Iranian hardliners claim Donald is the Dajjal

As we continue to bear witness to the accumulation of end-times signs, it clearly points to one conclusion: the rapture is near.  Of course, if the rapture is near, it means that the time of Jacob’s Trouble and the rule of Antichrist is also near.  But did you know that we are not the only people warning the world of an antichrist?  Islamic hardliners are also becoming very vocal about the appearance of antichrist figure.  But they do not believe he is near, they believe he is here.  

The Islamic version of the antichrist figure is known, in short, as “Dajjal”.  The full title is Al-Masih ad-Dajjal.  Much of Islamic eschatology revolves around three main characters: Al Masih ad-Dajjal; the Mahdi and Isa.  In Hebrew, we would say “Mashiach”; in English we would say “Messiah” and in Arabic they say “Masih” – so al-Masih is “the messiah”.  However, “Dajjal” means “most deceitful”.  So, put that together and the title refers to a deceitful messiah—the Islamic antichrist.  In a February 14, 2025 article from Iran International, the author writes: “In Islamic eschatology, a figure called Dajjal is a false messiah who will emerge in the end times, spreading corruption and misleading people with false promises of power and prosperity before being ultimately defeated by a righteous messiah.”    

Even if the claims of Islamic eschatology were true, the reality is that there are many wicked men who are “spreading corruption and misleading people with false promises of power and prosperity”.  So, in their mind, what distinguishes Dajjal from the ordinary corrupt, money hungry, power-grabbing globalist?  One Islamic website provides details of his somewhat unique physical characteristics: “He will be one-eyed, as his right eye will be covered by a piece of skin. The word ‘Kafir’ [disbelief - someone who rejects Islamic teachings or hides the truth] will be written on his forehead. All believers will recognize it! He will be a young man with thick, curly hair and reddish skin. His left eye will be like a floating grape in water.” 

Despite the obvious difference in appearance between Donald Trump and the supposed Dajjal, many Islamic ideologues claim President Trump is in fact the manifestation of Dajjal.  Ayatollah Seyyed Hassan Ameli, who seems to have so far survived bombing raids from Israel and the US, is a senior Shia cleric in Iran who publicly put forward this theory in a sermon delivered early last year.  In fact, in his sermon he claims the blindness of Dajjal is not so much physical but spiritual and moral.  He said: “The new US president has a completely one-sided view. He sees the world purely through a materialistic lens and openly declares that America is a business corporation. He covets wealth wherever it exists — whether it’s Middle Eastern oil, Syrian oil, or Ukraine’s minerals.”

But this view is not only confined to Iran.  Lieutenant General Apti Alaudinov, commander of the Chechen "Akhmat" special forces and deputy head of the Main Military-Political Directorate of the Russian Ministry of Defense, has frequently used the term "Dajjal" to describe Western, NATO, and Ukrainian forces in the context of the ongoing Russia-Ukraine war.  In addition, speaking about his support for Iran, he declared: "We should give Iran everything we can give, support it in whatever we can support it, and if there were a decision of the country's leadership to do so, absolutely calmly, even today I am ready, as they say, to go and stand up in order to help them repel the ground advance of the troops of this army of the Antichrist Dajjal."

Speaking of actively opposing this antichrist figure, who, according to Islamic eschatology, ultimately defeats Dajjal?  Well, they claim it is Isa (the name they ascribe to Jesus).  Although, in some accounts it is the Mahdi (an Islamic apocalyptic redeemer) who does it or, at the very least, helps Isa do it.  Accompanying this event, they claim there will be a final battle between good and evil known as Al-Malhama Al-Kubra (“The Greatest Battle”)—the Islamic equivalent of Armageddon. The defeat of the Dajjal will then, they claim, be followed by the resurrection of the dead and the final judgement of the wicked, who will be condemned to the flames of hell and of the righteous to the joys of heaven.

Unfortunately for the Jewish people, this eschatological framework has also introduced the belief that Jews will be followers of the Dajjal.  Shaykhul-Islam Ibn Taymiyyah who was a Sunni Muslim scholar (1263-1328) wrote: “The Jews are in fact awaiting the dajjal, for he is the one whom the Jews will follow.”  Given the current strength of the US/Israel alliance, you can clearly see how Islamists are interpreting this relationship.   

With that background in view, do you see why the Iranian regime refuses to back down?  The Iranian regime is viewing this conflict through their own eschatological lens—one which they truly believe they will be supernaturally rescued from.  Islamic hardliners who hold to a view that Donald Trump is Dajjal are concentrated in large numbers in Iran and because of this, they will fiercely resist him, believing that the Mahdi and Isa will eventually sweep in and deal with the US/Israel coalition.  If the regime falls, it may go some way to shattering their faith in this false apocalyptic vision.  If the regime holds against the might of the US and Israel, unfortunately it will mean the narrative strengthens and the resistance grows.