What have the classical scholars said about the authenticity of the hadith in which it’s said the sky will withhold rain and the earth produce in the years before the dajjal? Is there any indication that food and drink will be scarce for those who don’t follow him?
Answer:
All perfect praise be to Allah, The Lord of the Worlds. I testify that there is none worthy of worship except Allah, and that Muhammad, sallallaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, is His slave and Messenger.
It was stated in some Ahadeeth that three years before the coming of the Dajjaal (Antichrist) rainfall and vegetation would gradually decrease and, accordingly, the food would be scarce. A long Hadeeth was reported in Sunan Ibn Maajah reading: "…Before the Dajjaal appears, there will be three hard years in which the people will suffer severe famine. In the first year, Allah will command the sky to withhold one-third of its rain and the earth to withhold one-third of its produce. In the second year, He will command the sky to withhold two-thirds of its rain and the earth to withhold two-thirds of its produce. In the third year, He will command the sky to withhold all of its rain, and not a single drop will fall, and the earth to withhold all of its produce, and nothing will grow. All cloven-hoofed animals (cows and sheep) will die, except those that Allah Wills." It was said: "What will the people live on at that time?" He, sallallaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, said: "Tahleel (saying: La Ilaaha Illa Allah), Takbeer (saying: Allaahu Akbar), Tasbeeh (saying: Subhaanallah) and Tahmeed (saying: Alhamdulillaah). That will take the place of food for them." However, Al-Albaani classified it as inauthentic in Dha‘eef Sunan Ibn Maajah (884).
When the Dajjaal comes out and some people will follow him and others will disbelieve in him. Those who will reject his call and lies – who are the true believers – will lose their wealth that is in their possession as a test and trial from Allah, The Almighty. It was narrated in Saheeh Muslim in the Hadeeth relating the story of the Dajjaal: "…He will come to the people and invite them (to a false religion), and they will affirm their faith in him and respond to him. He will then give command to the sky, and there will be rainfall upon the earth, and it will grow crops. Then, in the evening, their pasturing animals will come to them with their humps very high, their udders full of milk, and their flanks stretched. He will then come to another people and invite them, but they will reject him, and he will go away from them, and there will be drought for them, and nothing will be left with them in the form of wealth…"
Allah Knows best.