Allies of One Another
The early Christians were generally considered as nothing more than a Jewish sect, but with the passage of time the alien concepts implanted by St. Paul Trinity, Atonement, Abolition of the Mosaic Law made them a different people altogether. The initial three centuries of the Common Era were characterized by severe persecution being inflicted upon the Christians, a considerable segment of which still consisted of Unitarians, at the hands of both the Jews and the Romans. However, the whole situation changed dramatically when the Roman Empire embraced Christianity, as a result of which the Jews became the target of official harassment and oppression.
As the Christians saw it, Jews were guilty of “deicide,” the murder of their God, and therefore they excluded the latter from the mainstream of socio-economic life. This trend continued unabated in the Middle Ages, often manifiesting as wholesale killings of the Jews. In 1096, for example, the Crusaders on their way through France and Germany massacred thousands of Jews. Widespread killings took place in 1146 by the armies of the second Crusade. More than a thousand Jews were hanged in England, in 1234, for allegedly circumcising a Christian boy. In 1290, Jews were banished from England by King Edward. In 1350, they were held responsible for the spread of plague, and hundreds of thousands were murdered in Europe. They were forced to live together under subhuman conditions called “Ghettos.” Religious courts, or “Inquisition,” ordered the burning of thousands of Jews during the 15th century, and these events were witnessed and celebrated as popular holidays.
Ironically enough, during more than a thousand years of humiliation and persecution, the only respite of peace and prosperity enjoyed by the Jews was in the Muslim territories. Jewish historians like Abba Eban and Solomon Grayzel have acknowledged and recognized their “Golden Age of Diaspora” the period of Jewish affluence and growth in Muslim Spain. When the Arab rule came to end in 1492, and the Jews were immediately expelled from Spain by the Christian rulers Ferdinand and Isabella, they were given refuge and asylum in the Ottoman Empire. Large population of Jews continued to prosper peacefully in Iraq, Syria, Yemen, and Egypt, during the time when their brethren were suffering miserably in Europe, particularly in the Russian lands.
According to the Holy Qur’an, the hatred and enmity between the Jews and the Christians will last till the end of the world (Al-Ma’ida 5:14 & 64). However, we can clearly see that their mutual rancor underwent a very slow and gradual decline during the last few hundred years. The Qur’an seems to be saying, therefore, that the present coalition between the Jews and the Christians is only superficial and cosmetic as well as transient, and also that the end of the world is not very far.
We know that the Jews had always viewed themselves as a special breed of people, superior to the rest of the humanity as the “Chosen People of the Lord,” who are born to rule the Gentiles. As a result, they couldn't come to terms with their shockingly unexpected humiliation, and thus the episodes of Divine retribution instead of softening their hearts and producing in them a desire to repent and the willingness to atone for their collective crimes has produced in them a revengeful and malicious envy and a sort of diabolical bitterness.
It would of course be unfair to make sweeping generalizations because individual persons vary greatly, but as far as the collective psyche of the Jewish nation is concerned, it is undeniable that they have developed a deeply ingrained tendency to conspire and to maneuver things surreptitiously for their own gain, without ever appearing on the stage. It may be pointed out that this character of the Jews was already prominent during the days of Prophet Muhammad (SAW), and that it is this very inclination towards behind-the-scene subversive activities that has produced the present state of alliance and so-called friendship between them and the Christians.
The persecuted Jews were well aware that the only way to turn the table on their arch enemy, the Christians, was by way of minimizing the influence of religion over them and by debilitating the authority of the Church. Thus, they ingeniously used the spirit of rationalism that was already spreading form Muslim Spain into Christian Europe to make a breach in the bastion of Christian faith. As a matter of fact, the highly irrational and almost ridiculously illogical dogmas being enforced by the Church in the name of religion were never in a position to stand against the tide of Reason. The Renaissance in Europe was characterized by an intense interest in the physical world and in the knowledge derived from concrete sensory experience, and a decline in metaphysical beliefs and interest in the life after death, both of which were prominent themes during the Middle Ages. This rise of Reason, therefore, turned out to be the beginning of the end for Christianity and the onset of the domination of materialism and pragmatic morality. The European Jews by playing a key role in polluting the essence of rationalism with the evils of licentiousness and promiscuity, as well as with that of intellectual vagrancy which is euphemistically called “liberalism” were able to increase their influence in the Christian society. The rise of sexual permissiveness and the resulting breakdown of traditional family values in the West represents only one aspect of the defeat of Christian morality against the financial interests and the growing influence of the Jews.
At the same time, the rise of Protestantism and the movement for “Reformation” opened the gates of unlimited individual freedom and destroyed the unity of Christendom. Although usurious money-lending activity of the Jews had existed on a small scale throughout the middle Ages, the weakening of the Church, along with the liberal views of John Calvin (1509-1594) in Economics, ultimately led to an enormous rise in the previously prohibited practice of usury. The acceptance by the Christians that such transactions are unavoidable for economic growth and material prosperity made them willing hostages of the money-lending institutions banks, insurance companies, stock exchanges and the like all of which were, and still are, strongholds of the Jewish people. Today these financial institutions are the uncontested rulers of the Western World, particularly of Great Britain and the United States. The introduction of paper money instead of gold and silver has also greatly bolstered this wicked web of control and exploitation. This is how the Jews were able to take control of the affairs of the world without really exposing or endangering themselves.
This unnatural and artificial alliance between the Jews and the Christians the basis of the so- called New World Order is actually nothing more than the relationship between a parasite and its host, or between a master and his slave. One of the recent manifestations of this bizzare friendship is the decree issued by the Pope, exonerating the Jews from the two-thousand years old charge of crucifying Jesus Christ. The Holy Qur’an had prophetically warned us of the dangers of this coalition thus:
O Believers, do not hold Jews and Christians as your allies. They are allies of one another; and anyone who makes them his friends is surely one of them; and God does not guide the unjust. (Al-Ma’ida 5:51)
Before the Doomsday
It is an essential part of our faith as Muslims that we take the universe in which we live as created and contingent and not eternal. Unlike the early Greeks, who thought that the universe had always existed, the Holy Qur’an teaches us that ours is a very large but finite universe in terms of both space and time, and as such it has a definite beginning and a certain end. The following scenario emerges when we study modern cosmology from an Islamic perspective.
In the beginning, Almighty Allah (SWT) created a concentrated core of light-energy, and then, later on, He caused it to explode in a Big Bang, leading to the creation of time, space, and matter. This phenomenon of creation out of nothing represents the manifestation of divine command “Be!” The Big Bang did not happen at any specific place, as the “space” itself was created with this explosion. Similarly, it did not occur at any particular instant, as the “time” itself came into being with the Big Bang.
Since then, the universe has been continuously expanding, rotating, and evolving. At a predetermined point in the future, it will stop expanding, and from then on the contraction or folding-back phase of the universe will commence either due to the gravitational pull of the unseen matter exceeding the forces of expansion, or as a result of the swallowing up of entire galaxies by Black Holes leading ultimately to the Big Crunch, which is the disappearance of the cosmos in a catastrophic implosion, like the Big Bang in reverse.
The Big Crunch will be followed by another Big Bang, leading to the creation of a new universe that will last forever, and which will be totally different from our present universe, utterly beyond the realm of our imagination. We believe, on the authority of the Qur’an and Prophet Muhammad (SAW), in the rebirth of all humanity, their final judgment, the Hell and the Paradise, though the exact nature of that state of existence is simply inconceivable.
As far as the end of our own world is concerned, it seems that a major catastrophe will befall, destroying a part of our galaxy including the sun and the earth, and that this will happen well before the universal doomsday or the Big Crunch. It is this local doomsday that is referred to in the Holy Qur’an as the “Startling Calamity” or the “Inevitable.”
The Ascendancy of Islam
There are a few cryptic remarks in the Holy Qur’an regarding the events which will precede the Doomsday; these points are fully explained in the form of detailed prophecies that appear in the traditions of Prophet Muhammad (SAW). According to these prophecies four major events will happen before the end of the world; in chronological sequence, they are as follows:
(1) The Ultimate World War of human history, which will be fought predominantly in the Middle East;
(2) The appearance of Anti-Christ, or Dajjal, in the final phase of that war a leader who will inflict huge sufferings and destruction on Arab Muslims;
(3) The reappearance of Prophet Isa (AS), who will cause the extermination of Dajjal and his Jewish followers; and finally,
(4) The establishment of the system of Khilafah, or the domination of Islam, over the entire globe.
Except for the reappearance of Prophet Isa (AS), there is nothing supernatural or incredible in these prophecies, as we shall discuss shortly. The very idea of the global domination of Islam however, seems like a fool’s fantasy, keeping in view the present state of humiliation of the Muslims and their virtual enslavement by the New World Order.
Under the existing state of affairs, which is both distressing and disheartening, we must keep on reminding ourselves that the ascendancy of Islam over the entire globe is bound to come, as this has been emphatically foretold by none other than the Last Messenger of Allah (SWT) himself, may Allah’s peace and blessings be upon him. Although there is no such explicit and unequivocal guarantee in the Holy Qur’an, we find that both the minor and major premises of this syllogism are repeatedly mentioned, the inescapable conclusion of which is the ultimate establishment of world-wide supremacy of Islam. The major premise consists of the fact that Prophet Muhammad (SAW) was appointed a messenger and envoy of Almighty Allah (SWT) for the whole humanity (Al-Qur’an Al-A‘raaf 7:158; Al-Anbia 21:107; Al-Furqan 25:1; Saba 34:28; & Al-Jum‘ah 62:2,3), whereas the minor premise is represented by the Divine assertion that the true way of life or Deen al-Haq will be made superior over the entire system of life (Al-Taubah 9:33; Al-Fath 48:24; & Al-Saff 61:9), and that God the Almighty is going to perfect His Light despite all the resistance from the unbelievers (Al-Taubah 9:32 & Al-Saff 61:8). The logical conclusion that necessarily follows from these premises is that the real purpose and the ultimate aim of the advent of Prophet Muhammad (SAW) will be fulfilled only with the establishment of the ascendancy of Islam over the entire mankind, all over the world.This has been promised by Almighty Allah (SWT) in these words:
God has promised that He will surely make those of you who believe and do the right, vicegerents in the land, as He had made those before them, and He will surely establish their Deen which He has chosen for them, and He will surely change their state of fear into peace and security. (Al-Noor 24:55)
The Ascent of Humanity
The global domination of Islam also appears inevitable in the context of the idea of cosmic evolution, as explained in the following paragraphs:
In sharp contrast to all the materialistic theories of modern science, the Holy Qur’an teaches us that Allah (SWT) is the only real force behind every creative activity that takes place in the universe. The clear and obvious signs of purpose and direction in the cosmos indicate that there is an intelligent mind at work, as pure chance could only have produced total chaos. The cosmic existence, as the Holy Qur’an proclaims again and again, is something profoundly meaningful. The evolution of the universe in the direction of a predetermined goal is what provides everything with a single grand purpose. The universe is continuously in a process of evolution, constantly working to perfect itself.
According to Dr. Muhammad Rafiuddin (whose philosophy of history was mentioned earlier), the cause of the evolution of cosmos is the desire or the will of the Creator. This desire or will of Allah (SWT) is flowing in the universe as a current of consciousness, changing the universe with a view to bringing it to the stage of its highest perfection. This cosmic evolution can be described as taking place in several stages, as follows:
The first stage was that of physical evolution, from the Big Bang up to the time when simple chemical compounds grew into complex organic molecules, leading to the emergence of life on earth. This stage of purely physical change was directed by the Divine current of consciousness that continuously runs through all matter, causing it to behave in specific ways, commonly known as the “laws of nature.”
The second stage was that of biological evolution, when the same current of consciousness took the form of an indwelling life-force (compare Bergson’s élan vital), which directed the process towards the creation of the perfect animal, the Homo sapiens. It has been theorized on the basis of the pointers in the Holy Qur’an that, at this stage, Almighty Allah (SWT) selected a single pair of these human-animals, and endowed them with their spiritual souls; this was the creation of Adam and Eve, the primordial human pair.
The third stage was that of intellectual evolution, when the current of consciousness took the form of an urge for Beauty and Perfection, expressing itself in the love of an ideal (compare Freud’s Libido), guiding the process towards the climax of intellectual and psychological development, that was finally achieved in the personality of Prophet Ibrahim (AS).
The fourth stage was that of the collective social evolution of humanity, reaching its zenith in the life and teachings of Prophet Muhammad (SAW), when the true way of life or Deen al-Huq was perfected and the ideal system of social, economic, and political Justice was presented to the mankind in its final form.
At the present moment, humanity is passing through the final stage of its evolution. The Divine current of consciousness is still active in the collective mind of humanity, urging and guiding us towards the ultimate state of human perfection, i.e., towards the establishment of the global culture-civilization that will be based upon the teachings of the Qur’an. In this way the philosophy of Ideals, as developed by Dr. Muhammad Rafiuddin, makes it even more understandable how the global domination of Islam before the end of the world is inevitable from an evolutionary stand point.
This global domination of Islam has been clearly predicted in the sayings of Prophet Muhammad (SAW), three of which are quoted below:
(1) According to a tradition that is narrated by Imam Ahmad (RA) on the authority of Nauman Ibn Bashir (RAA), Prophet Muhammad (SAW) is reported to have said to his Companions: “The period of Prophethood will remain among you so long as Allah wills, then He shall cause it to end. After that, there will be Khilafah among you on the pattern of Prophethood, and this will last as long as Allah wills, and then He shall cause it to end. After that, there will be a reign of oppressive monarchy, and this will also last as long as Allah wills, and then He shall cause it to end. After that there will be a period of enslavement, and this will last as long as Allah wills, then He shall cause it to end. Finally, there will again be Khilafah on the pattern of Prophethood.”
(2) In another tradition narrated by Imam Muslim (RA) on the authority of Thauban (RAA), the Prophet Muhammad (SAW) is reported to have said: “Allah (SWT) folded up the whole earth for me (in a vision), so that I was able to see all the easts and all the wests, and surely the domination of my followers will be established over all those places that were shown to me by thus folding the earth.”
(3) Imam Ahmad (RA) has narrated, on the authority of Miqdad Ibn Aswad (RAA), that the Prophet of God (SAW) is reported to have said: “There shall be no house on the entire earth neither of bricks nor one made of camel’s skin but Allah (SWT) will cause the word of Islam to enter it, either with the honor of the one who deserves honor, or with the subjugation of the one who is defeated.” (That is to say, God will confer honor on some and they will embrace Islam, and He will cause the others to give up fighting and they will surrender before the rule of Islam.)
Kingdom
The Way to God’s Kingdom
Belief in the most certain event of Doomsday is part of our faith as Muslims, and, in this context, the global happenings of our age clearly indicate that the end of the world is probably a matter of near future.
This opinion is based upon the predictions of Prophet Muhammad (SAW), many of which have already come true in the world around us, and the stage is obviously being set for the final set of events before Doomsdaythe grand finale of the global drama. We shall now discuss these coming events which will precede the establishment of the domination of Islam, as disclosed by Prophet Muhammad (SAW).
Indications regarding the greatest World War of human history that appear in the Hadith collections are, in general, couched in allegorical language. It seems that The War will take place in three phases, and will be fought predominantly in the Middle East. During the first phase, Muslim and Christian armies will join hands and fight against a third force, the identity of which is uncertain. The allies will defeat their common enemy, but then serious discord and hostility will break out between them, leading to the second phase of The War characterized by fierce fighting between the Muslim and Christian armies. Initially the Christians will have the upper hand, and the Muslims will lose important strongholds like Turkey, Lebanon, Syria, and Iraq. Although during the first and second phases the Jews themselves will not take part in the battle, their resources, technical know-how, and their propaganda machinery will be used with utmost destructive effect against the Muslims.
According to the prophecies, at this point the Muslims will select a rightly guided man as their military and political leader. This leader, called Mahdi in Hadith literature, will reorganize and unite the Muslim forces against the Christians, shifting the fortunes of The War in favor of the Muslims.
The third phase of The War will commence with the appearance on the scene of an exceedingly cunning Jewish leader Dajjal or Anti-Christ. From then onwards the Jews will start to take active part in the fighting, and the combined forces of Jews and Christians will inflict heavy losses on the Muslims. At this stage Prophet Muhammad (SAW) has told in unequivocal words Prophet Isa (AS) will reappear to strengthen and reinforce the Muslim armies. He will deliver the final installment of Divine punishment to the Jews, and will kill their leader, Dajjal. The reappearance of Prophet Isa (AS) will mark the end of Christianity as a separate religion, and the most glorious and peaceful era of human history will commence.
This will be “God’s Kingdom on earth,” when the Deen of Allah (SWT) will reign supreme, and the world will enjoy unprecedented bounties and blessings of the Lord. This period of Khilafah on the pattern of Prophet-hood will last so long as Almighty Allah (SWT) wills; then, after this blissful era, the world will once again be filled with wickedness. All the faithful population of the world will die peacefully and calmly one day, just before the end of the world. In this way, only the unbelievers and the wicked shall be left to face the dreadful events of the Doomsday.
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