The Greatest Danger Christianity Has Ever Faced Is Islam!
November 30, 2005
http://www.tribulationperiod.com/
For more than 30 years I have frantically cried out to believers that the danger this final generation faces is not an antichrist that comes out of Europe, but an antichrist that comes out of Islam in the Middle East. I am more and more convinced the vast majority of believers will not believe it until he actually arises and attacks Israel. However, I plan on continuing the same old song to all believers, in the hope that when he eventually does arise in Islam, they will finally realize he is not coming out of the European Union, but out of the Middle East.
I believe the attack against Israel is likely to occur at some point in time between 2007 and 2012. However, I must admit candidly, when it will occur is speculation on my part. But that it will eventually happen, of that I am certain.
The article which follows, by Ksenia Svetlova, in the Jerusalem Post, consists of extracts from her article that show the rise and goals of Islam reflected by numerical growth, as well as by its spread geographically into multiple cultures and religions worldwide.
BEGIN JERUSALEM POST EXTRACTS
TRUE BELIEVERS
By Ksenia Svetlova, THE JERUSALEM POST
November 24, 2005
It’s Friday afternoon, a week after the July 7 bombings in London, and
the central mosque of London at Russell Square is crammed.
Worshipers flood the mosque and, even though it seems as if there is no more room inside or outside, the mosque’s attendants unfold more and more praying carpets.
The crowd is multiracial, filled with Muslims of Arab, Pakistani, Afghani and Malaysian.
Many people in the mosque say that they have noticed an increase in the number of converts coming to the mosque to study, pray and receive guidance within the last three to four years.
The fastest-growing religion
Today, Islam is the second-largest
religion on earth.
According to various sources, just over a fifth of the world’s population is Muslim.
Only Christianity is larger, comprising 33 percent of the population. But Islam is by far the fastest-growing religion on the planet, with a growth rate estimated at 2.8%-2.9% per year.
One explanation for this increase is that the birth rate in Muslim countries is much higher than in the majority of Christian countries (a reasoning popular among Christian missionaries), while others say that most of Muslim growth in Europe and the US comes from immigration, rather than conversion.
However, numerous studies indicate that the rapid growth of Islam in the United States, Canada, Latin America and sub-Saharan Africa is, in fact, due to conversion. There are also surveys that point out the following phenomenon: a wave of conversion to Islam in the US and Europe following the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks.
Pan-Arab newspapers such as Al-Hayat and A-Sharq al-Awsat, as well as The New York Times, The Guardian and The Los Angeles Times, have reported an increasing interest in Islam in the US, which in many cases results in a conversion.
Mixing religion and politics
While some converts didn’t change their political views after converting to Islam, others became sudden admirers of al-Qaida and Hamas.
Sharovsky, who used to be a Kahane Chai sympathizer, has turned 180 degrees.
Nowadays, although he declares that he doesn’t identify with any political party, he says the Palestinian uprising against Israel is absolutely justified. He believes that there will ultimately be an Islamic caliphate – the only legitimate form of government on earth, he says, which will also resolve all the problems of what he believes is a fully bankrupt nation-state.
“It’s wrong to kill innocent women and children,” says Sharovsky, who believes that no political party, especially secular, is permitted to take the law into their own hands.
Khattab, on the other hand, is not ready to denounce the suicide attacks against Israeli civilians, although he calls the Beslan tragedy a “slaughter.” In his tiny shop in east Jerusalem, you can find a photo of bin Laden, symbols of Hamas and other Palestinian organizations.
“I’m not a Hamas activist, although I support them in good things that they do,” he says.
Like Sharovsky, Khattab believes the only real solution is the creation of an Islamic caliphate which will rule the world.
“Islam is not about the East and the West.
You can be Muslim anywhere, and the Koran teaches that our future is the true Islamic state, not like the fake and corrupt states there are today,” he says.
Both Sharovsky and Khattab believe that Islam has not yet peaked, and that more and more people will soon realize that this is the only true solution for humanity.
The proselyte religion
Researchers also believe that Islam has not yet reached its peak in terms of expansion and conversion.
“The expansion of Islam didn’t stop in the 7th century, and Islam certainly continued to spread in different regions over the course of time. Sometimes it takes hundreds of years for a certain region to convert fully, while others convert faster then others,” explained Professor Reuven Amitai of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, director of the Nehemia Levtzion Center of Islamic Studies.
“There are a few models of conversion in history; among them is the conversion which comes after the expansion of the state – it happened in the 7th century after the first conquests of Islam.
The second model is a conversion which is initiated by the individuals – scholars, merchants, travelers and migrants who come from the world of Islam. Today we are witnessing the second model.
“Islam is a missionary religion; there is a general call for people to embrace Islam. It is also quite easy to become a Muslim – you just need to repeat a shahada before a witness and that’s it,” Amitai continues.
“Of course, there is no one simple answer to the question of why people convert to Islam, and the reasons vary from individual to individual, but perhaps one of the reasons is the alienation of Western society – the frustration and disillusion by modern theories, such as communism, socialism etc., whereas Islam gives simple and clear answers.”
END JERUSALEM POST EXTRACTS