Apocalyptic Trigger

Throughout history, the Jewish yardstick for measuring events or world developpments was 'but is it good for the Jews?'. Now that the world is about to decide a very harsh and bad decree for the Jews, namely the division of Jerusalem, it is time for the West to ask itself 'but is it good for the West?'.

As we all know, the West is locked in a life and death struggle with the Islamic world. There are literally hundreds of thousands, maybe even millions, of jihadist Muslims in Europe, Canada and the United States who are ready to fulfill Muhammad's command to fight 'until all men say that there is no god but Allah and Muhammad is His prophet'. These people hate Western civilization and are ready to conquer to world for Allah. Could giving up half of Jerusalem to be a 'Palestinian' capital possibly diffuse their rage and frustration towards the US as some American policy-makers believe?

Jerusalem had little significance in early Islam and many imams and Islamic leaders warned against giving Jerusalem special status as this would be bid'ah, innovation, which is forbidden in Islam. Controversial Islamic jurist Tadiqq al-Din ibn Taymiyya whose views still inspire Wahabbi groups like al-Qaeda and was very influential in matters of jihad wrote: "And in Jersualem, there is not a palce one calls sacred and the same holds true for the tombs of Hebron". However, in later Islamic apocalyptic tradition, Sunni and Shia, Jerusalem gained an important position as either the capital of the Mahdi (Islamic messiah), or a necessary city to capture before his coming.

Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, president of Iran, is associated with a Shiite sect which views Jerusalem as essential for the coming of the Mahdi. Ahmainejad's famous 'Israel must be wiped off the map' speech was given on Oct. 26, 2005. He also declared that 'we are now in the process of an historical war between the World of Arrogance (ie. the West) and the Islamic world. Clearly, a connection exists for him between the destruction of Israel, the Islamic conquest of Jerusalem and the eventual defeat of the West by the Mahdi. According to certain Shiite doctrine, the Mahdi will appear in Mecca, move to Karbala and eventually conquer Jerusalem which will serve as his capital and as the base for the Mahdi's global jihad.

Such views are not unique to Shiism and are very widespread in Wahabbi and Salafi jihadist websites. "Rasulullah [Muhammad] said: "Armies carrying black flags will come from Khurasan. No power will be able to stop them and they will finally reach Eela (Baitul Maqdas in Jerusalem) where they will erect their flags." (Tirmidhi as quoted by Mohammed Ali Ibn Zubair Ali, Signs of Qiyamah) The Mahdis armies will march to Jerusalem and conquer the Baitul Maqdas (Beit Hamikdash, Temple Mount), conquer Israel and eventually the world. In a particularly venomous manner, Egyptian authors, Muhammad ibn Izzat and Muhammd ‘Arif comment on the above tradition:

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 Satans 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 Shari’a [Islamic Law] of the Lord of the worlds.

Every single concession in the face of Islam has been met with more terror and violence. Suicide bombigns only started after the Oslo Accords. Rockets began falling on Sderot after the Gaza Disengagement. The Israeli withdrawal from Southern Lebanon led to the Second Lebanon War in 2006. This alone should serve as testimony to why Islam must be answered with strength and not retreat but besides this, Islamic control over Jerusalem will embolden jihadists and prove to them that their struggle is successful. When the millions of jihadist Muslims in Europe hear of Islamic control over Jerusalem and have their faith in the appearance of the Mahdi vindicated, there will be riots in the streets, bombs, explosions and attempts to greet the Mahdi with a subjugated Europe under sharia. In short, Jerusalem will become a powder keg for an emboldened jihadist movement which will gain strength in Iraq, Afghanistan, Europe and all over the Islamic world. The Bush Administration, while trying to supress Islamic terror in Iraq and Afghanistan, will create an umbearable situation all over the world.

Another portent of the 'Hour', the time of the Mahdi's coming, is the massacre of the Jews. Allah's Apostle said, "The Hour will not be established until you fight with the Jews, and the stone behind which a Jew will be hiding will say. "O Muslim! There is a Jew hiding behind me, so kill him." (Sahi Bukhari Volume 4, Book 52, Number 178). When jihadists take over Jerusalem, no Jew worldwide will be safe. The already besieged Jews of Europe will most likely be attacked by Muslim hordes and a weakened Israel will not be able to protect them. Pogroms will happen through the streets of Europe. This is not far-fetched at all. Look at the evil barbarism committed to Ilan Halimi, a French Jew who was abducted by a Muslim gang and tortured for over a month and eventually set on fire. His captors repeatedly called his parents and read them Qur'anic verses and demanded money from the local synagogue.

Jerusalem will be the trigger for a worldwide Islamic attack on Jews, on Europe, on the United States. The West must think clearly and not cede one inch to Islam, especially in such a vulnerable place as Jerusalem. Instead of extinguishing the flames of radical Islam, they will be ignited into a fiery inferno that will consume Israel, the Jewish people, and the West.


Cross-posted to Goat's Barnyard

See Heidianne's amazing post also.