Академия Корана:Encyclopaedia of the Qurʾān/Antichrist

Neal Robinson, "Antichrist" in: Encyclopaedia of the Qurʾān, General Editor: J. D. McAuliffe, Georgetown University, Washington DC.

In the Islamic tradition, an evil figure who will lead people astray (q.v.) in the last days and whose advent will be one of the signs of the approaching «hour.» The Antichrist (al-Dajjāl, al-Masīḥ al-Dajjāl) is not mentioned in the Qurʾān, but he figures in numerous ḥadīth that are cited by the classical commentators. Although many Jews expected an eschatological conflict between God’s agents and the forces of evil (see eschatology), the belief that those forces would be concentrated in a specific individual called the Antichrist seems first to have arisen in Christian circles shortly before the destruction of the temple in 70 c.e. During that period, there were rumors that the Roman emperor Nero (r. 54-68 c.e.) who had committed suicide in 68 c.e. was not dead but had escaped to the East and was about to return to recapture the Roman empire. As Nero was a notoriously cruel man who had instigated the persecution of Christians, it is possible that this rumor gave rise to the specifically Christian belief in the Antichrist (cf. Ascension of Isaiah 4:2; Sibylline oracles 4:121; Rv 13:3; 17:8).

Etymology

It is likely that the Muslims learned about the Antichrist from Syriac-speaking Christians as the Arabic dajjāl almost certainly comes from the Syriac daggāl which means «a liar» or «lying» (see foreign vocabulary). Hence, al-dajjāl literally means «the liar» and al-masīḥ al-dajjāl «the lying Messiah.» However, medieval lexicographers attempted to derive dajjāl from an Arabic root (Lane, iii, 853). One fanciful suggestion is that it comes from the verb dajala, "to cover [a mangy camel] with tar, " because the dajjāl will in like manner cover the earth with his adherents. The claim that it comes from a homonym of the same verb meaning «to have one eye and one eyebrow» is equally implausible, for when dajala is used in this sense it is clearly denominal and means «to resemble the Antichrist.» A third suggestion is that dajjāl is derived from dajala meaning "to gild, " because the Antichrist will deceive humankind by covering up the truth, which has the merit of giving a sense not far removed from that of the original Syriac term.

Jewish background

The English word «Antichrist» comes from the Greek antichristos, which is composed of two elements: the preposition anti, "in place of, " and the noun christos, «Messiah» or «anointed one.» However, as in other compound words of this sort, the prepositional element implies that the substitute is a counterfeit and that his relationship with the real person is antagonistic. Thus the Antichrist is not simply a substitute Messiah, he is a false Messiah, the opponent of the genuine one.

Although the Jews looked for the coming of a Messiah, there is no specific mention of an Antimessiah in the Hebrew Bible or intertestamental Jewish writings. Nevertheless, there are several Old Testament types which set a precedent for a belief in this figure: 1) Sea monster. Together with the ancient Babylonians and Canaanites, the Jews believed that before creating the world God had vanquished a sea monster (e.g. Isa 51:9; Ps 74:13f.). According to some authors, the monster still lies dormant (Amos 9:3; Job 7:12) and will eventually be slain in an eschatological struggle (Isa 27:1). 2) Angelic adversary. Probably through contact with the Persians, the Jews came to believe in Satan (Shayṭān, lit. the Adversary), a member of the heavenly court whose role is to accuse human beings (Jb 1:6; Zech 3:1). As the devil (q.v.), Satan was subsequently identified with the serpent who brought death into the world (Wisd of Solomon 2:24; cf. Gen 3:1-15) and Belial, who gains power over all human beings (Jub 1:20). According to some authors, Belial will be the eschatological enemy who will perform signs and wonders and deceive many before he is finally destroyed (Sibylline oracles 3:63-74). 3) Evil human ruler. From the sixth century b.c.e. onwards, when Jerusalem was conquered by Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon (r. ca. 605—561 b.c.e.), the Jews were increasingly oppressed by foreign rulers. Matters came to a head in 168 b.c.e., when the Hellenistic king of Syria, Antiochus IV (r. 175—164 b.c.e.), erected a statue of the Greek god Zeus in the Jewish temple in Jerusalem (1 Macc 1:54). The Book of Daniel refers to this as «the abomination of desolation» (Dan 8:13) and fictionally projects the incident into the future so that it marks the last of the seventy weeks of years before the restoration of God’s people (Dan 9:1-2, 20-7). 4) False prophet. The Book of Deuteronomy contrasts «the prophet like Moses (q.v.)» who must be obeyed (Deut 18:15-9) with the «false prophet» who will lead people astray by performing signs and wonders (Deut 13:2-6; 18:20). Originally, both descriptions were generic. By the time of the New Testament, however, some groups, including the Qumran sectaries, expected the advent of a specific prophetlike-Moses (1 qs 9:11). A corollary to this was the belief that one or more false prophets would be active in the last times.

Christian background

The New Testament writers assume that Jesus (q.v.) is the Messiah and often refer to him as Christ Jesus or Jesus the Christ. However, they differ over the nature of the eschatological conflict in which he and the Christians will be involved. Features of all of the four types from the Old Testament are combined in the Johannine apocalypse, which purports to be a revelation of those things which must soon take place (Rev 1:1). It includes a vision of a sea monster (Rev 13:1-10) which is clearly an allegorical description of the Roman empire and the emperors who persecuted Christians. There is also a reference to Satan who will lead the whole world astray and who is identified with the devil and the serpent of old (Rev 12:9). Finally, there are three references to the «false prophet» (Rev 16:13; 19:20; 20:10).

Mark’s gospel, which portrays the eschatological conflict as having already begun during Jesus' ministry, depicts Jesus' adult life as coinciding with the fulfillment of time and the approach of God’s kingdom (Mark 1:15). Because of this, it portrays the eschatological conflict as having already begun during his ministry. Thus, the Markan Jesus quells a storm on the Sea of Galilee, addressing it as if it were a sea monster (Mark 4:39), and presents his healings and exorcisms as the binding of Satan (Mark 3:23-7). Nevertheless, Mark holds that there will be other developments in the future. When the disciples see "the abomination of desolation standing where he ought not to be, " they will know that the days of tribulation have arrived (Mark 13:14-20). The disciples are warned that in those days there will be «false Christs» (pseudochristoi) and «false prophets» who will perform signs and wonders and seek to lead people astray (Mark 13:21f.) before Jesus finally returns on the clouds as the Son of Man (Mark 13:26).

Although Mark does not use the term Antichrist, he probably has the Antichrist in mind when he employs the Danielic expression «the abomination of desolation.» In this context, the term can be understood as a reference to a human embodiment of evil who will make his stand in the Jerusalem temple as the eschatological adversary of God. In a similar vein, the author of 2 Thess insists that Jesus will not return until «the man of lawlessness is revealed, the son of perdition who opposes and exalts himself against every so-called god or object of worship, so that he takes his seat in God’s temple proclaiming himself to be God» (2 Thess 2:3f.). He further states that Jesus will slay him by the breath of his mouth (2 Thess 2:8). Some scholars still defend the Pauline authorship of this letter, but it is probably a pseudonymous work written like Mark in the turbulent period immediately before the destruction of the temple in 70 c.e. At that time, as mentioned above, there were rumors that Nero was about to return and this may have catalyzed the Christian formulation of the figure of the Antichrist.

The only New Testament writer to employ the actual word antichristos is the author of the first and second letters of John, which were probably written some thirty years after the destruction of the Temple:

Children it is the last hour. You heard that the Antichrist is to come. Well now many Antichrists have come…. (1 John 2:18).

Who then is the liar? None other than the person who denies that Jesus is the Christ. Such is the Antichrist…. (1 John 2:22).

Every spirit which does not profess Jesus is not from God. It is rather of the Antichrist (1 John 4:3).

For many deceivers have gone out into the world, those who do not confess that Christ has come in the flesh. This is the Deceiver and the Antichrist. (2 John 7).

These passages are striking in the extent to which they demythologize the notion of the Antichrist. The recipients of the letters had been led to await his coming as that of a distinct eschatological figure, but the author urges them instead to recognize him in the false teachers who have broken with the community and who fail to acknowledge the full humanity of Jesus.

With some justification, the Fathers of the Church assumed that the Markan «abomination of desolation» and the Pauline «man of lawlessness» were alternative names for the Antichrist. Hence, they inferred that the Antichrist would come to the temple; that he would rule for three and a half years (Irenaeus, Against the heresies, 5:1-3; cf. Dan 7:25); and that Jesus, upon his own return, would dispatch him (e.g. Cyril of Jerusalem, Catechetical lectures, 15:12). Ephraem Syrus (ca. 306—373 c.e.) added the interesting detail that the Antichrist will come from Khurāsān (Sermo II de fine extremo). Some of these features recur in the Islamic tradition. Moreover, in the Peshitta — the standard Syriac translation of the New Testament — the Greek words for «the liar» and «the Antichrist» (in 1 Jn 2:22) are rendered as daggālā and mashīḥā daggālā respectively, furnishing a precedent for the two ways of rendering «the Antichrist» in Arabic.

The Antichrist in Islamic tradition and qurʾānic exegesis

The Sunnī collections of ḥadīth contain numerous traditions about the Antichrist. When these are pieced together, the following picture is obtained. He was born to parents who waited thirty years to have a son. He is a thick-set man with a ruddy face and a mass of very curly hair. He is blind in his right eye, which swims in its orbit like a swollen grape. He also has the word «unbeliever» (kāfir) written on his forehead. He is currently chained up on an island in the East, where a Companion of the Prophet (see companions of the prophet) called « Tamīm al-Dārī» claimed to have seen him. The Prophet himself dreamed that he saw him circling the Kaʿba (q.v.) and he was shown him again on the night of his ascension (q.v.). The Antichrist will be released after a six or seven-year war between the Arabs and the Byzantines (q.v.) which will culminate in the capture of Constantinople. His coming will be one of the ten signs (q.v.) which will precede the last hour. The signs usually listed are smoke; the Antichrist; the beast; the rising of the sun from the West; the descent of Jesus; Gog and Magog (q.v.); a landslide in the East; a landslide in the West; a landslide in Arabia; and fire burning forth from the Yemen. However, some reports substitute a violent gale for the descent of Jesus and others make his descent the tenth and final sign. The Antichrist will come from the East via Khurāsān. He will ride a white donkey and will be followed by seventy thousand hooded Jews from Isfahan. He will not be able to enter Mecca or Medina. He will set out to attack the latter but, when he reaches the mountain of Uḥud (q.v.) outside of Medina, the angels will turn his face towards Syria. He will have two canals with him, one flowing with water and the other with fire. The people will believe in him because he will work miracles and will bring an abundant supply of water, bread and mutton. He will be at large for forty days or forty years. Jesus will descend in Damascus and will catch up with him at the port of Lydda in Palestine, where he will kill him with a lance. In addition, there are ḥadīth that the Prophet said that the person who most resembled the Antichrist was a pagan Arab called ʿAbd al-ʿUzza b. Qaṭan. It is also reported that he suspected a Medinese Jew named Ibn Ṣayyād (or Ibn Ṣāʿid) of being the Antichrist. Muḥammad is said to have loved the tribe of Banū Tamīm because they would put up the staunchest resistance to the Antichrist. He also prayed for refuge from the trial of the Antichrist and urged his Companions to do the same; and he promised that reciting the first (or last) ten verses of sūra 18 would offer protection against the Antichrist. Many of these details are also reported in Shīʿī ḥadīth but the Shīʿī belief is that the Antichrist will be dispatched by the Mahdī and not by Jesus (see shīʿism and the qurʾān).

The folkloric character of much of this material suggests that it may have originated with Muslim story-tellers long after the rise of Islam. However, there is little doubt that the Prophet and his Companions were concerned about the Antichrist. Proof that this must have been an interest of theirs may be gleaned particularly from the authentic ring of the extensive traditions about Ibn Ṣayyād, a Jew who apparently indulged in merkavah mysticism. Moreover, the difficulty of reconciling these traditions with some of the other reports tells against their having been invented.

The classical commentators make reference to the Antichrist principally in the following contexts: 1) Traditional accounts of the Prophet’s description of the Antichrist are mentioned in their commentaries on the allusion to Muḥammad’s night journey in q 17:1. 2) Traditions that indicate that Jesus is alive and will return to kill the Antichrist are cited as evidence that the phrase «before his death» in q 4:159 means before Jesus' death. 3) They use the same traditions in connection with q 3:55 as evidence that this verse refers to Jesus' rapture rather than his death. 4) Traditions which list all the signs that will precede the final hour are contained in their comments on the references to Gog and Magog in q 18:94 and q 21:96, to the beast in q 27:82, and to smoke in q 44:10. 5) They cite the same traditions in connection with the references to the hour in q 7:187 and q 79:42. 6) They cite these same traditions of the signs preceding the final hour together with those which relate that Jesus will kill the Antichrist as evidence that q 43:61 alludes to Jesus' final descent. 7) In their introduction to sūra 18, they cite traditions, as mentioned above, about the merits of reciting its first (or last) ten verses. See also apocalypse; resurrection.

Bibliography

Primary

• R.H. Charles, The apocrypha and pseudepigrapha of the Old Testament in English, 2 vols., Oxford 1913
• S. Cyril, Archbishop of Jerusalem, The catechetical lectures, Oxford 1839
• Irenaeus, Against the heresies, ed. D.J. Unger, New York 1992
• A. Roberts and J. Donaldson (eds.), The ante-Nicene Christian library, vol. ix (Irenaeus, ii, etc.) Edinburgh 1868
• J. Robson, Mishkāt al-maṣābīḥ. English translation with explanatory notes, repr. Lahore 1990 (most of the relevant ḥadīth are in iii.xvi.1, viii.i, x.vii.1, and xxvi.iii-vii)
• G. Vermes, The Dead Sea scrolls in English, Harmondsworth 1975

Secondary

• W. Bousset, The Antichrist legend, London 1896
• R. Brown, The epistles of John, London 1983
• D.J. Halperin, The Ibn Ṣayyād traditions and the legend of al-Dajjāl, in jaos 16 (1976), 213-25
• N. Robinson, Christ in Islam and Christianity. The representation of Jesus in the Qurʾān and the classical Muslim commentaries, London 1991