It was said to Jabir that he had died. He said, “Even if he died.” It was said that he had embraced Islam. He said, “Even if he had embraced Islam.” It was said to him that the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said he would not enter the city?

The questioner : And in it is that Jabir said, “I said to him, ‘He has died.’ He said, ‘Even if he died.’ I said, ‘He has embraced Islam.’ He said, ‘Even if he has embraced Islam.’ I said, ‘He has entered the city.’ He said, ‘Even if he has entered the city.’”

The Shaykh : If he died, he died. Allah is capable of resurrecting him, but we do not know this matter. The possibility is not valid.

The questioner : But al-Bukhari’s chapter heading: “Chapter: One who saw the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) not objecting to something is a proof, unlike one who is not the Messenger.” Because he swore an oath before the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) and the Prophet did not object to him, so it is said that this is evidence for its establishment and existence, meaning.

The Shaykh : Then, regarding Ibn Sayyad, he was not described with this description. The problem for me now is: Is the Dajjal that the Messenger saw in the dream considered to be alive, and this is his description, or was he shown a representation of him? This is the point of difficulty. If he was shown a representation of him, there is no difficulty. If he is alive, then there is the difficulty of him being alive, which means he is alive and has remained until today. Where is his location? The closest view I have, if nothing is found that contradicts what I see, is that it is of the nature that it was shown to him, but it was shown to him or depicted to him in the dream in a manner corresponding to the reality of this man.
The reader: “... And Abu Nu’aym also narrated from the route of Ka’b al-Ahbar that the Dajjal was born by his mother in Qaws in the land of Egypt. He said, and between his birth and his emergence are thirty years. He said, and his news did not descend in the Torah or the Gospel, but it is in some of the books of the prophets. End. And it is more likely that this report is false, for the authentic hadith is that every prophet before our Prophet warned his people of the Dajjal. And his being born before his emergence by the mentioned period contradicts his being Ibn Sayyad, and his being confined in an island of the sea. And Ibn al-Wasif the historian mentioned that the Dajjal is from the offspring of Shaq al-Kahin the famous one. He said, and he said, rather he is Shaq himself, whom Allah showed him, and his mother was a jinn... And the closest way to reconcile what is contained in the hadith of Tamim and that Ibn Sayyad is the Dajjal is that the Dajjal himself is the one whom Tamim saw confined, and that Ibn Sayyad is a devil who appeared in the image of the Dajjal during that period until he headed to Isfahan and hid with his companion until the time comes in which Allah the Exalted decreed his emergence. And due to the severe confusion of the matter in that, al-Bukhari took the path of preference and restricted himself to the hadith of Jabir from 'Umar regarding Ibn Sayyad, and did not narrate the hadith of Fatimah bint Qays in the story of Tamim. And some of them imagined that it is a strange and rejected narration, but that is not the case, for Abu Hurayrah, 'Aishah, and Jabir narrated it along with Fatimah bint Qays.”

The Shaykh : If it were authentic, this would be an exception in any case. What is our problem? This is the story of Tamim; it does not apply to this description. My problem is whether he is one whom the Messenger saw in the dream, saw him as existing, or was shown his image. The second is closer to me: that he was shown his image, but it was depicted to him in the manner he will be when he emerges. And Allah knows best.

The questioner : Okay, may Allah reward you. This is the statement of Ibn Hajar in the book al-'Itisam, because he said when he spoke about whether he existed in the time of the Messenger?

The Shaykh : And what does he say?

The questioner : So the implication of the hadith of Fatimah bint Qays in the story of Tamim al-Dari, which Muslim narrated, is that he existed in the Prophetic era and that he was confined in some of the islands. And it will come in the book al-'Itisam when explaining the hadith of Jabir as well.

The Shaykh : Okay, based on the authenticity of the hadith of Tamim al-Dari.