Muslim Preachers of the Approaching End

This chapter focuses on the essential constitutive segments of modern Islamic apocalyptic thought and writing, as well as the spiritual developments that led to its formation. The main objective of the chapter is to explain how this popular and, at least from “a theoretical perspective”, widely viewed subject from the last century has become one of the most important parts of current Islamic discourse and how this remarkable transformation took place. This is why the chapter also provides an extensive outline of non-Islamic (i.e. Western) “ideological borrowings” (both religious and secular) that have had a considerable impact on the shaping of contemporary apocalyptic imagination among a substantial part of the Muslim world. The decisive shift in the prevalent Muslim perception relates to the “Portents of the Hour” (i.e. the apocalyptic signs foreshadowing the End). There has been a move away from the level of an intellectually attractive, yet personally distant subject, that was addressed in various bestsellers (e.g. in Egypt, Turkey, etc.), towards the anxieties and great expectations that coalesced with the disintegration of the long-term Middle Eastern order, following the Western invasions of Iraq, which led to concerns in the minds of Moslems throughout the “World of Islam”.

Introduction

Al-Sayfu aṣdaqu inbāʾan min al-kutubi … fī ḥaddihi al-ḥaddu bayna al-jiddi wa al-laʿbi. (The sword is more truthful than books. Its edge distinguishes between trueness and fiction.) Inna al-dhahaba yujrab bi-l-nār, wa inna al-muʾmina yujrab bi-l-balāʾi. (Gold is tried in the fire, the believer is tried in suffering.)...

The Hour as Goal and Vehicle: A Summary of ISIS Apocalypticism

This final chapter cannot be called an epilogue in the correct sense of the word since we are still not in a position to answer some of the key questions, e.g. whether or not ISIS protagonists really believe their own pronouncements. Of course, reaching to attain the higher (i.e. the millennial) goal can make any earthly suffering more bearable. Islamic apocalyptists have sought to console and encourage, while, at the same time, to warn and frighten. Nowadays, exactly as at the very beginning of Islam, a substantial part of Muslims believe that they are living in the Last Days. However, until now nobody is certain as to the future results of such a widespread apocalyptic conviction. Nevertheless, despite the above mentioned limitations in our knowledge, the stormy terrain of ISIS apocalyptic manifestations enables us to formulate a set of concluding remarks.

A Feeble Folk to Whom No Concern is Accorded

This chapter provides the reader with a different perspective on the apocalyptic visions of ISIS. So far, most attention has been accorded to how ISIS has been able to exploit apocalyptic symbolism and rhetoric and the detail of what they expect to see in the future. However, this chapter entitled “A Feeble Folk to whom no Concern is Accorded” (this subheading is a borrowed quotation from Nuʽaym ibn Hammad´s Kitab al-Fitan, The Book of Apocalyptic Tribulations), illustrates how the activities of ISIS are placed in an apocalyptic context by their opponents (i.e. the vast majority of Muslims). It is perhaps no wonder that such opposing perceptions can be mainly found within the outputs of those Muslim groups and strands that currently feel mortally threatened by ISIS inspired terror, namely Shiites, Sufis, liberals, etc. Let us remind ourselves that the apocalyptic imagination always reveals, at least to a certain degree, the nature of the thinkers and that the millennial content can often implicitly reflect their worldly worries and concerns within the eschatological framework.

The Spark Has Been Lit Here in Iraq

This chapter addresses in detail the role of the millennial agenda within ISIS propaganda. Using their primary sources (both in Arabic and Western languages), the discussion analyses, step by step, the specific segments of Muslim apocalyptic heritage that have been utilised in ISIS propaganda as a tool for the justification and metaphysical legalization of their struggle. The main objective of this chapter is to carefully discuss the way ISIS has instrumentalized chosen apocalyptic pointers, either events or trends, which, from their own perspective, have already been fulfilled. They have sought to use these claims as a tool to prove the accuracy of their interpretation of contemporary affairs.

The Countdown to the Apocalypse

This chapter is in its own way also devoted to providing a certain kind of “apocalyptic chronology”. The discussion systematically introduces the proclaimed ISIS expectations (both public announcements and various commentaries) in the form of the portents of the Hour that remain to be fulfilled, either the lesser or the greater ones. The ultimate goal of all millennial Muslim predictions is undoubtedly the final victory of the powers of good, as embodied in the redeemer, al-Mahdi. Let us add here that the apocalyptic expectations of ISIS also clearly reflect their deeply-rooted hatred of Shiites (whose millennial ideas are, in many respects, considerably different from the Sunni mainstream view) and it is precisely this point, as well as an analysis of related sectarian violence associated with the Last Days, that will be the subject of attention.

The Topography of the Last Days

This chapter extensively develops considerations related to what could be metaphorically called “an apocalyptic topography of Syria and Iraq”. In such a context, we should be aware that both countries, currently struggling with ISIS inspired violence, are, at the same time, a crucial arena in relation to Muslim apocalyptic cycles. The chapter concisely introduces the natural starting points in the form of the narratives belonging to the historical apocalyptic cycles, as well as reviewing the attitudes of Muslim apocalyptists towards various cities and territories. In this respect, the discussion will also be based on the collection of “praise traditions” (fadaʼil) devoted to particular regions in contemporary Syria and Iraq. The analysis focuses on both the search for the supposed “apocalyptic qualities” of given toponyms, but also, primarily, on placing the current struggles and strategic ambitions of ISIS within the context of Muslim traditions devoted to the Last Days.

The Quest for the Portents of the Hour

This chapter introduces in general terms the phenomenon of Islamic apocalyptic thought within the spiritual framework of Muslim theology and eschatology (with a focus on its Sunni element). In particular, it focuses on the historical background and medieval writings, as well as the key terms applied in the book and the key notions that are necessary for further explanation. Starting with the ambiguous Quranic eschatological references, as well as the scattered and more-or-less mysterious passages within the Sunna, the introductory survey attempts to depict a broadly accepted “chronology of the End-times”. This includes explanatory remarks on the epistemological limits of the related research, as well as exegetical stereotypes that are relevant to the major “episodes” of the given “scenario”. Brief notes will also be provided on the historical manifestations of Muslim millennialism, spanning the period from Medieval times to the contemporary period. However, the emphasis is placed on those features essential for an accurate understanding of contemporary Muslim millennialism. Simply put, the main intention of the introductory explanation is to make the following chapters fully intelligible to readers interested in ISIS but who have limited awareness of Islam.