Originally posted by Suzianne
No, I don't.
When the AntiChrist, the Beast, rises to power, he will kill every Muslim that refuses to worship him, just as he will kill every Christian that refuses to worship him.
How many Christian do you think would refuse to bow their knees and worship Christ when He returns? So I doubt that many Muslims will refuse to do the same for their Mahdi.
The Mahdi: Islam’s Awaited Messiah
Among the Major Signs, the most anticipated and central sign that Muslims are awaiting is the coming of a man known as, “The Mahdi.” In Arabic, al-Mahdi means, “The Guided One”. He is also sometimes referred to by Shi’a Muslims as Sahib Al-Zaman or Al-Mahdi al-Muntadhar which translated mean “The Lord of the Age” and “The Guided/Awaited One.”
The coming of the Mahdi is established doctrine for both Sunni and Shi’a Muslims, and indeed for all humanity. The Mahdi is believed to be a future Muslim world leader who will not only rule over the Islamic world, but also the non-Muslim world as well.
Throughout the Islamic world today there is a call for the restoration of the Islamic Caliphate. The Caliph (Khalifa) in Islam may be viewed somewhat as the Pope of the Muslims. The Caliph is viewed as the Vice-regent for Allah on the earth. It is important to understand that when Muslims call for the restoration of the Caliphate, it is ultimately the Mahdi that they are calling for. For the Mahdi is the awaited final Caliph of Islam. As such, Muslims everywhere will be obligated to follow the Mahdi.
The Mahdi’s ascendancy to power is said to be preceded by an army from the east who will be carrying black flags or banners of war. Sheikh Kabbani states:
Hadith indicate that black flags coming from the area of Khorasan will signify the appearance of the Mahdi is nigh. Khorasan is in todays Iran, and some scholars have said that this hadith means when the black flags appear from Central Asia, i.e. in the direction of Khorasan, then the appearance of the Mahdi is imminent.
Islamic tradition pictures the Mahdi as joining with the army of Muslim warriors carrying black flags. The Mahdi will then lead this army to Israel and re-conquer it for Islam. The Jews will be slaughtered until very few remain and Jerusalem will become the location of the Mahdi’s rule over the Earth.
The Mahdi is believed to ride on a white horse. Whether or not this is symbolic or literal is hard to say. Quite interestingly, this tradition is based on the Muslim interpretation of Christian Scriptures. Despite the fact that Muslims view the Bible as having been changed and corrupted by Jews and Christians, they still claim to believe that some portions of the “original” inspired books are still to be found within the “corrupted” Bible.
http://www.answering-islam.org/Authors/JR/Future/ch04_the_mahdi.htm
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