The Antichrist will not be recognized either when he first appears

One of the main reasons why people will fail to recognize and support the Prophet Jesus (as) and Hazrat Mahdi (as) is without doubt their inability to see the true face of the antichrist. In resorting to a variety of methods in order to turn people away from the Prophet Jesus (as) and Hazrat Mahdi (as), the antichrist will also use various tactics to conceal his true face. For that reason the antichrist will not be recognized when he first appears, just like the Prophet Jesus (as) and Hazrat Mahdi (as), and will not be known for what he is. Bediuzzaman Said Nursi offers the following clarification on the subject in his works:

However, as we said, this world is the arena of trial. The door is opened to the reason, but the will is not taken from the hand. So, when those individuals, and even the terrible antichrist, appear, many people and even himself will not know to start with that he is the antichrist. Those individuals of the end of time will be known through the insight and the light of belief. (Bediuzzaman Said Nursi, The Words, p. 344)

According to these statements by Bediuzzaman, the antichrist will misrepresent himself to people by way of various deceptions and ruses, for which reason people taken in by his deceits will fail to recognize this representative of denial during the early stages of the End Times. (Allah knows the truth.)

Knowledge of the means to which the antichrist will resort in order to conceal his true nature is of the greatest importance in order to avoid being taken in by his deceptions and make accurate analyses. It must not be forgotten that unmasking the antichrist will be a means whereby the snares he has set for all believers can be neutralized.