Islamic History Part I

But at the beginning of the 7^th century, Muhammad appeared on the scene (622-632), conquering the multi-deity Arabian Peninsula and quickly spreading Islam by war and death, forcing submission under his new god called Allah. (This name is based on the generic Arabic term illah for “god,” similar to the generic Biblical terms of Elohim, Elim, or Eloha in the text below.) Daniel 11 seems to describe this early Islamic conquest:

“And the king [Muhammad] shall do according to his will. He shall exalt himself and magnify himself above every god [El], and shall speak astonishing things against the God of gods [El Elim]. He shall prosper till the indignation is accomplished; for what is decreed shall be done. He shall pay no attention to the gods [Elohei] of his fathers [the ancient multi-divinity Arabian deities], or to the one beloved by women [perhaps the moon god?]. He shall not pay attention to any other god [Eloha], for he shall magnify himself above all. He shall honor the god [Elah, similar to Allah] of fortresses [conquest and war] instead of these. A god [Eloha] whom his fathers did not know he shall honor with gold and silver, with precious stones and costly gifts. He shall deal with [or destroy] the strongest fortresses with the help of a foreign god [Eloha]. Those who acknowledge him he shall load with honor. He shall make them rulers over many and shall divide the land for a price [or they will gain power and prosperity over many lands at great cost]” (Dan. 11:36-39). [The terms for “God” in brackets are those found in the original Hebrew text.]

We can interpret from the above verses of Daniel 11 that the mentioned nondescript “king that does as he wills” here could easily refer to Muhammad and the appearance of Islam in the early 7^th century. In less than 100 years, Arab Muslim warriors overtook by sword and scimitar the previously Christian lands in Egypt, northern Africa, parts of southern Europe and the Iberian Peninsula, as well as the Levant (including Jerusalem in AD 637). In subsequent centuries, they conquered much of the eastern Christian Byzantine Empire up to the Caucasus region to the north, the Iranian plateau, and parts of central Asia to the east, including Turkey, Iraq, and Iran. (See map above).[1] Those who converted to Islam were honored with land, riches, and power, but those who didn’t convert had to die or pay the price as subhuman and abused people (dhimmi), which is the reason why most eventually did “convert.”[2]

Ancient Christian historians of the day classified the genocides perpetrated by Islam as horrendous, lustful, and satanic. Their destruction in Jerusalem was described by Christians as the “abomination of desolations,” and many Muslim sultans at the time were identified as the “Antichrist.”[3] Arab and non-Arab conquerors (including Turks and Persians) prospered from plunder and the slavery of thousands of white women and children, both boys and girls, mainly for their harems.[4]

This jihad or war against Christianity and Judaism offered only three options to non-Muslims: 1) convert to Islam and be rewarded with stolen plunder and an eternal brothel of supernatural virgins,[5] 2) submit to the worst treatment possible as dhimmis (slaves) while paying continuous extortion fees (jizya)[6], or 3) suffer the most gruesome torture and death at their hands.[7] Islam developed a new lunar Hijri calendar in the year 639, based on Muhammad’s first ummah (or community), and imposed a set of Sharia laws, unique to the Muslim socio-political religion. For over 1,200 years, Muslims leaders practiced the slave trade, selling white European people, both male and female, for the explicit and lustful use as concubines. (The English word for “slavery” comes from the “Slavs” that were the most ravaged: from Poland, Lithuania, Russia, and Ukraine.) Even though Christian Crusaders managed to regain temporary control of the Holy Land between the 11^th and 12^th centuries, Saladin defeated the Crusaders in 1187 and killed or expelled all the Christians, remaining only a small portion of the Byzantine Empire.

By the late 13^th century, Islam spread even further east thanks to the Mongolian Empire, as the various Mongolian khans eventually converted to Islam. This sinister religion continued to slowly expand so as to ultimately reach as far northeast as Russia, Siberia and Central Asia, called the Golden Horde,[8] as well as to Pakistan and Afghanistan, where the Ilkanates[9] imposed the same tyrannical rule as the Arab caliphs. The Christian Byzantine Empire had been left only with a small portion of Asia Minor surrounded by Islamic governments on all sides, and it continued in this weakened condition until the 15^th century, when it was finally overtaken by the Muslim Turkish Ottoman Empire in 1453.

Thus, we can easily interpret from Daniel 11:36-39 that the mentioned nondescript “king that does as he wills” could refer to Muhammad and the appearance of Islam in the early 7^th century. It has continuously spread and dominated a large part of the world for about 14 centuries by means of violent and sadistic Muslim warriors, and “with the help of a foreign god”, or Allah. This false “god” was spawned by Satan, establishing a new and evil socio-political religious system in opposition to the One True God of the Bible through a Counterfeit Messiah. Even though it became temporarily subdued in Western Europe and the Americas after World War I, it has held its power and evil tyranny over millions of people in the Eastern and African nations. It is now trying to regain its strength among historically Christian nations as it promotes the “Palestinian” cause among the “liberals.” Some Christians in western countries are already being persecuted and killed for their faith by Muslims, though in less numbers, but soon this will intensify.

Even though it may seem to Western liberal thought and worldview that Islam is not really such a threat to the world (that it is a “religion of peace”), these “woke” people join sides with Islam and oppose anything that may seem like “Islamophobia.” But all people, especially Christians, must carefully study past history, where they can clearly see how Islam has forced itself upon peoples and nations in savage and unimaginable ways, which would actually be repugnant to these liberal intellectual defenders if they were honest with themselves. Satan has blinded these so-called “tolerant” people from seeing the horrible gore and truth. As Raymond Ibrahim states, “Islam has always treated the ‘infidel,’ the non-Muslim, the same way ISIS treats the infidel: atrociously.”[10] He clarifies in his book Sword and Scimitar, the following: “The west and Islam have been mortal enemies since the latter’s birth some fourteen centuries ago… Muslim hostility for the West is not an aberration but a continuation of Islamic history.”[11]

By “west,” Ibrahim clarifies that he means Christianity, and that Muslims see their role in history as an unending Islamic Jihad (or war) against this greatest of enemies, the Christians. Even though Ibrahim doesn’t mention Jews and the land of Israel as also being a target of Islam’s fury, their hatred is just as clearly obsessive and unexplainable against Jews as against Christians. The only reasonable explanation for this is that it is actually a spiritual war of Satan against the One True God, the God of true Jews and Christians.

We must realize that Islam has always and still continues to persecute both Christians and Jews, mainly in Muslim countries, and will do so until our end-times, which is referred to in verse 35: “and some of the wise shall stumble, so that they may be refined, purified, and made white, until the time of the end, for it still awaits the appointed time.” It clearly describes an extended length of time, even to the present days and beyond. When Jews began to return to their land in the late 19^th century, they were persecuted by Muslims who wanted to eradicate them and prevent them from reestablishing the nation of Israel. They even joined Hitler in his effort to exterminate them. This hatred and persecution will continue until “the time of the end.”

Regarding the present extension of Islam, the Pew Research Center’s website[12] states that there are now roughly 1.8 billion Muslims worldwide (about 24% of the world’s populations) and is the fastest-growing religion in the world, though there is a great variety of specific beliefs and practices. The Pew Research Center estimates that by the end of this century, they will far exceed the number of Christians worldwide. According to Muslim’s own estimations, out of a total of 193 countries worldwide, there are now about 30 that have more than a 90% Muslim population and 20 countries with a 50% to 80% Muslim population.[13]

So far, the main regions of the world with a predominantly Islamic population are located in the Middle East (except Israel), all of North Africa and many countries in West Africa, Western Asia (except Armenia and Georgia), Eastern Asia, Southern Asia, and Maritime Southeast Asia. Modern-day Russia developed its own version of Christianity after expelling the Golden Horde, but seeks to make agreements with Muslim countries more than with Christian countries. Islam is actively spreading to Western democratic nations (Europe and the Americas) by means of mass migration, higher birth rates, social intimidation, and the acquisition of influential positions of power. Muslims already have a large automatic majority in the General Assembly of the United Nations, and they almost always vote together against countries that they do not like, especially against Israel and the United States, their alleged “Little Satan” and “Big Satan.”

Admittedly, most nations have always been cruel in their treatment of other nations due to their greed for wealth and power, but some fundamentally Christian governments in recent centuries made more concerted efforts to reflect the Bible’s instructions on equality, justice, and love than Muslim governments ever did. As Ibrahim clarifies, “In reality, whereas jihads culminated in slavery, depopulation, and devastation…European colonialists abolished slavery and introduced their Muslim subjects to the boons of modernity, from scientific and medicinal advances to the radical concepts of democracy and religious freedom.”[14] We may not see the same type of Muslim military campaigns against Christians as in the past, but the modern “lone wolf” jihadists uphold and defend the same ancient goals proposed by Muhammad. They do not depend on leaders to proclaim jihad on infidels but act on their own accord, killing for the glory of Allah, in order to gain the lustful alleged dream of seventy “virgins” in their twisted version of paradise.

In summary, the events and people described in Daniel 11:1-39 do not refer to a future Antichrist, but to leaders in our ancient past, including the killing of Jesus, the Roman destruction of the Temple in AD 70, the rise of Christianity, the appearance of Islam in the 7^th century, the building of the Muslim Mosque on the Temple Mount, and the persecution and death of Christians and Jews in the name of Allah, all leading up to our present days. What is of utmost importance is that Islam “shall prosper till the indignation is accomplished, for what is decreed shall be done” (Dan. 11:36), which also places it in the days leading up to the resurrection of God’s saints, both true Jews and Christians. The Messiah will finally return with His saints in power and glory to indignantly punish the Counterfeit Messiah and all unrighteous, and then He will establish His righteous millennial kingdom. We will analyze verses 40-45 in a section further ahead.

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[1] Map: Public domain by DieBuche - Adapted from http://guides.library.iit.edu/content.php?pid=27903& amp;sid=322018 (archive1, archive2) (via Image:Age_of_Caliphs.png), accessed Feb. 18, 2022.

[2] Raymond Ibrahim, Sword and Scimitar (Hachette Books, New York, 2020) 2, 5-7, 11-12, 35.

[3] Ibid, 26-27, 29, 34, 89, 108.

[4] Ibid, 37, 47-49, 50-52, 90.

[5] Koran 44:54; 52:20; 55:72; 56:22.

[6] Koran 9:29.

[7] The Koran calls on Muslims to hate (60:4), fight (9:29), and slaughter (9:5) non-Muslims.

[8] Wikipedia, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Golden_Horde, accessed March 31, 2022.

[9] Wikipedia, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ilkhanate, accessed March 31, 2022.

[10] Ibrahim, ‘Islamophobia’ is as old as Islam, https://www.raymondibrahim.com/2022/03/31/ islamophobia-is-as-old-as-islam, accessed May 10, 2022.

[11] Ibrahim, Sword and Scimitar, xvii.

[12] Pew Research Center, https://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2017/08/09/muslims-and-islam-key-findings-in-the-u-s-and-around-the-world/, accessed June 25, 2021.

[13] Nations Online, https://www.nationsonline.org/oneworld/muslim-countries.htm, accessed June 25, 2021.

[14] Ibrahim, https://www.raymondibrahim.com/2022/05/10/jihadist-conquests-were-about-bringing-justice-freedom-and-equality-to-conquered-infidels-says-leading-muslim-scholar, accessed May 11, 2022.