A Study and Criticism of the Image of the Antichrist in Iranica Encyclopedia

Among the issues related to Mahdism, is the eviction of an apostate, known as “dajjal”[1]. It is one of the topics which has drawn the attention of Muslim researchers and also Western scholars to itself. The Iranica encyclopedia is one of the encyclopedias written in English which has introduced Dajjal in an article. The purpose of this article is to investigate and criticize the image of Antichrist drawn in this encyclopedia. This paper is a descriptive-analytic and documentary research. The approach of “Hamed Algar” in the article cited is “cognitive phenomenology”. This article contains some positive points, such as the use of Sunni and Shia sources, the expression and description of various views, such as the views of mystics and late scholars about Dajjal. But the author has not explored all possibilities in subjects such as the Antichrist terminology, and his arguments, regarding the acceptance or rejection of a possibility can be debated. The mere use of Sunni resources, lack of attention to some of the issues raised in the hadiths, lack of scrutiny of the hadith documents, the imagining of lack of attention of the Islamic scholars to solve the contradictions regarding the issue of Dajjal are some of the issues to be criticized in this article.


[1] Antichrist, pseudo Messiah,