It is a Good Time to Understand Islam,
Battle of Karbala and Shiite Beliefs,
Fine Time to see what we Face,
Before Israel Faces it Alone,
Except for HER Messiah!
JESUS DELIVERS HER
At ARMAGEDDON!
December 30, 2009
http://www.tribulationperiod.com/
Zechariah 13:8,9 – 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.
The Excerpt from THE JERUSALEM POST is the simplest I have read and quite accurate in its content.
Having lived among Sunnis and Shiites in the Middle East and in Stateside Military IHL’s, I know there are many more technical differences existing between the sects internally, as well as in their extended branches. But this one is the best and easiest to understand. After the demise of the Islamic Caliphate System with the collapse of the Ottoman Caliphate, the “sick man of Europe,” many thought Islam was finished as a world power, but it has risen from the ashes of the ancient Beast of the East to form itself into the new Beast of the East. The major problem encounter in its new rise to life, has been the inability for the sects within it to join together in a strong bond long enough to defeat their enemies. I know from living among them they simply don’t like each other. It will take the Spirit of the True God to bond and hold them together long enough to fulfill his own prophecies.
Revelation 17:11-13,17 – And the beast that was, and is not, even he is the eighth, and is of the seven, and goeth into perdition. [12] And the ten horns which thou sawest are ten kings, which have received no kingdom as yet; but receive power as kings one hour with the beast. [13] These have one mind, and shall give their power and strength unto the beast. [17] For God hath put in their hearts to fulfil his will, and to agree, and give their kingdom unto the beast, until the words of God shall be fulfilled.
II Thessalonians 2:8-12 – And then shall that Wicked be revealed, whom the Lord shall consume with the spirit of his mouth, and shall destroy with the brightness of his coming: [9] Even him, whose coming is after the working of Satan with all power and signs and lying wonders, [10] And with all deceivableness of unrighteousness in them that perish; because they received not the love of the truth, that they might be saved. [11] And for this cause God shall send them strong delusion, that they should believe a lie: [12] That they all might be damned who believed not the truth, but had pleasure in unrighteousness.
The Battle of Karbala was a military engagement that took place on 10 Muharram, 61 A.H. (October 10, 680) in Karbala (present day Iraq) between the Prophets of Islam, led by Muhammad’s grandson Husayn ibn Ali, and a military detachment from the forces of Yazid I, the second Umayyad caliph.
The battle is often marked as the event that separated Sunni and Shi’ a Isl
am.
The Battle of Karbala is particularly central to Shi’a Muslim belief. In Shi’a Islam, the martyrdom of Husayn is mourned by an annual commemoration, called Ashurah. They represent the battle as one between good and evil, light and darkness with evil winning. Yazid becomes the epitome of evil. Yazid is by no means an heroic figure among Sunnis, who regard his appointment as caliph as irregular and generally see him as a secular ruler. Karbala itself, some Shi’a say, will eventually be raised to paradise as the dwelling place of prophets and saints.
The battle was a defining moment in Islamic history. It has been described as “indescribably tragic” and as “casting its shadow over all subsequent Muslim history” (Bennett 1998, 149). Shi’a believe that, with the exception of one Imam (inspired leader of the community, male descendant of Muhammad), all were martyred. Subsequently, what has been called the “Karbala paradigm” emerged. This refers to a profound “sense of sectarian uniqueness, of group loyalty, faith in the leadership, readiness for sacrifice” and to the view that somehow Shi’a history “went awry at the source” (Ahmed 2002, 56-57). The Battle of Karbala is viewed differently by Sunni and Shi’a. Both regard it as deeply tragic but for Shi’a it marks the definitive point of departure from Sunni Islam, although history has seen many efforts to re-unite these two main strands of Islam.
Begin Excerpt from THE JERUSALEM POST via The Media Line
Shiite Beliefs and the Battle of Karbala
Ashoura and Shi’ite beliefs
December 27, 2009
Rachel Kliger, The Media Line, Special to The Jerusalem Post , THE JERUSALEM POST
Ashoura is a major festival in the Shi’ite calendar. Celebrated on the 10th day of the month of Muharram, which fell on December 27 this year, Ashoura marks a key event in Shi’ite history known as the battle of Karbala, in Iraq.
The main bone of contention between Sunnis and Shi’ites is the succession to the prophet Muhammad, who supposedly died in 632 CE. Determined to defend his rights to the throne, Hussein, the son of Muhammad’s son-in-law and cousin Ali, was killed in the battle in 680 CE.
The martyrdom of the prophet’s descendent and the son of Ali struck a chord with Ali’s supporters. Shi’ites mark this event in their calendar as the Ashoura. Much of the Shi’ite iconography revolves around this event, which is commemorated annually with much fervor, passion and drama.
Shi’ites are the second largest group of believers in Islam after Sunnis.
They constitute between 10 percent and 15% of Muslims, with major clusters in the Gulf region.
Iran has the highest concentration of Shi’ites, with the vast majority of its 70 million-strong population adhering to this branch of Islam. Around two-thirds of the Muslims in Iraq are Shi’ite, and large concentrations are located in Bahrain (around 70%), Oman, the eastern province of Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Pakistan and Lebanon.
Shi’ites today constitute diverse groups with similar cultural practices and religious beliefs but whose adherents do not necessarily feel associated with other Shi’ites across national divides.
Shi’ites are still an oppressed minority in many Muslim countries. They are sometimes frowned upon by Sunnis, denounced as heretics or accused of tearing the solidarity of Muslim people.
Their persecution over the years led to a development and endorsement of the principle of taqiyya – dissimulation, or concealment – in order to protect themselves from harm. More recently, Sunnis have accused Shi’ites, especially those in Iran, of trying to spread Shi’ite doctrines in Sunni countries.
Ali was the fourth caliph who succeeded Muhammad and is revered in the Sunni tradition as one of the four righteous men who led the Muslim nation in the turbulent years that followed the prophet’s death.
Where Sunnis believe the caliph can be any qualified descendent of Qureish, Muhammad’s tribe, Shi’ites believe the successor can only be a blood descendent of the prophet, such as Ali.
Shi’ites believe that Muhammad’s first three successors usurped the legitimate authority of his family’s descendents and were thus illegitimate. Shi’ite tradition further ascribes divine attributes to those named imams, the spiritual successors of the prophet.
Shi’ites are not a homogeneous group. There are numerous sects that differ chiefly on the number of imams they regard as having been divinely inspired after Ali’s imamate.
The two dominant Shi’ite groups are the Twelvers, who believe in a line of 12 imams, and the Seveners, who believe in seven.
The imams are held to have lived as mortals but on a spiritually higher level than that of mortals and slightly lower than that of Muhammad. They are most often considered infallible, divinely inspired, and chosen by God.
Various groups believe that the last imam disappeared and became occulted – he is expected to return at a later date as the mahdi (savior).
Some Shi’ites believe that the occulted imam is capable of conveying messages to Muslims through learned men called aya
tollahs.
Ayatollah Ruhollah Khumeini, the architect of Iran’s 1979 Islamic Revolution, is thought to have received inspiration from the 12th imam. (Most of the Shi’ites in Iran and Iraq are Twelvers.)
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