Prophecy and the Fundamentalist Quest

This work traces the origins of apocalyptic prophecy in Christianity and Islam through in-depth examinations of several texts found within the Bible, the Quran, and the Hadith. The author contends that Christianity and Islam, often seen as two of the primary fundamentalist and proselytizing world faiths, remain pitted against each other in an ongoing struggle to impose their religious ideology on the rest of the world through either force or persuasion. The religious prophecies discussed in this book are largely focused on end-time or apocalyptic scenarios (such as the Book of Revelation from the Bible’s New Testament, the prophesized hour of judgment in the Quran, and the Book of Tribulations in the Hadith). The final two chapters provide an analysis of current world politics, including the Iraq War, within the context of Christian and Islamic prophecy.

Farzana Hassan is the president of the Muslim Canadian Congress. She lives in Canada.

Farzana Hassan
Format: softcover (6 x 9)
Pages: 196
Bibliographic Info: glossary, appendices, notes, bibliography, index
Copyright Date: 2008
pISBN: 978-0-7864-3300-1
eISBN: 978-0-7864-8079-1
Imprint: McFarland

Acknowledgments      vii

Foreword by John S. Niles      1

Preface      3

1. Sources of Christian and Islamic Prophecy      7

2. An Historical Struggle for Ascendancy      13

3. What the Prophets of Old Foretold      26

4. Mahdi, Islam’s Archetypal Redeemer, and Other Muslim Messiahs      45

5. Jesus: Son of God or Muslim Prophet?      60

6. Christian Fundamentalism: Then and Now      74

7. Jihad: A Theoretical and Historical Framework      91

8. Osama bin Laden and His Terrorist Agenda      116

9. The World Today      131

10. Conclusion: Beyond Prophecy      149

Appendix 1. The Lesser Signs of the Hour      167

Appendix 2. The Greater Signs of the Hour      169

Glossary of Islamic Terms      171

Chapter Notes      173

Bibliography      177

Index      179

“well-rounded view”—The Interfaith Unity Newsletter; “insightful historical perspective…scholarly and well-researched book…an in-depth analysis…a must-read”—South Asian Outlook.