will not see your Lord until you die. Know that your Lord is not one-eyed. And he tells you these things, sallallahu alayhi wasalam, what's he saying? Remember what I told you. So when he comes to you and he starts telling you different things, mm-mm, right? These are your basic ideas of creed. Remember, قَيِّم.

And at the same time, what are we being told here? We're being told that Allah azawajal promises a mighty punishment and Allah azawajal grants a mighty reward because Dajjal is not just disorienting. He's got a Jannah and a Nar. He has what appears to be a paradise and a hell. And the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wasalam said, when you jump in one, you enter the other. So if you enter into his paradise, you enter into his hellfire. Or you enter into Allah azawajal's hellfire. And if you enter into his hellfire, then that inshaAllah ta'ala will be your entry into paradise.

And they will reside therein forever. The difference between anything that anyone else promises you and what Allah azawajal promises you is that what Allah promises you is eternal. Someone can give you a temporary fix. Someone can give you a temporary victory. Someone can give you a temporary win. Someone can give you what appears to be a temporary Jannah. But only Allah azawajal gives you a forever Jannah. And so his outcome is not a short-term illusion, subhanahu wa ta'ala. It's a permanent reality.

And Allah warns those who say that Allah has taken a son. They have no knowledge of this, nor did their forefathers. Grave is the word that comes out of their mouths. They speak nothing but lies. The deepest deviation is when you start to distort the reality of Allah azawajal Himself. And that's why knowing who Allah is, is so important. His Asma, As-Sifat, everything about Him. Once you start to tinker even with the reality of who God is Himself, then Dajjal can easily enter into that. I mean, you believe that God is in this and in that. You believe that God has become this and this and this and that. What's the difference now? I'm just another manifestation of God to you. So Allah azawajal warns those that try to distort the reality about who Allah azawajal is Himself.

It's like you're gonna kill yourself over their fate. And if they don't believe in this message, then what a shame. Many of the people that will follow Dajjal will follow Dajjal because they always go with the group. And many of those that will follow Dajjalic trends will follow Dajjalic trends because everybody else is doing it. Like, well, if that person is doing it, that person is doing it, they go with the group. And Allah azawajal is saying, stay back.

That verily everything that is on this earth is an adornment. So that we can test you to see which of you is the best in deeds. Do not be taken back by attraction. Do not let زِينَةُ الْحَيَاةِ الدُّنْيَا the life of this world distract you from what is true.

And everything that we made to you to be an adorned reality, we're going to turn it into barren dust. Complete dirt. Everything you see will vanish. And so don't trade Allah's eternal reward for the spectacle. It's all going to be gone.

Allah عز و جل says: Do you think the people of the cave and the inscription were amongst His wondrous signs? Do you think the people of the cave is just a one-time thing? Is it just something that you're just supposed to marvel at? And you're just supposed to say oh that was, what an amazing story, these people? No! Allah سبحانه وتعالى is the one who grants true miracles to people of faith under pressure.

Allah عز و جل says: Remember when the young people retreated to the cave and they said our Lord grant us mercy from Yourself and guide us rightly in our affair? Are you willing to go to the cave? Are you willing to move? Are you willing to go from place to place? Are you willing to change your friends? Are you willing to change your environment?

The first test of the sahaba was hijrah after their iman, right? And then it was جِهَادٌ فِي سَبِيلِ اللَّهِ Obviously fighting back the oppressors that were coming at them but are you willing? And that's the thing at the end of the day iman is going to require very tough choices for us. And these young people were willing to retreat into a cave despite being young men that had everything. For the sake of Allah Subh'anaHu Wa Ta-A'la to protect their iman.

And they were asking Allah Azawajal for mercy and guidance. And the Prophet Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam mentioned that there would come a time that that retreat would be necessary. And by the way it's important to note that that retreat is sometimes partial not whole. Sometimes partial not whole. Meaning there are fitna situations in your life that you need to get away from. Are you willing to get away from them or not? And if you're not then you're just looking at the people of the cave as asatir al-awwaleen. Just like the hypocrites did. They just said these are just fables that come from the past.

Fast forward and I'll end with this inshaAllah ta'ala the last 10 ayat. SubhanAllah. Ayah 1 through ayah 10. And then ayah 101 through 110. What's the 101st verse of Surah Al-Kahf?

Those whose eyes were covered from my remembrance and they couldn't properly hear the remembrance. When your internal condition corrupts you to where you're not seeing properly anymore. You're not hearing properly anymore.

Do the disbelievers think that they can take my servants as protectors besides me? We have prepared Hellfire as a lodging for them. No one will protect you from Allah. And one of the things that Dajjal will say to people, by the way, he'll say, listen, I have enough power, but if I'm on the truth, you'll be okay. And even if you're not, I'll be able to take care of you. Don't worry. I've got you covered. He'll try to downplay the risk of following him. And the smaller Dajjals try to downplay the risk of following them and going about their way. And Allah says, this is one of the scariest ayat in the Quran.

صلى الله وعافية. Say, shall we inform you of the greatest losers in this world, the biggest losers, those who think that they're doing good and they're actually not doing anything at all. When Allah turns their efforts, turns their deeds into nothing. What a shame, a person who maintains their faith all these years and then they fall at the end. May Allah protect us. So, don't think that because Allah got you this far that you can't go down. No, I don't want to just guard my iman, I want to guard my entire body of good deeds.

These are the people that denied our Lord's signs, ayat, that denied Allah's signs, and their meeting with Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala, so their deeds became worthless and their reward is going to be hellfire for their disbelief and for their mockery, هُزُوًا. One of the things here about mockery, by the way, is that one of the signs that a person is losing their iman, by the way, is when they find it easy to mock religion. That's also something of the 21st century, by the way, we need to be very careful with. We have become desensitized to the mockery of Allah and His ayat, His prophets. We've become desensitized to making jokes about ayat, to making jokes about the prophets, to saying, oh, you know, and this is going to happen, and this is going to happen, and, you know, mocking even these concepts of Dajjal and stuff like that. Careful, careful with the mockery as it comes here.

Those who believe and do righteous deeds will have gardens of paradise as a welcome that they will abide therein forever. So, the promise of al-Firdaus beyond this all, the more severe the fitna, the better chance you have at achieving al-Firdaus al-A'la, if you are patient and you are steadfast in that fitna. The last two verses.

Say, if the ink for my Lord's words, it would run out before His words would be exhausted. Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala is saying He gave you enough guidance to survive. The Quran is enough, it's what you need. He gave you enough of His guidance to survive. Finally:

Say that, I am only a man like you. And it has been revealed to me that your Lord is one. So whoever hopes to meet his Lord, then let him do righteous deeds and never associate anyone in worship with Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala. The Prophet ﷺ being told to establish the thawabit, to establish the fixed premise that there is Allah and there is everybody else and there is no one like Allah. And there is no one who can give you what Allah can give you. And there is no one that you should hope to meet and strive to meet like Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala.

These 20 verses, if you memorize them, internalize them, contemplate upon them, bi'ithnillah ta'ala you'll be able to strive through that fitna and not be disoriented. Bi'ithnillah ta'ala the next time we'll talk about the death of the Prophet ﷺ and the death of the righteous and the loss of clarity and how the sahaba and those that came after them were able to hold themselves in that. And we ask Allah to grant us firmness. Allahumma ameen. JazakumAllahu khairan. Wassalamu'alaikum warahmatullahi wabarakatuh.