The Antichrist and the Muslim Mahdi (Part 2)
In my last article,
I explained the Judeo-Christian understanding of the Antichrist and
that he will somehow be intertwined with Israel—and more specifically,
Jerusalem.
Because
Islam borrowed a great deal from Judaism and Christianity, it is not
surprising that they too have a figure with a messianic complex—the
Mahdi, or the Guided One.
Muslims
see the Mahdi as a savior who will lead a global revolution and
establish a worldwide Islamic empire. The Mahdi will rule the Earth as
the final Caliph of Islam (a caliph is both a political ruler and a
spiritual representative of Allah on Earth).
Muslims
revere Jesus (whom they call Isa) as the Masih or Messiah. In Islamic
eschatology, the Mahdi will arrive at the same time that Isa returns.
Isa will descend to Earth in Syria, east of Damascus, dressed in yellow
robes, and will assist the Mahdi, who will rule over the world for seven
years (or, in some Islamic traditions, nine or 19 years). At the end of
the Mahdi's rule, there will be a Day of Judgment for the entire human
race.
The
parallels between the biblical Antichrist and the Mahdi of Islam are
chilling. Both are associated with the End Times and the Judgment. Both
are said to possess political, military and religious power, and head up
a one-world religion. The Mahdi will force all non-Muslim people to
convert to Islam. Like the Antichrist, the Mahdi will establish
Jerusalem as his capital, from which he will rule the Earth.
Islamic scholars Muhammad ibn Izzat and Muhammad Arif write, in Al Mahdi and the End of Time:
"The Mahdi will be victorious and eradicate those pigs and dogs and the
idols of this time so that there will once more be a caliphate based on
prophethood as the hadith states. ... Jerusalem will be the
location of the rightly guided caliphate and the center of Islamic rule,
which will be headed by Imam al-Mahdi. ... That will abolish the
leadership of the Jews ... and put an end to the domination of the Satan
who spit evil into people and cause corruption in the earth, making
them slaves of false idols and ruling the world by laws other than the
Sharia [Islamic law] of the Lord of the worlds."
Though
Muslims revere Jesus as a prophet, they deny that Jesus is the Son of
God. Jews and Christians are, to Muslim fundamentalists, "pigs and dogs"
who must either convert to Islam or be eliminated. Bible prophecy makes
it clear that the Antichrist will target Jews and Christians for
destruction, just as Islamic prophecy states that the Mahdi will wage
war against Jews and Christians. Those who oppose the Antichrist's
worldwide religion will be executed.
Muslim
scholar Imam Muhammad Baqir states clearly how the Mahdi will establish
his one-world religion: "There must be bloodshed and jihad to establish
Imam Mahdi's rule." And Ayatollah Ibrahim al Amini of the Religious
Learning Center in Qom, agrees: "The Mahdi will offer the religion of
Islam to the Jews and Christians; if they accept it, they will be
spared. Otherwise they will be killed."
Daniel
tells us (and Jesus affirms in the Olivet Discourse) that the
Antichrist will establish "the abomination that causes desolation" in
the Temple in Jerusalem. The apostle Paul adds that the Antichrist "will
oppose and will exalt himself over everything that is called God or is
worshiped, so that he sets himself up in God's temple, proclaiming
himself to be God" (2 Thess. 2:4). Since the Temple was destroyed in 70
A.D., as Jesus predicted, this has led some (not all Christians) to
suggest that the Jewish Temple must be rebuilt on Temple Mount before
the Antichrist can be revealed to the world.
Yet the golden-topped Dome of the Rock shrine and the Al-Aqsa mosque stand on Temple Mount today. One of the Islamic Hadiths
(traditions) records that their Prophet Muhammad said, "[Armies
carrying] black flags will come from Khurasan [Iran and Afghanistan], no
power will be able to stop them, and they will finally reach Eela [the
Al-Aqsa mosque in Jerusalem] where they will erect their flags." In
Islamic tradition, black banners symbolize violent conquest, and Muslims
await the Mahdi's conquest of Jerusalem, when he establishes his reign
from the Temple site.
Daniel
9:27 tells us the Antichrist will establish a seven-year covenant with
Israel—but he will break the covenant after three-and-a-half years,
defiling the Temple with "an abomination that causes desolation." The Hadiths
of Islam also speak of a seven-year covenant that the Mahdi makes with
Israel: "The Prophet said: There will be four peace agreements between
you and the Romans. The fourth will be mediated through a person who
will be from the progeny of Hadrat Aaron [Honorable Aaron, the brother
of Moses] and will be upheld for seven years."
There
can be no doubt: Muslims are preparing to accept the Mahdi as their
leader—and the Mahdi is indistinguishable from the world leader we know
as the Antichrist.
I
bring all of this to your attention so we can have a knowledgeable
perspective when viewing current events unfolding in the Middle East.
But Christians should not fear.
Regardless
of whether the Antichrist comes in this generation or a hundred years
from now, those who have placed their faith in God's Messiah, Jesus the
Christ, fear no one nor even death. Their eternity is secure in the One
who is the only One to defeat death and rise from the grave.
Michael Youssef, Ph.D.,
is the founder and president of Leading the Way with Dr. Michael
Youssef, a worldwide ministry that leads the way for people living in
spiritual darkness to discover the light of Christ through the creative
use of media and on-the-ground ministry teams. Youssef was born in
Egypt.
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