I was quite young when I was first introduced to the Islamic concept of the Antichrist (Arabic الدّجّال for the Deceiver/Impostor) and until last night I knew relatively nothing about him except that I was to flee when and if I ever caught sight of him. In order to know more I watched a video of a speech given by Canadian Islamic scholar Dr. Bilal Philips on the subject of the Antichrist.Philips began his speech first by comparing the different versions of the Antichrist. He found the reference in the Christian scrolls to be to be vague and obscure. He continued to dig deeper into history by examining the Jewish scrolls (namely the Book of Daniel) and ridiculed the description found therein. Finally, he moved on to the Islamic concept after an initial bout of praise for the complexity in the narrations by the Prophet’s companions.

According to Philips, the Antichrist is a sun-tanned Caucasian male, with a muscular physique, stooped back, curly hair, green eyes (of which one is blind), protruding forehead and a most prominent feature, the Arabic letters ف , ك and ر which would be deciphered by all devout Moslems, regardless of their literacy, as the mark of the Disbeliever.

Then Philips began describing his earthly manifestation prior to the Day of Resurrection. Three years before the Antichrist is set to appear, God shall command the skies to withhold a third of its rain and the Earth a third of its produce. The second year two-thirds and everything on the third year. Then only would the Antichrist appear before man, bearing powers only a god could possess. He shall carry mountains of bread and meat, along with rivers from both Heaven and Hell, he shall be able to raise the dead, cure the sick and fling those who oppose him into the pits of Hell for all to see. (These contesters enter the real Heaven as Martyrs). Most important of all, he shall claim to be God. This ultimate trial of faith will save the faithful who reject him and bring out the infidels and the hypocrites who align with him. The latter will suffer eternal ****ation.

I listened intently but all the while I was disturbed by an irritable conflict with the circumstances with which the Antichrist appears. Philips mentioned that he will be preceded by the Mahdi who will wage a global war against the infidels (a sort of crusade). Based on the narrations, I assume that after this war humanity’s stance on Earth would already be weakened. Then comes the drought and the famine brought about by Divine Intervention. We can all imagine what kind of a scenario this would create… think poverty struck regions of Africa, only a million times worse than that if agriculture is eradicated altogether. After taking this into consideration, how could any man (or woman for that matter) refuse the salvation offered by the Antichrist? How could anyone who is on the fringe of death refuse a morsel of food, even if it comes from this unholy impersonator, aided in his deception of mankind by God Himself? If a man were to be responsible for such acts of deception, would he not be deemed unfathomably cruel? Nobel winning physicist Steven Weinberg once said in an interview by a BBC documentary “The Atheism Tapes” by Jonathan Miller:

“Maybe at the very bottom of it… I really don’t like God. You know, it’s silly to say I don’t like God because I don’t believe in God, but in the same sense that I don’t like Iago, or the Reverend Slope or any of the other villains of literature, the god of traditional Judaism and Christianity and Islam seems to me a terrible character. He’s [a God] who obsessed the degree to which people worship him and anxious to punish with the most awful torments those who don’t worship him in the right way. Now I realise that many people don’t believe in that any more who call themselves Muslims or Jews or Christians, but that is the traditional God and he’s a terrible character. I don’t like him”

Sadly, I must agree with Weinberg. His observations are accurate albeit exaggerated. However, I REFUSE to believe that those traits are inherent to God’s true nature. They are in stark contrast to the Divine Characters that I do believe in… that God is The Most Beneficent, The Peace and Blessing, The Merciful, The Ever Providing, The Loving and The Truth and The Compassionate. After a lot of contemplation I reached only one conclusion. We have distorted our collective perception of God to further our own trifle agendas.

May God forgive us all for the atrocities we have committed and continue to commit in His Name.

This is a hilarious piece.. what do you hope to gain by it? are you looking for an offering of a contrary contention? or is this the piece that you found most compelling out of all that is offered out there on the subject matter?

I love how atheists try to absolve themselves from the manner of which they choose to live life, by traducing against God or religion... When more death and famine was created under atheists and their regime than that of all the religions combined (Mao Xedong, Saloth Sar, Enver Hoxha Josef Stalin Sung 1I anyone?)

If you don't like God, then enjoy your life.. it is part of your free will.. No one is holding a gun to your head, but don't innovate in theology by introducing your own bankrupt ideology which has no basis or foundation in religion as understood by its adherents!

cheers

Someone did a count-up of God killing vs Satan Killing in the Bible.
Bible Score was God: 3270000, Satan 10.
The Quran was God 4, (Lot's wife, Noahs kids..& someone else) Satan Nil.

Without delving into the main part of your post Nerd, I certainly hope that the scriptures are wrong, cos I wouldnt want to meet either of those deitys as advertised in their Public Relations.

We all have different perceptions of God, but there are universal similarities which can not be ignored. Such as the notion of a omnipotent, omniscient and even vengeful god, right?

Are you saying you believe that God isn't the Most Beneficent, The Peace and Blessing, The Merciful, The Ever Providing, The Loving and The Truth and The Compassionate???? I totally disagree with you if that's the case, but I respect your candor

Cheers

Vengence is one of those very mallable words.
To me, it means exacting pleasure from carrying out an act intended to harm in retaliation to a perceived event.
So when King David was asked by God to take a Census and took the Census, God killed 40000 Jews as vengence for David obaying him. (its fruity, but it's scripture OK?)

Now you will not find a Christian or Jew who will say that this was God being vengeful these days. They explain such actions as God enacting rightful justice as is his ..err...umm..god, err given right...Hmmm...(just confused myself there).
His Justice is perfect and merciful, and if we cant understand him slaughtering a mid sized towns population for obaying his orders, then we are not in the full picture. God works myseteriously and it is not for us to doubt or try and reason it with our puny human minds.

Personally, i think David took a Census, and then the sewage system failed and Dysentry wiped out a bunch of people. Dave stuck two and two together and made 23,435. It got written in, and bading!

This is the contrast in which you find life. I have seldom come across things very defined in black and white...I never could quite understand how people who are 'putatively intelligent', can have such a puerile ilogical approach and revel in self-indulgent fantasies-- circumstantial and haphazardly collected 'evidence' to draw such asinine conclusions.
& without abashment or apology introduce the products of the dark mind for the rest of the world.. I gather most of the time it goes un-answered cast off as the rambling of a delusional angry man, now approaching death and in need of justification of a laundry list of immoralities...

It must be consoling.. but pointless nonetheless.

Want to discuss the signs of the end go ahead... want to get into each individual life of who deserves what ( I am sure that will be long and amusing) want to present a piece in which a conclusion is already drawn for us, then I recommend the poetry section.. I too vent there on occasion.... But in the refutation section we don't start pieces in an ended fashion as to have only fixed limits and restrictions on conclusions drawn by a man who is self-professed to hate God!

cheers

I am saying I don't reduce God to a low common denominator as do most atheists! There is no factual accuracy to what 'you' (plural) write, only interpretive extrapolation mostly in a scornful and mocking manner as if to loan it more credence.. join the rest of the 6 billion of earth's inhabitants with opinions.. You are free to think of God as you please, simply don't impose the linear thought process on the rest of us..

cheers

Translator:
You daft think not beleiving, why do you concentrate on the negitive, ahh well, your gonna die soon, then you'll find out. Dont talk here about refuting a merciful and just deity's seemingly malevonant actions, do it in the..err...umm..refutation section.

What you construe as 'vengeful' others understand to be justice or expiation of sin or balance, or the yin of some yang or or or..

You are really in position to decide what or why it is the way it is.. You barely have a grip on the matters that concern your every day living, let alone universal laws!


cheers

Well some things, first of all your deductions are based on speculation. We don't know exactly what degree of poverty there would be in the future. Furthermore, the whole concept of life on this earth is to test us in the first place. The God that I recognize when reading the Qur'an is not a malevolent one. I'm pretty confident that any reason you have to think that Islam proposes a malevolent God is a matter of both perspective and interpretation.

Meh, who is?
it's all subjective. There may be a planet where wiping out the worlds population for some undefined "sin" like lechery or Sodomy is a mercy, but I'm not going to book my next holiday there.

pls don't reveal too much about your life style choices..
what you do in your private time and whom you choose to schmooze with on holdiday is no body's business...

cheers

ROFL! Nice volley.

If what Dr. Phillips explained, is in-line with the Koran: Anti-christ will be preceded by the Mahdi who will wage a global war against the infidels (a sort of crusade). Based on the narrations, I assume that after this war humanity’s stance on Earth would already be weakened. Then comes the drought and the famine brought about by Divine Intervention. We can all imagine what kind of a scenario this would create… think poverty struck regions of Africa, only a million times worse than that if agriculture is eradicated altogether. After taking this into consideration, how could any man (or woman for that matter) refuse the salvation offered by the Antichrist? How could anyone who is on the fringe of death refuse a morsel of food, even if it comes from this unholy impersonator, aided in his deception of mankind by God Himself?