Documente Academic
Documente Profesional
Documente Cultură
505..529
Yvonne Y. Haddad,
Georgetown University
Washington D.C.
Jane I. Smith,
Harvard Divinity School
Cambridge, Massachusetts
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Said Ayyub, al-Masih al-Dajjal: Qiraah Siyasiyya fi Usul al-Diyanat al-Kubra (The Anti-Christ: A
Political Reading in the Foundations of the Great Religions) (Cairo: Dar al-Itisam, 1989), 64.
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It also spawned Christian millenarian expectations promoted in the LaHaye-Jenkins Left Behind series
[published by Tyndale House Publishers in Carol Stream, IL starting in 1995] as well as the Christian
Zionist expectations of the imminence of the end of time.
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Judith Miller, The Works; Israels Fundamentalist Thing, New York Times (June 9, 1996); available on
http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9C07E3D81639F93AA35755C0A960958260.
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vindication of Gods support for the believers against the greatest of tyrants, the Shah as
empowered by the United States. The 1982 Israeli invasion of Lebanon, believed to have
been given the green light by the US, and the subsequent massacres of Sabra and Shatila,
led to the intensification of Muslim feeling of disempowerment. Israel became central to
the story of the end of times. A new genre of literature began to be published in the 1980s
exploring the imminence of the last days.5 In the Islamic context, says Georgetown
Universitys Barbara Stowasser, the Israeli-Palestinian conflict has joined the list of major
grievances that, especially as formulated in popular sermons, pulp fiction narratives, on
Websites and the like, can set the tone for an apocalyptic millenarian mind-frame in their
mass audiences and readers.6
With the collapse of the Soviet Empire and the appearance of triumphalist American
literature such as Francis Fukuyamas The End of History and the Last Man,7 Samuel
Huntingtons The Clash of Civilizations,8 and Paul Kennedys The Rise and Fall of the
Great Powers,9 as well as anticipation of the approach of the end of the century,
millenarian Christian expectations intensified in the US. In both secular and Christian
literature one can find evidence that supersession of western society is accompanied by
the corresponding destruction of Islam. Such assumptions appear to have directly
impacted Muslims, who in return have sought to assure themselves that Islam and not
Christianity has been assured victory in the end. To fully understand the import of
political realities on the converging eschatologies of evangelical Christianity and Islam it
is necessary first to look both at the basics of such Christian understandings of the end
times, predicated on biblical prophecies, and at the generally accepted scheme of
Islamic end-times narrative, also heavily influenced by the same biblical prophecies. The
article will then turn to an overview of contemporary Islamic apocalyptic writing,
looking particularly at works published in Egypt, and the way in which it serves as a
revisionist version of traditional Islamic eschatological literature.
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The capstone event of all of these apocalyptic visions is the Second Coming of Christ.
In order for that to happen events must be structured in such a way as to support the
11
Millenarian refers to those who see the current age as lasting for a thousand years, or more generally
those who want to predict the end of time. Refinements on the term suggest pre-milleniarism (future
tribulations will come before the millennium) and post-milleniarism (such bad times will happen after
the age has officially ended).
12
See, e.g. LeAnn Snow Flesher, Left Behind. The Fact Behind the Fiction (Judson Press, 2006), 13044.
13
Mark Hitchcock, Is America in Biblical Prophecy? (USA: Multoman Publishers, Inc., 2002), chapter
one.
14
Based on John 14:13; I Cor. 15:5058; I Thess. 4:1318.
15
Based on chapters 619 of the Book of Revelation.
16
Based on Revelation 13:118.
17
Based on Revelation 14:1920; 16:1216; 19:1921.
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whole biblical narrative. Essential to that narrative is the restoration of the Jews to Israel
and, and for some, the rebuilding of the Temple.
The movement urging the necessity of Christian support for Israel is commonly
referred to as Christian Zionism. According to the literal interpretation of the Bible, say
Christian Zionists, the end of history must involve the return of all diaspora Jews to
Jerusalem and the reconstitution of the nation of Israel. At the basis of this interpretation
is what is called dispensationalist theology, in which Gods interaction with the world is
described in seven successive stages (dispensations). The first four of these are the
periods of Eden, Noah and the flood, Abraham and Israel. The fifth stage is the Rapture,
followed by an age of the Spirit and finally Christs thousand year reign on earth.
Dispensationalist theology began in the 19th century in England. It grew in popularity
in Britain and the US, and by early in the 20th century had become the perspective by
which many American Christians came to view world events.18 Among its proponents
was Arthur Balfour, who in the propagation of the Balfour Declaration assumed that the
establishment of Israel as a contemporary homeland for the Jews was a fulfillment of
biblical prophecy. Thus Israel fulfills the covenant made by God with Abraham, an event
that American dispensationalists believe can be aided by US support of the current Israeli
expansionist policies.
Resurgence of dispensationalist interpretation came to a head during the presidency
of Ronald Reagan and the growing influence of Republican evangelicals on American
foreign policy. While not all evangelicals agree as to the role Israel plays in redemptive
history, says pastor, professor and talk-show host Kim Riddlebarger, for dispensationalists, a future role for Israel and the continuity of the land promise is essential to an
earthly kingdom which comes to fruition in a future millennial age.19
Here, then, is the crux of the problem: what is necessary for the fulfillment of
dispensationalist Christian belief on the one hand is exactly what is most painful for
Muslims on the other, and seems to be provoking a counter-response. We will see this
tension played out in the interpretation of contemporary popular Muslim eschatological
literature, but first let us briefly sketch the background of Muslim theological reflection
concerning the end of time.
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On that day all humans will be consigned to eternity either in the gardens of bliss or the
fires of recompense. The Quran affirms that the day of resurrection [yawm al-qiyama]
will be announced by a radical disruption of the natural order with events such as the sun
darkened, the stars cast down, the mountains moving and the seas boiling as described
in S 81. The earth will shake and the heavens will be stripped away.
That such events will occur is a Quranic certainty, although the exact time of such
eschatological realities remains a mystery. Might it be, speculate some contemporary
writers, that we are now seeing the signs of such a time? Along with these terrifying
descriptions of the natural order, in Muslim expectation, will also come an escalation of
human immorality. Such degradation is not described in the Quran but is detailed in the
eschatological manuals. Drawing from both reliable and not so reliable sources,
traditions predict a degeneration of the standards that are prescribed as necessary in
order to maintain a good Islamic society.
Islamic writers have not always agreed on the sequence of events to follow from
these signs of physical disorder and moral turpitude, but one can discern a general
outline of what is to be expected. The first category of happenings is often referred to as
isharat al-sa a (The signs of the hour), based on numerous references in the Quran to
that inevitable time when all will be called to accountability.21 As is true in all apocalyptic
religious traditions, predicting the exact moment when end-times will begin is difficult.
While on the one hand the early Muslim community hoped for, and expected, a quick
conclusion to history, exegetes and those concerned with apocalyptic matters have been
cautious in their predictions. Scripture specifies that exact knowledge of the event is
Gods alone, as in S 41:47: To Him is referred knowledge of the hour.
Because the Quran is silent on most of the details of apocalyptic narrative, Muslims
have relied on the elaborations of tradition. David Cook in his Studies in Muslim
Apocalyptic notes that the Quran is an eschatological book, though clearly not an
apocalyptic one. Cook details the ways in which the adoption of apocalyptic materials
from existing traditions combined with Islamic structures to produce a distinctively
Muslim set of interpretations. He also describes what he calls the inter-religious transfer
.22
of biblical materials, mainly from the New Testament, into Muslim traditional hadth
The imperialist tendency is strong in Muslim apocalyptic, says Cook, along with a
desire to denigrate and humiliate Christianity (especially), and to use the worldly success
of the new faith for polemical purposes.23 Our analysis of the new literature on the topic
will demonstrate that the contemporary writers are specifically concerned with what
they see as the humiliation of Muslims through Western imperialism and support of
Israel, and with Christian dispensationalist triumphalism that seeks the eradication of
Islam. It therefore posits a counter scenario in which it is Islam that will triumph at the
end of time, its truth vindicated through the coming of Jesus, son of Mary.
al-Sa a (The Hour) is mentioned 48 times in the Quran.
David Cook, Studies in Muslim Apocalyptic (Princeton, NJ: Darwin Press, 2002) 29.
23
Cook, Studies, 5.
21
22
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Referred to in S 27:82.
S 18:94; 21:9697.
27
See Abd al-Hamid, Yajuj wa-Majuj. 551.
28
The Mahd will be from the House of the Prophet, a descendent of Fatima his daughter. Mabruk,
Alamat, 5152.
29
David Cook, Contemporary Muslim Apocalyptic Literature (Syracuse: Syracuse University Press,
2005), 126.
30
Among the contemporary writers who deal with the figure of the anti-Christ are: Hisham Kamal Abd
al-Hamid, Iqtaraba Khuruj al-Masih al-Dajjal (Immeinence of the Coming of the Anti-Christ) (Cairo:
Dar al-Bashir, 1997?); Akasha Abd al-Mannan al-Tibi, Akhir al-Maqal fi al-Masih al-Dajjal (The Last
Word on the Anti-Christ) (Cairo: Dar al-Itisam, 1991); Ayyub, al-Masih al-Dajjal; Muhammad Said
Dawud, Ihdhiru al-Masikh al-Dajjal Yaghzu al-Alam min Muthallath Bermuda (Beware the
Anti-Christ who Will Invade the World from the Bermuda Triangle) (Cairo: al-Mukhtar al-Islami, 1992);
26
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indicative of all that is wrong with the world in the final days. In Arabic he is referred to
as al-Masih al-Dajjal, the deceiver or false messiah, or simply as the Dajjal. The
traditional description of the Dajjal is important in understanding what contemporary
Muslim interpreters have to say about the identity of this figure. His physical condition
is especially alarming. Reddish in color, he is blind in one eye with the word kafir,
unbeliever, written on his forehead. The Dajjal, as the complete antithesis of the Mahd,
seeks to lead the umma away from the principles of true religion and to establish a
powerful kingdom with himself in charge.31 According to tradition the Dajjal will rule for
a period of seven years. Some traditions record that the Prophet used to seek refuge in
God from the wiles of the Dajjal whenever he prayed.32
The third figure to appear at the end of time is Jesus, son of Mary, who will join the
Mahd in destroying the anti-Christ and restoring justice to the world. Some traditions
hold that the Mahd and Jesus are synonymous figures, though most point to their
distinct differences.33 Verses 4:159 and 43:61 of the Quran are interpreted by most
commentators as indicating the return of Jesus.34 (The Quran attests that Jesus was not
crucified but was taken alive to heaven.) Unlike the gradual rise of both the Mahd and
the Dajjal, the coming of Jesus will be sudden. Most Muslims believe that he will appear
at the Great Mosque in Damascus, though others hold that he will come first to
Jerusalem. Traditionally the role of the Messiah is to kill the anti-Christ, rule the people
with justice, decimate Christians in their places of worship, break the cross, slaughter the
swine, restore the peace, institute freedom, establish the Sharia, and call people to Islam.
During his reign God will destroy all religions except Islam.35 Most traditions report that
Jesus confirms the Mahd as the true leader and that he prays behind him, a recognition
of the Mahds pre-eminence.36 Together they inaugurate the period of peace before the
actual arrival of the time of judgment.
Another constituent element of this eschatological picture is the emergence of the
figure(s) Yajuj and Majuj, who are sometimes seen as one person. They are familiar
Muhammad Isa Dawud, al-Khuyut al-Khafiya bayn al-Masikh al-Dajjal wa-Asrar Muthallath
Bermuda wa al-Atbaq al-Tairah (The Hidden Strings between the Anti-Christ and the Secrets of the
Bermuda Triangle and the Flying Saucers) (Cairo: al-Bashir lil-Tab wa al-Nashr, 1994?); Abu
Muhammad Jamal ibn Muhammad al-Shami, al-Aalam Yantazhir Thalath: al-Mahdi al-Muntazhar,
Isa ibn Maryam, al-Masikh al-Dajjal (The World Awaits Three: The Expected Mahdi, Jesus Son of Mary
and the Anti-Christ) (Cairo: Maktabat al-Nur al-Muhammadi, n.d).; Ali Muhammad, Ashrat al-Saah;
Abd al-Latif Ashur, al-Masih al-Dajjal: Haqiqa la Khayal (The Anti-Christ is Real not Imaginary)
(Cairo: Maktabat al-Quran, no date).
31
Smith and Haddad, The Islamic Understanding, 68.
32
Mabruk, Alamat al-Saah, 82.
33
Smith and Haddad, The Islamic Understanding, 68.
34
Muhammad Shahid Chaudhry, March Towards the Doomsday. (Lahore, Pakistan: SSNSAM Education
Foundation, 2008), 2.
35
Ashur, al-Masih al-Dajjal.
36
Said Amir Arjomand, Messianism, Millennialism and Revolution in Early Islamic History, in Abbas
Amanat and Magnus Bernhardsson, eds., Imagining the End: Visions of Apocalypse from the Ancient
Middle East to Modern America (London: I.B. Tauris, 2003), 113.
2010 Hartford Seminary.
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dimensions of American support of the state of Israel, the growing tensions between
Islam and the West following September 11, 2001, and the string of subsequent
responses on the part of the Muslim world to American intervention military, etc.
in the Middle East and other Muslim countries. It comes as no surprise that the
eschatological stories outlined earlier as part of traditional Christian millennialism have
come to be increasingly populated with Islamic figures. For dispensationalists this
identification of Islam with the end times is nothing new. Referring to trends in the
middle of 20th century America, historian Thomas Kidd reminds us that Although
dispensationalism did not naturally integrate Muslims as key figures in its events of the
last days, news from the Middle East kept bringing Muslims back toward the center of
dispensationalist narratives.41
Rather than trying to detail the large amount of apocalyptic literature that has come
out of evangelical Christianity in the last half century, and particularly recently, this
section will focus on three specific issues related to the end times narrative that have
ramifications for Islam: (a) Christian Zionism and support for the state of Israel, (b) the
importance of the rebuilding of the Temple of Jerusalem, and (c) the identification of
specific figures as candidates for the role and person of the anti-Christ.
Support for the State of Israel. We saw outlined above the general theological position
that posits the necessity of establishing, supporting and expanding the state of Israel as
preparation for the second coming of Jesus Christ. For some interpreters that expansion
suggests an Israel with the borders promised in the Book of Genesis from the Nile to the
Euphrates. Others feel that the physical growth of Israel to such an extent is unrealistic,
but insist that expansion means the right of the Israeli government, with American
support, to continue to build and expand on Jewish settlements in Palestinian territory.
Dispensationalist Christians are not blind to the fact that the Palestinians may be suffering
from this kind of expansionist activity. They are buttressed, however, by the belief that
the whole drama supports the biblical division and resulting historical discord between
the descendants of Isaac and Ishmael. The view of the Arab-Israeli conflict as
predestined hostility between the descendants of Isaac and Ishmael would become
increasingly common among Christian conservatives in the late 20th century, as would
the belief that Christians had an almost unlimited obligation to support Israel against
Arab Muslims, says Kidd.42 In the view of many dispensationalists we have moved into
the period of history in which the stage is set for the playing out of the final drama of the
end of history. The prophecy of Genesis 12:13 is now fulfilled that God will bless those
who bless Israel and curse those who curse Israel, says best-selling author Joel
Rosenberg. The prophecies of Ezekiel have also come true, he insists, including the birth
of Israel as a country, the desert blooming, and the growth within Israel of a great army.43
41
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Rebuilding the Ancient Temple of Jerusalem. For many evangelicals a key piece of
this end-story is the rebuilding of the Temple in Jerusalem. The reality, of course, is
that sitting atop the Temple Mount are the third most sacred sanctuaries in Islam,
namely the Dome of the Rock and the al-Aqsa Mosque. According to some interpre
tations the removal of those structures must occur before the Temple can be rebuilt,
and action should begin forthwith toward that end. Others seem more realistic about
what is possible and tend to keep the notion of rebuilding the ancient Temple as
more a dream than a practicality. If we count on the reconstruction of the temple,
says the anti-Muslim evangelical Marius Barr, we must assume the demise of Islam
and the oil countries.44 Barr worries that such a demise seems unlikely, despite the
fact that all the signs indicate the immanent return of Christ. In the meantime, he
acknowledges, Christians just have to live with the fact that the Temple has been
replaced by structures in which live the spirit of the anti-Christ which will rule the
world for a period. It may be Christ himself with the raptured saints who will rebuild
the Temple, thereby initiating the Millennium.45 Barr, writing in the 1980s, was one of
the first among the contemporary authors to posit that the anti-Christ will actually be
a Muslim.
For the majority of Jews since the late 1960s, of course, Temple rebuilding was not
on the top of their agenda. Since 1967, for security reasons, it has been the general policy
of the Israeli government to try to maintain the status quo on the Temple Mount, and to
protect the mosques. However, Israeli archeological excavations under the mosque have
raised Muslim suspicion of a preliminary plot to undermine its foundations. It is the
premillennialist Christians and some militant Israelis who have been impatient with the
status quo and have hoped that the Jews would take the initiative in building the Temple.
Since the 1970s Christian organizations have been active in helping Jews ignore Israeli
government policy and plan for building a structure that would even accommodate the
long postponed ritual of animal sacrifice.46 Muslim apocalypticists make frequent
mention of what they see as Jewish designs to destroy their mosque and replace it with
the Temple.47
Who is the anti-Christ? Several possibilities for describing the anti-Christ as having
connections with Islam have been raised by conservative Christians. Among the most
specific are the following:
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1. Allies of the Great Russian Bear. While the expectation that Russia is the anti-Christ has
lowered since the break-up of the Soviet Union, some scenarios posit a combination of
Russia and one or more of the Islamic countries. Mark Hitchcock notes that all the nations
revealed in Ezekiel 38:17 as attacking Israel in the end times are current Muslim states,
with the exception of Russia. However, he says, Ezekiel does prophecy that one of Irans
allies at the end times will be the great Russian Bear. Ties between Russia and Iran, he
notes, are getting stronger every day, and it is probable that by Magog is meant one of the
former southern republics of the Soviet Union, or perhaps even Afghanistan.48 Hitchcock
acknowledges elsewhere that Russias allies are Gog (and Magog), and that God will
utterly destroy them along with the military power of the Arab/Muslim world with whom
they are in league. This will happen at the midpoint of the Tribulation, paving the way
for the anti-Christ and his 31/2 year empire.49
2. Islam itself. The historical record makes it clear that throughout history Christians often
have identified Islam with the anti-Christ for both political and theological reasons. This
identification came back into vogue in the 1970s with the beginnings of the oil crisis, a
time during which Arab opposition to Israel came to be more visible in the West.
Demonization of Islam and association of it with the most violent elements of the
eschatological discourse has, of course, been particularly evident since 9/11, fostered by
the anti-Muslim rhetoric of a number of evangelical Christian leaders.
3. The Mahd. A few evangelicals have gone so far as to clearly identify the anti-Christ with
the awaited savior for Muslims. See, for example, Joel Richardsons The Islamic
Anti-Christ. The Shocking Truth About the Real Nature of the Beast. Richardson plays out
the entire end-time scenario, insisting that Islam is indeed the primary vehicle that will
be used by Satan to fulfill the prophesies of the Bible about the future political/religious/
military system of the Antichrist that will overwhelm the entire world just prior to the
second coming of Jesus Christ.50 Satan, through the anti-Christ, says Richardson, will
target for extinction first the Jews and then the Christians. Richardson professes himself
to be amazed at the way in which the unique and distinguishing aspects of the anti-Christ
of the Bible, including person, mission and actions, are matched by the classical Islamic
descriptions of the Mahd. . . . if we boil down the Muslim belief regarding the Dajjal to
its simplest and most important terms, we basically have a man who will claim to be
divine and will claim to be Jesus Christ, the Jewish Messiah.51 Such a claim, of course, is
particularly heinous to evangelicals for whom the second coming of Jesus is the ultimate
hopeful expectation.
4. Barak Obama. The anti-Christ will be a man, in his 40s, of MUSLIM descent, who will
deceive the nations with persuasive language, and have a MASSIVE Christ-like
appeal . . . the prophecy says that people will flock to him and he will promise false hope
and world peace, and when he is in power, will destroy everything. Is it OBAMA?52 Jason
Dittmer, collecting increasingly outrageous rumors circulating in conservative circles
48
Mark Hitchcock, Iran: The Coming Crisis (Eugene OR: Multnomah Publications, 2006), 67, 87, 180.
Mark Hitchcock, Is America in Biblical Prophecy? (Eugene OR: Multnomah Publications, 2002),
5253.
50
Joel Richardson, The Islamic Antichrist. The Shocking Truth about the Real Nature of the Beast (Los
Angeles: Wind Books, 2009), 12.
51
Richardson, The Islamic Antichrist, 77.
52
E-mail circulating in 2008 as reported in Jason Dittmer, Obama, Son of Perdition? Narrative
Rationality and the Role of the 44th President of the United States in the End-of-Days, in Jason Dittmer
49
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about the current President of the United States, says that according to his findings never
has one candidate for the highest office been so closely associated with Satan. Adding
together Obamas middle name with the fact that he was educated in an Indonesian
religious school, it was an easy next step to a whisper campaign identifying Barak
Obama with the anti-Christ many Christians see prophesied in the Bible. Even CNN aired
a brief segment in 2008 on Obamas supposed role in the end of days. According to the
Book of Revelation the number associated with the Beast is 666. Various mathematical
gymnastics have been employed to associate that number with Obama including the
letters in his name and his Chicago zip-code.
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creature with the word kafir (infidel) emblazoned on his forehead. He further
pointed out that if the Dajjal were real the Quran would not fail to make reference
to him as it does to the Beast. This opinion is shared by Abu Rayya in his Adwa ala
al-Sunna al-Muhammadiya (Shedding Light on the Traditions of the Muhammad ) and
by Ahmad Amin in his Fajr al-Islam (The Dawn of Islam). Even the late Egyptian
interpreter Muhammad al-Ghazali, influential in the late 20th century, rejected the
idea of the coming of the Dajjal on the basis of the fact that he is not mentioned
in the Quran. One has to depend on the authority of the hadith to support the existence
of the Dajjal, he says, which can create confusion. The Beast itself is real,
however, because it is scripturally based. According to Ghazali the Beast is from the
House of Israel. The reign of Banu Israil (Quranic reference to Jews) has come to pass
with the coming of Muhammad . The Beast is not, therefore, one of the signs of
the Hour.62
For centuries the authority to discuss the nature of the end of days lay in the hands
of the conservative ulama (religious elites). In recent years, with the rise of an educated
class and the Protestantization of Islam, a new class of elites, doctors, engineers,
lawyers and journalists has assumed the role of crafters of the new apocalyptic scenarios
based on a combination of traditional Muslim material, which incorporates
Judeo-Christian expectations, and the contemporary political, economic and security
realities in the Arab World.63 The impetus for these writings is the perceived disruption
of the social order that has undermined Muslim sense of confidence and wellbeing by
altering the balance of power in the region. It is nurtured by a profound feeling of being
victimized by Israel and the United States and by Muslim rulers who are accountable to
foreign rather than Muslim interests.
While there is not a consensus in the contemporary Muslim apocalyptic writing as to
the identity or even the reality of the Dajjal, much of the discussion of this figure seems
to center on the issue of the empowerment of Israel. There appears to be growing
agreement that the Dajjal is associated with the Jewish longing for a Messiah. In some
cases it is said that the anti-Christ will come to the Jews because he is their expected
Messiah. The Dajjal is associated with the Jews, says Mabruk. He will restore their
power.64 The Jews are the ones who rejected Jesus and Muhammad , and the anti-Christ
will be the one who fulfills their desires.65 Having misinterpreted the prophecies about
Jesus and Muhammad in the Bible as dealing with their prophets, the Jews believe that
their expected Messiah will empower them over the world. The true Messiah, says Abd
al-Hamid, is Jesus son of Mary who was rejected by the Jews. Jesus will kill the Dajjal,
their purported Messiah, the sower of discord and wars whose role is to destroy religions
Ahmad Hijazi al-Saqqa, Daf al-Shubuhat ein al-Shaykh Muhammad al-Ghazal (Refuting Dubious
Accusations Against Muhammad al-Ghazali) (Cairo: Mahtabat al-Kulliyat al-Azhariya, 1990), 107108.
63
Smith and Haddad, The Islamic Understanding, 68.
64
Mabruk, Alamat al-Saah, 175.
65
See, e.g., Ayyub, al-Masih al-Dajjal, 2728.
62
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and create chaos.66 At the eschaton it is generally believed that all Jews will die except
those who become Muslims.67
Some contemporary literature discusses the Dajjal as presently existing in the world
and sowing chaos and tribulation. It depicts him either as a physical demonic being or
as the representation of larger societal forces. Those who perceive him as a physical
being think that he is currently working himself into a position to gain power. He is
generally believed to be in the United States, although Europe is not discounted as a
possibility of the origin of the Dajjal. Other authors reject the idea that the Dajjal is an
actual physical being and see the emergence of Israel, the power of the United States,
and the concept of Zionism all as possibilities of ways one might interpret the coming of
this eschatological reality.68
The subject of the Dajjal seems to evoke the Muslim imagination in particularly
intriguing ways. The covers of popular apocalyptic tracts in Cairo bookstalls and
sidewalks portray him with bulging eyes (one blind as he is reputed to be one-eyed),
often with a sword in his hand and the Star of David on his chest. One shows an
evil-looking one-eyed wretch with a hideous beast in the background. Another heralds
al-masih al-dajjal with a picture of a one-eyed, large nosed sneering American soldier
with the Star of David hanging around his neck and missiles on his back. Most of these
representations in one way or another identify the anti-Christ with Israel, such as one in
which the Dajjal is pictured standing in front of a synagogue, himself holding a Star of
David and surrounded by a beatific cone of light. The continuing identification of Russia
and China is expressed in one cover featuring the diabolic Gog and Magog with forked
tongues and horns, a skull and hammer and sickle emblem emblazoned on their chests.
Abd al-Hamid exemplifies the interest in connecting the Dajjal with such mysteries
as flying saucers and the Bermuda Triangle. He calls the Triangle the throne of Iblis
[Satan], saying that it is the dwelling of jinn69 and the research center of the Dajjal. He
offers what he calls scientific and religious proof that what have been seen as
extra-terrestrial creatures on flying saucers are simply the soldiers of the anti-Christ from
Satan, the saucers themselves being the aerial weapons of the Dajjal. He identifies Jewish
plans to destroy the Masjid al-Aqsa and rebuild the ancient Temple as a means of
providing a place in which to worship the anti-Christ. Satan worshippers also establish
churches to worship the Dajjal and preach his imminent coming to their followers. In
Egypt today, he says, the message of the anti-Christ is disseminated by Satan worshippers
through the medium of rock music such as Black Metal, Death Metal and Heavy Metal.70
Abd al-Hamid argues that flying saucers are a reality. They do not come from outer
space, but are the weapons of the anti-Christ which are produced by Satan. These
Abd al-Hamid, Iqtaraba Khuruj, 138, 199, 211, 288.
Abd al-Hamid, Yajuj wa Majuj Qadimun, 154.
68
Cook, Contemporary Muslim Apocalyptic, 18587.
69
Creatures born of smokeless light, capable of assuming different forms to aid or to mislead humans.
70
Abd al Hamid, Iqtaraba Khuruj, 4563, 133650, 222, 235, 283.
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not aware that he is the foretold Mahd. His reluctance to acknowledge his calling from
God will be washed away as he gains the support of the umma and reestablishes the
caliphate. Armies will combine against him after he is formally presented at the Hajj, but
with the power of God he will overcome his enemies.78 His appearance along with that
of Jesus will be followed by the war at Armageddon. Lebanese Shaykh Muhammad
Hisham Kabbani, self-styled Chairman of the Islamic Supreme Council of America, writes
of the impending end-times events in The Approach to Armageddon? An Islamic
Perspective. He says that in the last days the Mahdi will come with heavenly support from
Allah, filling the earth with justice. Non-Muslims will be running to catch faith (Islam),
observing that westerners today are entering Islam in droves by Allahs grace.79
An interesting text published at the height of millenarian expectations in the West
sheds light on the official Muslim attitude towards the incorporation of the Masihiyat in
teachings about the imminence of the eschaton. The engineer Amin Muhammad Jamal
al-Din, a graduate in higher studies from the Dawa College of al-Azhar University, notes
in the introduction to the second edition of his book Umr Ummat al-Islam80 (Age of the
Muslim Community) that the first edition included references to Christian eschatological
material which created a sustained and strong response. The book sold out in a few
weeks. And in accordance with the wish of many of my brothers I have removed some
of the pages of the appendices, particularly the ones pertaining to the discussions of
People of the Book on the subject.81 He then discusses whether it is acceptable to
appropriate, or even read material published by People of the Book. He goes on to
affirm the traditional teachings on the subject, referring to what he calls the war between
Jews and Muslims. Jamal al-Din devotes a whole chapter to a discussion of Armageddon
(a term not used in traditional Islamic eschatology and rendered by the author in Latin
script), and is fully cognizant of the teachings, scenarios and issues put forward by
American Christians.82 He writes that many Muslims have misunderstood the truth
because they became dependant on foreign teachings. The Battle of Armageddon is real
and imminent. But in the Muslim understanding the forces will be aligned differently.
Muslims will form a coalition with Europe and the United States to fight a common
enemy which could be a coalition of Russia with the Shiites. The Jews will inflame the
war between the two coalitions and the Russians and Shiites will be wiped out. The
remnant will be destroyed by the Muslims and the Mahd who will appear after Jesus son
of Mary kills the anti-Christ. Armageddon will be fought with nuclear weapons that will
precipitate utter destruction. All weapons will be eliminated and as the scriptures
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prophecy nations who resort to war will have to use swords, lances and horses.83 There
is nothing new in this, he says, it is part of the flow of history in which nations and
civilizations rise and peak and then are brought low.84
Jamal al-Din, whose book appeared in 1996, notes that there seems to be a
consensus among Jews, Christians and Muslims that the world will come to an end by the
year 2000. Isaiah 24:3435 is the basis of Jewish expectation of the coming of the Messiah
in 1998, 50 years after the establishment of the State of Israel. The Christians believe that
he will come at the end of the Millennium. Jesus will return to demonstrate to the Jews
that they did not kill him; rather he will kill them. His return is also a refutation of
Christian teaching that Jesus is divine. He will affirm his humanity and his Islam. The
choice for humanity will be Islam or the sword.85
Conclusion
Central to all Islamic apocalyptic exegeses is the Quran, particularly those passages
revealed in Mecca in the context of the early persecution of the Muslim community. It is
therefore grounded in the concept of the ultimate vindication of the suffering righteous
people and provides assurance of Gods dominion over the enemy, even at the point of
utter weakness and defeat. Interpretations of its passages have led to eschatological
conclusions, many of which have changed over time to account for relevant prevailing
political realities. The Quranic material is generally supplemented with the traditions of
the Prophet and Judeo-Christian expectations of the eschaton.
A great deal of contemporary apocalyptic literature is focused on the Dajjal, the
anti-Christ, reflecting the Christian absorption in the topic and the exigencies of the
times. Contemporary Islamic interpretations are carefully crafted to reflect the deep
frustration felt by Muslims that they are helpless and unable to control their present or
shape their future, that their fate is being manipulated by the Jewish conspiracy. The
anti-Christ thus takes the form of Israel, the United States, and the Zionism that both
supports and represents them. Being vanquished is not a permanent position.
Popular Islamic apocalyptic literature calls on individual Muslims to maintain the
faith, to prepare the way for Jesus the Son of Mary and the Mahd. It provides a fusion
of the old apocalyptic expectations with those of the current Judeo-Christian millenarian
expectations. These writers want to raise the consciousness of the Muslim community to
refute Christian claims to supersession, to call Muslims to moral rearmament to serve in
the army of the Mahd to defeat evil and bring about justice and peace. These new
interpretations of traditional apocalyptic literature thus are trying to help the Muslim
community, especially Arab Muslims, to see meaning and purpose in the current political
circumstance. In a sense by putting new flesh on old bones they are helping provide a
reprieve from the stress of the current situation of chaos and social disruption. The
Jamal al-Din, Umr Ummat al-Islam, 38.
Jamal al-Din, Umr Ummat al-Islam, 39.
85
Jamal al-Din, Umr Ummat al-Islam, 106107.
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traditional signs of the hour are both the descriptors of current political realities and the
predictors of ultimate vindication of the believers and the defeat of the enemies of God.
This material is not prepared for dawa, not aimed at converting Christians and Jews
to Islam. Rather it seeks to affirm Muslim truth and counter the Christian apocalyptic
discourse, which predicts the destruction and eradication of Islam. By incorporating
elements of Christian apocalyptic literature, contemporary Muslim writers have created
a parallel discourse that sees the final solution for the Jewish problem. Both Muslim
and Christian apocalyptic authors look for the ultimate destruction of Israel and the death
of its population. Both see a remnant saved. The Christians see the Jewish remnant
converting to Christianity, while the Muslims see both Christians and Jews converting to
Islam.
It is clear that for some Christians deciphering the signs of the coming of the end
energizes them to seek a role in hastening its completion. For some Muslims, the signs
provide comfort that though they may be undergoing current tribulations, there is
assurance that God is in charge and that history is marching according to Gods will.
Christians active in facilitating the end of time believe that they have agency and can
speed the process of the coming of the Messiah by actualizing the prophecies of Ezekiel
and Daniel. Muslims rely on Gods power to initiate, implement and fulfill his will in
history and the end of times. Their participation or lack thereof does not hasten, interfere
or impede in any way Gods manifesting of his power in the world or his bringing
creation to its end.
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