Unleashing the Beast

R EVELATIONS IN THE A RABIAN D ESERT / 77

 The Syrian army will attack him, but will be destroyed in the desert. When this happens, both Iran and Syria will unite to pledge their allegiance to him.  He will seize Turkey through force.  After uniting all of Islam; he will then take over the entire world in the name of Islam.  Muhammad predicted the conquest of Spain, which some believe will occur under the Mahdi.  Under the Mahdi's leadership, there will be great prosperity, including gold and silver for his faithful followers.  After all of this is accomplished, the Mahdi will rule for five, seven, or nine years (depending on which tradition is followed), and then the end of the world will come, followed by the judgment of Allah. When we study the expectations of Muslims, we find amazing parallels between their traditions of the Mahdi and the prophecies relating to the Antichrist that are revealed in the Bible. For example, compare the above Islamic traditions to Biblical references alluding to the world's final world dictator, the Antichrist. While some Muslims would not appreciate the comparison between this expected one and the Biblical Antichrist, other Muslims who have seen this comparison are almost shocked to see the parallels between the 1,200 year old Islamic expectations and the ancient prophecies of the Bible.