VIDEO: Timothy Furnish � 'Rejecting Millennial Time: The Ottoman Empire's 700-year War against Mahdism'

The usual Ottoman kinetic response to Mahdist rebellions started with the janissaries--but often this was supplemented with IO/IW in the form of fatwas and other religious salients.

Video of Tim Furnish's presentation at the recent Boston University Conference, "Apocalyptic Hopes, Millennial Dreams and Global Jihad."  The introduction by Richard Landes is noteworthy for his high estimation of Dr. Furnish in this formerly obscure but now frighteningly relevant field of Islamic Eschatology and Mahdi Movements.

This is a profound talk, which touches on Sufism and other Islamic sects, complexities of Ottoman rule, and an array of related topics which are of great help in informing our understanding of the Islamic State and its apocalyptic ambitions.

The COIN of the Ottoman Realm Spent Against Proto-ISIS Groups

Timothy Furnish, Mahdi Watch � May 19, 2015

"My lecture from the Boston University conference on Islamic apolcalyptic movements, "Rejecting Millennial Time: The Ottoman Empire's 700-year War against Mahdism" is up. [Scroll down for video.]

"Its two main points are that 1) eschatological/Mahdist groups are not new with ISIS, but have been around for centuries; and 2) the counter-insurgency (COIN) methods employed by the Sunni Ottoman state to fight such Islamic challenges to its rule are instructive for Muslim regimes today."

Link to video:
Rejecting Millennial Time: The Ottoman Empire's 700-year War against Mahdism

Boston University to host Millennial Studies Conference on Islamic Eschatology, May 3-4

Boston University is hosting a conference on Mahdism, May 3-4, entitled 'Apocalyptic Hopes, Millennial Dreams and Global Jihad' with some impressive speakers, including Islamic history and eschatology scholar Timothy R. Furnish, whose articles are often featured here at Facing Islam.

The two other speakers with whom I am familiar are:

• Graeme Wood, author of the recent landmark article in The Atlantic, 'What ISIS Really Wants'
• Ayaan Hirsi Ali, fearless ex-Muslim and author, whose new book is titled, 'Heretic - Why Islam Needs a Reformation Now'

If you are able to attend, by all means make every effort, as this promises to be a significant event. Anyone attending, I would be very interested posting your review, summary and impressions of the conference. Contact me through my profile listing in the left-hand column.

Tim exuberantly shares, "My paper is entitled 'Rejecting Millennial Time: The Ottoman Empire's 700-year War against Mahdism in its Realm'.  I'm honored to be sharing the stage with the likes of the august folks listed above!"  

Read more of Tim Furnish's preview of his talk at his website,  MahdiWatch.

Below are the highlights from the Boston University Event Listing:

_______

#GenerationCaliphate

Apocalyptic Hopes, Millennial Dreams and Global Jihad

May 3-4, 2015, Boston University

Sponsored by the Center for Millennial Studies, Boston University History Department and Scholars for Peace in the Middle East.

Most Westerners associate the terms apocalyptic and millennial (millenarian) with Christian beliefs about the endtime. Few even know that Muhammad began his career as an apocalyptic prophet predicting the imminent Last Judgment. And yet, for the last thirty years, a wide-ranging group of militants, both Sunni and Shi�i, both in coordination and independently, have, under the apocalyptic belief that now is the time, pursued the millennial goal of spreading Dar al Islam to the entire world. 

In a manner entirely in keeping with apocalyptic beliefs, but utterly counter-intuitive to outsiders, these Jihadis see the Western-driven transformation of the world as a vehicle for their millennial beliefs, or, to paraphrase Eusebius on the relationship between the Roman Empire and Christianity: Praeparatio Califatae.

The apocalyptic scenario whereby this global conquest takes place differs from active transformative (the West shall be conquered by Da�wa [summons]) to active cataclysmic (bloody conquest). Western experts have until quite recently, for a wide range of reasons, ignored this dimension of the problem. 

And yet, understanding the nature of global Jihad in terms of the dynamics of apocalyptic millennial groups may provide an important understanding, both to their motivations, methods, as well as their responses to the inevitable disappointments that await all such believers. 

The now defunct Center for Millennial Studies at Boston University (1996-2003) brings to the public one final conference on apocalyptic beliefs, co-sponsored by the BU History Department and Scholars for Peace in the Middle East (SPME).

This event is free and open to the public.

*All events will take place in the Stone Science Building (645 Commonwealth Ave), room B50

Selected Work

Ayaan Hirsi Ali

Read �Those Who Love Death: Islam�s Fatal Focus on the Afterlife� from Heretic (2015) Here

Jeffrey Bale

Read �Islamism and Totalitarianism� (2009) Here

Read �Political Correctness and the Undermining of Counterterrorism� (2013) Here

J.M Berger

Read �The ISIS Twitter Consensus� (2015) Here

Paul Berman

Read �Why is the Islamist Death Cult So Appealing?� (2015) Here

Cole Bunzel

Read �From Paper State to Caliphate: The Ideology of the Islamic State� (2015) Here

Timothy Furnish

Read �Days of Future Mahdism Have Not Passed� (2013) Here

William McCants

Read �The Sectarian Apocalypse� (2014) Here

Graeme Wood

Read �What ISIS Really Wants� (2015) Here

More info and full conference and speaker schedule here...

Is Islam Really 99.981% Terrorism-Free? Refuting Fareed Zakaria on ISIS

by Timothy R. Furnish, Mahdi Watch, February 22, 2015

Muslims the world over await the Mahdi's return.

Fareed Zakaria penned a rather inane article in �The Washington Post� last week, entitled �The limits of the Islamic label� (which he adduced at length in his �GPS� show this morning).  The point therein: to criticize Graeme Wood for his �Atlantic� article, �What ISIS Really Wants,� in which the latter dares to state that ISIS is profoundly Islamic, and even apocalyptic, in its belief system and actions. Zakaria supports President Obama�s Machiavellian �terrorism means never having to say �Islam� � strategy on the grounds that it avoids alienation of 1.6 billion Muslims, and takes Wood (and those of us like-minded) to task with the metric that ISIS�s 30,000 members only comprise .0019% of the world�s Islamic population.

But ISIS isn�t the only terrorist organization which adduces Islam as its raison d�etre�it�s only the most brutal.  I scrutinized the data on the other three dozen major terrorist groups which are Islamic, on the US State Department site as well as several others, and came up with a rough membership number for all the non-ISIS Sunni Muslim terrorist groups of some 65,000.  Adding in ISIS�s 30,000 puts the global Sunni dedicated terrorist ranks into the 100,000 range�especially when we consider that State enumerated the membership strength of a number of these entities as �unknown:� it�s certainly reasonable to estimate that these half-dozen groups (which include the likes of al-Qa`idah [AQ] central and the Abd Allah Azzam Brigades) count several thousand adherents.  

But wait, there�s more that refutes Zakaria�s specious claim.  

The core ISIS ideology centers around several key Islamic concepts: Islam as the only true religion; the need for a caliphate to rule all Muslims and impose shari`ah; the necessity of not just da`wah but jihad to achieve those ends; the belief that the Qur�an should be literally followed, even if need be to the point of beheading opponents.  This interpretation and articulation of Islam is virtually synonymous with that of the Wahhabis of the Arabian peninsula, the Deobandis of the Indian subcontinent, and even, arguably, apolitical piety-minded �missionary� groups like Tablighi Jama`at [TJ]. Active Wahhabis number at least 5 million in the Gulf; Deobandis make up some 20% of Indian Muslims (30 million) and 20% of Pakistani ones (35 million); and TJ�s membership has been put in the 20-80 million range (see my entry on this group in the World Almanac of Islamism).  In addition, while Wahhabis and Deobandis can all be subsumed under the category of Salafism, not all Salafis are Wahhabis or Deobandis�and this latter category would include at least 10 million more Muslims.  

Even taking the lowest estimates for Wahhabis, Deobandis, TJ members and Salafis, we arrive at a count of some 95 million.  This comprises about 6% of the world�s total Muslim population�or, since we�re actually working here only with the Sunni population, about 8% of  the world�s 1.36 billion Sunnis.  (Yes, there are Twelver Shi`i terrorist groups�notably Hizbullah�but such tend to be as much nationalist as Islamic, and they are rarely as brutal as the Sunni terrorist ones, plus, they are not as enamored with imposing shari`ah, much less a caliphate.)  

Furthermore, according to Pew data, large minorities�indeed, majorities in some parts of the Islamic world�believe not only that shari`ah is ordained by Allah, but also that components thereof such as cutting off hands for stealing or stoning for adultery should be the law of their lands.  This differs very little from ISIS ideology.

Likewise for apocalyptic beliefs: some 42% of the world�s Muslims, or about 670 million people, indicate they expect the Mahdi to come in their lifetime; and a further 35%, approximately 560 million, say the same about the return of Jesus. [Pew results here.]

Quite a far cry from Zakaria�s .0019%. 

Fareed Zakaria finished his �WaPo� piece by citing an Egyptian-turned-terrorist, then pontificated that �calling him Islamic really doesn�t help you understand� why this chap did so.   Au contraire, Mr. Zakaria: it helps very much,  despite your sophistic attempts at muddying the analytical waters.

�What ISIS Really Wants� � A brief review of Graeme Wood�s Feature Article in the March issue of The Atlantic.

by Ralph H. Sidway

Graeme Wood�s 11,000 word article on the Islamic State hit the blogosphere like a bomb this past week. Thank God.

One of my friends and co-strugglers immediately posted a link to the online edition on his Facebook page. And Robert Spencer over at Jihad Watch posted this stirring assessment of its importance:

This is an extraordinary piece, as it represents one of the first, if not the first, mainstream media acknowledgment that... jihadis use the texts and teachings [of Islam] to justify their actions and make recruits, and make a case that obviously convinces many young Muslims, that they represent the truest and most authentic expression of Islam.

The publication of Mr. Wood�s extremely cogent and informed piece couldn�t be more timely, arriving the same week as the President�s �Summit to Counter Violent Extremism�, whose false premises it ably refutes.  Wood�s work is made all the more compelling through his in depth interviews and face time with ISIS supporters from Australia and Britain, through whom he conveys the supernatural allure, the �pull� which ISIS exerts upon Muslims who begin to buy into its end-times theology. This journalistic aspect of the article balances the analytical, and makes it real for us, putting a human face on ISIS. 

Wood begins with the following sub-title:

The Islamic State is no mere collection of psychopaths. It is a religious group with carefully considered beliefs, among them that it is a key agent of the coming apocalypse. Here�s what that means for its strategy�and for how to stop it.

Mr. Wood�s three sentence subtitle is less publishing tag or hook and really more of a thesis statement, and he begins his defense of this thesis by asking a few �simple questions,� the what and where, and the motivation question, showing immediately he is not afraid to assign blame where the facts lead:

...Few Western leaders seem to know the answers. In December, The New York Times published confidential comments by Major General Michael K. Nagata, the Special Operations commander for the United States in the Middle East, admitting that he had hardly begun figuring out the Islamic State�s appeal. �We have not defeated the idea,� he said. �We do not even understand the idea.� In the past year, President Obama has referred to the Islamic State, variously, as �not Islamic� and as al-Qaeda�s �jayvee team,� statements that reflected confusion about the group, and may have contributed to significant strategic errors.

Wood sets out to �understand� the idea, the allure of ISIS, and determines fairly early on in his article:

The reality is that the Islamic State is Islamic. Very Islamic� the religion preached by its most ardent followers derives from coherent and even learned interpretations of Islam.

Beyond this, through his research and his lengthy interviews and face time with dedicated supporters of the Islamic State in both Australia and Britain, Wood discovers that the very nature of the caliphate itself exerts an enormous pull on Muslims:

The caliphate... is not just a political entity but also a vehicle for salvation. Islamic State propaganda regularly reports the pledges of baya�a (allegiance) rolling in from jihadist groups across the Muslim world� The Muslim... who dies without pledging himself to a valid caliph and incurring the obligations of that oath, has failed to live a fully Islamic life�  

After [ISIS leader] Baghdadi�s July sermon [in 2014, announcing openly the caliphate], a stream of jihadists began flowing daily into Syria with renewed motivation.

After his exhaustive and far ranging analysis, he makes a case for supporting �quietist� Salafis, whom he defines as those who believe it is wrong to cause division among the ummah, the Muslim community, and therefore are very reluctant to get involved with politics, pledging allegiance to the principles of Islam, but not to a caliph.

Of course, Wood acknowledges that even quietist Salafis may discern at some point that a caliphate does have divine sanction, and would at that time give it their allegiance. Wood bravely tackles this hypnotic pull of ISIS and the caliphate for Muslims, drawing a surprising parallel with Hitler and Nazism:

In reviewing Mein Kampf in March 1940, George Orwell confessed that he had �never been able to dislike Hitler�; something about the man projected an underdog quality, even when his goals were cowardly or loathsome. �If he were killing a mouse he would know how to make it seem like a dragon.� The Islamic State�s partisans have much the same allure. They believe that they are personally involved in struggles beyond their own lives, and that merely to be swept up in the drama, on the side of righteousness, is a privilege and a pleasure�especially when it is also a burden. 

Fascism, Orwell continued, is 

�psychologically far sounder than any hedonistic conception of life � Whereas Socialism, and even capitalism in a more grudging way, have said to people �I offer you a good time,� Hitler has said to them, �I offer you struggle, danger, and death,� and as a result a whole nation flings itself at his feet � We ought not to underrate its emotional appeal.� 

Nor, in the case of the Islamic State, its religious or intellectual appeal. That the Islamic State holds the imminent fulfillment of prophecy as a matter of dogma at least tells us the mettle of our opponent. It is ready to cheer its own near-obliteration, and to remain confident, even when surrounded, that it will receive divine succor if it stays true to the Prophetic model. Ideological tools may convince some potential converts that the group�s message is false, and military tools can limit its horrors. But for an organization as impervious to persuasion as the Islamic State, few measures short of these will matter, and the war may be a long one, even if it doesn�t last until the end of time.

The only hope as a secularist which Graeme Wood can give is that it will be a long, slow struggle against ISIS. But as Christians, we hope for something more decisive, more redemptive. But what does that mean for us? 

From within the living tradition of the Orthodox Christian Church, we have holy and revered recent elders who themselves prophesied that we are nearing the end of this age. Their message to us in our time of such apocalyptic incarnations of bloodthirsty Islamic jihad would be that it is only the faithful living of an authentic Christian life in the Church which imbues us with divine grace sufficient to see us through. 

Keying on the apocalypse, on signs of doom and gloom, are not what we are to be focused on, even though the entire world be engulfed in flames. Christ gives us general signs of His Coming to help us be prepared, telling us to �Watch.� But we are to watch so as to be ready for Him, and we are to persevere in faith and love however long that may be, for 

"He who endures to the end shall be saved." (MT 24:13)

In our age, when �men�s hearts fail them from fear and the expectation of those things which are coming on the earth� (LK 21:26), it is Jesus Christ Who consoles and strengthens us with the promise of His return:

"Now when these things begin to happen, look up and lift up your heads, because your redemption draws near." (LK 21:28)

Graeme Wood�s article is definitely one of the most significant contributions to understanding not only Islamic jihad and ISIS, but the apocalyptic dreams of Islam itself, which will continue to convulse Middle East and indeed global politics and events for some time to come. I highly recommend it.

Timothy Furnish: The Islamic State and 'Signs of the Last Hour'

"Islamic State is honing its eschatological-apocalyptic message to a fine point, by making its jihad against the 'Crusade', as well as the reimposing of slavery over non-dhimmis, Signs of the Last Hour." 

Illinois Obama and the Last Crusade � Against ISIS

The Islamic State�s latest Dabiq magazine (#4)  was issued several weeks ago, entitled �The Failed Crusade.�

by Timothy R. Furnish, Mahdi Watch � October 21, 2014

Where to now, St. Peter?

To take over your square, obviously! 

As with the previous three issues, Dabiq�which, again, refers to a major apocalyptic battle in Syria between Muslims and �Romans� predicted in hadiths�opens with the same quote from IS�s founder, the late Abu Mus`ab al-Zarqawi:  that the spark lit in Iraq will eventually �burn�the crusader armies in Dabiq.�  

Overall, this magazine cites the Qur�an 20 times, adduces 36 different hadiths, and quotes historical Islamic scholars (such as the 14th century Ibn Taymiyah) as well as modern ideologues (al-Awlaki, Bin Ladin and al-Zarqawi)�thus making the claim that ISIS is � not Islamic�  fatuous at best.  Its main topics are the alleged �Crusade� and its relationship to the looming apocalyptic struggle between �Romans/Crusaders� and Muslims, and the rationalization for (re)imposing Muslim slavery of non-Muslims.  

The �failing crusade� and its connection to Islamic eschatological prognostication takes up over 1/3 of this 56-page document.   Modern US forays into the Middle East, particularly Iraq (and now Syria) are linked�of course!�to the Crusades of 900 years ago.  American soldiers, who are shown loading coffins containing their dead comrades into C-5s, are equated with �cross-worshipping Romans� (Byzantines, that is) and not the 11th century Crusaders.  This is almost certainly because the relevant hadiths refer to events from the 7th and 8th centuries, when the Eastern Roman, or Byzantine, Christian Empire was fighting off hordes of belligerent Muslims�and not to the actual Crusades, over three centuries later.

If only American and other Western militaries WERE this determined....

The relevant hadiths (too long to reproduce here) are explicated thusly:  �Muslims will be at war with the Roman Christians�.the Christians of Europe and their colonies�.There will be a pause in this war due to a truce�.During this time the Muslims and Romans will fight a common enemy [presumably the �Safawis,� or Twelver Shi`is of Iran and Iraq]�.These events all lead up to the final, greatest, and bloodiest battle�al-Malhamah al-Kubra�between the Muslims and the Romans prior to the appearance of the Dajjal and the descent of al-Masih [Jesus].  This battle ends the era of the Roman Christians, as the Muslims will then advance upon Constantinople and thereafter Rome, to conquer the two cities and raise the flag of the Khilafah over them.�  But according to IS exegesis, they won�t stop there.   The new caliphate, either before the Mahdi comes or, perhaps, after his arrival, also will conquer Jerusalem and eventually �destroy the filthy house called the White House.�  Along the way the armies of jihad will �break your crosses and enslave your women.�  

Dabiq issue 4 also expends several pages asking why the US is allying in Syria with its mortal enemies Russia and Iran and their proxies, such as �the anti-Christ Nasrullat� (Hizbullah�s leader Hassan Nasrallah).   The �Jewish Crusader� Henry Kissinger, Michael Scheuer and Ralph Peters  are quoted (selectively) on the greater dangers of Iran than IS to the US.   (However, one might note that the ayatollahs, for all their geopolitical instransigence, have never threatened to march on the White House and enslave our wives and daughters.)   This section would seem to be an attempt corroborate the hadith which mentions a short-lived truce between the �true� Muslims and the Romans while they fight their common enemy:  the Twelver Shi`is.   The �cowardly crusaders� are mocked for relying on proxies like the PKK,  Pershmerga and Free Syrian Army and for futile airstrikes which succeed only in killing Muslim women and children.   President Obama is also ridiculed for being double-minded about fighting,  �unlike Bush whose administration at least understood �what war is and how it should be won.�   Bush is damned with faint praise: �[a]s the liar Bush truthfully said: �Either your are with us or you are with the terrorists.�� Of course, the IS spin is that Bush�s and Obama�s �crusade against the Islamic State is the greatest testimony from Allah for the proper manhaj [agenda, plan] of this Khilafah.�   

While the IS, herein, purports to be brimming with confidence about winning the upcoming Armageddon-like battle, it nonetheless encourages Western Muslims to strike individually and pre-emptively against its enemies.   �At this point in the crusade�it is very important that attacks take place in every country that has entered into alliance against the Islamic State, especially the US, UK, France, Australia and Germany�.the citizens of crusader nations should be targeted wherever they can be found. Let the muwahhid [believers in tawhid, �unity� of Allah especially over against Christian Trinitarian theology] not be affected by �analysis paralysis�� stemming from undertaking only operations that cannot fail.  �He should be pleased to meet his Lord  even if with just one dead kafir�s name written in his scroll of deeds.�  IS even doubles down on this incitement to jihad: �Every Muslim should  get out of his house, find a crusader, and kill him.  It is important that the killing becomes attributed to�the Islamic State�. Otherwise, crusader media makes such attacks appear to be random killings.�  Exhortation to jihad in the West fi sabil Allah goes on: �If you can kill a disbelieving American or European�especially the spiteful and filthy French�or an Australian or a Canadian or any other disbeliever�waging war�then rely upon Allah, and kill him in any manner or way�.� [including, one might well surmise, jihad-by-automobile].  �Kill the disbeliever whether he is civilian, or military�.�  

Medieval Islamic slavery.   Skin color matters not at all; religion (or lack thereof, in the Muslim view) is the determining factor.

The other major theme in this latest IS publication is �the revival of slavery before the [Last] hour.�  In particular Dabiq takes pains to explain why the non-dhimmi Yazidis are enslavable�unlike Jews or Christians.  �Their creed is so deviant from the truth that even cross-worshipping Christians for ages considered them devil worshippers and Satanists.�   IS claims that its scholar �research[ed]  the Yazidis to determine if they should be treated as an originally mushrik [�polytheistic�] group or one that originated as Muslims and then apostasized.�   Obviously IS came down in favor of the former�deeming Yazidis modern descendants of ancient Persian Zoroastrians�and so ruling that �unlike Jews and Christians, there was no room for jizyah payment.  Also, their women could be enslaved�. After capture, the Yazidi women and children were�divided according to the Shari`ah amongst the fighters of the Islamic State�after one-fifth of the slaves were transferred to the Islamic State�s authority �.�  This literal application of 7th century Islamic law and history has been meted out quite methodically: �the enslaved Yazidi families are now sold by the Islamic State soldiers [just] as the mushrikin were sold by the Companions��  Dabiq also justifies the resurrection of such brutality as �one of the signs of the [Last] Hour, as well as one of the causes behind al-Malhamah al-Kubra.� In fact, there are two entire pages of Qur�an citations and Hadith quotations explaining how slavery must exist in Islamic lands before the eschatological denouement can come. 

Other topics covered in this magazine, albeit in less detail, include: the permissibility of ghanimah (war booty) in terms of seized weapons; gloating about successful military operations against the �nusayris� (Alawis, or Syrian government forces) and the PKK/YPG murtaddin (�apostates,� because they are Marxists);  administrative creation of two new wilayat from conquered regions around al-Bukamal (in southeast Syria) and Fallujah (west of Baghdad)�in order to �eliminate any remaining traces of the kufri, nationalistic borders;� scenes of putative state-building in the IS (bridges rebuilt, elderly being fed, electricity lines under repair); SecDef Hagel�s testimony about IS before the Senate Armed Services Committee; and, finally, five pages about the beheading of Steven Sotloff (blaming it largely on his being a �Jew and citizen of the Jewish state�) and four on British hostage John Cantlie, whose IS apologia appears likely forced.   The last page of this fourth issue of Dabiq repeats, at length, the hadith about the Muslims vanquishing the �Roman Christians� in al-Malhamah al-Kubra.

Observations: 

1) Islamic State is honing its eschatological-apocalyptic message to a fine point, by making its jihad against the �Crusade,� as well as the reimposing of slavery over non-dhimmis, Signs of the Last Hour.   

2) The numerous Qur�anic verses and hadith citations employed in this issue of Dabiq�as well as the legions of such in its first three editions�prove once and for all that IS is profoundly and legitimately Islamic.   Quotations from the Qur�an are neither taken out of context, nor �misinterpreted;� they are simply rendered, and applied, literally.  Certain hadiths, however, are glossed as needed; for example, the prediction that the �Romans � (Byzantines) would land a major force in Syria to fight the Muslims is reinterpreted to mean the medieval Crusaders from Western Europe, because that better fits IS�s message.  

3) A keen awareness and indeed understanding of Western commentary on IS shows in the references to the statements of Obama, Bush, Hagel, Kissinger, Scheuer and Peters�lending further support to suspicions that he is an educated American.  

4) IS�s ongoing efforts to degrade the territorial integrity of both Syria and Iraq, as well as to engage in nation-building,  proceed apace. 

5) References to "Constantinople"--the old Greek Christian name for Istanbul--being conquered by Muslims would seem to indicate that IS does not consider the Turks true Muslims, and that the city requires (re) conquest.  

6) IS clearly has now decided to no longer simply focus on its near enemies in the region but will encourage its supporters to strike citizens of its various far enemies in their own homelands.   This will very likely mean an increase in what the media calls attacks by �lone wolves�--better known as �roaming hyenas� whose ultimate pack  loyalty is to Qur�anic literalists such as those of IS. 

While many governments of the world insist on regarding it as a (mere) �minence grise, the Islamic State's grey mantle increasingly covers more and more territory....

Islamic State Caliphate's first English-language publication focuses on Apocalyptic themes

"The Caliphate has returned, whether we like it or not.  The IS, as evidenced by Dabiq, clearly thinks the eschatological clock is ticking." The implications are apocalyptic.

New Islamic State Magazine "Dabiq": Western Forces On the Eve of Destruction

by Timothy R. Furnish, Mahdi Watch � July 14, 2014

Since the Islamic State of Iraq and al-Sham [Greater Syria] declared the resurrection of the caliphate a few weeks ago, analysts and journalists have focused on the ramifications of that putative political office for the Islamic world.  However, at the start of Ramadan the new �Islamic State� and its caliph attempted to move the propaganda needle from the merely realpolitickally ridiculous to the apocalyptically awe-inspiring�by invoking Muslim eschatological traditions.

The venue for this is an online English magazine entitled Dabiq: The Return of Khilafah, the 50 pages of which skillfully blend Qur�anic citations (10  in total), hadiths (12 of these), Salafi-jihadist exegesis and imagery to legitimize the new caliphate, motivate the faithful, and reach out to (primarily) Western Muslims.   The main proof text of this entire document is a lengthy hadith (saying attributed to Islam�s founder, Muhammad) about a major Last Hour battle.  Since IS�s magazine quotes the entire hadith twice, and refers to it several other times, the tradition is worth quoting in full: 

Abu Huraira reported Allah's Messenger (may peace be upon him) as saying: The Last Hour would not come until the Romans would land at al-A'maq or in Dabiq. An army consisting of the best (soldiers) of the people of the earth at that time will come from Medina (to counteract them). When they will arrange themselves in ranks, the Romans would say: Do not stand between us and those (Muslims) who took prisoners from amongst us. Let us fight with them; and the Muslims would say: Nay, by Allah, we would never get aside from you and from our brethren that you may fight them. They will then fight and a third (part) of the army would run away, whom Allah will never forgive. A third (part of the army). which would be constituted of excellent martyrs in Allah's eye, would be killed and the third who would never be put to trial would win and they would be conquerors of Constantinople. And as they would be busy in distributing the spoils of war (amongst themselves) after hanging their swords by the olive trees, the Satan would cry: The Dajjal has taken your place among your family. They would then come out, but it would be of no avail. And when they would come to Syria, he would come out while they would be still preparing themselves for battle drawing up the ranks. Certainly, the time of prayer shall come and then Jesus (peace be upon him) son of Mary would descend and would lead them in prayer. When the enemy of Allah would see him, it would (disappear) just as the salt dissolves itself in water and if he (Jesus) were not to confront them at all, even then it would dissolve completely, but Allah would kill them by his hand and he would show them their blood on his lance (the lance of Jesus Christ) [Sahih Muslim, �Kitab al-Fitan wa Ashrat al-Sa`ah,� #6924].   

Dabiq is just north of Aleppo, near the Turkish border, and al-`Amaq/al-`Amq is in the same vicinity.  (Both are near Hatay, of Indiana Jones fame.)  A type of the eschatological battle described in this collection of Muslim b. al-Hajjaj (d. 875 AD) was fought at or near that location in 1516 between the Ottoman Turks and the Egyptian Mamluks.  The heirs of the Eastern Romans won that battle decisively, thanks to their effective use of artillery�thus leading to the four centuries of Ottoman dominance over the Arab Middle East.   To sum up this hadith: the Romans land an expeditionary force in northwest Syria; after heavy losses the Muslims defeat them and conquer �Constantinople;� the Dajjal�the �Deceiver,� or Muslim Antichrist�appears and then the returned Jesus dispatches him via melting or lance.

The last thing the Dajjal will ever see....

The writers credit the late Abu Mus`ab al-Zarqawi, decapitator extraordinaire of the IS[IS] predecessor organization the Islamic State in Iraq, with first linking the jihad there to the End Time battle at Dabiq.  Also, Dabiq has several pages extolling al-Zarqawi�s virtues and strategic vision for rec-creating the caliphate via these stages: 1) hijrah 2) jama`ah 3) destabilizing the taghut 4) tamkin 5) khilafah.   The original hijrah was  the �flight� of Muhammad and the small Muslim community from Mecca to Yathrib/Medina in 622 AD.  Ever since, this exploit has served as an example for groups of Muslims who deem their society and/or rulers insufficiently pious and who thus repeat the paradigm of flee, consolidate power and return to conquer.  Jama`ah is �community,� the expected group solidarity that hardens during hijrah.  Such a community then must act to undermine the tyrannical regime(s), the taghut (literally �despots� or �gorillas�).  As the oppressive rulers are rendered illegitimate  via jihad and tuwwahhush (literally �savagery� or �brutality�), controlling less and less territory, the true Muslims will be able to consolidate power (tamkin), ultimately leading to the caliphate�as IS[IS] has now proclaimed.  This rising new Muslim power �will trample the idol of nationalism, destroy the idol of democracy� and trigger the �demolition of Sykes-Picot� (the World War I British-French agreement which laid out plans for those two nations to rule over the Arab sections of the post-war Ottoman Empire).   This five-step program for attaining power can be repeated elsewhere�notably Yemen, Mali, Somalia, Sinai Peninsula, Waziristan, Libya, Chechnya, and Nigeria, as well as in certain areas of of Tunisia, Algeria, Indonesia, and the Philippines. 

 Dabiq also takes a number of pages to lay out an Islamic theological basis for the political power being claimed by �Caliph� Ibrahim.  The central argument is that �the concept of Imamah [political power] is from the millah [religious confession] of Ibrahim.�  Ibrahim, the Qur�anic version of the Biblical Abraham, was a �leader for mankind� because he followed Allah.  If al-Baghdadi�s true name is Ibrahim Awwad Ibrahim Ali al-Badri, this is likely a case of IS[IS] attempting to theologically leverage the �Caliph�s� birth and regnal name.  Those who oppose him are �weak-hearted� who �makes fools of themselves� and thus �renegades� whose necks it it legitimate to strike�to behead, that is.   The Islamic State has �gained control over territory larger than many states�lands formerly under the control of the historical Umawi khulafa� [caliphs] of Sham and the `Abbasi khulafa� of Iraq.� (The Umayyad ruled the nascent Islamic empire from Damascus, 661-750 AD; they were supplaned by the Abbasids, who ruled from Baghdad, 750-1258 AD.) Furthermore, �this new condition opens the path for the complete unification of all Muslim peoples and lands under the single authority of the Khalifah. May Allah protect this Khilafah state and continue guiding it until its legions fight the crusader armies who will gather near Dabiq.�   

There are several other topical sections of Dabiq:  one about the �liberated� areas, with pictures of allegedly welcoming throngs; another deploying gruesome pictures of dead and maimed or severely injured children, alleged targets of the Iraqi and Syrian government forces; yet another boasting of the thousands of repentant Rafidis (�refusers�), murtaddin (�apostates) or Safawis (the Safavid Empire was the one that ruled Iran from 1501-1722 and fought, tooth-and-nail, against the Sunni Ottomans) being captured and brought to the true Islamic faith.  (There are also plenty of photos of dead Shi`is, as well as some about to be executed by IS[IS].)     

This magazine even hijacks Tolkien: the massed Rohirrirm cavalry about to ride down upon the legions of Orcs beseiging Minas Tirith (from The Return of the King) are shown on the bottom of a page exalting the coming unification of all Muslims under the caliphate.   One can only surmise that such an image is aimed at portraying the IS[IS] as outnumbered battalions fighting heroically against seemingly insurmoutable odds�and, of course, winning, much as do the Muslims at the battle of Dabiq, vanquishing the Romans/crusaders with only the remaining 1/3 of their forces.  But, again, on the last page, Dabiq comes back around to eschatology�reprinting in toto the aforementioned hadith from Muslim b. al-Hajjaj.

"A sword day! A red day! And the Sun rises--in the West!?" 

 Observations:

 1) The first English-language publication by the first caliphal state to be proclaimed since the demise of the Ottoman one 90 years ago is focused on apocalyptic themes�specifically an End Times� Armageddonesque battle and the entry into history two of the three major Muslim eschatological figures: the Dajjal and Jesus.  �Caliph Ibrahim� and his staff would not have sanctioned such an endeavor without good reason.  The Muslims must have one man to lead them all against the evil Westerners in the great battle soon to come in Syria. Resistance to him is futile�and treasonous.  Join the inevitable winning side.  

2) The IS leadership no doubt knows anecdotally what Pew data told us empirically in 2012: that eschatological beliefs in the Islamic world are not �fringe� or �extreme� but, in point of fact, are quite mainstream, even in Sunni Islam: 42% of Muslims expect the Mahdi�Islam�s primary End Time actor�to come in their lifetimes, while 35% look for Jesus� imminent return.   In Iraq, the figures are 72% and 64%, respectively.   Syria was not included in the polling, but considering the raging bloody civil war there, it�s quite likely that similar apocalyptic expectations exist�and the new caliphate aims to exploit such in Iraq, Syria and beyond.  And while Dabiq appears aimed at a Western (Muslim?) audience, and at Muslims living in diaspora here, it�s also quite accessible to anyone in the Middle East proper with a computer, Internet access and rudimentary English skills.  

3) Dabiq adduces, and advertises,  a hadith which speaks of the Antichrist and Jesus�but not the Mahdi.   Traditional exegesis of this (and similar) hadith(s) holds that the leader of Muslims at the Battle of Dabiq/al-`Amaq will be the Mahdi himself.  Does this mean that the IS leadership (and rank-and-file) considers Ibrahim to be not just caliph but Mahdi�but is simply loathe to say so in its first publication?  Or is the head of the �new caliphate� a ruler who prepares the way, and the realm, for the actual eschatological leader?  

4) Either way, the clearly-stated doctrine of tawwahhush gives this new, self-styled caliph a license not just to kill but to brutalize and sow panic as a means of undermining any target regime.  This is working in Syria and Iraq.  Is Jordan or Saudi Arabia next?  As my friend Dr. Ted Karasik wrote earlier today, tawwahhush might very well mean biological, chemical or nuclear/radiological warfare.  A caliph might decide to deploy such weapons, either on his own recognizance or as a means of hotwiring the apocalypse/arrival of the Mahdi.  And if Ibrahim/al-Baghdadi thinks himself the Mahdi, then any and all weapons are acceptable to wage war fi sabil Allah: �in the path of Allah.�   

5) As I noted in last week�s blogpost (Saturday, July 5, 2014), a number of Sunni factions are speaking out against the caliphal claims of the IS:  Lebanese shaykhs; professors at al-Azhar in Cairo; Yusuf al-Qaradawi; even pro-caliphate Hizb al-Tahrir.  To this list we can now add current Turkish politician and former head of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation, Ekmeleddin Ihsanoglu, as well as a coterie of British imams.  These condemnations are good, but more, and more official ones, are needed.  Where are the fatwas from the world�s most influential Muslim, Dr. Ahmad Muhammad al-Tayyib, rector of al-Azhar; or Dr. Ali Guma, former Grand Mufti of Egypt?  Kinetic�military�operations against the IS are  of course necessary, and are currently being carried out by the likes of Ansar al-Islam and, most doggedly, Jaysh Rijal al-Tariqah al-Naqshbandiyah (�Army of the Men of the Naqshandi [Sufi] Order�).   Although composed primarily of former Saddam Hussein government and military members, many of his Ba`ath (Arab Socialist) party, it seems that many in JRTN are also practicing Sufis�Islamic mystics.  The Naqshbandi order is one of the oldest and perhaps the largest of the dozens (at least) of extant Sufi networks, and it has historically been the one most prone to waging violent jihad; for example, Naqshbandis fought many insurrections against the Ottoman Empire.  If the newly-minted caliph indeed has Mahdist aspirations, there is perhaps no group better suited to beat it out of him and his followers.   Still,  it�s possible for opponents of the IS to win the shooting war but lose the ideological one.  

The Caliphate has returned, whether we like it or not.  The IS, as evidenced by Dabiq, clearly thinks the eschatological clock is ticking.  Let�s hope it won�t be necessary to raise the Mahdist alarm. 

Dabiq might go something like this.  (Credit to AlanGutierrezArt.)