Ahmadinejad has consistently called for the elimination of Israel, and why shouldn’t he?
He is a good Muslim who believes in the “Last Hour”.
You can read his speech to the UN here. [1]
At this point, it is appropriate to consider the End Times beliefs of Islam to understand what lies ahead. Both Christianity and Islam, the world’s two largest religions, have well defined End Times beliefs and both agree that Israel will be the focus of a bloody war.
As we will see, the Islamic belief is almost a mirror image of the Christian belief.
1. Islam Eschatology – An Overview
As the period of End Times approaches, Muslims are looking for Major Signs which will indicate the time is near. The most anticipated event is the coming of the Mahdi, or the “Guided One”, who will establish a new world wide Caliphate and conquer the world for Islam.
1.1 The Army of Black Flags.
Islam has two flags, one white and one black, and both having the words:
“There is no God but Allah, and Mohammed is his messenger”.
The white flag (Al-Liwaa) is the flag of state, while the black flag (Ar-Raya) is the flag of the Muslim army, the flag of Jihad. Sheik Kabbani states:
“Hadith indicate that black flags coming from the area of Khorasan will signify the appearance of the Mahdi is nigh.” [2]
Now Khorasan is in the east of Iran next to the border of Afghanistan, and given recent speeches by Ahmadinejad, the President of Iran, no one would be surprised by this.
Both Israel in statements on 02 July 08 [3] and the USA on 01 Sep 08 [4] have recently called for the bombing of Iran to restrict their nuclear capability. Such an action could well bring the Army of Black flags out of Iran.
Of course the battle for Eurabia is also hotting up, and Old Europe will wake from its slumber to find Muslims pressing to drag Europe, kicking and screaming, back to the ninth century with Sharia law where polygamy, beheadings, the suppression of women, honour killings, slave trading and stoning will once again be the accepted “norm”.
1.2 The Mahdi appears
After a series of bloody wars and with the world now in turmoil as Islam strives for ascendancy, the long awaited Messiah of Islam, the Mahdi, appears on the scene.
From Ibn Kathir, an eighth century scholar:
“after the lesser signs of the Hour appear and increase, mankind will have reached a stage of great suffering. Then the Mahdi will appear. He is the first of the greater, clear signs of the Hour.” [5]
The Mahdi will be a descendant of Fatimah (one of Mohammed’s wives) and will take his name as Mohammed bin Abdullah. He will be forty years of age.
The Mahdi will be a great military, political and spiritual leader who will unite Islam under one Caliphate and conquer many countries. He will attack and defeat Israel.
Characteristics of the Mahdi:
- He will be the Caliph and Imam (vice-regent and leader) of Muslims worldwide
- He will lead military action and invade many countries
- He will discover lost portions of the Torah near a mountain in Syria which he will use to refute the Jews. Many Jews will convert to Islam.
- He will rediscover the Ark of the Covenant from the sea of Galilee, which he will bring to Jerusalem
- He will make a seven year treaty with the Jews
- He will conquer Israel for Islam and lead the final slaughter of Jews
- He will make Jerusalem the new Islamic world headquarters
- He will reign for seven years, then die
- He will have supernatural power over wind, rain and crops
- He will possess and distribute enormous amounts of wealth
1.3 The Dajjal appears
The next primary character after the Mahdi is a bizarre character called Ad-Dajjal or the Liar/Deceiver. The Dajjal is Islam’s Antichrist.
He will have great power and be able to heal the sick, as Jesus did, and will even claim to be Jesus. The Dajjal will be blind in one eye, but there is confusion as to which eye.
Ibn Umar [6] calls it the right eye, while Hudhalfa mentions the left eye. [7]
The Dajjal is also said to have the word “kaafir” written between his eyes, possibly on his forehead.
According to Muslim scholar Mohammed Ali ibn Zubair Ali:-
“He will travel at great speeds and his means of conveyance will be a giant mule.” [8]
Could this be an illusion to Jesus riding on a donkey to enter Jerusalem?
Characteristics of the Dajjal:
- he will be the false Messaih, the great deceiver
- he will claim to be Jesus and claim to be divine
- he will have the powers of the devil
- he will be a false miracle worker
- he will not enter Mecca, Medina or Damascus which will be safe for Muslims
- if a Muslim memorizes the first 10 verses of the Chapter of the Cave, the Dajjal can’t harm him
- he will be Jewish and followed by Jews and women
- he will be slain by the Muslim Jesus
1.4 The Islamic Jesus appears
In Islam, Jesus is believed to have been taken up to Heaven and another man called Tatianos [9] was substituted for Jesus by Allah to be led away for crucifixion.
Just as Elijah did before him, Jesus was taken bodily into Heaven to wait for his appointed time, which was just before the battle against Israel.
Jesus comes back as a devout Muslim who will claim he was not crucified and will set about to destroy Christianity. The Islamic Jesus will abolish the Jizyah tax so the only choice will be to convert to Islam or die.
When the Mahdi has gathered his army to invade Israel, Jesus is expected to return near Damascus.
“At this very time, Allah would send Christ, son of Mary, and he will descend at the white minaret in the eastern side of Damascus, wearing two garments lightly dyed, with saffron and placing his hands on the wings of two Angels.” [10]
Jesus will decline
the offer and invitation of Imam Mahdi to come and lead the Muslims in prayer, and will say his prayer behind the Mahdi and follow him.
By doing this, Jesus shows that he is inferior to the Mahdi!
The Islamic Jesus (Isa bin Maryam) is NOT the same as the Jesus of the Bible, and maybe the name alludes to this.
The Quran is considered to use “perfect Arabic” but the Hebrew equivalent of Isa is Esau, who was the hated brother of Jacob! Jesus or Jeshuwa (Hebrew) translates as Jesuwa in Arabic. Jesuwa is not mentioned in the Quran.
Also, the Arabic language evolved from Old Canaanite and came after Hebrew.
The Quran also confuses the Mother of Jesus in Sura 19:28 where it names Mary as the sister of Aaron, when it was Miriam who was Aaron’s sister and Aaron and Miriam lived 1500 years before Mary.
Characteristics of the Islamic Jesus:
- he will be a devout Muslim who is subordinate to the Mahdi
- he will make pilgrimage to Mecca
- he will visit Mohammed’s grave and salute Mohammed
- he will destroy Christianity
- he will repeal the Jizyah tax, leaving conversion or death as the only options
- he will establish Sharia law throughout the entire Earth
- he will kill the Antichrist and his followers made up largely of Jews and women
- he will remain on Earth for 40 years, marry and have children
1.5 The Seven Year Treaty with Israel
The Mahdi will sign a seven year treaty with Israel to fulfil a prophecy made by Mohammed. The Prophet Mohammed said:
“There will be four peace agreements between you and the Romans (Christians). The fourth agreement will be mediated through a person who will be from the progeny of Hadrat Haroon [Honorable Aaron, brother of Moses] and will be upheld for seven years.” [11]
It is likely that this treaty will allow the Jews to rebuild a temple where Solomon’s temple once stood.
1.6 The War against Israel
The Mahdi leads the armies carrying black flags, and the final battle against the Jews is described in this way:
“The last hour would not come unless the Muslims will fight against the Jews and the Muslims would kill them until the Jews would hide behind a stone or a tree, and a stone or a tree would say:’Muslim, or the servant of Allah, there is a Jew behind me; come and kill him; but the Gharqad tree would not say, for it is the tree of the Jews”. [12]
The Gharqad, or boxwood tree, is widely planted throughout Israel and enforces that this battle will be contained within Israel.
The Mahdi will be successful and will slaughter most Jews and will erect their flags on the Temple Mount.
Mohammed said: “Armies carrying black flags will come from Khorasan. No power will be able to stop them and they will finally reach Eela (Baitul Maqdas in Jerusalem) where they will erect their flags.” [13]
Baitul Maqdas in Arabic means Holy House, so this refers to the Dome of the Rock which is located on the Temple Mount.
2. Reflections in a mirror
For those who follow the Christian faith, it is easy to identify the three main Islamic characters. It is literally like a reflection in a mirror where everything is reversed!
The great Satan (Allah) has held the Bible up to a mirror to devise his plan to destroy the world and kill the Jews.
| Islam |
Christianity |
| The Mahdi | The Antichrist |
| Islamic Jesus | The False Prophet |
| The Dajjal | The real Jesus |
The Mahdi is in every sense the Antichrist of the Bible, as is the Islamic Jesus to the False Prophet of the Bible. The Dajjal, of course, only claims to be Jesus, and the Jesus of the Bible kills the Antichrist (Mahdi).
The Mahdi (Antichrist) is revealed in 2 Thessalonians 2 as the “man of lawlessness” and his military conquests are detailed in Daniel 11:36-45.
The Mahdi and the Islamic Jesus fit the description of the two beasts of Revelation 13.
The seven year treaty with the Jews lines up with the 70th week of Daniel [Daniel 9:27], while the great prophet Isaiah calls this the “treaty of death”. [Isaiah 28:15]
The war against Israel is graphically detailed by the great prophet Ezekiel in Chapter 38.
What is commonly known as Armageddon (Har-Mageddon) is described by Ezekiel who lists the protagonists who surround Israel and who God will assemble for this final battle.
Over 2,500 years ago, the great prophet Ezekiel, listed the lands where the armies of Satan will come from. Gog of Magog, Rosh, Persia, Meshech, Tubal, Ethiopia, Put, Gomer and Beth-Togarmah are all Islamic countries today, forming a circle around Israel.
These today include Turkey, Iran, Azerbaijan, Pakistan, Afghanistan, Ethiopia, Libya, Sudan, Dagestan, Chechnya and Syria. No great surprises here!
3. When are we?
Is it possible to ascertain just when this final war against Israel might occur?
There are three independent sources that suggest the probability of this event is greatest in the next two decades.
The Day of the Last Judgment, painting attributed to artist Mohammad Modabber (19th Century)
3.1 St. Malachy
Malachy (b1094 – d1148) was the first Irish saint who made predictions about the lives of the Popes. His notes were found in the Vatican in the 16th century and he predicted only one more Pope after Benedict XVI. The last Pope, Petrus Romanus (Peter of Rome), will be forced to flee Rome and will be slain on a mountain top. [14]
As Pope Benedict is 81yo, then the last Pope should be in place within a decade.
3.2 Medjugorje
Millions of people have visited this site where the Virgin Mary has been appearing to six people at a small village in Bosnia called Medjugorje, since June 1981. [15]
The six people Mirjana, Ivanka, Vicka, Ivan, Jacov and Marjia have all now received the ten secrets from Mary which contain the dates of coming cataclysmic events, including a world war. At least one is to be alive to alert the local priest of the dates three days before the event. As they are all in their late forties, this is most probable to happen in the next two decades.
3.3 The Great Completion
In the Gospel of Matthew Jesus predicts that the End would come after the Gospel had been preached to all the world.
Jesus said “And the Good News about the Kingdom will be preached throughout the world, so that all nations will hear it; and then, finally, the end will come.” [16]
In his book “The Faith Equation”, Marvin Bittinger used mathematical curve fitting techniques to model the world’s population against the rate of Christian Evangelism and found that the two curves intersected at about 2033AD.
Given the statistical error factor involved, it is most probable sometime in the next two decades that the conditions for Matthew 24:14 will be satisfied.
4. Conclusion
As Islam grows stronger and increases its attacks on western democracy, it is inevitable that the World will slide into chaos.
Indeed both Christianity and Islam predict this in their End Times beliefs.
We have identified the principal characters, the Mahdi, the Islamic Jesus and the Dajjal and outlined the roles they will play.
It is intriguing that the Mahdi will choose Jerusalem as world headquarters for Islam and not Mecca, and it begs the question: “will the Qibla be turned from Mecca to Jerusalem?” Imagine the confusion at prayer time, in mosques, hospitals, schools, universities and the like!
A Dilemma for all Muslims
If the Bible is correct, the Mahdi, as the man of lawlessness, will not only stand in the reconstructed temple of God on Mt. Moriah, but he will declare he IS God! [17]
He will be the Abomination that Desolates according to the prophet Daniel, much like Antiochus was some 2,160 years before.
For Muslims, God in the flesh is unthinkable.
How will good Muslims react if the Mahdi declares his divinity?
Perhaps we will all know sometime within the next two decades.