“The Antichrist!” (Islam & the Antichrist #4)

“The Antichrist!” (Islam & the Antichrist #4)

Here is the link to Part 1:

The following is taken from the book The Islamic Antichrist by Joel Richardson:

Simply put, according to the Bible, the Antichrist will be Satan’s primary human agent on the earth in the last days.

Who exactly is the Antichrist? The Bible prophesies that the Antichrist will be a political and military leader with power unparalleled by any other world leader throughout history.

The Mahdi [Islam’s Messiah], like the Antichrist, is also prophesied to be a political and military world leader unparalleled by any other throughout world history.

The Bible teaches that the Antichrist will lead a worldwide religious worship movement that will attempt to displace and usurp worship from the God of the Bible. This worship will then be directed toward both himself and Satan—the invisible spirit—the provocateur and puppet master that motivates, empowers, and gives authority to the Antichrist to accomplish his worldwide task.

Likewise, it almost goes without saying, the Mahdi of Islam will be the leader of a worldwide worship movement, a worship movement that will seek to cause anyone who practices any religion other than Islam to renounce his faith and worship Allah, the god of Islam.

Both the Antichrist and the Mahdi are said to be the unqualified leaders of a global religious movement that will draw worship away from the God of the Bible and His Son Jesus Christ.

The Bible is very clear that Satan, through the Antichrist, will specifically target first Jews and then Christians for death. (Revelation 12)

Interestingly enough, Islamic tradition speaks much of the Mahdi’s special calling to convert Christians and Jews to Islam. The following quote from Ayatollah Ibrahim Amini clearly articulates this vision: The Mahdi will offer the religion of Islam to the Jews and Christians; if they accept it they will be spared, otherwise they will be killed.

The Bible teaches that the Antichrist, with his multination coalition, will attack Israel, and specifically Jerusalem, to conquer it. The Apostle Paul says that the Antichrist will “set himself up in God’s Temple,” or more literally, “he takes his seat in the temple of God.” This speaks not so much of a literal sitting down as it does of a taking a position of authority.

Likewise the Mahdi is said to attack Jerusalem and reconquer it for Islam in order to establish Islamic rule over the earth from Jerusalem. The Mahdi will not end his campaign against Jerusalem in a peaceful way. For the Jews, the Islamic version of the last days ends with the last few surviving Jews hiding behind rocks or trees from the sword of Islam.

Another of the Antichrist’s goals according to the Book of Daniel is to “change the set times and the laws”: He will speak against the Most High and oppress his saints and try to change the set times and the laws. (Daniel 7:25, emphasis mine)

It quite plausible that the biblical reference to the Antichrist who will “try to change the set times and the laws” describes a Muslim. As we look at the full picture, only Islam fits the bill of a system that has its own unique calendar, a week based on its own religious history, and a clear system of law that it wishes to impose onto the entire earth.

So in conclusion, we see that several of the most unique and distinguishing aspects of the biblical Antichrist’s person, mission, and actions are matched to quite an amazing degree by the descriptions of the Mahdi as found in the Islamic traditions. And now, even further, we see that Muslim scholars actually apply Bible verses about the Antichrist to their awaited savior, the Mahdi. This must be seen as quite ironic, if not entirely prophetic.

~ Joel Richardson, The Islamic Antichrist, pg. 33, 34, 37, 39, 40, 42, 43, 44, 45, 48, 49, 51.