Eschatology Fascism (1)

Dajjal and the pursuit of chiliasm even unto the end of time.
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"Like it or not, the Zionist regime is heading toward annihilation," Ahmadinejad said at the opening of a three-day conference in support of the Palestinians attended by Hamas leader Khaled Mashaal and other Hamas members. "The Zionist regime is a rotten, dried tree that will be eliminated by one storm," he [Amahdinejad] said.

With projections that Iran could develop a nuclear bomb within the next two-and-a-half years, a high-ranking IDF officer from Military Intelligence told The Jerusalem Post over the weekend that the successful enrichment of uranium announced last week proved that diplomatic efforts to stop Teheran's race to the bomb had failed.

"The way it looks now, it is doubtful that the United Nations and the international efforts will succeed in stopping Iran," the high-ranking officer said. "Iran spit in the world's face but the world hasn't done anything."

http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1143498859737&pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FShowFull
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Events in Iran are certainly out of the control of bloggers. That's not the end of the story, that's just the beginning. But even then we begin in media res. Let's step back into the darkness of the Islamic mind to see why it's likely that we will come in time to war against Iran and Islam across the troubled face of the world. Let's look at the end of the world.
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The Mahdi will appear during the last days of the world, and will precede the second coming of Jesus, who Muslims believe to be the messiah. The two are different individuals, but they will work together to fight evil in the world and to cement justice on Earth. One of the signs which will indicate the emergence of al-Mahdi will be that in the month of Ramadan prior to his emergence an eclipse of the sun and moon will occur. These signs were visible right after the claim of Mirza Ghulam Ahmad to be the Promised Messiah and Mahdi. Mahdi means "the guided one" and he will apparently come from Mecca and rule from Damascus. He will not defeat the false Messiah, known as Dajjal though, that will be done by Jesus who will slay the pretender. Once Dajjal is defeated, Jesus and the Mahdi will live on Earth for a number of years. According to some traditions, Jesus will get married and have a family, and then die. There are claims that a grave is dug for him next to Muhammad's in the Masjid al-Nabawi in Medina, but whether or not this is factual is unknown.
www.apocalypse-soon.com
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It's not possible for us to say what goes on in the mind of the maniac ruling Iran these days, A mahdi nejad. Within the nut-house that is Islam I suggest that the man is convinced that he is the Mahdi returned to usher in the end of the world. Most of us know enough already about the idea of the Mahdi, but it's possible few know of the idea of Dajjal.
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Although the word 'Dajjal' - which comes from the Arabic word meaning 'to deceive', 'to cheat', 'to smear with tar' - does not appear in the Qur'an, the Dajjal is described in considerable detail in all major collections of Hadith, including the two well-known Sahih collections of Imam al-Bukhari and Imam Muslim, especially in the sections which are concerned with 'the last days', the period of time immediately preceding the end of the world, as well as in many other compilations of Hadith such as ImamAl-Mishkat Al-Masabih, The Gardens of the Righteous, and Al-Muwatta' of Imam Malik:

There are three aspects of the Dajjal. There is Dajjal the individual. There is Dajjal as a worldwide social and cultural phenomenon. There is Dajjal as an unseen force. (According to scholarly opinions, the latter two aspects will be established before Dajjal the individual will appear. That is, he will appear when the support system he needs is in place throughout the world either directly or indirectly).

Dajjal the individual will be the epitome of the kafir system, the ultimate kafir, and therefore inevitably to be chosen as the leader of that system, when he appears. The letters KFR are the basic root letters of the Arabic word Kufr, or Kafir. Kufr is to cover up and to reject. The kafir is the one who covers up the true nature of existence - and who rejects the messengers who are sent by Allah to show people how to live in harmony with what is within in them and with what is without them, and to worship and have knowledge of Allah. The Prophet Muhammad said that kufr is one system. The Kufr system is Dajjal. The three aspects of Dajjal are in fact interlinked and indivisible.
http://muslimsonline.com/babri/dajjal1.htm
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Because of the centrality of this concept there are a few further short entries below, following which we will look a t a piece from the LA Times on Iran, Dajjal, and the endo f the world as we know it. In many ways this is not up to us but is for the Muslims to make the first stupid and fatal move. This might well be the end of the world, but for Iran and the Muslim world, not for our own. And yet there is much that we as private citizens can do to make ourselves useful in this weird Islamic nightmare of phantasy politics.
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ad-Dajjal (Arabic: ("The Deceiver") is an evil figure in Islamic eschatology, who will appear before Yaum al-Qiyamah (Day of the Resurrection). He is the [Muslim version of the] Antichrist....

Protection from the Dajjal

The Prophet Muhammad asked his followers to recite the first and last ten verses of Surah Al-Kahf (The Cave) as protection from the Dajjal. These verses deal with the beliefs and activities of the Christian nations. He also taught his followers to pray, "Ya Allah! I seek refuge in Thee from the trial of the Dajjal." He also said, There is no tribulation greater than that of the Dajjal from the creation of Adam to the day of resurrection.

The end of the Dajjal

The occurrence of the Dajjal will correspond with the appearance of the Imam Mahdi, who will rally the faithful on earth to oppose him. Eventually, Isa (the name of Jesus in Arabic) will return from Heaven and slay the Dajjal. According to many interpretations this will occur near The Gate of Ludd (ancient city of Lydda) [1]. This will be followed by a Golden Age for Islam (not to be confused with the separate Islamic Golden Age) in which there are only true believers and almost everyone converts to Islam. Eventually decline will set in and by the will of Allah the End will come for Man.... No one is advised to try to fight the Dajjal because the final killing will be done by Isa (Jesus).
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dajjal
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Ubadah bin Saamit (R.A.) once said, "I have explained Dajjal to you but I fear that you might not have understood. Maseeh Dajjal will be short, and his legs will be crooked. The hair on his head will be extremely twisted. He will have one eye (with which he can see, and this is the protruding eye about which other ahadeeth inform us) while his other eye will be totally flat. It will neither be deep (in its socket) nor protruding.

If you still have any doubt regarding him then remember that your Sustainer (Rabb) is not one-eyed. (Because Dajjal will eventually claim to be Allah). In a lengthy Hadith narrated by Abu Saeed (R.A.), Rasulullah (Salallahu Alayhi Wasallam) is reported to have said: "Dajjal will come but it will be prohibited and impossible for him to enter Madina. He will set up camp in a barren land outside Madina. One person who will be the best of persons will confront him by saying: "I bear witness that you are the very Dajjal about whom Rasulullah (Salallahu Alayhi Wasallam) has informed us."

Dajjal will say to his followers, "If I kill this person and then revive him, you people will still doubt me?"

They will reply, "No."

He will then kill this person, (according to another narration he will split this person in two) and thereafter revive him. This person will say, "I am totally convinced more than ever before that you definitely are Dajjal."

[....]

from: "Signs of Qiyamah"
by Mohammed Ali Ibn Zubair Ali
http://www.islam.tc/prophecies/masdaj.html
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All the signs of the end of the world are now apparent, except for the last four major signs, and it would appear that even these are now imminent.

Amongst the signs already apparent are: that the poor and the destitute build tall buildings in which people glorify themselves; that the slave girl gives birth to her mistress, one meaning of which is that the mother who is enslaved by her work situation has children who grow up to be uncontrollable and who dominate and tyrannise the family situation; that women outnumber men; that there are many women who no longer give birth to children; that everyone is concerned with working so that not only the men but also the women go out to work; that there is an abundance of food, much of which has no blessing; that when a person is offered food it is refused; that time is short; that there are many people who are hard hearted and mean; that there is much fighting and killing of people; that there are women who wear their clothes like a second skin; that attempts are made to make the deserts green; that there are people who attempt to change the balance of nature and who interfere with and interrupt the basic cycles and processes of existence; and finally that the sun rises in the west, one meaning of which is that the life transaction of Islam is adopted by people living in the western world.

The last four major signs are the appearance of Dajjal the individual; the appearance of the Mahdi, the rightly guided leader of the Muslims who will fight Dajjal; the re-appearance of the prophet Jesus, on him be peace, who as well as breaking all the crosses, killing all the pigs, marrying and having children and praying with the Muslims, will also kill Dajjal; and the appearance of Juge wa ma Juge, a tribe of people who will scatter across the world, creating destruction.

It is clear that before Dajjal the individual appears on earth, there must already be present and established the system, and the people running that system, which and who will support and follow him when he does appear. Evidence of that system, and the people running that system, is evidence of Dajjal as a world wide social and cultural phenomenon, and Dajjal as an unseen force. The signs of these broader aspects of Dajjal, that is what Dajjal the individual will epitomise, are very apparent today, which would indicate that Dajjal the individual is soon to appear .

In the same way the Mahdi will be, when he appears, the epitome of Islam, the way of the prophet Muhammad, although it must be said immediately that he will be like a drop compared to the ocean of the prophet Muhammad, may the blessings and peace of Allah be on him. It follows that the Mahdi will be the one who is inevitably recognised and accepted by all true muslims as their leader. The prophet Muhammad said that the muslims are one body.

Kufr is at war with Islam. Islam is at war with Kufr. Dajjal will fight the Mahdi. The Mahdi will fight Dajjal. The prophet Jesus, who was not crucified, but taken by Allah out of this world into the Unseen, and another who looked like him crucified in his place, the prophet Jesus, on him be peace, having returned to this world, will kill Dajjal. http://www.geocities.com/islam2jannat/ahmed.htm
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How delusional are the Iranians? Probably not very delusional at all if one were to judge the likelihood of the West responding in any meaningful way to a major attack on it based on past practice in the U.N., the E.U. or even the U.S. itself. Look, we run away pretty quickly. If the Iranians believe they have god on their side, and they do, and if they see us as professional cowards with too much money and too much comfort and too little manliness to protect our women from rape and death, then what's to prevent them from seeing there will only be more of the same cowardice if they hit us again and again and again?
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Messianic Fervor Grows Among Iran's Shiites

Many, including the president, pray for the Mahdi's return to defeat evil. Western critics fear such beliefs may lead to irrational policies.

By John Daniszewski, Times Staff Writer
April 15, 2006

JAMKARAN, Iran — Each Tuesday, thousands of people arrive here at dusk by car and bus. Beneath the twinkling lights of the blue-tiled mosque, they sit on carpets, following prayers broadcast over loudspeakers: families, pilgrims from distant provinces, young men frantic with expectation, women hoping for cures.

The devout make their way to the back of the shrine. There, they write their hopes, dreams and prayers onto slips of paper that they drop into two wells — one for the men, one for the women. They pray, eyes squeezed shut, until moved along politely by mosque workers. For many devout Shiite Muslims, this is a place of miracles — the place of the Mahdi, the messiah. From lowly carpet weavers to Iran's president, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, devotion to the Mahdi and anticipation of his return appears to be crescendoing in Iran.

Particularly on Tuesdays, the day most associated with the Mahdi's blessings, the night here is filled with fervent prayers, a reflection of the ardent faith that gave rise to the Islamic Revolution, and which conservative supporters of Ahmadinejad hope will sustain the nation in any confrontation with the West over Iran's nuclear program.

All Muslims await the appearance of the Mahdi; the largest branch of Shiites, those known as Twelvers, await his return.

To the majority of Shiites, the Mahdi was the last of the prophet Muhammad's true heirs, his 12 righteous descendants chosen by God to lead the faithful.

The Mahdi, the Twelfth Imam, the Imam of Our Times, was born Muhammad ibn Hasan and went into hiding around 878. Shiites believe he maintained contact with representatives until 941, when all communication from him ceased. When the time is ripe, they teach, he will reappear and, along with Jesus, will lead Muslims in a struggle to rid the world of corruption and establish justice. The Mahdi ordered a shrine built in Jamkaran nearly 1,000 years ago, Shiite teachings hold.

It would be a caricature to paint the whole country as caught up in messianic fervor. Even among the clergy, there are many who treat the Mahdi's return as figurative rather than literal. But at a time when many here believe that Iran, and by extension its brand of Shiism, is under threat by the West, the Mahdi can be a useful symbol for the government to rally the people.

For Iran's opponents in Washington and elsewhere, the talk of the Mahdi's return, with its apocalyptic overtones, causes worry. Some critics of Iran fear that religious zeal might overcome reason when it comes to setting the nation's policies.

Ahmadinejad's particular attention to the Mahdi in his speeches and actions — soon after taking office, he allocated $20 million to improve and enlarge the Jamkaran Mosque complex — has been noted by Western critics.

So, too was Ahmadinejad's appearance in September before the United Nations General Assembly, when he said a prayer calling for the Mahdi's return: "O mighty Lord, I pray to hasten the emergence of … the promised one … the one who will fill this world with justice and peace."

Belief in the Mahdi energizes many of the 8 million to 10 million pilgrims who come annually to Qom, the seminary city two hours south of Tehran that is considered among Iran's most holy places. The Jamkaran Mosque stands just outside Qom.

"A prayer in the Jamkaran Mosque is almost like going to Mecca," said Adel Safr, a cleric with the Qom mosque's international department. He helps receive foreign visitors in a room ornately decorated to resemble a garden.

"According to some of the sayings, if someone comes each week, 40 times in 40 weeks, he can be worthy to meet the Mahdi when he returns," Safr said.

Visiting the shrine, he said, was "a reaffirmation to say to him that we are still with you — we came because we believe the Mahdi is caring and that he is going to cleanse the world of injustice and corruption."

To Safr, a 34-year-old who has been studying in Qom for four years, the troubles that have racked the Persian Gulf region in recent years could be portents of the Mahdi's return.

Just as some Christians see warfare in the Middle East as reflections of Biblical prophecy, some in Iran see a religious pattern in recent events.

The destruction of an important Shiite shrine in Samarra, Iraq, the Mahdi's birthplace and where he went into hiding, and the sectarian violence in that country are seen as fulfillments of prophecies about the conditions in which he would reappear.

"This is why Mr. Bush has put divisions in Saudi Arabia and Iraq — to kill the Mahdi and make Jesus the messiah," Safr said. "I am serious. There have been speeches in the Pentagon about it."
http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/world/la-fg-twelvers15apr15,1,1783620.story?coll=la-headlines-world&ctrack=1&cset=true
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There is knowledge and there is belief, and even if the two contradict in obvious flaming nuttiness, to the believer it matters not a speck. The easiest examples for the average person today are socialists who believe in spite of all the present reality any other nutter would immediately agree to. To believe in the stupidest ideas is not to be stupid. It means only that one has compartmentalised the mind and is able to section off and block out those parts of reality one cares not to understand or accept as present. We can't dismiss the Muslims as totally stupid or insane. They are but they are also capable sometimes of intelligent reasoning to an extent. They can have a rational conversation to a point, and they will also turn into jabbering idiots in a lash going on about Dajjal and giant spiders.

Yes, we might well nuke 'em. "What do you do when you live in a zoo?"