Unleashing the Beast

R EVELATIONS IN THE A RABIAN D ESERT / 85

Laden and most of the Taliban were Sunni Muslims, as were most of the terrorists on September 11. Part of this is due to the spread of radical Islam through the Iranian, or Shiite, branch. Groups such as the Palestinian Liberation Organization (P.L.O.), Hamas, and Islamic Jihad are constantly promoting terrorism against the Jews in Israel and are being motivated and sponsored by the more radical Shiite branch of the Islamic religion. Any Muslim leader who could "liberate" Israel and Jerusalem from Jewish hands and turn Israel into an Islamic state would be hailed by all Muslims as a true prophet of Allah. He could effectively claim the title of Mahdi! In 1979, several Islamic leaders attempted to lay claim to the position of Mahdi. I will discuss this in the next chapter.