I am Dajjal, you are Dajjal, we are all Dajjal. Goo goo g'joob.
One thing David Cook doesn't say here (but does elsewhere) is that up until 1980, imams faithfully passed along the traditional teaching about the Dajjal and the Mahdi from one generation to the next.
Then, around 1980, they discovered the allegorical interpretation of scripture, and began preaching that the Dajjal did not have to be a powerful, one-eyed Jewish leader -- he could be a symbol for a nation or nations (the US, European Union, NATO, etc.) or a symbol representing the entire Western culture (Coca Cola, MTV, MasterCard, etc.)
The Hadith predict that this Dajjal is going to try to take over the world. The Imams started to identify that with MacDonalds and Starbucks opening everywhere, and with IMF loans and WHO doctors.
The Dajjal is supposed to win over practically everybody either through seducing them with economic prosperity (foreign investments) and pleasure (Hollywood films) or military pressure (Gulf War I, Kosovo).
My POV is that they are completely mistaken. The world is not coming to an end, nobody's prophecies are being fulfilled. 'Isa is not going to come down and fight at the side of the Mahdi and kill all the Trinitarians and level all the churches.
My attitude with the nickname is a punkish "Yeah, right, Einstein, I'm really the Dajjal."
It's interesting, since I took a class on the history of radical Islam, starting with an introduction to Islamic belief and the ideologues of the 19th century, and I didn't hear much about the Muslim vision of the End Times. I knew about the "12th Imam" in the Shi'ite tradition, but didn't know much about Sunni thought on the subject. These articles were really enlightening.
The Shi'ites identify the Mahdi as their "hidden 12th Imam" (who would be about 1100 years old by now). The Sunnis see it as a restored Caliphate. Sufis see him as a preacher who will not kill literally, but will "kill" the heretical and materialistic mentality of the world population through his powerful preaching.The millennial fanaticism started with the Shi'ites and Sufis, and has spilt over to the Shi'ites.
David Cook says that millennial books make the best-seller's lists in the Middle East.
But let me emphasize that not every millennialist takes that extra step into terrorism, and that there surely are terrorists who are in the political / economic / societal mode.
Should be: ... and has spilt over to the Sunnis.
MORE ON THE DAJJAL [Rod Dreher]
I heard from a kind reader who was grateful to read the interview I did with Prof. David Cook, on the subject of Islamic apocalypticism. The reader believes Americans won't really grasp what kind of enemy we face until we become conversant with concepts like the "Dajjal" (Islam's version of the Antichrist), and how fervent belief in this vision of the End drives those who hate the West the most. He sent along a couple of interesting links, from Free Republic, for those who want more information (try here and here).
One the second thread, which is a discussion of my Islamic prophecy interview, I found a fascinating link to an article about eclipses during the Islamic holy month of Ramadan. Apparently eclipses during Ramadan are interpreted by many of the Muslim faithful as significant. Two total eclipses during Ramadan is a very rare phenomenon. The last time it happened was 200 or so years ago. It's going to happen again this November. There is speculation that pious Muslims may view this phenomenon as a sign from heaven that Something Major Is Going to Happen.
Remember, folks, it doesn't immediately matter whether these people are right or wrong about the way history is going to unfold. We have to pay attention to this stuff, because somewhere, there are Islamic zealots now plotting their own violent role in what they see as the apocalyptic drama, in which the forces of Islam clash for the final time with the forces of the Dajjal (that is, non-Muslims).