Current Events

Prophetic Significance of Islam

See also:
"Islam" at Apologetics Central
Muslim Brotherhood
War in America
Mid-East Conflict
Terrorism
Disaster Preparedness
War of Gog and Magog
Revived Roman Empire
Information About The Crusades

Dreams of Jesus by Muslims:
Aslan Still Roars Near and Far

J.P. Moreland, the Distinguished Professor of Philosophy at Biola University, relates two stories about "Jesus dreams." One of them is a lady in a Muslim country. She had a dream in which Jesus appeared to her and instructed her to seek Him as the way, the truth and the life. The next day on her way to work she spotted a DVD next to the road. It was the Jesus Film, and the picture of Jesus on the cover was the face she had seen in her dream!

That night she, along with her Muslim husband and a few Muslim neighbors, watched the film and all became followers of Jesus! Now, there is a small, secret church in her home.

Source:

Visions and Dreams of Jesus Stir Muslims to Christ - You Tube - CBN

Prophetic Significance of Islam

What Is the Difference between Sunni and Shia Muslims?

Because of the violence between the two major branches of Islam, a prophecy student needs to know the difference between them. The majority of Musllims are Sunni (80 to 90%). Shia (Shi'ite) Muslims are the minority (5 to 20%).

The original difference between the two groups is their concept of the line of authority descending from Muhammad. It is a primarily political distinction but they have accumulated some religious differences over time. About.com gives this introduction:

The division between Shia and Sunni dates back to the death of the Prophet Muhammad, and the question of who was to take over the leadership of the Muslim nation. Sunni Muslims agree with the position taken by many of the Prophet's companions, that the new leader should be elected from among those capable of the job.

The Sunni (from a related Arabic word that means "one who follows the traditions of the Prophet.") accepted the first four Caliphs, starting with Muhammad's friend Abu Bakr, as the rightful successors to lead the Muslim nation. Sunnis accept the writings of these official Caliphs, known as the Hadith ("traditions" of the Prophet's life and spiritual practice). Osama bin Laden was a Sunni Muslim, as are the Muslim Brotherhood.

The Shia (shortened form of the Arabic "Shia-t-Ali" - "The Party of Ali") believe that the rightful successor was the prophet's cousin/son-in law, Ali. Ali and the leaders who followed him were all supposed to have been appointed by either the Prophet Muhammad or Allah himself). There were twelve of these leaders or Imams. Many Shia today are known as "Twelvers" because they believe the Twelfth Imam went into hiding and will return as a messiah at the End of Days. The Shia reject the Hadith and only follow the Qur'an (Koran). Iran's Ayatollah and their President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad are Shia Muslims

Predominately Sunni Areas (Many countries in each area)

Africa - Including recent countries in the news: Egypt, Libya

Arab World - - Including recent countries in the news: Afghanistan, Iraq,

Saudi Arabia, Syria (but its government is controlled by the Alawites, a smaller Islamic split from the Shi'tes more than 1000 years ago)

East Asia

South Asia - Including recent countries in the news: Afghanistan, Pakistan, Turkey

Predominately Shia (Shi'ite) Countries

Azerbaijan

Bahrain

Iran

Iraq

The Muslim population in Lebanon is about half Shi'ite and half Sunni. Almost 40% of the people are Christian.

Sources:

Comparison Chart of Sunni and Shia Islam - Religion Facts

What's the Difference Between Shia and Sunni Muslims? - About.com

Sunni-Shia Relations - Wikipedia

Syria's Ruling Alawite Sect - NY Times

Saudi King Calls for Arab Super State

Dec. 22, 2011 - At the opening session of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia formally called for the formation of a Gulf Union - a superstate in the region. The implied reason for the union would be strength against their rival Iran.

The GCC -- comprised of Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Kuwait, Bahrain, Oman and the United Arab Emirates -- was formed in 1981 as a security alliance to counter post-revolution Iran.

The GCC is also considering an alliance with Jordan, Morocco and Egypt. If such a superstate were to become a reality it might eventually attract Syria and Lebanon into its fold and the superstate would then surround the borders of Israel.

Source: Israel National News

Report: Saudi textbooks teach annihilation of Jews - YNet

Advertisers fleeing 'All-American Muslim' 'propaganda'

Nov. 22, 2011 - The Florida Family Association is one of several organizations that find fault with the new "All-American Muslim" series on television. While it is good to recognize normal, peaceful Muslims, and defend their rights as Americans, they believe the effect of the program is to ignore the growing threat of Islamic extremism.

"The show profiles only Muslims that appear to be ordinary folks while excluding many Islamic believers whose agenda poses a clear and present danger to liberties and traditional values that the majority of Americans cherish."

Many companies that initially supported the program have decided not to advertise. They include Airborne Vitamin, Amway, Diamond Foods, Dyson Vacuum, Estee Lauder, HTC Phones, Home Depot, McDonald's, Petsmart, Pfizer, Sears, Sonic, T-Mobil and Wal-Mart.

Source: WorldNetDaily

Why Iran's Top Leaders Believe That the End of Days Has Come

Nov. 7, 2011 - It sounds like fiction, but it's all too true! According to Joel Rosenberg, who writes both fiction and documentary books about the Middle East,

Iran’s Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad are convinced that the End of Days has come. They believe the Shia messiah known as the “Twelfth Imam” or the “Mahdi” will appear soon to establish a global Islamic kingdom known as the caliphate.

Khamenei said that he has personally met with the Twelfth Imam, that he is to be the personal representative of the Mahdi on earth. Their first goal is the annihilation of Israel and the United States.

There is much more about this subject in this revealing article!

Source: Joel C. Rosenberg - Fox

Obama Pulls Terror Training Manuals Referencing Islam

Oct. 24, 2011 -

Deputy U.S. Attorney General James Cole confirmed on Wednesday the Obama administration was recalling all training materials used by the law enforcement and national security communities, in order to eliminate all references to Islam.

The change was prompted by complaints from the Council on American Islamic Relations (CAIR)and other Muslim advocacy groups. CAIR was identified as a Muslim Brotherhood and Hamas front group in the 2004 Holy Land Foundation terror fundraising trial.

Source: Israel National News

Wycliffe, SIL Issue Guidelines on Translating 'Son of God' Among Muslims

Oct. 13, 2011 - Some Bible translators have been avoiding the biblical expression "son of God" by using "Christ" in its place to make the Bible more acceptable to Musllims.

Wycliffe Bible Translators and its primary implementing partner, SIL International, issued new guidelines in August saying familial language for God should normally be maintained in the text of Bible translations.

Source: Christianity Today

Loving Muslims One at a Time

Sept. 12, 2011 - Since 2005 Andrew White has been vicar of St. George's Church just outside the Green Zone in Baghdad. He is known as the Vicar of Baghdad, because St. George's is the only Anglican church left in Iraq. He specializes in reconcilliation between religions and has received a number of humanitarian awards, the latest being the 2011 International First Freedom Award, which has also been awarded to such people as Tony Blair.

He believes that the tension between the Middle East and the Western world is largely a religious difference. Muslims equate the low morals of the West with Christianity, and don't get to see true Christians in action. He says,

When you are on the ground in places like we are, the liberals can do nothing. You have to be very orthodox in your faith.

White urges Christians to build personal relationships with Muslims and show them "love,love,love."

Source: Christianity Today

Can Islam Be Reformed?

Aug. 2, 2011 - Dennis Prager makes the case that Islam needs to be reformed, and that it is possible for this to happen. He concludes this excellent analysis with hope that American Muslims will take the leadership.

And if it does reform, Muslims who have embraced America and American values will lead the way.

Source: National Review

Is Turkey's Erdogan becoming the modern Ataturk?

Aug. 1, 2011 - The resignation of Turkey's top four military chief has given the country's Prime Minister, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, greater control over the military.

A historic opportunity has fallen into his hands, and he is grabbing hold of it with both of them. He has managed to impose the civil government authority over the army, and to smash one of the founding principles of Kemal Ataturk's regime.

During Ataturk's reigeme authority was granted to the military to remove governments that did not uphold his principles.

Source: Haaretz

Radical Islamists Trying to Take Over Temple Mount

July 29, 2011 -

On the 90th anniversary of the fall of the Ottoman Empire, the vast Islamic Caliphate regime which fell in 1921 after WWI, thousands of members of the Radical Islamist organization Hizb ut-Tahrir rallied on the T emple Mount in Jerusalem. They called for Muslims to unite and embrace the Caliphate rulership once more.

Source: Israel National News

Why Is Weiner’s Muslim Brotherhood Wife Not Resigning?

Jun. 17, 2011 - Walid Shoebat, former PLO terrorist-turned-Christian, claims that disgraced Congressman Anthony Weiner's wife, Huma Abedin/Weiner, should also resign from her role as Secretary of State Hillary Clinton's ever-present personal assistant. Arabic sources translated by Mr. Shoebat show that Huma Abedin’s mother and brother are both associated with the Muslim Brotherhood. There is also a Muslim Sisterhood, of which Huma's mother is a member. The Egyptian opposition newspaper Al-Liwa Al-Arabi reports that members of this sisterhood are “the wives of some of the highest-ranking leaders in the Muslim Brotherhood.” According to this report these women are recruited to:

[S]muggle secret documents for the members since women go undetected by security surveillance…to spread the Brotherhood’s ideology by infiltrating universities, schools and homes…to lay the plans for the Sisterhood to work at the state level…[and]…to fulfill the interests of the Brotherhood.

Source: FrontPageMagazine

Abedin/Weiner: A Marriage Made by Hillary Clinton and the Muslim Brotherhood? - FrontPageMagazine

Rep. Weiner's wife allegedly linked to the Muslim Brotherhood - Examiner.com

Weinergate 2: Huma mom tied to boomin' bombers - Aaron Klein - WorldNetDaily

Editor's note: Some commentators on this issue have pointed out that Huma would not be allowed by Sharia law to marry a person like Weiner unless he had converted to Islam. Whether or not he was a convert, it is clear that he craved other sexual attention, giving credence to the possibility that their wedding was arranged by the Clintons for political convenience. In any case, it is a serious security problem that a person with Huma's background would have influence over our Secretary of State and access to secret information.

Is it fair to ask Muslims questions?

Jun. 22, 2011 - Joseph Farah shows that it is not unreasonable to ask Muslims about their beliefs before placing them in Government positions. Here are just the first two of a long list of indisputable facts about Islamic beliefs:

•In Islam, Shariah law is considered higher than any other law – including the U.S. Constitution.
•Many Islamic scholars interpret the Quran as saying it is not a crime to kill "infidels" or "apostates," but a duty.

Source: WorldNetDaily

Van Impe ministry abandons TBN in clash over Islam

Jun. 16, 2011 - After the Trinity Broadcast Network (TBN) refused to run one of Jack Van Impe's telecasts, he decided to remove his program from the network completely. TBN had objected to Van Impe's expose of some Christian teachers for advocating "Chrislam" (incorporating beliefs or practices of Islam into their Christian organizations) and other efforts that are designed to find "common ground" between Christians and Muslims. TBN was especially opposed to his criticism of individuals, like Rick Warren and Robert Schuller. In response, Van Impe said,

We will take the tremendous amount of money that we were spending there to obtain new stations that will allow us to continue to reach every square mile of America with the truths of the Bible without this network.

Source: WorldNetDaily

Islamic threat as bright as the sun

Jun. 10, 2011 - This commentary by Diana West shows that new study, "Shari'a and Violence in American Mosques," revealed that only 19 percent of the mosques do not feature Islamic literature that advocates violence. Furthermore, there were only four imams in the 100 mosques who actually "instructed against the study of violence-positive material."

Source: Jewish World Review

The Gülen Movement: A New Islamic World Order?

Jun. 1, 2011 - This article and video report explain the great influence of Turkish imam Fetullah Gülen, who has been called the world's top public intellectual and the face of moderate Islam. He lives in Pennsylvania but leads a movement of some 5 million Muslims worldwide in a quest for a supposedly moderate Islamic world system of science and education.

Ariel Cohen, a Middle East analyst with the Heritage Foundation, said this about the movement.

"This is clearly the world according to the Koran, the world according to Islam, the world according to Fetullah Gülen," he told CBN News. "But what he's talking about is not the caliphate, is not the sharia state- -he calls it the New World Islamic Order."

Source: CBN

May 23, 2011 - In the middle of political tensions between Iran's President Ahmadinejad and their Supreme Leader Ayatollah Khamenei, some are predicting that the 12th Imam will appear on June 5th.

Hardliners critical of Ahmadinejad maintain that his team believes a covert emergence will commence on the 14th of Khordaad (June 5) in Medina, setting the stage for the announcement of the actual emergence in the next few years.

Source: PajamasMedia

Time Mag Editor: Koran Is ‘Directly The Word of God,’ Bible Just a Book ‘Written By Man’

Apr. 5, 2011 - On this week's MSNBC’s Hardball program, Time Magazine’s World Editor Bobby Ghosh was apparently defending the murderous rampage in Afghanistan after the burning of a Koran in a Florida church. He said, “keep in mind” that the Koran is “not the same as the Bible to Christians,” because the Koran is “directly the word of God,” while the Bible is just a book “written by men.”

Warner Todd Huston, a Chicago based freelance writer, comments:

The Bible is thought of as “the word of God” by millions of Christians across the world as it has been throughout time. Ghosh’s claim ... is simply erroneous. It is also extremely offensive.

Source: Big Journalism

Afghanistan: Kandahar protest at Koran burning

Apr. 2, 2011 - Reacting to a burning of the Koran by a U.S. pastor, two demonstrations in Afghanistan have resulted in the death of several people: nine in Kandahar and seven in Mazar-i-Sharif. Hundreds of people were involved in the protests.

It was the worst attack on the UN mission in Afghanistan since the international invasion in 2001.

Source: BBC

See our earlier blog: The Little Church That Shouldn't

The truth about the Quran revealed

Iranian Video Says Mahdi is 'Near'

Qaddafi Forces, Rebels Fight for Key Libyan Strongholds

Mar. 28, 2011 - Under the protection of the "no-fly" zone in Libya, rebel forces have taken back the losses they suffered a week ago, and are advancing on key cities in the country. However, forces loyal to Libyan leader Muammar Qaddafi claimed to have "liberated" Misrata -- the only city in the country's west under rebel control in recent days -- but did not provide additional details.

In a symbolic diplomatic victory for the opposition, the tiny state of Qatar recognized Libya's rebels as the legitimate representatives of the country -- the first Arab state to do so.

Source: Fox

Gunfire in Libya Capital While Protesters March

Feb. 25, 2011 - After Friday prayers in Tripoli, Libyans again voiced their demand for the ouster of the regim there.

Protesters chanting for Qaddafi's ouster streamed out of mosques near downtown Tripoli's Green Square and other districts after prayers, and they were confronted by troops and militiamen who opened fire, said several witnesses.

Source: Fox

Iron and Clay:
The Revived Roman Empire and a New Islamic Caliphate

Feb. 23, 2011 - Recently there has been a debate among prophecy teachers about the nature of the final world empire. Some say it is a Western union of nations – a “Revived Roman Empire,” while others suspect it will be an Eastern coalition – essentially an Islamic Caliphate.

In Daniel, chapter 2, the major world empires are depicted in a series of dreams and visions. Before this time Egypt and Assyria had already come and gone as world powers. King Nebuchadnezzar had a dream about a giant statue. He asked his wise men to interpret the dream, but they could not. However, Daniel, a devout young Hebrew captive, was given the ability to declare the dream and its interpretation to the king...

...More... Ron's Blog

US must be removed from Islamic world: Khamenei

Feb. 22, 2011 - Iran's supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei told a gathering of Shiite and Sunni scholars at an international conference on Islam that all the Arab revolts were "Islamic" and must be consolidated. He also said:

The main problem in the Muslim world is the presence of the United States. It is the biggest problem. We need to address that.

Source: The New Age

Prophecy Clock: Eschatology of Islam and Christianity Collide in Egypt - Bill Wilson - WorldWatchDaily

Anger on the streets: unrest in Iran, Algeria, Yemen, Morocco and China

Feb. 21, 2011 - In Algeria, peaceful protests against corruption in government are ongoing. In Iran, Yemen and Algeria violent protests continue. Even China is affected by the mood in the Middle East after an online call for "the jasmine revolution" demonstrations in 13 cities.

Source: Guardian - UK

Mid-East Protests Spread After Egyptian Revolution

Feb. 18, 2011 - Massive protests are taking place in many Islamic countries following the recent events in Egypt. A BBC overview asks, "Could a domino effect sweep more leaders from power?" Analysts have differing opinions about the outcome of all this unrest. Will it lead to a shift toward democracy, or will it result in the formation of radical dictatorships or even an Islamic superstate?

Middle East protests: Country by country - BBC

Bahrain, Libya protests resume after deadly clashes, as Mideast unrest persists -

Libya protests: 84 killed in growing unrest, says HRW - BBC

One Dead After Yemeni Police Open Fire on Protesters - Fox

Algeria Braces for Second Pro-Democracy Rally - Fox

Bahrain unrest: Simmering resentment boils over - BBC

U.S. beefs up security for Navy's Fifth Fleet in Bahrain - World Tribune

Egypt has approved Iran warships to use Suez Canal - Haaretz

Churches Open Doors to Muslim Worship

Feb. 18, 2011 - There is a debate among theologians about whether or not it is acceptable for Christian churches to allow Muslims to worship in their facilities. Heartsong Church in Cordova, Tenn., and Aldersgate United Methodist Church in Alexandria, Va., are two churches that open their church to Islamic groups.

Mosque construction is at an all-time high. As of September, there were 1,897 mosques in the United States, a 57 percent increase since 2000.

Source: Fox

Muslim Brotherhood wants end to Egypt-Israeli peace deal

Feb. 3, 2011 - Rashad al-Bayoumi, a deputy leader of Egypt's banned Muslim Brotherhood, revealed their plans if they come to power in Egypt.

"After President Mubarak steps down and a provisional government is formed, there is a need to dissolve the peace treaty with Israel," al-Bayoumi said.

The Egyptian peace treaty was signed in 1979. This made Egypt the first Arab country to officially recognize Israel and agree to live in peace with them.

Source: RIA Novosti (Russia)

Israeli foreign minister compares Turkey to 1979 Iran

Jan. 6, 2010 - Israeli foreign minister Avigdor Lieberman voiced his concern that the Islamist-rooted government in Turkey has suddenly turned against Israel like Iran did in 1979. He said,

"Unfortunately, recent events in Turkey are reminiscent of Iran before the Islamic Revolution led by Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini. Like Turkey, Iran was among Israel's closest allies and the two nations held good relations between both governments and people."

Source: Telegraph - UK

U.S. 'held secret meeting with Muslim Brotherhood' - WorldNetDaily

Rosenberg: What to Make of the Middle East Shakeup - Joel Rosenberg - CBN

Trend Alert: Revolutionary Fervor to Spread Beyond Arab States - Europe Next - By Gerald Celente - Yonkers Tribune