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 '12th Imam,' Key Facet Of Islamic Prophecy, Fuels Middle East Turmoil

It’s not only evangelical Christians who are sensing that something has changed in the world, and that we may be entering the very last days.

Muslims are also eagerly awaiting their messiah.

In the latest evidence of this messianic fervor, a mainstream Sunni Muslim website has decreed that the Islamic messiah, called the Mahdi, will appear this year or in 2016 and that the Muslim Jesus will return in 2022 to conquer the world for Islam.

DiscoveringIslam.org and the End Times Research Center have calculated that the “first phase” of the end of time will begin soon and lead to the “Day of Judgment” in seven years.

The estimates were derived from “the latest research” into numerical analysis of the Quran, Hadith, Arabic words and historical events,” according to DiscoveringIslam.org.

“The Messenger of Allah [sallallahu ‘alayhi wa-sallam] informed the Companions of everything that would occur until the Day of Resurrection,” the website reports.

“Based on our numerical analysis of the Quran and Hadith, the official beginning of the End of Time and the coming of the Imam Mahdi will most likely be in 2015 (or 2016) and Jesus Christ (p) will come down from Heaven to Earth in 2022, in-sha Allah (if Allah is willing),” the website reported.

The Quran and the Bible put forth end-times narratives that are similar but opposite. The Bible’s antichrist, for instance, resembles Islam’s messiah while Muslims view the Jesus of the Bible as their antichrist or “Dajjal.” The Quran teaches that Jesus returns to earth but for a very different purpose – to “break the cross” and convert the world’s Christians to Islam.

Bible teacher Joel Richardson underscores the inverted end-time views of the two faiths in his New York Times-best-selling book, “The Islamic Antichrist,” and his documentary film, “End Times Eyewitness.”

end_times_eyewitnessRichardson is an expert in eschatology, or the order of end-times events, as presented in Christianity, Judaism and Islam. He points to Jesus’ warnings in Matthew 24 and Mark 13 that false teachers and false prophets would arise in the last days to deceive many.

Richardson believes Muhammad is one of those false prophets. But the religion he founded, Islam, must be taken seriously because 1.4 billion people believe in its teachings, which are apocalyptic and getting more so, Richardson said. In fact, it’s impossible to understand what inspires and motivates Islamic radicals such as ISIS or al-Qaida if you aren’t familiar with their eschatology.

But it’s not just the radicals who believe in the Islamic teachings about the apocalypse, he said.

“It is frequently claimed that those who believe these things are but the tiny minority of radicals,” Richardson told WND. “But what the (Discovering Islam) article reveals, is that even many mainstream Muslims now believe that the last days are upon us.”

Many Muslims across the globe see the unfolding events in Syria and Iraq as proof that the prophetic traditions of Islam are coming to pass and will soon lead to the return of the Muslim Jesus and the Mahdi.

As previously reported by WND last October, an influential Turkish Muslim media personality and prolific author, Adnan Aktar, said he expects the Mahdi to appear in Istanbul.

Aktar said the Mahdi will communicate with spirit beings called the djinn, who will help Muslims prevail throughout the world.

ISIS expects a major battle to occur near the Syrian city of Dabiq between the soldiers of Allah and the “Romans,” who are seen as the leaders of the infidel Western powers fighting alongside apostate Muslims. Some analysts have said ISIS could be trying to hasten this battle by goading the U.S. into putting boots on the ground in Syria.

According to the Islamic view the soldiers of Allah will win this battle, ushering in a period marked by the destruction of the Jewish State of Israel and the dominance of Muslims globally.

Check out Joel Richardson’s two ground-breaking books, “The Islamic Antichrist” and “Mideast Beast,” which have won acclaim from Bible scholars the world over and led many to reconsider the view that the Antichrist will arise out of Europe.

“Even if none of these things are true, there is power in prophecy, and the sense of divine endorsement that this empowers many with will have horrific consequences in the days ahead,” Richardson said. “When Christians think about Jesus warning of the rise of false prophets in the last days, we often think of false voices within the church. No doubt, we have plenty of such voices, shouting ‘peace and security,’ ‘all is well,’ ‘thrive and prosper,’ etc. But rarely do many Christians think of the false prophetic traditions of Islam that are misleading a large segment of mankind.”

As novelist and filmmaker Joel C. Rosenberg recently noted, the greatest danger to the world is not merely radical Islam, but apocalyptic Islam.

“In Tehran, our own president has just agreed to allow the single most apocalyptic regime in the earth to attain nuclear weapons,” Richardson said. “Never before has the term ‘existential threat’ been so real.”

“Now is the time for Christians, whose prophetic traditions are true, to rise up in confidence knowing that the return of Jesus is drawing close, eager to proclaim the Gospel and bring in the final harvest while there is still time,” Richardson said.

Iran’s leaders have been speaking apocalyptically for years. In September 2012, WND reported that former President Mahmoud Amadinejad delivered a speech to the United Nations General Assembly in which he claimed the table was set for a “new world order” based on rule by the coming Mahdi, also called the 12th imam in Shiite Islam.

'12th Imam,' Key Facet Of Islamic Prophecy, Fuels Middle East Turmoil

CBN.com NASHVILLE, Tennessee, (BP) Among the nearly 68 million people in Iran, the vast majority are Muslim who place their hope not in modern-day politics or rulers but in a person who walked the earth centuries ago and is promised to return.

“Both Islam and Christianity have a very well-defined eschatology, or period of the last days; both of them cannot be correct …,” said William Wagner, senior professor at Golden Gate Baptist Theological Seminary and author of the book, “How Islam Plans to Change the World.”

A majority of Shiite Muslims traditionally believe that the “12th Imam” (Islamic religious leader), born in 868 A.D., was placed by God into hiding (known as occultation) until the day of judgment. Southern Baptist author and evangelist Anis Shorrosh explained that many Shiites also refer to the 12th Imam as the Mahdi, an Arabic word that generally references a messiah, or a guide.

“This man will come to show them the way, because the prayer of every Muslim five times a day … ends with ‘Show us the right path, not the path of those who have incurred your anger or those who are lost, but those upon whom grace has come,’” Shorrosh said.

Though most strains of Islam have a belief in the Mahdi, Shiites traditionally believe he is Mohammed ibn Hasan, the 12th in the line of imams who were descendents of the prophet Mohammed. Though they do not know when the Mahdi will return, they believe he will come to end the misery of his people. Some strains of Islam even hold a belief that Jesus will be the Mahdi who will return and proclaim Islam as the true religion.

“Satan always tries to duplicate everything that God does,” Wagner said, “and I believe he has created his own eschatology that is somewhat similar to that of Christianity, but false enough to where it is apparent that it is not the truth.”

Ray Tallman, director of the school of intercultural studies at Golden Gate Seminary, noted that the major eschatological question for Shiite Muslims is when the Mahdi’s return will take place -– and many hold the belief that the time is near. The increasing clash with Israel and that with Christianity are two indications to Shiites that the Mahdi’s return could be near, said Tallman, who spent seven years as the international director for Arab World Ministries.

“All of that is sort of a sign of the times that now it has come to this, and that what is actually being done now out of hate has an eschatological sign of promise to it,” Tallman said of the Shiite view.

Iranian president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has been cited by various news sources as not only believing in the eventual return of the Mahdi, but that the return is near and that it is the responsibility of the Iranian government to prepare the country for his return.

“Belief in a savior is universal,” BBC News quoted Ahmadinejad as saying in January. “It is the pivot of our beliefs as Muslims and Iranians. We believe that an offspring of the prophet, may peace be upon him, will be the ultimate savior. His name and attributes are clear. He will come and will administer ultimate justice.”

The belief that the Mahdi’s return is near is not a new claim among Shiites, Wagner said, but one that has been held almost since the 12th Imam was historically placed into hiding.

“Almost every generation has some figures in Islam that either claim to be the 12th Imam or claim that the 12th Imam will come to himself,” Wagner said.

Although Shiites and Sunnis often battle against each other, as is currently the case in Iraq, Wagner noted common efforts among both groups of Muslims to destroy Israel, which is a critical part of Islam taking control in the world and thus ushering in the Mahdi.

“They feel like one of the major blocking points is Israel, and that is one reason why they feel like they must destroy Israel,” Wagner said.

Wagner further noted that Islam is “on the march” with the intention of the entire world becoming Muslims.

“The problem is that in many parts of the world today, Christianity has become very weak,” Wagner said. “It is extremely necessary for all Christians to reevaluate their faith and to become stronger in their faith in Jesus Christ. This is the one thing that Islam fears the most because, down deep; they know that they cannot compete with the truth of the Gospel of Jesus Christ.”

Wagner also noted that Islam is a religion of fear, with many Muslims fearing their own faith.

“It is the task of Christians to proclaim the Good News of Jesus Christ to Muslims everywhere so that they can be released from this fear and find the assurance of eternal salvation through Jesus Christ,” Wagner said.

Iranian President Prepares For 12th Imam's Reappearance

CBN.com NASHVILLE, Tennessee (BP) -- Aug. 22 could be an ominous date for Israelis and Americans based on its significance this year as one of Islam’s most revered holy days, according to a Princeton professor who says Iran may be planning “cataclysmic events” to prepare the way for Shiite Muslims’ awaited messiah.

Bernard Lewis, a professor emeritus of Near Eastern studies at Princeton University, warned in a Wall Street Journal opinion piece that Aug. 22 this year corresponds to the 27th day of the month of Rajab of the year 1427 on the Islamic calendar, which is when Muslims commemorate the flight of the prophet Muhammad on a winged horse to Jerusalem and then to heaven and back.

Aug. 22, Lewis said, could provide an opportune moment for Iran’s president, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, to set in motion the return of the 12th Imam, whom Shiites believe will forever end the struggle between good and evil in the last days.

“Mr. Ahmadinejad and his followers clearly believe that this time is now, and that the terminal struggle has already begun and is indeed well advanced,” Lewis wrote in The Wall Street Journal Aug. 8. “It may even have a date, indicated by several references by the Iranian president to giving his final answer to the U.S. about nuclear development by Aug. 22.”

The United Nations Security Council has asked Iran to stop all uranium enrichment by the end of August, but Iran has refused. Western nations, led by the United States, believe Iran is using its nuclear program as a cover for developing atomic weapons while Iran says the program is for generating electricity with nuclear reactors.

Ahmadinejad repeatedly has said he believes Israel should be obliterated, and he is a clear foe of the U.S. government, which he contends is against Islam and is the strongest threat to his Shiite goal of Middle East domination.

Lewis identifies another key reason Ahmadinejad is an imminent nuclear threat, based on an concept that kept nations from nuclear attacks during the Cold War -- mutual assured destruction.

“There is a radical difference between the Islamic Republic of Iran and other governments with nuclear weapons,” Lewis noted. “This difference is expressed in what can only be described as the apocalyptic worldview of Iran’s present rulers.”

In other words, Iran doesn’t fear retaliation if they attack Israel or the United States because a final global struggle against an evil enemy will present them with the privileges of martyrdom as taught in Islam, Lewis wrote. Death is not a deterrent.

“It is far from certain that Mr. Ahmadinejad plans any such cataclysmic events precisely for Aug. 22. But it would be wise to bear the possibility in mind,” Lewis wrote.

Ahmadinejad Obsessed with Return of 12th Imam

Kairos Journal, which seeks to equip church leaders as they engage the culture for Ahmadinejad Obsessed with Return of 12th Imam

Kairos Journal, which seeks to equip church leaders as they engage the culture for Christ and has several leading Southern Baptists on its editorial team, has taken a look at Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad’s fascination with the return of Shiite Muslims’ messiah and what that means if Ahmadinejad is armed with nuclear weapons.

“Ahmadinejad belongs to the mainstream of Shi’a Islam, known as ‘Twelvers,’” an article posted at www.kairosjournal.org stated. “They recognize a historical succession of Imams, connected by family ties, commencing with Muhammad and concluding with the 12th Imam.”

The 12th Imam was born around 868 A.D. at a time of great persecution of Shiites, the journal explained, and in order to protect him, his father, the 11th Imam, sent him into hiding. He appeared in public briefly at the age of 6 when his father died but then went back into obscurity. Shiites believe he continues to guide Muslims, and they expect his “messianic” return to bring order from chaos and righteousness from unbelief, Kairos said.

“President Ahmadinejad seems to think that the time is ripe for the 12th Imam’s reappearance and that, as president, he should play a role in opening the way for his return,” the journal said. “He is reported to have said in one of his cabinet sessions, ‘We have to turn Iran into a modern and divine country to be the model for all nations, and which will also serve as the basis for the return of the 12th Imam.’”

Like Bernard Lewis of Princeton, the Kairos authors said Ahmadinejad seems to believe “that the hand of God is guiding him to trigger a series of cataclysmic events which could precipitate the return of the 12th Imam. Only time will tell if this is his true conviction; but if he does hold such a view, his possession of nuclear weapons is a particularly scary prospect.”