Introduction
Throughout their entire lives, everyone is at war with an enemy, the extent of whose strength and influence they perhaps fail to fully comprehend. The main feature of this enemy is subtlety. He constantly invites mankind to commit evil, and many people he uses without them even being aware of it. Those who are constantly in conflict with others, who always believe that violence is the answer, who take pleasure in brutality, murder, chaos and anarchy, in short, those who harm the peace and security of the world, have lost the war against this foe, whether they realize it or not, and have fallen under his control. This most dangerous enemy is the Devil, described to us in all his aspects by God in the Qur'an. The Devil is a force who, ever since the time of the Prophet Adam, has been doing all in his power to turn man away from God. One of the most common errors people commit is their failure to adequately estimate the Devil, that one who incites them to wickedness and leads them to Hell. The fact is, however, that the Devil poses a serious danger to man, and is his declared enemy. In a verse, God reveals:
The Devil is your enemy so treat him as an enemy. He summons his party so they will be among the people of the Searing Blaze.(Qur'an, 35: 6)
One of the most devious quagmires that the Devil sets up for people is conflict, terror and anarchy. As God revealed in another verse, "The Devil wants to stir up trouble between them" (Qur'an, 17: 53); to destroy feelings of friendship, love, compassion, forgiveness, peace and trust between people, and to incite them towards violence, are the objectives of the Devil. However, one point should be stressed here. Although the Devil appears to be a creature who is active on many fronts, he is, in fact, under God's control and is His subject. He knows that God has granted him a set time until the day of judgement, and that he will have to pay for sins when that time comes. The promises he fabricates to encourage people to join him, and the schemes he sets in motion, are all part of his deceptions. God describes this fact of the Devil:
They are like the Devil when he says to a human being, "Disbelieve," and then when he disbelieves, says, "I wash my hands of you. Truly I fear God, the Lord of all the worlds." (Surat al-Hasr: 16)
Nevertheless, the Devil is able to influence certain people (those who do not believe in God, and who do not know or fear Him as they should). The degree of this influence depends on the circumstances. He is often behind certain events which impel human societies into disaster and which cause harm to the innocent. One of the greatest sources of misery effected by the Devil in our time is, without a doubt, terrorism.
The hadiths of the Prophet Muhammad, peace be upon him, also mention that, during the end times, a devilish power will emerge, one of whose most important attributes will be that he disrupts the peace and order of mankind. Many people, though, attach little importance to that power, known as the Antichrist (Dajjal). That is because, most people either have little knowledge of the matter, or have never heard of it at all. However, the subject of the Antichrist is very prominent in those of the Prophet's hadiths which point out that the last day is approaching, and about which a substantial amount of information has been provided. The aim of this book is to describe the characteristics of the Antichrist, one of the Devil's primary minions on earth, as set out in the hadiths, and to allow the reader to acquire more familiarity with this Devilish power, of which God's messenger (pbuh) has warned us.
From the hadiths, one would ordinarily think of him as an individual. However, as well as an individual, it can also be an ideology that tends towards violence and savagery, possesses devilish characteristics, and inflicts suffering on mankind. Later chapters of this book will treat that aspect, and demonstrate that the Antichrist is a perverted ideological movement that has enormous influence in the world. That movement holds whole communities under its spell, attracts followers despite all its manifest absurdities and errors, and even has its own differing sects within it.
Another important matter that will be considered in this book is the way this movement inspires fear and unease in people, giving rise to chaos and anarchy, and destroying peace and security, in order to consolidate its hold on the entire world. One of the most frequently employed methods that the movement in question resorts to, in order to achieve its aims, is acts of violence and terrorism aimed at the innocent. In other words, terrorism is the most prominent element of the way of the Antichrist. That element is employed by the disciples of the system, in hysteria and rage, as if it were a holy rite.
The wars, conflicts, acts of brutal terrorism, slaughter and acts of genocide that still go on in various parts of the world today, are the work of the Antichrist, the principle devilish power in the run-up to the last day. The main aim of that system is to turn people away from religious belief, proper morality, spiritual depth, love and all human values, and to turn them into uncompassionate and aggressive creatures that take pleasure in savagery and violence, and thus turn the whole world into a battleground. However, it must never be forgotten that this plan will not succeed, and that the system of the Antichrist is doomed to annihilation. Whatever the degree of the strife and chaos it manages to create, the ideological system of the Antichrist is doomed, under the law of God, to ultimate defeat and destruction. By the will of God, that defeat will come about by means of a war of ideas waged by those who turn to Him with true sincerity and strive to bring about the spread of belief and proper morality all over the world. That is a promise made by God to the believers. The following verse is the way in which God says that the truth will be made known in the end and falsehood be overcome:
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Introduction
The Antichrist
The Antichrist
Dajjal is an Arabic word with various meanings, such as "a liar and imposter, someone who lies, covers the earth with his followers, and covers the truth by disbelief."1 In many of the hadiths of the Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) which discuss the matter of end times, it is repeated as one of the most important signs of the doomsday. The present state of the world bears many similarities to that time as described by the Prophet. In the hadiths, that period appears as one in which fitnah (chaos and wickedness), anarchy and violence will spread far and wide, when there will be no peace in the world, when people will battle evils such as hunger, poverty and shortages, and when oppression will prevail. (for details, see The Signs of The Last Day, Harun Yahya, 2001). The Antichrist is the ideological infrastructure which causes that chaos and instability, that encourages people to immorality and evil, condemns whole communities to denial and rebellion, and is the ultimate root of terrorism and violence. The Antichrist spreads immorality by portraying good as evil, and evil as good. One of the hadiths on the subject reads:
When Al-Dajjal appears, he will have fire and water along with him. What the people will consider as cold water, will be fire that will burn (things). So, if anyone of you comes across this, he should fall in the thing which will appear to him as fire, for in reality, it will be fresh cold water.1
In the hadiths, the Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) states that the Antichrist will undoubtedly appear before doomsday, and describes the kind of conditions in which he will do so. The period when he appears will be one when people fail to live by the morality condoned by religion, when the existence of God is openly denied, when immorality, chaos, war and conflict are everywhere, and when terrorism, murder and violence become a part of normal, everyday life. Although there have been times all through history that have witnessed anarchy and chaos, the state of chaos and confusion that will be created by the Antichrist will be on an unprecedented scale.
There would be no creation (creating more trouble) than the Dajjal, from the creation of Adam to the Last Hour. 2
Darwinism is the religion of the antichrist
The characteristics described by many of the hadiths discussing the Antichrist become much clearer when considered as ideology. All ideas and systems of thought, therefore, that encourage people to deny the existence of God, turn them away from religious morality and encourage strife and chaos between them actually represent the Antichrist.
Today, materialism, and the various ideologies and movements that it gives birth to, are the primary components contributing to corruption in the world. All such movements, in effect, received their so-called scientific justification from the same source, and share the same fundamental foundation: Darwinism. Ever since Darwinism was first put forward, it has been the principle justification for materialist and anti-religious ideologies and movements, and even itself been elevated to the status of a religion by those who support such ideologies. The great Islamic scholar Bediuzzaman Said Nursi stressed that Darwinism would become the religion of the Antichrist in the end of times:
A tyrannical current born of Naturalist and Materialist philosophy will gradually become strong and spread at the end of time by means of materialist philosophy, reaching such a degree that it denies God. 3
As Bediuzzaman made clear, with the words "a tyrannical current born of Naturalist and Materialist philosophy," Darwinism is a teaching that attributes an independent power to nature, claims that life was not created, but emerged as a result of chance, and tries to distance mankind from belief in God. In the book Teysir-al Wusul ila Jami-al Usul, which contains the collected hadiths of the Prophet Muhammad (pbuh), together with a commentary on them, the subject is dealt with in these terms:
The clearest and most important feature of the strife of the end times that the Antichrist gives rise to is the fact that it is opposed to religion. Various humanist views and values that will emerge at that time will attempt to replace religion. This new religion takes denial as its basis in order to do away with all forms of divine rule over man … It is an anti-religious religion whose basic deity is matter and man4
The humanist views mentioned in the above quote have today actually taken on the aspects of a religion. Modern humanism is an atheistic religion in which the existence of God is denied, and man is regarded as a sacred being to be venerated. When one examines the publications of humanists, it is clear that their world view is entirely based on the theory of evolution. (For further details, see Global Freemasonry, by Harun Yahya, Istanbul, 2002)
Blind chance is the central premise employed in Darwinism for maintaining that life came about out of inanimate matter and developed by means of an evolutionary process. According to this deceptive ideology, all living species began from one single cell that came about by chance, in other words from one common ancestor, and then evolved from one another over time by means of minute changes, again by pure coincidence. The theory lacks any scientific or rational basis, is nothing but a fantasy, and was widely accepted in Darwin's day on account of the primitive level of science and the sociological conditions at the time. However, as science and technology progressed it was realized that the theory was actually complete nonsense. Yet, despite that, there are still people today who are unable to abandon the nonsensical theory, as we shall see later.
Ever since Darwinism was first advanced, it has been the primary theoretical justification for materialist and anti-religious ideologies and movements, and has been elevated to the near status of creed by their proponents.
When those who believe in this superstition are asked how life might have first come about, they reply "Living things came about by chance." In actual fact, however, chance is an uncontrolled, unreasoning and aimless force. God, however, creates everything according to a plan, in an ordered, intelligent and specific manner. When a person examines an object of creation, he realizes that it is part of a design and was brought into existence by an intelligent and conscious being. Moreover, it is not a conclusion that requires a great deal of thought to arrive at. It is immediately apparent. For instance, when someone enters a room he knows that when he sees a chair, table, clock and a television, that they were made by someone and placed in that room. He also knows that someone installed everything in that room according to a specific order. He would certainly never consider that the table, chair, clock and television had come into being by themselves, or had entered the room and placed themselves of their own doing. If anyone were to believe that such a thing were possible, his sanity would have to be questioned.
In the same way, someone who believes in such a senseless notion as Darwinism is in effect claiming that apples, oranges, strawberries, grapes, melons, watermelons, cherries, plums, peaches, apricots, roses, lilacs, hyacinths, violets, magnolias, carnations, cats, antelopes, tigers, rabbits, squirrels, zebras, giraffes, and all the myriad other species in the world, and even engineers, doctors, professors, academics, artists and statesmen, in short everyone in the world, had come about of their own accord as the result of chance. To put it another way, such a person believes that everything he sees is the result of chance. That means that "chance" is that person's god. Yet on careful inspection, that so-called god is one with no power of reason at all, and thus the most unintelligent god imaginable. That "god" is unaware of even its own existence, as well of that of what it has brought into being.
In one hadith regarding the Antichrist, the Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) said,"Ad-Dajjal is blind." Some Islamic scholars have interpreted that hadith to mean "The eye of the Antichrist's heart is blind." 5 That interpretation helps us to better understand the facts we just mentioned. In the same way, the eye of the heart of someone who makes a god out of blind chance is also blind, as is the eye of his reason. Such people immediately object when it is suggested that "God created the whole universe with superior intelligence, order and design." Yet when it is suggested that "Everything is the result of blind chance," they find that completely logical. Instead of an intelligent and conscious creator, they prefer the totally unreasonable idea that blind chance, lacking all intelligence and creative ability, created everything out of anarchy and chaos. Therefore, Darwinism is the most illogical and superstitious religion in the history of the world. Another surprising fact is the way in which a number of highly educated people adopt it as their religion, even though it is clearly false. Professors, politicians, teachers, lawyers and even doctors allow themselves to believe in this nonsense. This shows to what extent the ideas of the Antichrist entrance people like a magic spell.
So, just what is it that leads certain people to believe such an irrational and illogical claim, and to even fiercely defend it?
What we are dealing with here is an intensive propaganda campaign aimed at spreading the ideological system of the Antichrist in the time before the last days. In order to render this campaign as effective as possible, people are bombarded with indoctrination throughout their lives, and thus over time are coerced into adopting that twisted religion. This indoctrination, which people are exposed to even from childhood, consists of various phases, during each one of which people take a further step in the direction of the dark world of the Antichrist. The most effective way of protecting oneself from that bombardment is to listen to only the voice of one's conscience. Because, by the grace of God, our conscience is a guide that ensures our adherence to the true path. Darwinism, on the other hand, which has suffered a complete collapse scientifically, is today only defended as an ideological viewpoint, the senselessness of which can be demonstrated not only by the scientific evidence but also by listening to the voice of one's own conscience.
In order to be on one's guard against such constant indoctrination, and to understand the workings of it, we need to examine its various phases.
Stage 1: People are told the lie that "life is the work of chance."
A child perceives and evaluates that which goes on around him in a way different from adults. Children are constantly asking questions, and for the reason of things that happen around them, such as where they came from, how are they able to speak, how other things in nature came to exist, who created plants, how it is that the sun rises and sets, how the moon stays up in the sky, and many other such things. There is actually only one true answer that can be given to a child with respect of all these questions. Yet, people tend to offer two types of answers. The first, and correct, answer is that it was God that created everything, himself included, and that people are responsible to God, who created them from nothing and enables them to grow, eat, drink and breathe, and who protects them. God holds the entire universe under His control, is omnipresent, and sees and hears everything.
Some people, however, do not give their children the true answer to these questions. They may say that God created everything, but they do not go on to say that He is Lord and Ruler of all, and that everything happens by His will. Another group mislead their children in an even worse manner. They offer the mistaken claim that the entire universe is the result of unconscious and blind chance. That is because they in turn were instructed by their own parents or their teachers with the same answers. They had constantly been exposed to the indoctrination denying the existence of God, in schools, newspapers and on the television. That deception has over time become part of their basic outlook.
What is more, this indoctrination has led to such a mindset in people that, despite the myriad miracles in creation, they have become used to ignoring what they see with their own eyes and recognize with their conscience. In actual fact, the whole situation is itself another miracle of creation. The fact that people deny so many miracles that can clearly be seen with their own eyes is a miracle, revealed to us in the Qur'an. In the following verse, God reveals how some people will continue to deny all the various miracles they are made to witness:
The kind of ideas with which these people educate their children is in accordance with the religion of the Antichrist, as it is the one they themselves believe in. That is how a great many people are raised, even from an early age, in the belief that everything is the result of chance, never considering the existence of God and the art of His creation. Some families provide their children no information on the subject at all, and leave them totally vulnerable to atheistic indoctrination, which they are certain to encounter on the television and in films, newspapers and books.
Stage 2: People are taught the lie that life is a struggle founded on violence
Someone who thinks that life is the result of chance and coincidence, even if he is not fully conscious in the early stages of his believing in it, comes to believe that matter is the only absolute existence. Here he has completed the first stage of his indoctrination. As a consequence, in those cultures where people raised under such propaganda are in the majority, another important suggestion that roots itself in a child's mind is that he can "only survive so long as he is strong and selfish.
That idea is first instilled by the family, and then becomes stronger and more broadly based when the child starts school. The indoctrination the child receives from his family and his surroundings is reinforced by entirely unscientific theories, which are nevertheless portrayed as sanctioned by science, along the lines of "the ancestors of man were animals, for which reason the relationships between animals also apply to those between people." In this way, the child begins to learn the lie that there is a constant state of conflict between individuals and in society, that the weak ought to be eliminated, and that he needs to behave in that manner in order to survive. According to this principle, the most essential lesson, and the one that must never be forgotten, is that force, violence and deception can be employed, if necessary, in order to survive.
Such indoctrination is not restricted to the educational system. The child continues to receive intensive Social Darwinist indoctrination in the lyrics of the songs he listens to, the films he watches, in advertisements, videos, and even the computer games he plays, in short, in every sphere of his life. As a result of this intensive indoctrination, he builds his relationships with others on a materialistic foundation. That, in turn, means that ruthlessness, selfishness, self-interest and deceit come to dominate every moment of his life. As an inevitable consequence of this mentality, he is pushed away from true moral values and into a world of darkness.
However, the morality of the Qur'an offers a life at total variance with this model. In the Qur'an, people are called to peace and security. Societies where the morality of the Qur'an prevails are characterized by love, compassion, tolerance, honesty, self-sacrifice and humanitarianism. The proper morality that God commands people to abide by is revealed in these terms:
Stage 3: People are taught they are not responsible to anyone else
A child who is given a materialist and Darwinist answer to every question he asks will inevitably come to share those views. Even if he is still unable to openly explain them, he will begin to regard himself and all those around him as merely a highly evolved species of animal.
Yet, there remains another important phase in his education. That is the teaching of the falsehood that he is responsible to nobody but himself. According to this superstition, if matter has always existed and will always continue to do so, if life is solely the product of chance, and furthermore, if death is total extinction, then the only thing that matters is material gain. In a world made up only of matter, spiritual values can have no place. That being the case, the only thing people ought to think about is satisfying their own desires and passions, by whatever means necessary. According to the following verse in the Qur'an, "Did you suppose that We created you for amusement and that you would not return to Us?"(Qur'an, 23: 115), God clearly reveals the distorted outlook of these ignorant people.
People who genuinely believe that they can live unfettered lives, and that they will in the end merely cease to exist, are committing a serious mistake. We are responsible to our Lord, who created us from nothing. It is God who created man to accord with a particular destiny, who knows each person's past, present and future, who at death will call him to account for his past deeds, and reward or punish him accordingly. Unlike animals, God has created man with a soul, a mind, free-will and conscience. In other words, even if someone feels a certain temptation during a specific situation, he has been created with the necessary qualities to prevent him committing evil.
Someone who is unaware of or who ignores this truth will obviously pose a danger to the society of which he is a part. For instance, someone who is angered by something that has happened can behave quite ruthlessly, and harm the person responsible without thinking. It makes no difference if that person were defenseless. All that matters is venting his anger. Yet, someone who knows that he possesses a soul given him by God, who exercises his reason and his conscience, is capable of controlling his anger. He always remains in self-control and conscientious. Such a person would not dare to do the slightest thing that could earn him punishment from God. If he does happen to commit a sin, he repents and puts things right.
This is how God reminds those who imagine that they are free from restraint that they have been created and will be resurrected after death:
Another verse states that human beings are inspired to commit evil and mischief, as well as to guard themselves against every inclination to evil. (Qur'an, 91: 7-10) The fundamental reason, therefore, for peoples' degeneracy, and the crimes they commit, is that they do not believe in God, do not think that they will have to account for their deeds to Him, and thus have no fear of Him. However, the fact is that there is a purpose behind creation, and in a verse this is revealed as being the responsibility to worship God, "... I only created … man to worship Me" (Qur'an, 51: 56) Human beings are tested in this life, and if they fail to fulfill their responsibilities, they will be held to account for it. Some of these responsibilities are set out in the following verse:
They were only ordered to worship only God, making their religion sincerely His as people of pure natural belief, and to attend their prayers (salat) and give alms (zakat)—surely the correct religion.(Qur'an, 98: 5)
The true religion is the religion of God, yet, as a result of the indoctrination that people are subjected to, many people are turned away from it. Someone who has gone through the various phases of the Social Darwinist education is presented with very few alternatives. His view of life and mankind is shaped in the light of materialist-Darwinist thought. He will then struggle for only himself and to defend his own interests, will usually see violence, oppression and deception as the only means of doing so, and will be driven from transgression to transgression, lost in the nightmare of atheism. What is more, there will be nothing to prevent him from doing so. The number of people who are constantly "looking for trouble", behave aggressively towards the defenseless, oppress the weak and trample on their rights, take pleasure in violence, regard the suffering of others as the means to their own happiness, and, in short, have lost touch with all finer human feelings, is increasing daily. The most important reason for this is that the terrifying truth taught by the religion of the Antichrist is portrayed as if it were a mere fact of life.
Sects of the Religion of the Antichrist
It is revealed in the hadiths how the Antichrist will sow discord throughout the world. One indication of this is the way that people from all religions, nations and beliefs abide by that system. Since that discord will be very great and wide-ranging, many people, either knowingly or unknowingly, will fall into the trap, adopting the lifestyle promoted by the Antichrist. To put it another way, no matter what their world-view may be, all those who create and support anarchy, who commit and defend the use of violence, or carry out actions harmful to peace are actually adherents of the religion of the Antichrist.
That religion may also be sub-divided into a number of "sects." When we look at the century we have just passed, we can see the terribly destructive effects of the two main ideologies that sprung from Darwinism: communism and fascism.
These two ideologies can be regarded as the two main sects of the religion of the Antichrist. The founders and major leaders of both ideologies were all devoted to Darwinism, which lies at the root of the philosophy of the Antichrist, and both movements were heavily influenced by Darwinism. These two sects brought untold misery to the world, turning it into one huge battleground. And, when we examine these two ideologies closely, an interesting picture begins to emerge. No matter how much they might appear diametrically opposed to each other, they actually have a greater number of points in common than is otherwise recognized, and it becomes quite obvious how they were both inspired from the same source: Darwinism. (For details, see, The Disasters Darwinism Brought to Humanity, , Harun Yahya, 2000). The main ideas of Darwinism, the root of these similarities, are as follows:
Darwinism
- Darwinism's starting point is total denial of a Creator. Its principle aim is the formation of a society in which people are completely dissociated from religion. Darwinism, in effect, has become a religion, whose gods are chance and coincidence.
- It maintains that there is a "struggle for survival" in nature, for which reason ruthlessness must prevail. According to this claim, the merciless struggle that takes places among other living things must also apply to man. In an environment where everyone sees everyone else as a rival, the most frequently encountered feelings are anger, greed and hatred.
- There is no room for tolerance, compassion or dialogue in the survival of the fittest. If only the strongest can survive, then tolerance, compassion and dialogue will be among the very last things anyone is dependent upon.
- Essentially, Darwinism is one enormous deception. All of its claims have been disproved by modern science.
Communism
- Communism describes religion as the opiate of the masses. Its first struggle in all the societies where it has come to power has been against religious beliefs.
- As Lenin put it, with the words "development is the 'struggle' of opposites,"8 communism maintains that progress can only come about by means of conflict. It believes that there can be no progress and development without bloodshed.
- Armed uprisings and revolution are essential elements of communism. At the base of these lies the anger felt towards other classes of society, and a ruthless desire for revenge.
- Communism resolutely opposes all opposition and differences. Differences mean only one thing: conflict. There can only be one kind of everything in communist regimes, including human beings. Everything that seeks to oppose this uniformity is seen as an enemy of the regime, and harsh measures are taken against it. In such a climate there can be no tolerance, and no chance of establishing dialogue.
- In practice, the implementation of communism has been a clear indication of just how deceptive can be those concepts such as equality, social justice and freedom that communism upholds in order to attract adherents. These concepts are nothing but the propaganda tools of communism, a despotic and totalitarian system.
Fascism
- Fascism, and all its methods, is diametrically opposed to religious morality. One of the distinguishing characteristics of fascism is its tendency to kill thousands of innocent people in the name of its own so-called "sacred" values, and of actually regarding that slaughter as virtuous. That is why war and conflict are "inseparable" components of fascism.
- The anger and hatred directed towards people of different races is another fundamental element of fascism. This racist tendency has inspired numerous wars, conflicts, death and ethnic cleansings.
- Strict discipline is an inherent part of a fascist regime. All ideas that conflict with it are eliminated. The burning of thousands of books during Hitler's Reich, simply because they contained "non-German ideas," is just one example of this.
- FIn order to win people over, fascism instills in people the notion that their race is superior to all others. The real aim is the construction of a system built upon the concept of race. It is clear, however, that in an environment in which every race thinks it is superior there will never be an end to war and conflict. The disasters that fascist dictators, such as Hitler and Mussolini, have inflicted on their people are some of the most striking proofs of the fact that the ideas espoused by fascism are nothing but falsehoods.
The above-mentioned characteristics are just a few examples to give you a general idea of these ideologies. When one considers the way these ideologies are implemented, it becomes still more obvious to what extent they are inherently violent and brutal. Yet, the truly important thing to note is the way of the Antichrist, and the ideologies linked to it, can be adopted by whole segments of society, despite all the terrible destruction they inflict. For that reason, it is most important to examine the way in which the system of the Antichrist brings society under its control. To reveal how that is done will be the first round shot in the war of ideas to be waged against that system. That is to say, that people do not suddenly become selfish, aggressive, ruthless individuals filled with hatred and a thirst for revenge overnight. As we have already seen, they can only be accustomed to the system of the Antichrist over time, in stages. The process begins when people first become conscious of their surroundings beginning the learning process, and it continues throughout their lives. That indoctrination starts with turning people away from faith in God.
The primary sects we have been considering themselves consist of different groups and adherents. Subsequent chapters of this book will examine the links between the Antichrist and terrorism and these sub-groups. However, it will first be useful to have a look at how the Antichrist is treated in the Qur'an.
Footnotes
1.P.M. Wise, M.J. Olsson, W.S. Cain, "Quantification of Odor Quality", Chemical Senses 25, Oxford University Press, 2000, s. 429-443.
2.M. Chastrette, "Trends in structure–odor relationships", SAR QSAR Environ. Res. 6, 1997, s. 215-254.
3.P. Whitfield, D.M. Stoddard, "Hearing, Taste, and Smell; Pathways of Perception", Torstar Books, Inc., New York, 1984 . (http://www.macalester.edu/~psych/whathap/UBNRP/Smell/nasal.html)
4.Maya Pines, "Finding the Odorant Receptors", Howard Hughes Medical Institute, 2001, http://www.hhmi.org/senses/d/d120.htm.
5.Diane Ackerman, A Natural History of the Senses, Vintage Books Edition, 1995, s. 6.
The Nature of The Antichrist as Described in The Qur'an
The Nature of The Antichrist as Described in The Qur'an
The Prophet Muhammad's descriptions of the Antichrist in the hadiths strongly resemble the criminal-sinner character that appears in the Qur'an. The examples of immorality described in the Qur'an, such as lying, injustice, ruthlessness, cruelty, encouraging wickedness amongst people, as well as what the disbelievers attempt to pass off as morality in order to turn people away from religion, are also the principle characteristics of those ideologies disbelievers by Darwinism.
The people that God refers to as "evildoers" in the Qur'an are those who spread chaos and terror in the world, who scheme various plans towards that end, and side with evil. Such people refuse to recognize the limits set by God, refuse to live by the morality of religion, and have a tendency to sin and wickedness. . As God says, The evildoers are indeed misguided and insane.(Qur'an, 54: 47), the road taken by those who adopt that version of morality is a deviant one. Various features of the evildoers are set out in the Qur'an, and we are warned to be on our guard against them:
Who could do greater wrong than someone who invents lies against God or denies His Signs? Evildoers are certainly not successful.(Qur'an, 10: 17)
We destroyed generations before you when they did wrong. Their Messengers brought them the Clear Signs, but they were never going to believe. That is how We repay evildoers.(Qur'an, 10: 13)
If we bear in mind the fact that one of the distinguishing features of materialist ideologies, such as communism and fascism, which are founded on Darwinism, is destroying the social order and fomenting chaos, then it becomes clear that those who live by and seek to further these systems are the evildoers defined in the Qur'an. In one verse, God says:
And likewise in every city We set up its greatest wrongdoers to plot in it. They plot against themselves alone, but they are not aware of it.(Qur'an, 6: 123)
As the verse states, these people will lay plans in order to spread and consolidate their own power. This being the case, a war of ideas against people of that type, and those who seek to further such systems, is of the utmost importance. Peace can only come to replace wickedness, and stability to take the place of conflict and chaos, if the activities of those who engage in evil are prevented. That, in turn, can only come about if the rottenness of these peoples' ideological foundations is established and then brought down. Only believers can assume this responsibility, since the strife caused by the system of the Antichrist can never influence true believers. The faithful are those who fiercely refuse to adopt the mentality of the evildoer, nor to allow themselves to be tainted by even the slightest trace of it. This is how God reveals the responsibility of preventing wickedness that falls on the shoulders of the believers:
Would that there had been more people with a vestige of good among the generations of those who came before you, who forbade corruption in the earth, other than the few among them whom We saved. Those who did wrong gladly pursued the life of luxury that they were given and were evildoers.(Qur'an, 11: 116)
The Method of the Antichrist is Built Upon Indulgence
One of the most important traits of evildoers is the way they are misled by -their own passions and individual desires-, instead of by the morality of the Qur'an. However, being dominated by one's ego (an-nafs) loses one in a terrible nightmare. When someone begins to act in conformity to his lower self, it leads to internal mental chaos and a complete lack of restraint. Instead of the peace of mind and tranquility that come from listening to the voice of one's conscience, comes insecurity, restlessness, worry and discontent. As God informs us in a verse of the Qur'an,... The self indeed commands to evil acts—except for those my Lord has mercy on...(Qur'an, 12: 53), the lower self continually encourages one to wickedness. It constantly encourages jealousy, envy, anger, hatred, insensitivity, ruthlessness, disrespect, irresponsibility, and other examples of poor morality. A believer, however, listens to the voice of his conscience, not his lower soul, employs his free-will and adopts a decent and pleasing morality. That is because, in the Qur'an, God commands man to eschew the evils of his lower soul, a commandment which must be obeyed by making us of one's conscience. In other words, since we know what is right and wrong, we also know how to avoid it. This fact is expressed in the following terms in the Qur'an:
And the self and what proportioned it and inspired it with depravity and a fear of God, he who purifies it has succeeded, he who covers it up has failed.(Qur'an, 91: 7-10)
Nevertheless, a great number of people suppress and ignore the voice of their conscience, and allow themselves to be ruled by their egos. There are enormous differences between a man who is ruled by his ego and the man who is governed by his conscience. Someone who listens to the voice of his conscience behaves with moderation and controls his anger when faced with a trying situation. He who obeys his ego, however, is swept away by his anger and acts out feelings of hatred and vengeance. In the same way, when someone who has experienced an injustice listens to the voice of his conscience, he knows that he must answer that injustice with fairness and even-handedness, not with a further injustice. The person who follows only his selfish desires, on the other hand, will want to retaliate against the person who committed the injustice against him. The man who listens to his conscience is compassionate, tolerant, patient and willing to make personal sacrifices. The man who listens to his ego is ruthless, cruel, impatient and selfish. That is why it is impossible to speak of peace in any society where those who listen only to their own egos are the majority. In fact, God has revealed that there will be no stability in the world as long as people hearken to their selfish desires:
If the truth were to follow their whims and desires, the heavens and the earth and everyone in them would have been brought to ruin. No indeed! We have given them their Reminder, but they have turned away from it.(Qur'an, 23: 71)
That is one of the reasons why the Antichrist targets religious and spiritual values. The morality of religion requires people to listen to the voice of their conscience and avoid the wickedness their desires might provoke. The ideology of the Antichrist seeks just the opposite, which is why it harms those very elements that bind people together and ensure social cohesion (the most important of these elements are religious morality and the spiritual values that arise from it), and encourages people towards discord and conflict. In a hadith, the Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) described what the world would be like in a system based on that of the Antichrist, when people are dominated by their desires:
The dissension of the end of time will be so terrible that no one will be able to restrain themselves. 6
Commenting upon this hadith, Islamic scholars have explained that the Antichrist will call on people to follow their passions and desires, which will be portrayed as a good thing. Bediuzzaman Said Nursi, for instance, said:The men, ...defeated by their instinctual souls, and with drunken joy, fall into the fire and are burnt.... (The dissension of the end of time and the dissension of the Antichrist) will draw the pleasure-seekers around them like moths, intoxicating them.
The Antichrist Spreads Corruption Throughout the World
The most harmful aspect of the system of the Antichrist is that it is built on spreading corruption and damaging peace and order. The defining characteristic of the Antichrist is to encourage terror and anarchy in order to spread corruption. The latter of course has wide-ranging ramifications, and can include frightening people and making them uneasy, and wreaking peace and security. Unjustified wars between nations, internal conflict sparked off by artificial causes, terrorist attacks aimed at innocent civilians, and acts of violence in daily life can all be regarded as instances of corruption. In the present day, the ever-increasing examples of wars and conflicts are important from the point of view of revealing the dimension of the corruption of the Antichrist.
Corruption is described in the Qur'an as one of the dangers to be avoided by people. God has forbidden them to cause corruption, and has revealed that He has no love for those who do. The following verse reveals how it is that those who deny God constantly try to spread corruption, conflict, chaos and war:
...We have incited enmity and hatred between them until the Day of Rising. Each time they kindle the fire of war, God extinguishes it. They rush about the earth corrupting it. God does not love corrupters.(Qur'an, 5: 64)
As we have seen, this verse emphasizes how these people are constantly trying to bring about war. Grave acts of brutality such as war, conflict and terror, are the methods most frequently resorted to by the Antichrist. Another verse discusses the mentality of the Antichrist in these terms:
Those who break God's contract after it has been agreed, and sever what God has commanded to be joined, and cause corruption on the earth, it is they who are the lost.(Qur'an, 2: 27)
The morality of the Qur'an, on the other hand, contributes to peace and security. The aim, as revealed in the Qur'an, is the development of an environment in which people of all beliefs and nations can live together in safety. The problems of the world can only be alleviated by living by the morality of religion, and by people listening to the voice of their conscience. The command in the Qur'an reads:
Do not corrupt the earth after it has been put right. Call on Him fearfully and eagerly. God's mercy is close to the good-doers.(Qur'an, 7: 56)
Corruption Leads to the Spread of Violence
In the hearts of those who cause corruption, tolerance and patience are replaced by feelings of hatred and vengeance. Those who foment strife, conflict and acts of terrorism, are people who lack any concept of restraint, or of the need to rule justly, but prefer to settle disputes through violence instead of negotiation. Similarly, adherents of the religion of the Antichrist are disposed to conflict instead of compromise. This tendency encourages feelings of hatred, anger and enmity, and leads to a culture that turns people against each other. It is revealed in the hadiths that the Antichrist will come at a time when hatred, anger and violence are widespread, a condition which he will take advantage of. Some of these hadiths are as follows:
The Antichrist will appear at a time when religion is weakened and knowledge is insufficient.7
Those are the days when minds are confused. When people kill one another. To such an extent that people can murder their neighbours, cousins and relatives. The killer knows not why he kills, nor the victim why he was killed. 8
Actually, these characteristics are also some of the basic features of the Devil. He is also rebellious, opposed to compromise, and full of hatred and anger, and his aim is to encourage others to act along those lines. That is why the Devil always tries to come between people and cause friction between them. God warns of this danger in the Qur'an:
Say to My servants that they should only say the best. The Devil wants to stir up trouble between them. The Devil is an outright enemy to man.(Qur'an, 17: 53)
Those who fall under the Devil's influence greatly overreact to incidents that could otherwise be better dealt with a little tolerance. They react angrily to everything that they do not like or which does not agree with their views. Swept away by their anger, they are unable to think clearly, nor to consider matters fairly and objectively. The Devil exploits those who had merely started out being unable to think clearly, and eventually turns them into such with criminal tendencies. He indoctrinates them with the idea that they will never find peace as long as they are unable to satisfy their anger.
The story in the Qur'an, which relates the incident that took place between the sons of the Prophet Adam (pbuh), is an important example of how someone who acts under the influence of the Devil can be unrestrained and aggressive in character:
Recite to them the true report of Adam's two sons when they offered a sacrifice and it was accepted from one of them but not accepted from the other. The one said, "I shall kill you." The other said, "God only accepts from the righteous (who fear Him). Even if you do raise your hand against me to kill me, I am not going to raise my hand against you to kill you. Truly I fear God, the Lord of all the worlds. I want you to take on both my wrongdoing and your wrongdoing and so become one of the Companions of the Fire. That is the repayment of the wrongdoers." So his lower self persuaded him to kill his brother, and he killed him and became one of the lost.(Qur'an, 5: 27-30)
As can be seen from these verses, the brother who followed his lower self, and the suggestion of the Devil, acted out of anger and jealousy, even leading him to committing murder. The other brother, on the other hand, who exhibited the morality of a believer, did not lose his composure in spite of the aggressive attitude and unfair behavior of the other, but behaved in a proper moral manner.
In the same way, the brothers of the Prophet Joseph (pbuh) planned to kill him, out of jealousy and anger at the blessings that God had (pbuh) bestowed on him. When the Prophet Joseph again met his brothers at a later time, he was tolerant and forgiving towards them. This is a requirement of the superior morality that God has commanded the faithful to adopt. The proper morality of Muslims is described in a verse in the following way:
Those who give in times of both ease and hardship, those who control their rage and pardon other people—God loves the good-doers. (Qur'an, 3: 134)
The Antichrist Encourages People Towards Extremism
Another method employed by the Antichrist to cause corruption and confusion in the world is to encourage people towards extremism, or fanaticism. In this way, people are led to believe that they are justified in behaving in a fanatical manner for the sake of their beliefs or ideals. They are led astray by the idea that results that could otherwise be obtained by compromise and dialogue can only be reached by resorting to violence. Through this state of mind, simple envy or unjustified anger can result in savage brutality. Because extremism often represents the very opposite of moderation, common sense, and rational behavior. Such people follow only their emotions. Their reactions and general comportment are governed by violence and rage. That is what leads to the emergence of groups and individuals who too easily resort to all forms of violence without ever questioning why, nor feeling any pang of conscience.
The Qur'an, however, warns people against turning to extremism and going beyond the normal bounds. In one verse, God warns people not to follow those who turn towards fanaticism and let themselves to be ruled by their emotions, or against the trap set for them by the Antichrist:
...And do not obey someone whose heart We have made neglectful of Our remembrance and who follows his own whims and desires and whose life has transgressed all bounds.(Qur'an, 18: 28)
Extremism turns man away from the Qur'an. One of the most important characteristics of believers is that, no matter what the circumstances, they are always moderate and well balanced, and never abandon their modesty, restraint and tolerance. The responsibility believers recognize upon themselves commands them to behave well towards others and to avoid evil. This is a responsibility that is to be fulfilled by explaining the morality of religion to people and waging a war of ideas against atheistic philosophies. As the believer fulfils that responsibility, he knows that his only duty is to tell the truth and show people the true path. He is not to oblige people to believe. As God has commanded by the words There is no compulsion where religion is concerned.(Qur'an, 2: 256), people must not be brought under any compulsion. It is God who turns people to the right way, in other words, who grants them faith. Believers merely strive to be a means whereby this can come about:
You are not responsible for their guidance, but God guides whoever He wills… (Qur'an, 2: 272)
The Common Characteristic of All Those Who Are Duped By The Antichrist: Acting By the Devil's Logic
He (Antichrist) will have two flowing rivers: one will appear to be pure water, and the other will appear to be flaming fire. Whosoever lives to see that, let him choose the river which seems to be fire, …for it will be cold water. 9
The Antichrist…will bring with him what will resemble Hell and Paradise, and what he will call Paradise will be actually Hell. 10
The Antichrist…will bring with him what will resemble Hell and Paradise, and what he will call Paradise will be actually Hell. 10
The above hadiths are two accounts revealing that the Antichrist will portray good as bad, and bad as good. In the same way that the Antichrist encourages people towards anarchy and terror, the Devil claims that people can only be saved by turning to him, and that he is the true way. While encouraging people to atheism and a morality that denies God, he also tells the lie that he wants only what is good:
Say: "Are we to call on something besides God which can neither help nor harm us, and to turn on our heels after God has guided us, like someone the satans have lured away in the earth, leaving him confused and stupefied, despite the fact that he has companions calling him to guidance, saying, 'Come with us!'?" Say: "God's guidance, that is true guidance. We are commanded to submit as Muslims to the Lord of all the worlds.(Qur'an, 6: 71)
Likewise, the way that those who follow the Devil claim that they too want only what is good has been revealed in the Qur'an:
How will it be when a disaster strikes them because of what they have done, and then they come to you swearing by God: "We desired nothing but good and reconciliation"?(Qur'an, 4: 62)
One of the most striking examples of the way in which the Antichrist makes people think that what is evil is actually good is the way they begin to regard violence, fighting and conflict as normal; or, as we have seen earlier, those who have convinced themselves and others that the most efficacious way of obtaining what they want is the use of violence. They kill innocent people, imagining themselves to be engaged in a just struggle, as they harm others who have committed no crime at all. When members of terrorist organizations, or people who have been responsible for wars and conflicts in various regions of the world, are interviewed, they all declare how justified they were to resort to violence. Yet, they are entirely wrong, and merely despotic. No struggle that employs violence against innocent and defenseless people can ever be justified.
At the root of this error lies the fact that such people have followed the way of the Devil and the Antichrist, who is an extension of the Devil. In other words, they act according to the Devil's logic. God, however, the Creator of all, has commanded people never to follow in the way of the Devil. This is how that commandment is expressed in the verses of the Qu'ran:
Mankind! eat what is good and lawful on the earth. And do not follow in the footsteps of the Devil. He truly is an outright enemy to you. (Qur'an, 2: 168)
The Devil is your enemy so treat him as an enemy. He summons his party so they will be among the people of the Searing Blaze.(Qur'an, 35: 6)
People who act in line with the Devil's logic, despite all of our Lord's commandments to the contrary, seal off their hearts and minds. That narrow-mindedness is a common characteristic of those who deny God and refuse to live by the morality of religion. God has sealed the hearts of such people:
As for those who disbelieve, it makes no difference to them whether you warn them or do not warn them, they will not believe. God has sealed up their hearts and hearing and over their eyes is a blindfold. They will have a terrible punishment.(Qur'an, 2: 6- 7)
We have made all kinds of examples for people in this Qur'an. If you bring them a Sign those who disbelieve will say, "You are just purveyors of falsehood!" In that way God seals up the hearts of those who do not know.(Qur'an, 30: 58-59)
As another verse of the Qur'an, (Qur'an, 7: 179), says:"…They have hearts they do not understand with. They have eyes they do not see with. They have ears they do not hear with. Such people are like cattle. No, they are even further astray! They are the unaware." That kind of diminution of their state of awareness shows that those who follow the system of the Antichrist are cruel, having completely abandoned their conscience, and therefore lost the ability to distinguish between right and wrong. That kind of person attaches no importance to the possible harm his reactions to a given situation might cause, and has no qualms in acting tyrannically. He is thoroughly taken in by the lies of the Antichrist, and begins to think that black is white, and white black. The condition of such people is described in these terms in the Qur'an:
Those who deny Our Signs are deaf and dumb in utter darkness. God misguides whoever He wills, and puts whoever He wills on a straight path. (Qur'an, 6: 39)
God has also revealed that these cruel persons, who collaborate with the Devil, and try to perpetuate the Devil's logic in the world, will be suitably repaid in the hereafter:
He makes promises to them and fills them with false hopes. But what the Devil promises them is nothing but delusion. The shelter of such people will be Hell. They will find no way to escape from it.(Qur'an, 4: 120-121)
The Plots of The Antichrist Are Within The Control of God
In the hadiths, the Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) warned of the deceptiveness of the plots devised by the Antichrist so that we might avoid them. Truly, the corruption sown by the Antichrist is set on such a degree of deviousness that most, apart from those who have sincere faith, will easily fall into its influence. We need merely to consider the state of moral decline and general havoc in the world today, to recognize the scale of it. Most are familiar with this degeneration and chaos, no matter what country, nation or race they come from.
There is here another matter which is very important to keep in mind. It has been revealed in numerous verses of the Qur'an that the true lord over all the plots devised by the disbelievers, is God. In order to test people, and to make know and to educate the righteous, as well as to demonstrate the disbelief of the unbelievers, and for many other reasons, God has allowed the works of the Devil in this world, and therefore the Antichrist, as set within His preordained plan. For that reason, the plots devised by those who deny God, can never, by His will, achieve their objectives. This is confirmed in a verse:
They concocted their plots, but their plots were with God, even if they were such as to make the mountains vanish (Qur'an, 14: 46)
All through history, those who have denied God, and sought to encourage others to do the same, have devised all kinds of plots to ensnare others. Yet, according to God's command, all such ploys have ultimately failed, and only rebounded against themselves. This is an immutable law from God, as revealed in the following verse:
…But then when a warner did come to them, it only increased their aversion, shown by their arrogance in the land and evil plotting. But evil plotting envelops only those who do it. Do they expect anything but the pattern of previous peoples? You will not find any changing in the pattern of God. You will not find any alteration in the pattern of God (Qur'an, 35: 42-43)
The same fate is destined for the plots devised by the Antichrist and his ideological system. That entire system itself is a method of deception specifically designed to keep people from the way of God. No matter how complex the plots, and how wide-ranging and effective the plan, everything is under the control of God. The Antichrist and his plots exist only by virtue of the will of God. As stated in another verse, "But you will not will unless God wills."(Qur'an, 76: 30), none has the power to desire anything, neither to devise a plot, nor to put it into action, unless God so ordains.
Footnotes
6.Philip Morrison, "The Silicon Gourmet", Scientific American, Nisan 1997, s.92.
7.Stuart Firestein, "Olfactory Receptor Neurons", Encyclopedia of Life Sciences, Aralık 2000, http://www.els.net.
8.Heinz Breer, "Olfaction", Encyclopedia of Life Sciences, Ağustos 1999, http://www.els.net.
9.Heinz Breer, "Olfaction", Encyclopedia of Life Sciences, Ağustos 1999, http://www.els.net.
10.Heinz Breer, "Olfaction", Encyclopedia of Life Sciences, Ağustos 1999, http://www.els.net.
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