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I should have done this a long time ago, but today (11/19/06) I've finally added a short essay about the apocalyptic beliefs about President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad of Iran. But I have tucked it way down at the bottom of the page, below the "cute" jihadi cartoon. If this is your first time here, please read the rest of the page before going to the Ahmadinejad section.
I am Dajjal. You are Dajjal. We are all Dajjal. Goo goo g'joob.The Dajjal is the greatest evil (fitnah) to appear on earth since the serpent of Eden. The Hadith predict that in the End Times, the Dajjal and his army will threaten to take over the entire globe, conquering some by military power, and seducing others with material prosperity. Then the Mahdi will appear, the purest Muslim since Mohammed. He will raise an army that includes 'Isha (the Muslim's idea of the second coming of Christ), and the Mahdi will defeat and kill the Dajjal. The Mahdi will then rule over the world according to Islamic law. All non-believers will have been killed or converted.
Although the classical description of the Dajjal in the Hadith is that he's an evil one-eyed giant, since the 1980s many imams have been preaching that the image of a "one-eyed giant" is just a metaphor for the USA as a superpower and for the materialistic Western culture that is overrunning the world (see the One Eye on the back of the dollar bill).
That is why they will not be daunted by a show of US military force. They are convinced that their scripture guarantees them eventual total victory over us, despite our apparent strength. Though they may, strategically, bide their time now and then -- after all, in their minds it's still a long way to 2076, so there's no hurry to subdue us yet.
There's a popular Muslim belief that the world will end in 2076, the Muslim year 1500 AH. As bad as things are now, expect the Islamicist terrorism to increase as we inch toward that date. We are only on the outer circles of the maelstrom.
In many madrasas, mullahs are teaching that the "Signs of Qiyama," the signs of the End Times, are being fulfilled. A few of the signs are that “a brother in the west can speak to a brother in the east,” that dancing and singing women would be everywhere, that homosexuality would be commonplace, that women would abort their children.
The Dajjal can leap through the sky, touching the clouds, wade across oceans, and ride a powerful mule swiftly across land. He brings back the dead to life (or at least seems to).
In the 1980s, the mullahs began to interpret these prophecies allegorically as describing the Western inventions of the airplanes, railroads, highways, modern ships, telephones, television, radios, etc. “Restoring the dead to life” meant the discovery of penicillin and all the innovations of modern Western medicine. And, of course, they say that the Hadith were predicting the women’s lib, gay lib, and pro-aborticide movements.
Thus, because some Muslims believe there is "no future," they are willing to "volunteer" for "the Mahdi's army" and fly planes into the World Trade Center or strap on a dynamite belt and walk into a restaurant. These millennialist Islamicists may soon begin using biological, chemical, or radioactive weapons.
US teaching efforts must take this issue head-on and refute it, one way or another: telling them “NO, we are NOT your ‘Dajjal.’ NO, it is not the end of the world. Now give up this suicide bomber stuff and go to school and make something useful of yourselves.” We need to remove this as the popular interpretation, and shrink the pool of Muslims who believe this, from whom terrorists are recruited.
As our government hands out foreign aid money to Muslim nations and organizations, we should ask each one of them: "Do you now, or have you ever believed, that the United States is the Dajjal?"
That will not solve everything. There can still be Muslim terrorists even without this Dajjal stuff. But putting a lid on it will be a major step, and is a necessary step.
Please see my links section for some FreeRepublic threads about Islamic Millennialism.
New essay, Jan. 6, 2006Okay, I'm going to try to summarize in general how it is that Western Civilization is the Dajjal, for those imams who read Dajjal as a metaphor, and not a literal individual person. This is cobbled together from a number of sources I've read. (And I don't know Arabic, Persian, or Urdu, so my sources are from the tiny fraction of Dajjal literature in English.)
a) The word "Dajjal" literally translates as "Deceiver."
b) From the Muslim, Qur'anic point of view, Jesus was a prophet of Allah, who taught that Allah is the One Undifferentiated God. Anyone who says that God is a Trinity of Three Persons, and that Jesus is one of those Divine Persons, is deceiving. If he says it because he believes it, he is both deceived and deceiving.
Hence, Christianity is itself an AntiChrist, because it is teaching the "opposite" of what Christ taught.
The evangelists and especially St. Paul "did not understand" who Jesus was and what he taught. And the texts of the Bible "have been corrupted" by deceivers over the centuries to support the dogma of the Trinity. Some imams might say the early Church was good and Islamic, but that corruption set in with Constantine and the Council of Nicaea. Regardless, to get the "truly infallible" account of Jesus, one must read the Qur'an.
But that’s not all.
c) The Dajjal of the hadith is not merely a deceiver - he is the greatest menace ever to scourge the earth from Adam to the Last Trumpets.
d) At the time Muhammed was alive, the Christians were not the Dajjal. They might have been deceived and deceitful, but back then they generally kept to themselves in Europe and thereabouts. For those imams, this “explains” why in Muhammed’s hadith, he talks about the Dajjal as an evil yet to come.
e) The Christians didn’t start "menacing the whole planet" until the explorers of the 15th and 16th centuries.
f) So now we get into the history of colonization of the world by the European Christian powers, the exploitation of nonwhite races throughout the world, slavery, the pillaging of the world’s land and natural resources by the conquering European nations, etc., etc., etc.
g) Meanwhile, with the Age of Enlightenment, European (and American) people are becoming more secular, agnostic, and atheistic (more levels of deceitfulness). With the progress of science and technology, they care more about external material things than about internal spiritual pursuits. With the rise of industrial capitalism, people and the environment are exploited on every level, and the West truly becomes a menace to the entire globe.
h) And let’s not forget the spread of Western Culture throughout the world. On the one hand you have musical instruments, immodestly dressed women, novels and films spreading sinful morality, etc.
On the other hand you have Christian missionaries converting people around the world, "slandering" Muhammed and the Qur’an, and working hand-in-hand with the governments and banks back in Europe and America.
i) I’ve been focusing on the Christianity of the West, but my Jewish friends should not feel left out. That’s where the “Protocols of the Elders of Zion” comes in. The Trinitarian Christians may be the figurehead Deceivers menacing the globe, but behind the scenes they themselves are being led around by a secret council of Jewish planners and financiers pulling the strings.
j) Q.E.D. The Dajjal is a metaphor for the West.
k) Now in the hadith Muhammed prophesies that the Mahdi will arise who will be the greatest Muslim since Muhammed. 'Isha (the Qur’an’s version of Jesus) will descend on a cloud and fight under the Mahdi in jihad. Together they will kill the Dajjal and spread Islam and shar’ia law throughout the planet.
l) Okay, now we’re going to get into some tricky interpretation here. Is the Mahdi an individual person, or a metaphor for a social movement of Muslims to oppose Western Civilization and everything for which it stands? If he’s an individual, will the Mahdi be the actual person to duel with the Dajjal, or might he be an individual who gets the ball rolling whereby the Dajjal’s inevitable demise is set in motion (*cough*BinLaden*cough*).
If the Dajjal is a metaphor, why shouldn’t the Mahdi be a metaphor?
But if a literal person, there are lots and lots of candidates in the past and present, and I’m sure there will be more in the future. An imam can pick his favorite one.
m) Now, what does “killing the Dajjal” mean? For some terrorist imams, that means chopping off the heads of every Westerner.
For the nicer, pacifist, we-are-in-the-end-times imams, that means the Mahdi will (“like Muhammed”) be a preacher and he will lead a "spiritual jihad" of converting the West to Islam. The hadith says that “the sun will rise in the west,” so this is interpreted to mean that the light of Islam will spread throughout the West.
n) After killing the Dajjal (whichever way), the Mahdi will govern the planet in perfect peace, justice and prosperity. Then the trumpets will sound, time will end, and the Day of Judgment will arrive. Allah will judge all souls (well, except for the prophets and martyrs since they are already in Paradise) and they will go to Paradise or Hell for all eternity.
o) I’ve dealt with the Dajjal as a metaphor for Western Civilization. For a more literal treatment of the Dajjal as a coming future individual person who will use the Western nations, the UN, the IMF, etc. as his power base, revise the scenario accordingly.
BTW, when thought of as an individual, many imams say he will be Jewish, although no hadith says this.
__________
I myself am an amillennialist. I do not believe we are living in the End Times, whether by this prophecy or that prophecy. I don’t particularly mind if someone does choose to believe in millennialism, unless that person starts using that as an excuse to attack my countrymen. At which point I take it as my duty to alert my fellow countrymen and our allies as to how millennial beliefs are a factor in the attacks.
End-Time Prophecies in the Hadith
from the Univ. of Southern California / Muslim Students Assoc. Hadith Database
[n.b. a lot of typos]
Hadith Collection of Sahih Muslim
Book 41: The Book Pertaining to the Turmoil and Portents of the Last Hour (Kitab Al-Fitan wa Ashrat As-Sa`ah)
description of the Major and Minor Signs of Qiyama, including the Dajjal
Hadith Collection of Sahih Bukhari
Book 88: Afflictions and the End of the World
description of the Major and Minor Signs of Qiyama, including the Dajjal
Hadith Collection of Sunan Abu-Dawud
Book 36: The Promised Deliverer (Kitab Al-Mahdi)
description of the Mahdi
Hadith Collection of Sahih Bukhari
Book 30: Virtues of Madinah
tells how the Dajjal cannot enter Medina or Mecca
Prof. David Cook of Rice University is the expert on Islamic End Time beliefs. Here are the urls to a few of his essays. Please note that these were written before Sept. 11, 2001.http://www.mille.org/scholarship/papers/cookabs.html
Islam and Apocalyptichttp://www.meforum.org/article/397
Muslim Fears of the Year 2000http://www.mille.org/scholarship/papers/ADAM.html
America, the Second 'Ad : Prophecies About the Downfall of the United States.http://www.mille.org/publications/winter2001/cook.html
The Beginnings of Islam as an Apoclayptic Movement
A must-read book by Prof. Cook:
Contemporary Muslim Apocalyptic Literature
by David Cook
x, 272 pages
Syracuse University Press, 2005
0-8156-3058-1 (hardbound) $34.95
For more background history about millennialism in early and medieval Islamic thought, read:
Studies in Muslim Apocalyptic
by David Cook
(Studies in Late Antiquity and Early Islam series: Number 21)
xii, 472 pages
Darwin Press, 2002
0-87850-142-8 (hardbound) $39.95
Here are some Muslim background sources for research. I'm not creating links because I've had some websites break my links in the past. Just copy&paste. If the url does not work, google the author & title, websites sometimes do relocate on a new server. Please also google the words "Dajjal / Dajjaal, Mahdi / Mehdi, and Qiyama / Qiyamah / Qiyamat" and see what you find.
http://www.witness-pioneer.org/vil/hadeeth/riyad/18/chap370.htm
Ahadith about Dajjal and Portents of the Hour
http://www.inter-islam.org/faith/Majorsigns.html
Major Signs before the Day of Judgement
by Shaykh Ahmad Ali
http://www.geocities.com/islam2jannat/main.htm
Qadiri-Noshahi
by Muhammad Sajad Ali
http://www.geocities.com/muslimapocalyptic/future_is_for_islam.htm
The Future Is For Islam [Muslim "prophecy" website]
I highly recommend the following books:
Extreme Islam : Anti-American Propaganda of Muslim Fundamentalism
edited by Adam Parfrey
328 pages
Feral House, 2001
0-92291-578-4 (paperback) $16.00
The Sayyid Qutb Reader
edited by Albert J. Bergesen
x, 175 pages
Routledge, 2008
0-41595-425-8 (paperback) $34.95
The Canons of Jihad : Terrorists' Strategy for Defeating America
edited by Jim Lacey
x, 187 pages
Naval Institute Press , 2008
1-59114-461-2 (paperback) $18.00
This book has full translations of Qutb's Milestones, Faraj's The Neglected Duty, Azzam's Join the Caravan and other primary jihadist texts
A Terrorist's Call to Global Jihad : Deciphering Abu Musab al-Suri's Islamic Jihad Manifesto
edited by Jim Lacey
xi, 205 pages
Naval Institute Press , 2008
1-59114-462-0 (paperback) $19.00
This book contains an abridged translation of al-Suri's Call to Global Islamic Jihad
Terrorist webzine for jihadist kids
I've put this off for too long, so here are a few thoughts on President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad of Iran.
1. Ahmadinejad is not alone in expecting the Mahdi. The whole Muslim world -- Sunni, Shi'ite & the smaller sects -- have been flooded for decades with propaganda that the "Signs of Qiyamah" are unfolding. It is bad reporting when a commentator speaks about "Ahmadinejad's apocalyptic beliefs" because it implies a) that he's somehow unique or rare in such beliefs, and b) that such beliefs are tied to the Shi'ite's Twelfth Imam. Countless Sunnis also believe these are the End Times but do not expect the Mahdi to be the "Twelfth Imam." Sunni millennialists expect the Mahdi to restore the Caliphate, not the Imamate.
It is wrong to consider Ahmadinejad to be "crazy" or a "lunatic" for thinking these are the End Times. In this he is simply a faithful Muslim who has been told the overwhelming "evidence" that the Signs of Qiyamah are unfolding. Given the many "proofs" offered, it is the most reasonable thing in the world to expect the Mahdi to appear, and to want to assist him in his prophesied victory over the Dajjal.
2. Often in reportage on Ahmadinejad, the Mahdi is described just as an expected charismatic great Muslim leader who will "bring justice" to the world. This also is quite misleading. The Mahdi is foretold in the Hadith to be predestined TO KILL a whole bunch of people -- in battle -- and then to convert the survivors, WORLD-WIDE, to Islam. That is what the code-word "justice" means.
3. It is frequently said that Ahmadinejad desires to "create chaos" in order to hasten the return of the Twelfth Imam. Personally, I do not believe this. If anyone has evidence of this, I am eager to see it. But from all the literature I've read, millennialist Muslims are convinced that the WEST has ALREADY "created chaos" throughout the world through economic exploitation by Capitalists, through political repression by Marxists, through environmental pollution from new technology, through support of Israel, etc. From my readings, it would be a sign of weak faith if a Muslim like Ahmadinejad thought he had to lift one finger to hasten the appearance of the Mahdi.
Often the name of the Hojjatieh Society is associated with Ahmadinejad in this regard. It is frequently said that they believe that they must "create chaos" to hasten the Mahdi's appearance. Unfortunately for me, none of the reports bother to provide direct quotes from the Hojjatieh Society about these views. They quote either Muslim political/theological rivals of the Hojjatieh, or Westerners relying on the former. Call me a stickler for details, but I would like to see a quote or two from the Hojjatieh people themselves before I accept the opinion of the Ayatollah Khomeini about them. My own guess is that the Hojjatieh Society talks about "paving the way" for the returning Twelfth Imam.
Now, "paving the way" for the Mahdi is quite a different thing from "creating chaos" to hasten his return. Ahmadinejad has been quoted as saying that he wishes to "pave the way" for the return of the Twelfth Imam -- by enlarging the Jamkaran mosque, building roads and hotels for pilgrims (or armies), and by developing nuclear weaponry for the Mahdi's army.
[EDIT: MEMRI has made available a few direct quotes from Iranian Mahdiviat sources, and their POV is that they must "pave the way" for the Mahdi by creating a society based on strict shari'ah law.
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-religion/1842120/posts
"The Doctrine of Mahdism: In the Ideological and Political Philosophy of Mahmoud Ahmadinejad"]
4. Speaking of nuclear weapons, various imams have also been preaching that if/when there is a nuclear exchange, Allah will suspend the laws of physics so that ONLY INFIDELS will be killed by the nuclear blasts and the radiation fallout. They are even saying that Muslim real estate like the Dome of the Rock will be untouched by the blast. The "Mahdi" can nuke Jerusalem in the morning, and move into a home there in the afternoon. Ahmadinejad may be a trained engineer, but I would not be surprised if he believes Allah will fix it so his nukes kill only infidels.
5. It is EXTREMELY DANGEROUS to allow someone who believes that there is NO FUTURE because the "Signs of Qiyamah" are unfolding to get his hands on a nuclear arsenal. The MAD philosophy of "mutually assured destruction" that worked so well with the Soviets would have absolutely no influence on Ahmadinejad and others who believe these are the End Times, that there is NO FUTURE anyway, and who look forward to martyrdom.
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