Abdullah ibn Sayyad


Question:

Who is Ibn Sa’id? Is he Al-Masih-ul-Dajjal (the Antichrist)? Why did the Prophet (peace be upon him) not mention whether it was him or not?

Answer:

Abdullah ibn Sayyad appeared in the lifetime of the Prophet (peace be upon him), and some Sahabah (Companions of the Prophet) thought he was Al-Dajjal. The Prophet (peace be upon him) himself thought the same, until he knew afterwards that it was not him, rather he was a soothsayer. The Prophet (peace be upon him) said to him: “I have something hidden for you. Ibn Sayyad said, “It is Al-Dukh.” (And he was really hiding for him Surah Al-Dukhan). The Prophet (peace be upon him) said to him, “Be off! You can never go beyond your position.”” 1 Meaning: You are one of the fellowmen of the soothsayers who have allies of Satans to tell them a lot of the unseen things which they stealthily hear.

Moreover, they used to mix truth with lies as in the Sahih (sound) Hadith related by Al-Bukhari and others, that the Prophet (peace be upon him) said: “The angels descend in the clouds and mention this or that matter decreed in the Heaven. The devils listen stealthily to such a matter, come down to inspire the soothsayers with it, and the latter would add to it one-hundred lies of their own.” 2

  1. Narrated from the Hadith of ‘Abdullah ibn ‘Umar ibn Al-Khattab (may Allah be pleased with him): Ahmad, vol. 2, p. 148; Al-Bukhari, vol. 2, p. 96, vol. 4, p. 32, vol. 7, p. 113; Muslim, vol. 4, p. 2244, no. 2930; Abu Dawud, vol. 4, p. 505, no. 4329; and Al-Tirmidhi, vol. 4, p. 519, no. 2249. ↩

  2. Narrated with the same wording from the Hadith of ‘Aishah (may Allah be pleased with her): Al-Bukhari, vol. 4, pp. 79 and 94; Ibn Jarir Al-Tabari, Tafsir, Tafsir of Surah Al-Saffat, explanation of Ayah “They cannot listen to the higher group (angels), (ed.: Dar Hajr); Al-Baghawy, Tafsir, Tafsir of Surah Al-Hijr, explanation of Ayah “Except him (devil) that gains hearing by stealing” vol. 4, p. 373, (ed.: Dar Tiba); and Al-Tabarani, Al-Awsat, vol. 9, p. 371, no. 8798, (verified by: Al-Tahhan). ↩

May Allah grant us success. May peace and blessings be upon our Prophet, his family and Companions