A book entitled Apocalypse Countdown 666 by Dr. Khalid clearly shows that we are living in a period when many of the prophecies are coming true. It unmasks real nature of the UN, showing it to be the Biblical Beast, while the US is the Biblical Dragon. It also shows that adding the 3 south gates to the Masjid-al-Haram have completed the 12 major gates of the Biblical New Jerusalem. This appears very clearly if we look at the picture of the mosque bearing in mind the biblical description. We will see that the two are identical. When we consider all this, we are bound to conclude that the second coming of Jesus Christ will not be delayed much further. Those who are interested in the book can log on to HYPERLINK http://www.januspublishing.co.uk.
How far can we go in trying to match today’s events to the prophecies that are recorded in the Qur’an, Hadith, Scriptures of other religions or words attributed to earlier prophets? There may be strong evidence to suggest that the UN could be branded as the Biblical Beast, and to make any of its resolution 666 to show it as serving the interests of those who are hostile to Islam.
But there is nothing new in this. After all, the UN resolution that approved the partition of Palestine was far more instrumental in giving the land of Palestine to the Jews and making seven hundred thousand Arabs refugees. Its number has no association with Satan! There is much that can be said against the US and its consistently hostile attitude to Muslims and Islam. Is the US what our reader calls the Biblical Dragon? I have no answer to that question, and I do not think that we need an answer to it. God warns us about the attitude of such hostile forces:
“They shall not cease to fight you until they force you to renounce your faith, if they can.” [2: 217]
The fact is that there are sufficient warnings in the Qur'an, and in the Sunnah of the Prophet, peace be upon him. And these should keep us on our guard as to how to deal with those who are hostile to Islam, and those who try to undermine the Muslims and their position in the world. But we are often heedless of these. Yet there will come a day when, as the Prophet, peace be upon him, has indicated, the Muslims will be on the ascendance again, and they will beat off, with God’s help, all the might of the forces marshaled against them. But we should not relax, waiting for any future event like the coming of Jesus a second time. We should do our part now, before death overtakes us. It may be that God will give us victory in our lifetime, or He may make our work a factor in a future victory of Islam. When we do our part, we earn our reward from Him and that is all that matters.
If we indulge in relating prophecies to actual events, how can we be sure of our interpretations? If we say that the coming of Jesus will not be long, that begs the question: “What is long?” Will he be coming in 20 years time or after 2000 years? If it is the latter, will that be long? When the Jews of Madinah declared to the pagan Arabs that they were expecting the last Prophet, peace be upon him, to appear soon, and they were referring to Prophet Muhammad, peace be upon him, they told them that “he would come very close to the Last Hour.” The term, “the Last Hour” refers to the Day of Judgment. Muhammad, peace be upon him, was sent with his message over 1400 years ago, and human life has continued. It may go on for only a few days or for several million years and be still close.
We can go on over this, but the discussion is immaterial. What is important for us as individuals is to know that we have a limited time in this life, and that we should use this time to our best advantage. That is achieved when we try hard to make our objective in everything we do to please God and benefit His creatures. If we keep that in mind, we will be certain to be successful when we meet Him. That is the greatest prize. ~
What is the difference between a prophet and a messenger?
A messenger is a prophet who is given a message to deliver to his people, or to mankind, as in the case of Prophet Muhammad, peace be upon him. A prophet may not have a message of his own, but rather he endorses the message of an earlier or contemporary messenger.
The Qur’an states very clearly that the Prophet, peace be upon him, had the highest standard of moral values and good behavior. As such, it is not in line with this standard that he behaves to the blind man in the manner, which is stated in the first few verses of Surah 80. Since the Qur’an frequently addresses the Muslim community through an address made directly to the Prophet, we should understand these verses as meant for the community, although they are phrased as an address to the Prophet himself. It is only by a clear statement in the Qur'an, that we may accept that an action not commensurate with the Qur’anic description of the Prophet’s manners might have been done by the Prophet, peace be upon him. Please comment.
That the Prophet, peace be upon him, had the highest standard of morals and the best type of manners is certainly true, and evidenced by Qur’anic statements. However, it is also true that in the incident referred to in Surah 80, referring to the special case of his blind companion, the Prophet’s behavior was called into question. There is no contradiction between the two.
To remind ourselves of this incident, we may mention that the Prophet, peace be upon him, was once sitting with some of the elders in his tribe, Quraish, which was the strongest and wealthiest in Arabia. He was trying to persuade them to believe in Islam, as it is the true religion and the only way to ensure happiness in the life to come. At that moment, his companion, Abdullah ibn Umm Maktoom, a blind man, came to him and, not knowing how the Prophet, peace be upon him, was occupied, he asked him repeatedly to teach him something of the Qur’an. The Prophet, peace be upon him, did not like to be distracted from the task at hand, and he ignored the blind man. As the man repeated his request, a clear sign of displeasure was visible on the Prophet’s face. He did not wish to be interrupted. Needless to say, the blind man was not aware of the Prophet’s feelings, since he did not express with words what he felt. Yet the Qur’an mentions this incident, censuring the behavior of the Prophet, peace be upon him, in this case, because he placed his own desire that those unbelievers should embrace Islam above his duty to teach his Muslim companions what they needed to learn of the Qur’an and Islam in general.
To suggest that this whole incident did not take place only on the basis of the description of the Prophet, peace be upon him, as having a supreme standard of moral values is incorrect. Indeed the Prophet, peace be upon him, had such a standard, which does not preclude that he should feel irritated by something or another. The result of his irritation was not felt by the man concerned, who did not see the Prophet’s face changing color and was not rebuked verbally by the Prophet. Yet the Qur’an wants the Prophet, peace be upon him, to maintain a much higher standard of values. It is a standard that does not look at people’s position in this world. It looks at their hearts and faith. Thus a poor blind person who wants to learn about his faith, Islam, is to be given priority over those rich influential people who have not yet accepted the faith. Whatever benefit they would give to Islam as a result of their belief is immaterial. The person who has already accepted the faith is more important on account of his faith. The Prophet, peace be upon him, is not responsible for making people believe in God. His responsibility is to convey God’s message to mankind. They then decide what position to take.
Thus the Prophet’s position is outlined clearly. That he was corrected on this point does not detract from the fact that his standard of moral values and his manners were of the highest order. We should not read into this more than there is, denying an incident, which God has used to teach the Prophet, peace be upon him, and his followers an important principle of Islam.