Epoch-Eclipse Now?
Today’s total solar eclipse will start in Salem, Oregon and traverse the United States to Charleston South Carolina. Dubbed the Black Moon by followers of the Wicca religion (a neo-pagan occult movement), the eclipse is being taken by some as a sign of the coming apocalypse.
Christian Pastor Paul Begley, host of the Coming Apocalypse radio show, asserts the eclipse signifies the coming of the end of times, citing the prophecy from the Book of Joel 2:31:
“The sun will be turned to darkness and the moon to blood before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the Lord.”
Although no specific reference to the moon is given in Islamic theories about the end times, there are a lot of similarities with Christian ideas.
So what do Islamic extremists believe about the apocalypse?
Sunni Apocalypse
The Sunni apocalypse championed by Islamic State is remarkably similar to the Christian tradition.
ISIS believes Issa (Jesus) will return to lead the Muslim army in a fight against the armies of the Dajjal (the Antichrist). They believe that an army of “Romans” (Americans) will fight the battle at Dabiq in the countryside of Syria near Aleppo.
This will herald the arrival of the Mahdi, the savior figure in Islamic eschatology. He will usher in Judgment Day and rule a global Islamic state.
These apocalyptic beliefs are both a recruiting tool and a license for unchecked violence. ISIS has also used the apocalypse to justify its practices of sexual slavery. They argued in a piece entitled “The Revival of Slavery Before the Hour” in their propaganda magazine Dabiq the resurrection of slavery as an institution was one of the signs of the coming apocalypse.
Shiite Apocalypse
The Shiite apocalypse similarly centers around a messianic savior whose arrival will herald Judgment Day. Twelver Shiites, the sect which rules in the Islamic Republic of Iran, believe that person is Mohammed ibn Hasan, the twelvth imam in a line descended from the founder of Islam, Mohammed.
They believe he went into hiding and will be revealed by Allah when the time is right and will return to take the throne.
The coming of Imam Zaman [another name for the Mahdi] is the definite promise by Allah,” Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Khamenei declared in 2014. “The caravan of humanity from the Day of Creation has been moving . . . to the time of The Coming of Imam Mahdi. The awaiting for The Coming is a hopeful and powerful wait, providing the biggest opening for the Islamic society.”
The regime sees itself firmly within an apocalyptic tradition of being the precursor to this event. As one Iranian parliamentarian put it, “This Islamic Revolution, based on the narratives that we have received from the prophet and imams, is the prelude to the appearance of the Mahdi.”
Both extremist Sunnis and Shiites use apocalyptic narratives remarkably similar to those of certain Christian fundamentalist groups who fear today’s solar eclipse is a portent of the end of days.
While Clarion does not think it likely that the apocalypse is imminent, we do think it important to understand the ways in which such thinking motivates extremist groups.
https://clarionproject.org/epoch-eclipse-now/
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