পৃষ্ঠা 237: তৃতীয় অধ্যায়: কিয়ামতের মহা আলামতসমূহ (মাহদী, দাজ্জাল, ঈসা (আ.), ইয়াজুজ-মাজুজ, পশ্চিমাকাশে সূর্যোদয়)

Further citations by the author of al-Hafiz's statements regarding Ibn Sayyad

And when he clarified concerning al-Hakam ibn Abi al-'As that there would emerge from his loins someone who would alter his Sunnah... and so forth.

This is also supported by what Nu'aym ibn Hammad narrated via Jubayr ibn Nufayr, Shurayh ibn 'Ubayd, 'Amr ibn al-Aswad, and Kathir ibn Murrah, who all said: 'The Dajjal is not a human being; rather, he is a devil bound by seventy links of chain in one of the islands of Yemen. It is not known who bound him, whether it was the Prophet Sulayman (peace be upon him) or someone else. When the time for his appearance draws near, Allah releases one link from him each year. When he finally emerges, a female donkey will come to him, the span between whose ears is forty cubits; he will place a copper pulpit upon its back and sit on it, and the tribes of the Jinn will follow him, unearthing the treasures of the earth for him.'

Al-Hafiz said: 'This cannot be reconciled with Ibn Sayyad being the Dajjal. Perhaps these narrators, despite being trustworthy, received that from some books of the People of the Scripture (Ahl al-Kitab).' End quote.

Nor does the statement 'in one of the islands of Yemen' contradict this, because it is possible that the statement of the Prophet (ﷺ) in the narration of Tamim al-Dari, 'from the direction of the East,' was in consideration of his final stage when he actively emerges.

The historian Ibn Wasif mentioned: 'The Dajjal is from the offspring of Shiqq, the famous soothsayer.' He said: 'It is also said that he is Shiqq himself, whom Allah the Exalted granted respite. His mother was a female Jinn who fell in love with his father, so he fathered Shiqq with her. Satan used to perform wonders for him, so Sulayman (peace be upon him) seized him and imprisoned him on one of the islands.'

However, al-Hafiz said: 'This is extremely baseless...'

He said: 'The utmost way to reconcile what is contained in the hadith of Tamim and the view that Ibn Sayyad was the Dajjal is that the one whom Tamim saw chained was the actual Dajjal himself, while Ibn Sayyad was his devil who appeared in the form of the Dajjal during that period in which Allah the Exalted had decreed his manifestation. And Allah knows best.' End quote.

If it is asked: How can Ibn Sayyad be judged an unbeliever, let alone being the Dajjal, after his Islam, his pilgrimage (Hajj), and his participation in Jihad were established, and the default presumption is that he remained upon Islam until death?

I say: His statement in the hadith of Abu Sa'id, that he would not dislike being the Dajjal and that if it were offered to him he would accept it, indicates the absence of his Islam inwardly. For how could a Muslim ever accept claiming Lordship or prophethood?! Thus, this is what justified ruling as such; and Allah knows best, and with Allah alone is success.