It was given power to wage war against God’s holy people and to conquer them.
And it was given authority over every tribe, people, language and nation.
Revelation 13:7
Were you aware that, just as followers of Christ believe that Jesus will return to establish His Kingdom forever, Muslims believe a Messiah is coming too? However, they believe this person is someone called the Mahdi. Did you also know that Muslims believe Jesus (called “Isa”) will accompany the Mahdi to bring about a final Muslim Caliphate, or Islamic government? We will talk about this Muslim Jesus tomorrow. Today, we will look at the 12th Imam, or Mahdi.
I would be remiss if I didn’t first mention Joel Richardson’s book, The Islamic Antichrist. He has done exhaustive research into this topic and goes into far more detail than I can in this devotional.
In short, many Shia Muslims believe that there have been 12 Imams, or divinely appointed successors of Muhammad. These men lived in the seventh and eight centuries after Muhammad’s death. Muhammad ibn al-Hassan was the 12th, and it is claimed that he disappeared as a child and has been in hiding ever since. He will one day return to reign for seven years (sound familiar?!).
Sunni Muslims and some Shias believe that the Mahdi, or “Guided One”, will come to bring peace to the world, but that he has not been born yet. So, the reality is that all 1.6 billion Muslims (around 25% of the world’s population) basically believe that a savior is coming to establish Islam as the world’s religion. The Mahdi has other Arabic names, which when translated mean “the Awaited” and “Lord of the Age”.
In broad terms, what the Bible says about the Antichrist are the same attributes as the 12th Imam, or Mahdi, in Islam’s writings. Here are some of the main similarities (there are more):
- Spiritual world leader (Revelation 13:8)
- Rides on a white horse (Revelation 6:2)
- Seven year covenant/treaty (Daniel 9:27)
- Global seat is on the Temple Mount in Jerusalem (Daniel 9:27, 2 Thessalonians 2:4)
- Beheads non-believers (Revelation 20:4)
Will the Mahdi reappear, unite the Sunnis and Shias, and establish a Caliphate? Will he be the foretold Antichrist? Time will tell, but the case is rather uncanny and compelling.