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Final Assignment Course Name: Tafseer 2 Course Code: TAF 502 Instructor:
Shaykh Assim Al Hakeem Student Details
Name: Hassan Basarally Student ID: 1120020 Batch: Semester: 5-Spring 2014 Assignment Question Submit an assignment on the following: Word count (800- 1200 Words): No prophet came except that they warned their people about ad-dajjaal.' Rasulullah (
) told us that the greatest tribulation is Dajjaal. Write a p aper citing
the major themes of Surah Kahf and show those having correlations to the trials of Dajjaal (The Anti-Christ).
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Suratul Kahf was one of the first chapters of the Quran revealed and its main theme is Fitnah, the different types of it and how to deal with it. Even though the Dajjal, may he be cursed, is not mentioned in the Surah, the lessons of how to deal with the different types of Fitan are extremely important for any Muslim that may be alive to face this trial. This is because the trials of religion, wealth, knowledge and power will all be brought by the Dajjal causing many to be deceived by it and believe in his claims of divinity. divinit y. Fitnah,
in the Arabic language refers to temptation and trial. Its root is Fatana,
, which
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means to turn away, to subject to temptations or trials, seduce, tempt, entice. In Islam, it refers to a good or bad thing that happens to a person, which is normally considered a test of a Muslim’s 2
faith. Therefore, when Fitnah occurs one either comes out stronger, gaining reward or becomes overwhelmed, not gaining any character development from the experience. Suratul Kahf contains four main stories, each representing a different type of Fitnah and each type of Fitnah is one that will be brought by the Dajjal. The first type of Fitnah is that of religion in the story of the young men and the cave. The young men lived in a town with a disbelieving king. In order to protect their religion and escape persecution, they migrated mi grated to the cave and fell asleep. They The y awoke three hundred and nine years later when the entire city had changed and they were no longer in any immediate danger from the oppressive ruler. One of the claims that the Dajjal will bring is that he, may he be cursed, is Allah
. This is seen in the Hadeeth of Abu Umamah Al Bahili:
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rd
Hans Wehr: A Dictionary of Modern Written Arabic, Ed. J. M. Cowan, 3 Ed., Spoken Languages Services Inc., 1976 2 nd A Dictionary of Islamic Words and Expressions, M. I. Saleh, 2 Ed., Muntada al Islami, 2002
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. O slaves of Allah, remain steadfast. I will describe him to you in a manner in which none of the Prophets has described him before me. He will start by saying "I am a Prophet," and there is no Prophet after me. Then a second time he will say: "I am your Lord." But you will not see your Lord until you die. (Sunan Ibn Majah, Vol. 1, Book 36, Hadith 4077)
This is a great trial of religion for the Muslim, as falling into the traps of the Dajjal will result in apostasy. There are Ahadeeth of minor Dajjals appearing throughout time, claiming to be prophets. When one looks at history, many have left the fold of Islam through such claims, for example, Mirza Ghulam Ahmad and the Qadianis and Elijah Muhammad and the Nation of Islam. Suratul Kahf teaches that to avoid this Fitnah one must be willing to forsake the comfort of home, family and easy living and migrate or flee to preserve ones religion. Making Hijrah was a major trait of Muslims at the time of the Prophet,
, and toward the time near the
Day of Judgement the Muslim will have to remain on this to keep ones Islam. This is where holding on to the people of the truth, despite their numbers is extremely important. Allah says:
And keep yourself patient [by being] with those who call upon their Lord in the morning and the evening, seeking His countenance. And let not your eyes pass beyond them,
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desiring adornments of the worldly life, and do not obey one whose heart We have made heedless of Our remembrance and who follows his desire and whose affair is ever [in] neglect. (Suratul Kahf 18: 28)
The lesson in this story from Suratul Kahf is to be patient and remain in the company of the righteous when there are trials regarding ones Islam. Staying with the practicing Muslims is a sign of strength and comfort, even though the world may be more alluring. When the Fitnah of religion occurs the best option is Hijrah. The second Fitnah dealt with in the Surah is the trial of wealth in the story of the men and the gardens. Allah
blessed a man with bountiful gardens. Instead of thanking his Lord,
he became arrogant, doubting the reward of the Hereafter. His neighbour tried to convince him of his error but he persisted, resulting in his gardens being destroyed. One of the ways that the Dajjal will acquire many followers is that he will bring much wealth for people. They will be enticed with such riches that they will believe in the Dajjal’s lies, hoping to gain his favour. This is shown in the Hadeeth of An Nuwwas Bin Saman:
: Thereupon he said, "Like cloud driven by the wind (i.e., very quickly). He will come to the people and call them to his obedience and they will affirm their faith in him and respond to
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him. He will then give command to the sky and it will send its rain upon the earth and he will then send his command to the earth and it will grow vegetation. Then in the evening their pasturing animals will come to them with their humps very high and their udders full of milk and their flanks stretched. He will then come to another people and invite them, but they will reject him and he will leave them, in barren lands and without any goods and chattels! He would then walk through the waste land and say to it: `Bring forth your treasures and the treasures will come out and follow him like swarms of bees. (Riyadhus Saliheen, Book 19, Hadith 1808)
Allah
says:
Wealth and children are [but] adornment of the worldly life. But the enduring good deeds are better to your Lord for reward and better for [one's] hope. (Suratul Kahf 18:46)
From this verse in Surah Kahf, one learns to never be fooled by wealth and be aware that it is only a temporary trust from Allah,
. The lesson here is that the believer must always remember that
this world is temporary and the hereafter is eternal. The Dajjal, may he be cursed, will appear to be the best option for salvation in a time characterised characterised by starvation, starvation, war and poverty. However, the Muslim must not be tempted by the material things of this world as it will result in bankruptcy in the Hereafter. Its reward is better than all in the earth and its punishment is more severe and painful than anything faced here. The third Fitnah is that of knowledge, described in the story of Musa
and Khidr
thought he was most knowledgeable until he found out of the existence of Khidr
. Musa . He
went out in search of him and the knowledge he had but could maintain his patience with the actions of Khidr
. The Dajjal will tell and show people things that will cause them to believe in his claim to
prophethood and divinity. The Hadeeth of Nuwwas Bin Saman mentions he will bring forth large 5
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amounts of treasure and he will have devils appear in the form of a Bedouin’s deceased parents. The Hadeeth of Abu Said Al Khudri mentions him bringing a dead man back to life:
.
Ad-Dajjal will come and it will be forbidden for him to pass through the entrances of Medina. He will land in some of the salty barren areas (outside) Medina; on that day the best man or one of the best men will come up to him and say, 'I testify that you are the same Dajjal whose description was given to us by Allah's Messenger .' Ad-Dajjal will say to the people, 'If I kill this man and bring him back to life again, will you doubt my claim?' They will say, 'No.' Then Ad-Dajjal will kill that man and bring him back to life. That man will say, 'Now I know your reality better than before.' Ad-Dajjal will say, 'I want to kill him but I cannot.' (Saheeh Al Bukharee, Hadeeth 1882) Allah
says:
[Moses] said, "You will find me, if Allah wills, patient, and I will not disobey you in [any] order." (Suratul Kahf 18: 69)
The main lesson is this part of Suratul Kahf is that knowledge in itself is not a guarantee of safety from Fitnah. It must never make one arrogant but patient. At the time of the Dajjal many 6
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will fall into the Fitnah of wealth but some will be deceived into actually believing his call. Through patience one will increase knowledge, at that time it will be of extreme importance to the Quran and Sunnah and its intended meaning. It will be also important to stick with the rightly guided scholars even though they will be few. Today most people have a little knowledge and become arrogant, they end up making bad decisions that could be avoided if they were patient and learnt more. Finally, there is the Fitnah of power seen in the story of Dhul Qarnain
. He had
knowledge and power and used them to help people by restricting the Yajooj and Majooj until a time appointed by Allah
. The Dajjal will awe people with his feats and many will
follow him. Those who do not willingly accept him are forced into submission. His rule will be so expansive that it will extend to all the earth except Makkah and Madinah as seen in the Hadeeth of Anas Ibn Malik:
There will be no land which will not be trampled by Dajjal (the Antichrist) but Makkah and Al-Madinah (Riyadhus Saliheen, Book 19, Hadith 1811)
Allah
says:
Say, [O Muhammad], "Shall we [believers] inform you of the greatest losers as to [their] deeds? [They are] those whose effort is lost in worldly life, while they think that they are doing well in work." (Suratul Kahf 18: 103-104)
In Suratul Kahf, one sees a way to discern the reality of the Dajjal by comparing him to Dhul Qarnain
. The Dajjal has power and rulership, but everything that he, may he be cursed, 7
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does is to advance his agenda and gain followers. All the accomplishments of the Dajjal does not mean that he is favoured by Allah
. Dhul Qarnain
had immense wealth and
power. He was sincere to the trust that he had with Allah
and did his duty in
protecting the people from Yajooj and Majooj. He helped all without wanting anything for himself. So someone can have great success in rulership but it means nothing without it being done for Allah
. Dhul Qarnain
recognised his lord having dominion over
everything while the Dajjal, want to take dominion from Allah
.
Suratul Kahf is concerned with the theme of Fitnah, the Fitnah of religion, wealth, knowledge and power. Allah
gives stories of people in the past in the Quran so that the Muslim
learns from them. Through the stories of the young men in the cave, the man on the gardens, Musa
and Khidr
and Dhul Qarnain
, one finds ways of not falling into
the trials and traps of the Dajjal. It teaches that to safeguard oneself from the Dajjal one must stick with the righteous and migrate like the youth of the cave. One must never let the wealth presented by the Dajjal distract from the reality of the world. It also teaches that though the Dajjal will present many feats and have great knowledge, knowledge with arrogance is of no benefit. Finally it teaches teache s that when presented with the might and power of the Dajjal, one must remember that it is all a trick, without sincerity to Allah
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