For the sake of Biblical Prophecies

http://worldmuslimcongress.blogspot.com/2008/07/for-sake-of-biblical-prophecies.html

For the sake of Biblical Prophecies
By Saeed Qureshi

Brother Saeed,

It is time for you to have your own blog. Call me I will set it up for you. By far it is one of your best written articles, Congratulations. It was an enlightening read. Thank you.

Your article follows my suggestions below.

A few suggestions; -

I wish there was a way to pull the paragraph about Jesus coming back and ruling for 1000 years from an Islamic point of view, much earlier than where it is now.

I would qualify the words Christians, Muslims or Jews used in the essay by adding the words like “few extremist literalist Christians, Jews or Muslims” as the majority of each group does not subscribe to God’s plan to destroy his own creation deliberately and for what? All brands are fashioned by God, he would not favor one over the other as it amounts to injustice, and God is about Justice.

“Now the vast majority of Jews neither believe in life after death….” This needs to be verified.

“So it is quite evident that according to Christians belief, by allowing the Christians to fight a proxy holy war on their behalf with the infidel contestants i.e. Muslims, the Jews are digging their own grave and moving towards their own extinction” It is an interesting observation. Martin Neomeller wrote a poem during the WWII about “first they came for the Jews….” The extremists among all of us, be it Christian, Jews, Muslims or Hindus are the danger to society, and not the religion brought out by Christ, Mohammad, Krishna or Moses.

“Armageddon was to be carried out by Jesus himself. Therefore, Bush cannot be cast in the role of a Jesus Christ.” Well said!

“It should be understood that the end time is calibrated by God and it would come on its own” – Great statement.

Brother Saeed, agree with your statement ” So how could some one figure out or know that God remained busy for seven days in creating all the existence and then he had to rest for the seven days as if he was tired like a human being. God is not bound by days, time or space.” But, this is the case with every faith, including Islam. Much of the system is based on faith and not facts. Every one can find a hole in the other faith, the best thing is leave it like it is, and it is faith.

We are talking about political division here and not the religion “But as a matter of fact, United States and the Christendom’s underlying main goal is exercise and maintain control over the world economy and natural resources. Incidentally most of the gas and oil reserves are located in the Islamic lands.” It is the darn self interest that evil prompts, it is not the religion. Neither religion promotes controlling of others, in fact, religion, every religion teaches one to be free from greed, possessive attitudes, anger, revenge….

If these men, the warring, destructive men wearing various religious labels can get even an ounce of religion in their blood stream, they would be good men. These criminals are not religious, even if they shout out loud that they are Muslims, Christians or Hindus.

Mike Ghouse is a Speaker, Thinker and a Writer. He is president of the Foundation for Pluralism and is a frequent guest on talk radio and local television network discussing interfaith, political and civic issues. He is the founding president of World Muslim Congress with a simple theme: Good for Muslims and good for the world. His comments, news analysis and columns can be found on the Websites and Blogs listed at his personal website http://www.mikeghouse.net/. Mike is a Dallasite for nearly three decades and Carrollton is his home town. He can be reached at MikeGhouse@gmail.com

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For the Sake of Biblical Prophecies

By Saeed Qureshi

On the basis of biblical prophecies about the establishment of the Kingdom of God on earth, the Christendom, since the advent of Islam, has been fighting a global war against the Muslims and their occupation of Jerusalem. The first step towards that goal was to reestablish a Jewish homeland in the Middle East which has, already, been done in 1948. It is indeed paradoxical that the two rival religions, Christianity and Judaism complement each other in their war against the Muslims. The purpose of Jews was to reoccupy and retain the promised land of Palestine while the Christians aim is to pave way for the second coming of Jesus Christ so as to establish the Kingdom of God on earth.

In one of his unguarded moments after 9/11 and invasion of Iraq, the incumbent US president G.W. Bush equated his onslaughts against the Muslims as the revival of the Crusades of the middle Ages. The revival call for crusades which is solely directed against the Muslims is rooted in the interpretation of the biblical prophecies by the orthodox Christian faithful. These ancient prophecies augur the complete sway of the Christianity on earth with Jesus Christ as the supreme monarch for about 1000 years of peace and blissful tranquility towards the end time. One of the seven preconditions that would result in the establishment of such a Godly Kingdom is to restore the land of Palestine to Jews.

It is in the backdrop of these prophecies attributed to several biblical prophets such as Daniel, Zechariah, and Isaiah that eight crusades were fought between Muslims and Christianity over a period of 175 years (1095-1270) with the Jews on the sidelines. That long drawn conflict remained inconclusive as the Christians and the Muslims alternated each other in capturing Jerusalem. It is almost seven centuries after those crusades that the mighty Christendom under the leadership of Conservative America has once again reopened the unfinished war with Muslims. The next phase in to engage the infidels in ¡Armageddon, (the prophesied final horrendous war between the two religious opponents i.e., pro Christ and anti Christ). This long drawn war would be fought by Jesus himself resulting in absolute victory over the anti-Christ. Thereafter the Kingdom of God lasting for a millennium would come into being. This period would be followed by resurrection of the dead and the Day of Judgment

According to the Christian dogma, after the handing over the holy land to Jews, the Christendom will see them destroyed too. The Kingdom of God under the eagerly awaited Messiah, who is supposed to reappear towards the end of time, would take the final shape. The people living in that Kingdom would all be Christians. The end of time is perceived to be very near according to Christian belief. The Diaspora Jews have been waiting for the first coming of the Jesus Christ. The Christians, however have been waiting for the second coming of Jesus after his crucifixion and ascension to heaven.

However, according to the biblical prophecies, it would be the Israel or the children of Israel who will be the ultimate beneficiaries of the war against the infidels and opponents of Jewish faith because the Christianity came much after these prophets. The ancient prophets have mentioned the coming of a prophet on the back of a donkey by which they meant Jesus Christ. But that had already happened. Although the second coming of Jesus is mentioned by Jesus himself, yet this is not believed by the Jews. They believe that the Jesus has yet to come.

Of late, most of the Jews don’t believe in the appearance of a Jesus Christ at all. For them the main goal of appearance of Jesus was to restore the biblical land of Palestine to the Jews. But after waiting for more than two centuries no Jesus or redeemer came that could accomplish this coveted task. They achieved this goal through political means which resulted in the creation of the state of Israel in 1948. But since this state is not of the size, they have had in the ancient times; they do every thing possible to expand its geographical boundaries. They, therefore, annexed land in their wars against their Arab neighbors to complete the contours of sacred promised biblical kingdom of Israel.

Now the vast majority of Jews neither believe in life after death nor do they believe that the 1000 years of Kingdom of God would be brought about by a redeemer called Jesus. They now believe that man himself would create such a kingdom of peace or paradise on earth. On the contrary, as earlier mentioned, Christians believe in the second coming of Jesus. The long period of war would be followed by a long period tranquility upon this earth. Thereafter the destruction and rebirth of the whole mankind and the final Day of Judgment would take place. This is what they call resurrection.

So it is quite evident that according to Christians belief, by allowing the Christians to fight a proxy holy war on their behalf with the infidel contestants i.e. Muslims, the Jews are digging their own grave and moving towards their own extinction. Even if they would not wish the Christians to wage a war against the Muslims for the Kingdom of God on earth, the Christians would, nevertheless, do this on their own for fulfilling the biblical prophecies. The Muslims are the real enemies for now while the Jews who are caught in the crossfire per force would be the next to be dealt with.

It is in the backdrop of these biblical premonitions that United States by dint of her military prowess, technological superiority and economic boom has launched a worldwide offensive against the Muslims. It is indeed killing two birds with one stone: to grab or control the natural resources of the Islamic lands besides fulfilling the ancient prophecies. Yet such a global war labeled as the war on terror would not have been possible presently, if there was another president instead of the evangelist George W Bush. Armageddon was to be carried out by Jesus himself. Therefore, Bush cannot be cast in the role of a Jesus Christ.

America was the first country to recognize the state of Israel in 1948. America has in fact revived the crusades for the same purpose that motivated the old crusaders in launching forays against the Muslims over a prolonged period of time to recapture Jerusalem. But it appears either the prophets were wrong or the end of time is far away yet. It seems as if Armageddon is being staged in Palestine and in the surrounding lands. Ironically, however, this Armageddon is being fought with the latest weapons and fighting techniques than what are mentioned in the Bible. The weaponry mentioned in the bible to be used in Armageddon is of primitive type. Perhaps the ancient prophets did not have the perception of the sophisticated and mass destruction weapons invented by the modern generation of humans.

Incidentally, the Muslims too believe in the advent of Jesus for the second time to clear the world of the infidels or non Muslims and then rule for 1000 years of peace. This period would be followed by Resurrection and Judgment or the Dooms Day. So there are colliding interpretations by Christians and Muslims about the arrival of Jesus and his role in overcoming the forces of evil.

Tragically, to prove the veracity of the esoteric and coded prophecies of the ancient prophets, America under unavoidable influence from the Neo-Cons has embarked upon a path of self destruction through a colossal military involvement in the Middle East as well as in Afghanistan. Elsewhere too, it is busy in wiping out the Muslims as a religious entity or at least weakening them both economically and militarily. In the modern enlightened times although, the schisms, divisions, hatred and prejudice on the basis of different creeds and religions should not exist, the Neo-Cons have driven and engaged America into a deadly and frenzied war of faith that is causing irreparable dents to America’s economy and moral fiber. Hence the resultant financial global cataclysm and the economic downslide at home in America. The Middle East has been turned into an inferno whose blaze would keep burning for a long time to come.

But can we believe the prophecies of an age when man’s vision of the nature and the interplay of forces in the universe were extremely narrow and negligible? It should be understood that the end time is calibrated by God and it would come on its own. It cannot be brought earlier by man either by wrongly interpreting the old prophecies or reinventing them by false and dubious logic. Secondly the fight against the evil would be initiated by one man: in this case Jesus Christ and not by a country. It should also be understood that not every word of the old scriptures is true and their interpretations can be misleading or spurious.

The Bible consisting of 66 episodes was written over a period of 1600 years by at least 40 individuals. The old bible is for the Jews and the new is for the Christians. These two books contradict each other as the New Testament is an account of only Jesus Christ and it is entirely against the Jewish belief. As for the Old Testament, the Christians believe in them partially (and so do the Muslims), because the total belief would justify and validate Judaism. If the Jewish clergy managed to hang a prophet and Son of God (Christians¢ belief) then how can the complete commonalty of beliefs come about between the Jews and the Christians? So their current union is exigent and directed at annihilation or browbeating Muslims.

The both versions of Bible were written again and again in the history. At least two times (leaving expulsion from Spain in 1492 AD) before and after the birth of Jesus Christ, the Jewish believers suffered persecution. Their temples were destroyed including Solomon’s temple in Jerusalem, their religious record including the Old Testament burnt and they were dispersed. The Diaspora Jews resurrected the old stories and rewrote them. There is a plethora of gross errors committed by these writers because they were not witnesses of the happenings as mentioned in the Bible. Since these writers happened in different times they could not be inspired to write the same text verbatim. Their versions were naturally different from each other both in text and description.

Same is the case with the New Testament also called the Christian Greek Scriptures comprising 27 books. These 27 books containing 4 gospels or four versions of the new bible besides letters and acts of early missionaries were written much after the Jesus Christ’s crucifixion. Jesus Christ himself also promised a Heavenly Kingdom. But this Kingdom of Heaven is certainly not what the Jews want. If the Jews don’t believe in Jesus and rather hanged him, how can they believe in his promise of a Kingdom of God on earth?

The first gospel or New Testament’s version was written by Mathew almost 40 years after the ascension of Jesus to Heaven. Even that period is doubtful. So should we believe or agree that they reproduced word for word what was said or uttered by Jesus? It is not possible to retain such a huge memory by human beings. So the whole correlation of writings becomes doubtful. The other version of Bible written by three writers namely John, Peter and Mark are the replicas or reproduction of what the first writer wrote. But while writing their versions they had to use their own words and omit so many details that were mentioned by the foremost writer. Otherwise there was hardly any reason to write the original version again and again.

As for Genesis or the creation of the universe (the first chapter of the Old Testament), it is simply incredible that a witness or scribe was present beside the creator to record all the minutest details of God’s engagement in crafting this complex and huge world and beyond that the universe. The writer dishes out the details of creation as if he was watching while God was busy in creating the material world like a potter. No one has, so far, understood God. God is beyond time and space. So how could some one figure out or know that God remained busy for seven days in creating all the existence and then he had to rest for the seven days as if he was tired like a human being. God is not bound by days, time or space. As such all these episodes are the fabrication and fanciful explanation of the unknown by the scribes, who could not be aware of the complexities of the laws working in the universe. Their augury about the future also falls into this category.

But as a matter of fact, United States and the Christendom’s underlying main goal is exercise and maintain control over the world economy and natural resources. Incidentally most of the gas and oil reserves are located in the Islamic lands. They want that either the Muslims should willingly hand over the control or sale of these precious resources to the industrialized countries on the latter’s terms as the Saudis have done or else sell them to the affluent nations on throw away prices. It is necessary that such countries should not be militarily strong and leave their security and defense to the stronger countries. Such countries or their segments of population that are defiant and against the exploitation of their resources by the developed countries are either being sidelined or suppressed through use of brute military force under the ruse of clash of civilizations, fundamentalism or radical religious terrorism. The trumpeting of the bogey of clash of civilizations, the religious terrorism besides deployment of massive military machine are part of the strategy to either own or control the oil, gas and other resources and their shipping routes.

In order to prepare and motivate their societies, it is necessary to raise an equally motivating and convincing slogan. Hence the opposing religious practitioners are labeled terrorists and enemies of the Christian civilizations based on bible’s teaching and modern enlightenment. Basically all this strategy is geared towards marginalizing the opposition groups and eliminating the pockets of resistance to their universal agenda of mustering control of global economy in their favor. The developed nations think that they can prevail by dint of their superior technology, vibrant economy and political clout via United Nations and its affiliated organs.

This goal could have been achieved even otherwise if United States would have; instead owning or administering the natural resources shared them with the respective countries. It could invest money into mineral rich countries, development of infrastructure, establishment of industries and exploration of natural resources. In order to subdue the Islamic countries it has come out with a religious war based on military conquests, annihilation and complete take over. Such a policy is now backfiring. The present day world is different from the old colonial eras. Now small countries and warring bands can acquire lethal weapons and keep a mighty army at bay as we can see in Afghanistan and Iraq. These groups can be either nationalist revolutionaries or radical defenders of their faith against powerful countries like United States that use a combination of ideology and military force to economically colonize the other nations.

The Islamic radical insurgency in various Islamic lands is the result of the policy of a war being waged in the name of civilization and religion. United States is now bogged down in Iraq and Afghanistan and may want to get out of that continuous hellish impasse, but is restrained by her vanity and ego of a super power status. But the more it drags its feet on winding up this self suicidal conflict, the more it would suffer human and financial toll. The erosion of integrity and moral rudder is besides. It seems to be the replay of the Viet Nam war saga.

United States must understand that a military victory in the conflict zones was getting slimmer day by day. The astronomical loss of three trillion dollars has turned counterproductive and decidedly gone down the drain. How much monetary loss U.S. is ready to suffer is for the leadership of that country to ponder? But the hard logic and the ground realities demand that sooner U.S. discards its hegemonic military offensive against the ever ballooning and reorganizing militants, the better it would be for her and the rest of the world. There is no loss of face in such a reversal or retreat of the policy as the ongoing war is neither moral nor fruitful. The biblical prophecies cannot serve as a worthy cause for destroying the human race.