Some Muslims predict Jesus will defeat ISIS

All right, it might not start until 2016, these things can be awfully hard to predict exactly. However, surprising as it may seem, one way or another the end of ISIS is in sight, and it’s all resting securely in the hands of Jesus, peace be upon him.

There has been a great deal of mainstream media attention lately, both video and print, regarding the fact that ISIS is recruiting based on the promise that their fighters are actually participating in the rapidly approaching end of the world.
At the same time, mainstream orthodox Muslim websites are already predicting Jesus’ return as early as 2022, starting an Islamic prophetic clock set to run over the next 7 years, in the purportedly rapidly approaching run-up to Armageddon.
The good news is that even if they’re wrong, those claims ISIS is making about their own role in Islamic end-time prophecy spell their own certain end. Because even though ISIS claims they’re fighting on the side of the angels, it’s obvious they’re not,and it should become progressively clearer to even the most misguided Jihadi that either ISIS is wrong about Armageddon or that they’re on the wrong side, because of all the things Muslims know are supposed to happen.
And if it turns out they’re right, then we can all rest assured that by the time the dust has finally settled there will be no question left about who’s side they are really on, because it’s all going to be about Jesus.
Frankly, although I’d like to believe the orthodox predictions are correct, I think they’re premature, and that ISIS is crazy-stupid. We had a very informative event up here in Calgary last month hosted by the US State Department, where Dr. Michael Ryan of the Middle East Institute shared his valuable insights into ISIS’ recruiting strategy. We learned that ISIS actually complains in their internal communiqués about their difficulty recruiting informed Muslims, because “Islam makes them tend towards life and their community”. They find more success attracting Muslims they call “losers” — ignorant about their Islamic faith and marginalized by drugs, alcoholism, crime, mental illness or recent life-changing events. That’s not the sort of Muslim you would expect to know much about the religion, or to make good life — or end-of-life — choices either. Given that, I think we can discount their validity of their “good-guy” claims, even despite their despicable and deplorable actions which should in themselves be sufficient.
But even if we considered that they might be right about the impending apocalypse, what sort of events should the next few years bring according to confirmed Islamic eschatology?

• First, the Euphrates River should soon be uncovering a mountain of gold, with the Arabian Peninsula becoming filled with meadows and rivers.
• Then, some Muslims throughout the world will be inexplicably transformed into apes and pigs because of their attempts to make lawful some rather significant major sins. Personally, I think that one’s aimed squarely at al Qaeda, Boko Haram, Al Shabab and ISIS and their associates, and their rather liberal views regarding murder, tumult, oppression and slavery.
• Then shortly thereafter you can expect the coming of the Mahdi, his uncovering of the Ark of the Covenant and his evangelism of a significant proportion of the world’s Jews, who will wake up and realize that they shouldn’t be ignoring and allowing Israel’s oppressing Muslims and Christians in Palestine.
• Then, you will see the coming of al-Masih ad-Dajjal –the false Messiah or anti-Christ– the descent of ‘Isa ibn Maryam [‘alayhis-salam] –that’s Jesus– and his defeat of the anti-Christ followed by the coming of Ya’juj and Ma’juj –Gog and Magog–,followed by:
• The rising of the sun from the west
• The appearance of the Beast of the Earth
• The wind that will take the souls of the believers
• The ruin of al-Madinah –Medina–
• The destruction of the Ka’bah –Mecca– by the Abyssinians
• And the fire that will come from the Yemen to gather the people in Sham before the coming of Judgement Day.

I think you’ll all have to admit, that’s a lot to pack into the next seven years and it’s going to be hard to miss.
And with that 7 year clock running, if it all doesn’t start happening soon, you can expect to see ISIS supporters starting to slip away.
But if it does come true, what sort of a man is the Mahdi supposed to be? Muslim prophecies are actually frighteningly clear, and do seem to predict the current state of affairs in the Levant, hold out hope for the rest of us and promise an end to ISIS.
At the end of time, a severe tribulation will descend upon my Ummah from their ruler. A worse tribulation will not have been heard of before, until the earth’s expanse is constricted upon them, and until the earth is filled with tyranny and oppression, so that the mu’min will find no refuge from the oppression.
Then, Allah [‘azza wa-jall] will send a man from my descendents who will fill the earth with equity and justice as it had been filled with oppression and tyranny. The inhabitants of the heavens and the earth will be pleased with him. The earth will not withhold any of its growth, but will bring it out, neither will the sky withhold a drop, but Allah will pour it out upon them in showers. He will live among them for seven years, or eight, or nine. The living will wish that the dead were brought to life again to witness the great good that Allah brought about for the people of the earth.
There will be at the end of time a trial that will sort out men as gold is sorted out from metal. So do not revile the people of Sham, but revile their evil ones, for among them are the Abdal [great righteous people]. A flood is about to be released upon the people of Sham that will split their unity, so that even if foxes attack them, they would defeat them.
At that time, a man from my household will come out with three banners. The one who estimates highly will say that they are fifteen thousand. And the one who estimates lower will say that they are twelve thousand. Their sign will be: “Amit, amit [kill, kill].” They will meet in battle seven banners, and under each of those banners will be a man seeking the kingdom. Allah will kill all of them, and restore to the Muslims their unity and bounty, and their far ones and near ones.
And what about Jesus? Even though Muslims and Christians disagree about what he is, with Christians claiming he’s God and Muslims declaring he’s not, everybody agrees about what sort of a person he was, is and will be: a man who fulfilled the Jewish Covenant and taught benevolent compassion to his followers, his example remaining a source of hope and inspiration to all humankind for the rest of time.
Can anyone conceive that that person –or Person– when he –or He– descends to lead us, could conceivably countenance the despicable and deplorable acts of ISIS?
God Forbid, it could never happen, not even if the world ends tomorrow or lasts for another thousand years.
Bottom line, I have served God and loved Jesus my entire life, and I followed Jesus into Islam when I realized I became a worse man by worshipping Him and a better man by following him. And my greatest hope for today is that Muslims and Christians are all starting to look forward to his return, because regardless of when that happens his example and his words can guide all of us to a better place together, with the help of God.
Because regardless of what the next years bring or which faith we follow, we are all waking up and realizing that we all need Jesus, peace be upon him.
Credit to Dr. David Liepert

Nigeria's Boko Haram pledges allegiance to Islamic State

Nigeria, March 7 (UPI) -- Boko Haram, which has since 2009 waged war seeking an Islamic government in Nigeria, officially pledged allegiance to the Islamic State on Saturday, making it the latest terrorist organization to align itself with the group.
The audio statement was made by Boko Haram's leader and posted to Twitter but has not been verified.
Earlier this month a video posted to Boko Haram's Twitter account depicted the beheading of two accused spies, leading experts to speculate the groups might be working together. Since last summer IS has infamously used video of beheadings as a terror tactic.
The pledge is the latest in a series of declarations made by extremists worldwide since IS captured large swaths of territory in Iraq and Syria last year, leading IS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi to declare a caliphate in June.
In July 2014 the leader of Filipino terrorist group Abu Sayyaf pledged allegiance to IS in a video posted to Facebook.
In Sept. 2014 Algeria's Jund al-Khilafah, or "Soldiers of the Caliphate in Algeria," split from al-Qaida's North Africa branch and declared allegiance to IS.
In Oct. 2014 prominent leaders of the Pakistani Taliban, otherwise known as Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan, or TTP, gave oaths of allegiance to IS, with TTP spokesman Shahidullah Shahid saying, "From today, I accept Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi as my caliph and will accept every directive of his and will fight for him whatsoever the situation."
Click for The BokoHaram Video
In January Afghan army commanders confirmed IS was operating in their country, and a group calling itself IS in Khorasan claimed control of territories in both Pakistan and Afghanistan.
Libya's Majlis Shura Shabab al-Islam, or "The Islamic Youth Shura Council," which had formed in April 2014, declared allegiance to IS and seized the city of Derna on Libya's northeastern Mediterranean coast in November, saying it was now a part of the IS caliphate. The affiliate last month posted a video of militants beheading Coptic Christians from neighboring Egypt.
On Nov. 10, Egyptian Islamist group Ansar Beit al-Maqdis, based in the Sinai Peninsula, pledged loyalty to al-Baghdadi in an audio message on Twitter.
"We give you good news by announcing the expansion of the Islamic State to new lands ... the lands of Al Haramayn [Saudi Arabia], Yemen, Egypt, Libya and Algeria," al-Baghdadi announced at the time.
On Nov. 21 Omar al-Chechen, leader of a Chechen militant group known as Jaish al-Muhajireen wa Ansar, or "Army of the Emigrants and Helpers," declared allegiance to al-Baghdadi in an online statement.
"ISIS is a brand name," Samer Shehata, an associate professor of Middle Eastern politics at the University of Oklahoma, told NPR in November, using an alternate acronym for the Islamic State. "It has widespread recognition, and in the eyes of many adherents, it's successful."
While IS used to be an affiliate of al-Qaida, the two groups have grown into adversaries. In Dec. 2014 Harith bin Ghazi al-Nadhari, a senior sharia official with al-Qaida in the Arabian Peninsula, released a video rebuking al-Baghdadi's claim that the IS caliphate extended to Yemen, where AQAP is based.
Al-Qaida also disputes al-Baghdadi's claim to be the caliph, a position for which the extremist group -- including al-Qaida leader Ayman al-Zawahiri -- recognizes Taliban leader Mullah Omar. Al-Qaida's Syrian affiliate, the Nusra Front, has since engaged IS forces in battle.
Credit to  Fred Lambert

Exclusive: King Abdullah calls ISIS 'outlaws' of Isla

(CNN)In his first interview since Islamic State militants burned alive a Jordanian pilot, the King of Jordan spoke to CNN's Fareed Zakaria about why and how the country is going after the terror group.

Last December, ISIS captured Royal Jordanian Air Force pilot Moath al-Kasasbeh after his plane went down during airstrikes that were part of the United States-led coalition to defeat the group.

For more than a month, al-Kasasbeh's family, hailing from a high-ranking tribe considered especially loyal to Jordan's royal family, implored ISIS to let him go.

Hope that he could be spared ended in early February when a video emerged showing the 29-year-old pilot in a cage, being burned alive.

King Abdullah II, an instrumental supporter of the global coalition, then said Jordan would be relentless in retaliating against ISIS. The country unleashed airstrikes.

To Zakaria, Abdullah reiterated his commitment to stop ISIS. He called its fighters "outlaws" who twist Islam and use "intimidation" as their biggest weapon.

The King told Zakaria that he didn't watch the video of the pilot's slaying.

"I -- many of us refused to see what I think is propaganda," Abdullah said.

He felt "disgust, sadness for the family" and his "heart went out to the father, the mother, the brothers, the sisters," the King continued. "His wife, they'd only been married for five months. (I felt) anger as the son of the Arab army, Jordanian armed forces. God bless his soul. He's a brother in arms.

"All soldiers past and present were disgusted by the brutality of what Moath was put through," Abdullah said.

A tiger by the tail

During his interview with Zakaria, the King repeatedly referred to ISIS, the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria, as Daesh. That's an acronym for al-Dawla al-Islamiya al-Iraq al-Sham.

Many in the Middle East prefer to use Daesh because, to them, the acronym ISIS suggests the terror group is a legitimate state. They refuse to give the militants that much credit.

"I think if ISIS, or Daesh as we call them, try to intimidate Jordanians ... just (has) the reverse effect," Abdullah said. "If you look at our history, we're a country that's used to being outgunned and outnumbered. We've always punched way above our weight. I think, if anything, Daesh has us as a tiger by the tail."

The pilot's killing "just motivated Jordanians to rally around the flag," he said. "The gloves have come off."

ISIS is "always trying to intimidate, scare, put fear in people's hearts," the King told Zakaria. "They are trying to invent falsely a linkage to a caliphate, link to our history in Islam that has no truth or bearing to our history."

ISIS is recruiting "deluded young men and women" who "think this is an Islamic nation."

U.S. President Barack Obama has caught flak for saying he didn't want to refer to ISIS members as Islamic extremists because their actions are not Islamic.

"I think he is right," Abdullah said. "This is something that has to be understood on a much larger platform. (ISIS) is looking for legitimacy (that) they have inside of Islam."

"I'm a Muslim," the King said. "These people (ISIS members) ... are on the fringe of Islam."

"The barbarity with the way they executed our brave hero (the pilot), I think, shocked the Muslim world, especially Jordanians and people from this region," Abdullah said.

Is Jordan's response really 'earth-shattering'?

In the wake of the pilot's death, a Jordanian government spokesman vowed an "earthshaking retaliation."

Zakaria asked Abdullah if Jordan's action has lived up to that fiery rhetoric.

"Earth-shattering from all military capabilities is not something that happens overnight," he answered, saying that airstrikes have continued. "There are continued operations going on in Syria. We are coordinating with our friends in Iraq."

He said there is a "long-term approach" to fighting ISIS but didn't give any more details.

The war against ISIS is as much Jordan's war as that of any other country in the coalition, he said.

"It is our war. It has been for a long time," he said. "These are outlaws, in a way, of Islam, the minute they set up this irresponsible caliphate to try to expand their dominion over Muslims."

ISIS cannot argue that Jordan and other Muslim nations should not attack them because they're fellow Muslims, he said.

The militants "try to make themselves look as victims," he said. "What about the hundreds if not thousands of Muslims they have killed in Syria and Iraq over the past year and a half?"

Jordan has a "responsibility to reach out to eastern Syria" and to western Iraq where people have been "executed in large numbers" by ISIS, Abdullah insisted.

"So this is our war," he said. "We have a moral responsibility to reach out to those Muslims to protect them and stop (ISIS) before they reach our border."

What about al-Assad?

Zakaria asked Abdullah what he thinks about the perception some have that Syrian President Bashar al-Assad is interested in combating ISIS, meaning al-Assad and Abdullah have common enemies.

ISIS has gained strength by exploiting the unrest in Syria during its ongoing civil war. That war is the result of unrest in Syria that originally started in 2011 within the context of the Arab Spring, protests for democracy or changes in government that raged in parts of the Middle East and North Africa in 2010 and 2011.

Syrian protesters, in 2011, wanted to bring change to the government which they said stifled expression in the harshest ways.

The al-Assad regime violently cracked down on the demonstrators, chaos erupted throughout Syria, and eventually many on the international stage came to believe al-Assad should go.

The King told Zakaria that the "history of dealing with" the al-Assad regime and the "history of dealing with" ISIS are two separate things.

"What has taken prominence at the moment is ISIS, Daesh," he said.

Abdullah rhetorically asked whether both issues can be dealt with at the same time. "This has to be decided by the international community," he said. "We believe there has to be a political solution" in Syria, and that has "not been clarified at the moment."

Credit to Ashley Fantz

 

Open Letter: Don't Stereotype Muslims

After the Paris attacks, there has been a lot of sensationalist and biased coverage of American Muslims by the media: from assertions that Muslims did not condemn the Paris attacks to asking a human rights lawyer whether he supported ISIS on national television. Muslim Advocates, along with 19 other organizations, have signed onto an open letter to the media. As coverage on Muslims continues, we hope that media outlets will seriously consider the role they play in creating stereotypes, keep their coverage factual and avoid divisive rhetoric.

The letter is available on Muslim Advocates website, and is also included below:

An Open Letter About Divisive Media Coverage Following Paris Tragedy

We are civil rights advocates and faith leaders writing to express deep concern about recent media coverage that exploits the tragic acts of terror in Paris to misrepresent Islam and call for more profiling of Muslims. This sensationalist coverage and commentary, if continued, will harmfully divide Americans on false pretenses at a time when we need to be united. Furthermore, we believe such divisive rhetoric impedes our ability to have a much-needed, fact-driven debate about responding to terrorism on all fronts.

The problematic coverage has been pervasive: one Fox News host and program after another has falsely suggested that Muslim leaders and organizations have not taken a stand against the violence in Paris. News Corp. Chairman Rupert Murdoch tweeted, "Maybe most Moslems peaceful, but until they recognize and destroy their growing jihadist cancer they must be held responsible." Radio hosts followed suit, claiming that similar terror attacks wouldn't occur if "most Muslims were against what was happening." Real Time host Bill Maher alleged that "hundreds of millions" of Muslims support the massacre and even a CNN anchor asked his guest, a Muslim human rights lawyer, whether or not he supports ISIS.

For Mr. Murdoch, Fox News, and others to suggest that 1.6 billion Muslims, or nearly a fourth of the world's population, does not condemn, and may even support, the violence in Paris is not only blatant misinformation, it disregards the hundreds of millions of Muslims who fight for the cause of freedom and democracy every day.

Arab and Muslim leaders and groups throughout the world and here in the United States have roundly and eloquently condemned the violence enacted by the terrorists in Paris, including organizations such as, The Arab League, Muslim Council Of Britain, French Muslim Council, Al-Azhar, Union of Islamic Organizations of France, The Islamic Cooperation Organization, The National Council of Canadian Muslims, and the foreign ministries of Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Turkey, Morocco and Indonesia.

Further, the expectation that the entire Muslim community should speak out against every act of violence committed by a small minority of Muslim perpetrators has a faulty premise -- it unjustly places blame on an entire community for the violent actions of a few and creates a false assumption that every Muslim sides with violence.

It is extremely concerning that countless public officials and media personalities exploiting the tragedy have used their media clout to call for more discriminatory profiling of American Muslims, including former New York City mayor Rudy Giuliani who after calling for more surveillance said on Fox News, "If you're uncomfortable with police officers at your service, you must be saying things that are dangerous."

Discriminatory targeting of American Muslims has been widespread throughout the country, and it has failed to keep our communities safe. Blanket surveillance based on ethnicity, race or religion is ineffective, diverts resources and erodes trust in law enforcement that the public should have. An Associated Press investigation into the activities of the New York Police Department's Demographics Unit dedicated to wholesale spying on American Muslims in the city and northeast revealed that it failed to help produce a single lead or terrorism case, instead increasing distrust between the police and the communities they serve.

Law enforcement agencies have engaged in data gathering and mapping of Muslim communities based solely on religion, race, and ethnicity without any evidence of wrongdoing, while conducting surveillance of community organizations and using informants and undercover agents. These practices are contrary to our nation's promise of equal protection and equal treatment under the law.

Failing to provide accurate media coverage of the numerous individuals and groups opposing this violence, while also providing a public platform to those who are exploiting the tragedy to call for more profiling has a troubling impact on the daily lives of American Muslims. Not only does this type of rhetoric reinforce false representations of communities around the world, but it also creates an environment in which hostility towards Muslims is justified. As Malek Merabet, the brother of Ahmed Merabet, one of the police officers killed in the attack (a Muslim), said, "It's not two terrorists, two madmen who are going to represent all Muslims."

To those who are responsible for the divisive rhetoric we detail above, we, the undersigned, urge you to pursue more truthful, less sensationalist coverage and commentary. Your viewers and followers depend on you for an honest debate about acts of terror and ways to respond relying on historical context and multiple perspectives, including those from Muslim, Arab, and South Asian communities here in the U.S. and abroad. We can help identify a diverse set of resources such as Americans who would be able to add context and provide much-needed nuance to important news events taking place. To those hosts and journalists who have responsibly covered the terror attack relying on multiple perspectives and the facts, we thank you and ask that you continue doing so.

Very respectfully,

American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee

American Center for Outreach

American Muslim Advisory Council

Amnesty International USA

Arab American Institute

Asian Americans Advancing Justice | AAJC

Center for Constitutional Rights

Center for New Community

Color of Change

Muslim Advocates

Michigan Muslim Community Council

Muslim Public Affairs Council

NAACP

National Network for Arab American Communities

New Evangelical Partnership for the Common Good

Sikh American Legal Defense and Education Fund (SALDEF)

South Asian Americans Leading Together

T'ruah: The Rabbinic Call for Human Rights

The Interfaith Center of New York

UNITED SIKHS

Credit to Madihha Ahussain