that it could be heard worldwide. It was in actual fact a
prediction that the appearance of
dajjal
would be in the age of
telecommunications. He would be like a common man but,
thanks to mechanical communications, it would become possible
for him to make his voice travel from one end of the world to
the other.
These words of the narration tell us, in actual fact, of the
opportunities of this age rather than of the unusual personality
of
dajjal
.
The reason for the traditions of the predictions of
Doomsday being worded in symbolic language
T
HE
ABSOLUTE
CLARITY
of the statements in the Quran leave no
doubt about the approach of Doomsday. For example, chapter
7, verse 187 says: “The hour will suddenly overtake you.” Chapter
29, verse 15 has this to say: “The hour is coming but I choose to
keep it hidden, so that every human being may be recompensed
in accordance with his labours.” Ibn Kathir in his explanation
of this verse of the Quran quotes the words of Abdullah ibn
Masood, the senior Companion of the Prophet: “God said, ‘I
have kept Doomsday hidden from all creatures. Had it been
possible, I would have kept it hidden from Myself as well.’”
The stand of the religious scholars is that if any tradition
contradicts the Quran, the Quran’s statements will be held to
be true and that particular tradition will be scrutinized. In such
a situation, purely from the academic point of view, there is
only one option, in terms of explanation, and that is to hold the
statement of the Quran to be literally true, while the statement
of the hadith should be regarded as being symbolic. There is no
other way to end this contradiction.
26
The alarm of Doomsday
