Islam is a Society Now Led by Voices from the Grave!
March 12, 2008
http://www.tribulationperiod.com/
We are in conflict with a society which has no desire to change with the passage of time. It is now led by the Islamic voices of the past from the grave, which is leading the extremists to follow a path of “regressing, not progressing.” In so doing, they constantly conduct themselves “in a superstitious and un reasona
ble manner.” A leader like the bold, brash Iranian President Ahmadinejad is among those living “in a world of the supernatural.” Turki Al-Hamad’s analysis of his own society has a ring of truth about it.
In the Koran, under The Prophets 21:97, it is written: “It is ordained that no nation We have destroyed shall ever rise again. But when Gog and Magog are let loose and rush headlong down every hill; when the true promise nears its fulfillment; the unbelievers shall stare in great amazement crying: ‘Woe to us!
Of this we have been heedless.
We have done wrong,’”
But in Ezekiel 38:1-3, the Lord God states: “And the word of the Lord came unto me, saying, [2] Son of man, set thy face against Gog, the land of Magog, the chief prince of Meshech and Tubal, and prophesy against him, [3] And say, Thus saith the Lord God; Behold I am against thee, O Gog, the chief prince of Meshech and Tubal:
The Lord God also indicates by the pen of Zechariah, that after initial great success by Gog and his Islamic armies against Israel, including the capture of Jerusalem, that the true God will fight against Gog, and then Messiah will return with all his saints to destroy the false prophet, the Islamic antichrist, and all his armies.
Zechariah 13:8 to 14:5 – And it shall come to pass, that in all the land, saith the Lord, two parts therein shall be cut off and die; but the third shall be left therein. [9] And I will bring the third part through the fire, and will refine them as silver is refined, and will try them as gold is tried: they shall call on my name, and I will hear them: I will say, It is my people: and they shall say, The Lord is my God. [1] Behold, the day of the Lord cometh, and thy spoil shall be divided in the midst of thee. [2] For I will gather all nations against Jerusalem to battle; and the city shall be taken, and the houses rifled, and the women ravished; and half of the city shall go forth into captivity, and the residue of the people shall not be cut off from the city. [3] Then shall the Lord go forth, and fight against those nations, as when he fought in the day of battle.
[4] And his feet shall stand in that day upon the mount of Olives, which is before Jerusalem on the east, and the mount of Olives shall cleave in the midst thereof toward the east and toward the west, and there shall be a very great valley; and half of the mountain shall remove toward the north, and half of it toward the south. [5] And ye shall flee to the valley of the mountains; for the valley of the mountains shall reach unto Azal: yea, ye shall flee, like as ye fled from before the earthquake in the days of Uzziah king of Judah: and the Lord my God shall come, and all the saints with thee.
Revelation 19:19-21 – And I saw the beast, and the kings of the earth, and their armies, gathered together to make war against him that sat on the horse, and against his army. [20] And the beast was taken, and with him the false prophet that wrought miracles before him, with which he deceived them that had received the mark of the beast, and them that worshipped his image. These both were cast alive into a lake of fire burning with brimstone. [21] And the remnant were slain with the sword of him that sat upon the horse, which sword proceeded out of his mouth: and all the fowls were filled with their flesh.
Zechariah 14:8,9 – And it shall be in that day, that living waters shall go out from Jerusalem; half of them toward the former sea, and half of them toward the hinder sea: in summer and in winter shall it be. [9] And the Lord shall be king over all the earth: in that day shall there be one Lord, and his name one.
Begin Article from MEMRI
The Middle East Media Research Institution
March 12, 2008 No. 1868
Reformist Saudi Intellectual Turki Al-Hamad: I’m “Pessimistic” about Possibility of Real Change
In an Al-Arabiya TV interview, Saudi author and reformist Turki Al-Hamad said that Arab society and culture were “regressing, not progressing,” and, worse, doing so “in a superstitious and unreasonable manner.” He said that the Arabs “are living in a world of the supernatural,” not today’s world of “logic,” and that the “so-called religious awakening” had turned every thing
upside down – while “the prevalent culture is backward, yet the political regime
uses this culture to glorify itself, without realizing that it is destroying the future… We move forward with our eyes looking backward.”
He concluded by stating that he was “not optimistic” about the possibility of “making real changes in our culture and society,” adding, “As time goes by, I am becoming more pessimistic about this.”
Turki Al-Hamad is a former political science professor who has been harassed and arrested several times by the Saudi police. He was included in Osama bin Laden’s 2006 list of Arab “freethinkers” who should be killed.
[1]
Following are excerpts from the interview, which aired on February 15 and 22, 2008:
To view this clip, visit http://www.memritv.org/clip/en/1700.htm.
To view the MEMRI TV page on Turki Al-Hamad, visit:
http://www.memritv.org/subject/en/602.htm.
“Today’s World is Ruled By Logic… We, On The Other Hand, Have Forsaken This Future for the Sake of Myth…. We Live in the World of the Supernatural”
Turki Al-Hamad: “The taboos in Saudi Arabia are different from the taboos in Lebanon, and from the taboos in Egypt, and so on, even though I believe that in all these countries, they tend to view the taboo itself as fundamental. This was not the case in the past. I believe that we’ve reached the point where everything is ruled by prohibitions. Everything is prohibited unless it is proven to be permitted. This is the problem of Arab society and culture. Instead of making progress, we are regressing – and if only we were regressing in a reasonable manner. Unfortunately, we are regressing in a superstitious and unreasonable manner.”
Interviewer: “So in your opinion, this nation is living in myths and superstitions, rather than living reality, as it should.”
Turki Al-Hamad: “Absolutely. Today’s world is ruled by logic.
It operates according to a certain logic, which views the future according to certain criteria and considerations.
We, on the other hand, have forsaken this future for the sake of myth. We live in the world of the supernatural, not in the real world, which we have completely neglected.” […]
The “So-Called Religious Awakening” Has Turned Everything “Upside Down” – “The Dead Have Taken Control Over the Living”
“In the past, our society was more open, more accepting of other opinions and different behavior. But the so-called ‘religious awakening’ – and I regard it as a religious ‘slumber,’ not as an awakening – especially with regard to the Iranian revolution, and the Juhaiman movement, [which took over] the Al-Haram Mosque in Mecca in 1979… Everything has turned upside down. The dead have taken control over the living. Juhaiman, for example, had very backward ideas.
He was killed, and his movement was eliminated, but ultimately, his ideas were implemented. The ideology of Juhaiman, and the Salafi ideology in general, has spread throughout the Arab world – and it is not what can be called the enlightened Salafi ideology, which was evident in the early 20th century among some Islamic thinkers.” […]
“The Prevalent Culture Is Backward, Yet The Political Regime Uses This Culture To Glorify Itself, Without Realizing That It Is Destroying The Future”
“The question is why this ideology has spread. I believe this is a kind of psychological mechanism. With all the defeats and disappointments of the Arab world… If you examine the history of the Arabs in the 20th century, you will see one defeat after another, one disappointment after another. The future has become uncertain and dark, rather than enlightened.
[…]
“I blame the political regime.
I blame the Arab intellectual. I blame the prevalent culture. It is a mixture of many things. Let me give you an example.
The prevalent culture is backward, yet the political regime uses this culture to glorify itself, without realizing that it is destroying the future.
That’s one reason. Another example is when intellectuals turn everything into ideology, riding a wave of populism and flirting with the peoples, instead of enlightening them. They flirt with the peoples and follow them, rather than leading them. I place the blame to some extent on these intellectuals. The prevalent culture is stagnant. It does not recognize the ‘other,’ and does not want to recognize that it is one of many cultures in the world. It considers itself to be the ‘number one’ culture – the world itself. Therefore, as said by a poet from the age of pre-Islamic ignorance – and I believe that we are still living in that age – “We are a people of worthy of world leadership – or the grave.” We cannot live in the middle ground between these two extremes, and that is the problem.” […]
“We Move Forward With Our Eyes Looking Backward… I Am Very Pessimistic About The Possibility Of Making Real Changes In Our Culture And Society”
“From the early 20th century to this day, we constantly hear people say: We should adopt the good things [from the West] and ignore the bad. You cannot do such a thing. When you consider the products of modern civilization – the car, the computer, and so on – these are all products of a certain philosophy, a certain way of thinking. If you adopt the product, but ignore the producer – you have a problem. You cannot do such a thing. [For us,] the product is new, but the thought is not. We move forward with our eyes looking backward.
[…]
“After this period of my life, I am very pessimistic about the possibility of making real changes in our culture and society. I hope I am wrong. In any case, this does not mean we should not try. Future generations will ask what we did about this. At least we tried, at least we made our voice heard. Time will tell whether we were successful in achieving any result. But I am not optimistic, and as time goes by, I am becoming more pessimistic about this.”
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