The Islamic Antichrist Paperback – March 3, 2015

Thanks to my various Christian relatives, friends, books and TV shows, I have been exposed to quite a number of theories about the anti-Christ and the end times. Some were more credible than others.

However, after reading Richardson's The Islamic Anti-Christ, I'm stunned at how narrowly culture-bound my viewpoint was. As he points out, the Bible isn't a western European/American story; it's a Middle Eastern story.

There I was, seeing the anti-Christ striding around the United Nations in a beautifully tailored suit, with European parentage...and totally ignorant of the fact that over a billion Muslims have their own idea of who the anti-Christ is, and that they are ready to follow him as soon as he appears. Or than Islam has an extensive description of him, and of what he will do, that reads just like the book of Revelation - in reverse.

Yes, Muslims believe in Jesus. And that he will return. And that when he does, he will slaughter all the Jews and Christians who fail to convert to Islam! In the Muslim view, Jesus is not the prime player, he is the sidekick of the Mahdi, the new Caliph (or total ruler of the world, uniting the political and religious spheres in a single authority).

Richardson isn't speculating here. He quotes from Muslim sources that have been written and accepted as authoritative for many centuries. The Sunni and Shia versions differ only in details; the basic story is the same.

Does that mean that the anti-Christ will be Islamic? No. But given the billion or so Muslims in the world; their current movements into all the countries in the world; the astonishing penetration of their influence (Florida just barely managed to pass a law that said the courts could not use Sharia law in making decisions); and that of all the world religions, Islam is the only one in which the powers of the state and of religion are supposed to be united in a single person (the Caliph), and their millennia and a half lethal hatred of Christians, an Islamic anti-Christ certainly makes the most credible candidate.

Now, looking only at western-oriented theories just looks ignorant. Having been among the totally ignorant myself (the role of the Islamic Jesus NEVER gets discussed in western media), I felt both silly and enlightened after reading this book. I don't think it's possible to have an intelligent discussion on the subject without it.

Most people don't know what the Qur'an says about Jesus. Most people don't know that Muslims base their beliefs not only on the Qur'an, but also on the Sunna. Richardson writes, "The Sunna interprets the Qur'an. Without the Sunna, the Qur'an cannot be properly understood. In fact, many aspects and practices of the Islamic religion are not even mentioned in the Qur'an but are found only in the Sunna." Hadith literature, the sayings of Muhammad, is part of the Sunna. Richardson says that most of Islamic beliefs about the end times are based on hadith literature.

Richardson says, "The rising of the Mahdi is to the majority of Muslims what the return of Jesus is to Christians...tradition states that the Mahdi will descend from the family of Muhammad and will bear Muhammad's name." They believe that Jerusalem will serve as the location of the Mahdi's rule over the earth. "Islamic tradition pictures the Mahdi as joining the army of Muslim warriors carrying black flags. The Mahdi will lead this army to Jerusalem and re-conquer it for Islam. The Muslims will slaughter Jews until very few remain." The Mahdi is a man, not a supernatural being. He is predicted to rule for seven years, then die.

There are huge differences between the Bible Jesus and the Qur'an Jesus. Muslims do not believe that Jesus died on the cross for the sins of humanity. They believe that Allah miraculously delivered Jesus from death and took Him alive to heaven.

Muslims believe that when Jesus returns, He will return as a radical Muslim. They believe He will return by descending from heaven somewhere near Damascus after the Mahdi is already on the scene. Jesus will be inferior in rank to the Mahdi. Jesus will make a pilgrimage to Mecca. He will convert many people to Islam and abolish Christianity. Another of Jesus's tasks will be to kill the Muslim Antichrist known as Dajjal and all of Dajjal's followers, of whom most will be Jews.

In Islam, after Jesus helps the Mahdi convert the whole world to Islam, He is prophesied to marry, have children, and die nineteen years after marrying.

"The texts and scholars of Islam teach that all Muslims must strive for global domination at all times, not just wait idly by for the Mahdi and the Muslim Jesus to accomplish it for them."

"When Jesus says [in John 16:2] that the day is coming 'when those who murder you will think that they are offering God a service,' it necessitates not only a belief in God but also some sort of religious system whereby the mentality is that killing in the name of God is actually reasonable."

Islam is now the fastest growing religion in the world. This is partly due to conversions, but mainly because Muslims have far more children than Christians. It would behoove everyone to learn about Islam from original sources. Richardson's book is a good start.

Anything by Joel Richardson catches my attention! The Islamic Antichrist was an eye opener that changed me from the traditional views of who the Antichrist might be. With all that is happening in the Muslim world today it makes a lot more sense that the Antichrist would be someone with whom Muslims would willing work. Given their own views about end times, an Islamic Antichrist certainly fits the description better than any others that have been posed. Richardson is always right on top of current events and global happenings and is able to interpret Scripture better because of that. The book is well written and easy to under stand.

I bought this kindle version for a quick weekend read. In reading excerpts from this book, it is clear that Joel Richardson and I are on the same page. Watching the news for the past year, and especially within the past couple of months, make it very clear who God's enemy is and with whom the true anti-christ/satan is affiliated. I am awake and paying close attention. As a Christian, and knowing prophecy, the murder of innocent Christians in the middle-east by ISIS and others shows absolutely that Islam is nothing more than a cult of murderous heathens set on the annihilation of Christians, Jews, and any other Faith in God that does not suit their blasphemous Koran. There is no other group on earth that touts the destruction of the Infadels - the brutal beheadings of children, the raping of young girls, the lies and deceit, of these cowards. As a Christian, it is our duty to ensure that we awaken others to these followers of evil. I am so very happy that Mr. Richardson took it upon himself to write a book so suited to our times.