The world is witnessing the rise of radical jihadi Islamic nations and terrorist groups – Iran, Yemenite Houthis, Iraqi Kata’eb Hezbollah, Lebanese Hezbollah, Hamas – as well as al Qa’eda, Islamic State and ‘Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham’ (‘Organization for the Liberation of the Levant’; abbreviated HTS) in Syria, Iraq and Africa. Recent events like the New Year’s Eve ISIS terror attack on Bourbon Street in New Orleans are drawing increased international attention to something called ‘the Islamist Caliphate.’ What is that movement? What is its history? What are its tactics today and what will it look like tomorrow? Is this coming Caliphate a threat to the inhabitants of the world – whether Christian, Jewish, Hindu or secular? The next newsletters will present some answers to these questions.
Counterfeiting David’s kingdom
The covenant given by YHVH through Moses lays down the law: any prophet purporting to represent the God of Israel must not violate or pervert the clear teaching of the Mosaic Teaching (the English meaning of the Hebrew word ‘Torah’): “But the prophet who speaks a word presumptuously in My name which I have not commanded him to speak, or which he speaks in the name of other gods – that prophet shall die” (Deuteronomy 18:20).
Isaiah affirmed that same principle: “When they say to you, ‘Consult the mediums and the spiritists who whisper and mutter’ – should a people not consult their God? Should they consult the dead in behalf of the living? To the [Mosaic] Teaching and to the [Scriptures which are a witness-]testimony! If they do not speak in accordance with this word, it is because they have no dawn” (Isaiah 8:19-20). Paul added an ‘Amen!’ to this in his own day : “For if one comes and preaches another Yeshua whom we have not preached, or you receive a different spirit which you have not received, or a different gospel which you have not accepted, this you tolerate [all too] well! (2 Corinthians 11:4).
The Bible tells us that God of Jacob established an everlasting covenant with both David son of Jesse and with his physical descendants. This family dynasty would reign over both the Jewish people and all of mankind forever (according to 2 Samuel 7:11-17; Psalm 89:3-4, 19-37; Isaiah 9:7; Isaiah 55:3; Hosea 3:5; Ezekiel 34:23-24; Jeremiah 30:9; Ezekiel 37:24-25; Luke 1:33). When a person describing himself as a prophet comes
- speaking in the name of a God who is not called ‘YHVH’ (see Exodus 3:15)
- denying the unique Sonship of Messiah Yeshua (1 John 4:1; 2 John 1:7)
- declaring that God has cursed and rejected the Jewish people, their gifts and their calling (Numbers 23:7-10; Romans 11:28-29)
then it should come as no surprise that this is a false prophet who will also end up denying the continuing validity of the Davidic Covenant, offering a counterfeit covenant in its place. The Quran’s spiritual foundations stand in direct opposition to what the Biblical Scriptures declare on these matters.
A false governmental structure
At the very beginning of Muḥammad’s revelation-based ministry, a spirit spoke to Muḥammad and informed him: “And when your lord [allah] said to the angels, ‘I am about to place my caliph (viceroy/regent/succession of rulers) in the earth’” (Quran, Surah 2, al-Baqarah [‘The Cow]’, verse 30). The Arabic phrase “Inni jaa’ilun fil ardi khalifatan,” uses the word ‘khalifa’ (خليفة) coming from the root KH.L.F. (which means ‘to come in succession’ or ‘to replace instead of’). This concept – a link of successive (though not necessarily family-connected) rulers – is called ‘al khilafa’ (الخلافة) in Arabic – hence the English derivative ‘caliphate.’ The caliphate is actually a spiritual counterfeit of God’s Davidic dynastic pattern.
Islamic Replacement Theology
Christianity is not the only world religion that has within it theological currents espousing Replacement Theology. The Samaritans did so in their day (see John 4:19-20), substituting Mount Gerizim for Mount Zion, and substituting the peoples exiled by Assyria (from Babylon, Cuthah, Avva, Hamath and Sepharvaim; see 2 Kings 17:23-26) for the Jewish people. Islam followed in the footsteps of these two predecessors. Consider some of these Muslim ‘replacements’:
- substituting a desert spirit called ‘allah’ for the Biblical YHVH
- substituting the desert oasis of Mecca for Jerusalem
- replacing Isaac by Ishmael in Islamic heilsgeschichte
- replacing the Bible and substituting it with the Quran
- giving the title of ‘God’s Messenger’ to Muḥammad instead of to Messiah Yeshua, while distorting and weakening that atoning calling and ministry
Quranic Replacement Theology changes and re-names the royal title of Jesse’s son David, replacing the Hebrew word meleḵ (Hebrew for king; the equivalent Arabic word is ‘mālik) with the Arabic word ‘khalifa.’ The Arabic word mālik is not used for David in the Quran, since that word would convey the idea of a Jewish king ruling over a Jewish physical kingdom in a Jewish land. Instead, King David is called a ‘khalifa,’ a vice-regent or temporary legate representing ‘allah’, Muḥammad’s family deity: “O Da’ud [Arabic for David]! We have placed you as a khalifa (caliph or vice-regent) on the earth. So judge between men with justice and follow not vain desires, lest it should lead you astray from the path of allah” (Quran, Sūrat Ṣād 38:26).
- Up to the arrival of Muḥammad on the world stage, there was no concept of one Arab leader – a ‘khalifa’ – ruling over the entire Arabic-speaking world, or even over all the nations. Each tribe tended to its own business which, according to Genesis 16:11-13, Genesis 25:18, and Genesis 27:37-40, basically involved a nomadic lifestyle in the desert wilderness of the Hejaz and a livelihood of “living by the sword” – tribal clashes and ‘razzia’ (the raiding of commercial camel caravans).
Non-kosher roots, jihadi shoots
Muḥammad ibn Abdullah was born in Mecca, Arabia c. 570 A.D. His father was Abdullah ibn Abd al-Muttalib, whose own father (leader of the Quraysh tribe) was also named Abdullah.
- This repeated use of the Arabic word ‘ullah’/‘allah’ in Muḥammad’s family line (e.g.: ‘Abd-ullah,’ meaning ‘slave of allah’) indicates that the existence of a spirit whose name was ‘allah’ was not a ‘new revelation’ coming down directly to Muḥammad himself, but was actually part of a generations-long tradition of idolatrous desert-spirit worship within Muḥammad’s own family of origin.
Muḥammad was eventually employed by Khadija, a wealthy businesswoman and a successful merchant in the camel-caravan trade business. At the age of 25 (in 595 A.D.) he later married her. At the age of 40, in 610 A.D., Muḥammad received a visitation from a spirit (what the Bible would classify as a fallen angel; see Galatians 4:8-9; 1 Corinthians 8:4-6; 1 John 4:1-3) who called himself ‘Jibril’ (Arabic for ‘Gabriel’). This spirit (or ‘jinn,’ from which comes the English word ‘genie’) commanded Muḥammad to read aloud words written on a ‘spiritual cloth.’ When Muḥammad confessed that he was illiterate and could not read, the spirit choked him twice, nearly to the point of death.
Other revelations eventually came through ‘Jibril,’ including one where the spirit announced to him that the demonic spirit named ‘allah’ was the only true God. That declaration came disguised as ‘monotheism,’ but it actually was ‘mono-demonism’ – the worship of an Arabian demon who was masquerading as ‘the One True God.’ Muḥammad was then told by ‘Jibril’ that he had been chosen to be ‘the true messenger of allah.’ According to Islamic tradition, his wife Khadija was the first family member to believe that revelation. Other family members followed in accepting Muḥammad’s revelations and calling, including his ten-year-old cousin (and later, son-in-law) Ali ibn Abi Talib, his close friend Abu Bakr who also happened to be one of Muḥammad’s fathers-in-law, and his temporarily-adopted son Zayd ibn Ḥāritha al-Kalbī.
From the outset, Muḥammad commanded his followers to fight ‘unbelievers’ – those who refused to submit to the ‘Jibrilian revelations.’ Fighting, conquering, converting and enslaving these populations would be the method of expanding Islam’s earthly dominion. Muḥammad’s actions and personal example are seen by Muslims everywhere as embodying the true Islamic path. In the Quran, Surat at-Tawbah 9:29, it states: “Fight those who believe not in allah and the Last Day, nor comply with what allah and his messenger [Muḥammad] have forbidden, nor embrace the [Quranic] religion of truth, [even if they are] of the People of the Book [i.e., Jews and Christians], until they pay the Jizya tax [a penalty punishment forced on all conquered peoples] with willing submission, and feel themselves subdued.” During the last nine years of his life, Mohammad is “recorded as having participated in at least twenty-seven [jihad] campaigns and deputized some fifty-nine others – an average of no fewer than nine campaigns annually.” Violent conquest through jihad was Muḥammad’s example; obedient followers of Muḥammad were to imitate him even as he imitated allah’s wishes.
- The Islam of Muḥammad reflects a historical tradition of conquest, forced conversion, enslavement of the conquered and beheading of those who resist such conquest.
Cosa Nostra and the Caliphate
Muḥammad’s revelatory journey started at midnight in 610 A.D. It took place in a cave on Mount Hira, close to Mecca. That night-encounter with ‘Jibril’ is called ‘Laylat al-Qadr,’ or ‘Night of Power’ in Arabic. The entirety of Muḥammad’s Islamic movement rested squarely on his role as mediator and interpreter of ‘Jibrilian revelation,’ and as a military leader and governor of his troops and followers. When he died, the questions of succession of Muḥammad’s power and authority – spiritual, military and governmental – were immediately subject to great disagreement, dispute and division among his rough band of sword-wielding jihadi conquerors.
- YHVH’s prophecy in Genesis 16:11-12 concerning the destiny of Ishmael’s seed would cast a dark shadow over the developing foundations of Islam: “But he will be a wild donkey of a man. His hand will be against everyone, and everyone’s hand will be against him – and he will live in defiance of [literally ‘with his face against’] all his brothers.”
On March 16, 632 A.D. some of Muḥammad’s long-time companions (aṣ-ṣaḥāba) and followers had heard him designate his cousin and son-in-law Ali ibn Abi Talib as his successor (‘khalifa’ or caliph) three months before Muḥammad died. This occurred at a place called ‘Ghadīr Khumm’ (Arabic, ‘the pool in the Khumm Valley’), an Arabian oasis strategically located between Mecca, Medina, Egypt and Iraq. Other Islamic texts also quote Muḥammad as deliberately and repeatedly investing spiritual authority of succession on his immediate family/household, those called the ‘Ahl al-Bayt’ (Arabic for ‘the people of the House/Dynasty’).
However, on the day Muḥammad died, June 8, 632 A.D., a group of Muḥammad’s followers from Medina (called ‘al-Anṣār’ – the ‘helpers’ or ‘victorious ones’) brought together a private ‘Mafia-style’ meeting at the Saqīfah (the communal courtyard or meeting-place) of the Banu Sā’ida clan, in order to appoint Islam’s first successor-leader (or caliph). But not by accident, this gathering had not invited some significant potential participants:
- Muḥammad’s cousin and son-in-law Ali
- Muḥammad’s immediate family and tribe (including ʿUmar ibn al-Khaṭṭāb, a senior companion and son-in-law of Muḥammad)
- all the Muslim supporters from Mecca who had been exiled to Medina along with Muḥammad in what was known as the Hijra (‘the moving away from’ or ‘the migration’)
These former Meccans were known as the ‘Muhajirun’ (al-muhājirūn, ‘the ones who had moved away’ from Mecca to follow Muḥammad – from the Arabic root ‘hijra’).
Various contemporary Islamic narratives explained that the Medina-based ‘Anṣār Group’ was gathering in order to appoint a caliph – a sovereign Muslim leader – among themselves. But this caliph would not be physically descended from Muḥammad’s family, if the ‘Anṣār Group’ got its way. The ‘Anṣār Group’ intentionally excluded the Muhajirun from the meeting – this meant that Muḥammad’s choice, Ali, as well as other members of Muḥammad’s family, were simply not invited to the fateful gathering. The conspirators of Medina assumed that, with such a move, Muḥammad’s Meccans would return to Mecca and that Medina would become the capital city of the new Islamic movement – but now under the full control of the ‘Anṣār Family.’
According to early Islamic historians, ʿUmar and Abu Bakr were already meeting at the house of Abū ʿUbayda, (a top Muslim general and political ally), deeply engaged in their own plans to form an alliance led by neither Ali nor the Anṣār. According to Muslim historian Ibn Ishaq (died 767 A.D.), an anonymous messenger burst into their gathering and dramatically declared, “If you want to have command of the people, then take it before [the Anṣār’s] action becomes serious!” ʿUmar then realized that, at the Saqifah meeting, “[the Anṣār] intended to cut us off from our [Qurayshi] root and to usurp the rule from us.” The plot had thickened.
ʿUmar rushed to the Saqifah meeting, taking Abu Bakr and Abū ʿUbayda with him. He warned the gathered ‘Anṣār Cosa Nostra’ that the vast majority of Arab Muslims would not recognize the caliphate rule of anyone outside of Muḥammad’s Quraysh tribe. These three Muhajirun – ʿUmar, Abu Bakr and Abū ʿUbayda – were about to pull off an astounding political coup, removing both ‘the Medina Gang’ and ‘the Ali Family’ from the runnings for ‘First Islamic Caliph’ – all in one fell swoop. ʿUmar then immediately pressed for an oath of allegiance (a bay’ah) to be sworn to Abu Bakr as the new caliph. He had grave and understandable concerns that, in an open shūrā consultation/vote, the Anṣār Group might vote for Ali as caliph. ʿUmar grabbed Abu Bakr’s hand, swearing allegiance to him as the new caliph. Others immediately followed ʿUmar’s example.
However, just after that vote, a violent struggle broke out between ʿUmar and Abū ʿUbayda, indicating that the choice of Abu Bakr was not necessarily a cut-and-dried matter. Partisan emotions were running rather high at that meeting. Ali ibn Abi Talib (Muḥammad’s own choice for caliph) refused to recognize ʿUmar’s sleight-of-hand transferring of caliphate authority to Abu Bakr. It was only six months later that Ali resentfully reconciled himself to Abu Bakr and performed a bay’ah – a public pledge of allegiance. Abu Bakr quickly adopted the title ‘Khalīfaṫ Rasūl allāh’ (خَلِيفةُ رَسُولِ اللهِ; ‘successor/caliph of allah’s messenger’).
By advocating for and nominating ʿAbd allāh ibn ʾAbī Quḥāfa (commonly known as ʾAbū Bakr) as caliph, ʿUmar ibn al-Khaṭṭāb (one of Muḥammad’s fathers-in-law) had disregarded and dismissed Muḥammad’s choosing of Ali (who was Muḥammad’s cousin and son-in-law). Of course, Abu Bakr (who consented willingly to the whole stratagem) was also part of the ‘inner circle’ of Muḥammad’s closest companions; Abu Bakr was also one of Muḥammad’s fathers-in-law. These were truly ‘succession wars’ in the ‘Mafia Family’ of Muḥammad’s first followers. Well did the God of Israel describe this Ishmaelic dynamic: “His hand will be against everyone, and everyone’s hand will be against him – and he will live in defiance of all his brothers” (Genesis 16:12).
- The cold-blooded disregarding of Muḥammad’s ‘last will and testament’ – his designation of Ali as khalifa by the inner-circle of Islam’s prime leaders (including members of his own family) – on the very day of Muḥammad’s death – would lead to the first major split in Islam – between Shia (Arabic: Shīʿat ʿAlī’ or ‘the party of Ali’) and Sunni (the party of Muḥammad’s supporters who were not of his own family and bloodline). This split has divided the House of Islam ever since.
Abu Bakr held the office of being Muḥammad’s first successor or ‘khalifa’ (the First Caliph) for a period of two years, two months and 14 days, until he died of illness on August 23, 634 A.D.
Nothing succeeds like successors
The Caliphate quickly morphed into the organized governmental system of Islam under the rule of what were later called ‘the first four Caliphs’:
- Abu Bakr [aka ʿAbd Allāh ibn ʾAbī Quḥāfa] (June 8, 632 A.D. – August 23, 634 A.D.). On his death bed he nominated ʿUmar to be the next successor/caliph
- ʿUmar ibn al-Khaṭṭāb (August 23, 634 A.D. – November 6, 644 A.D.). On his deathbed he appointed a committee of six people to choose a caliph from among those six: Abdur Rahman bin Awf, Saad ibn Abi Waqqas, Talha ibn Ubaidullah, Uthman ibn Affan, Ali ibn Abi Talib and Zubayr ibn al-Awwam
- ʿUthmān ibn ʿAffān (November 6, 644 A.D. – assassinated June 17, 656 A.D.). ʿUthmān was from the Umayyad tribe, and was thus a forerunner/precursor of the coming Umayyad Caliphate take-over
- ʿAlī ibn Abī Ṭālib (June 17, 656 A.D. – assassinated January 28, 661 A.D.)
This entire period would later be called ‘The Rashidun/Rāšidūn Caliphate’ (in Arabic: al-Khilāfah ar-Rāšidah) or ‘The rightly-guided successors/Caliphs’ (al-Khulafaa ar-Rashidun) by Sunni Muslims. Shia Muslims, however, refused to recognize the validity of this basically Sunni Caliphate; they saw the whole thing as a putsch by enemies of Muḥammad’s immediate family – voraciously ambitious dictators who had rejected Muḥammad’s chosen successor/caliph Ali ibn Abi Talib, from ruling over them.
A fifth Caliph briefly took the leadership of the Caliphate after Ali’s assassination – Ali’s son al-Ḥasan ibn ʿAlī. Ḥasan was popularly acknowledged (though only briefly) as the fifth Caliph in Kufa (modern Iraq) on January 28, 661 A.D. He then shifted the Caliphate’s capital from Medina to Kufa. But barely six months later in August 661 A.D., having been wounded in an assassination attempt, he was forced to abdicate in favor of Muʿāwiya ibn Abī Sufyān, a general of Umayyad tribal origins who ended up seizing the Caliphate and a establishing a new dynasty – the Umayyad Caliphate. In early Spring 658 A.D., Muʿāwiya triumphantly entered Damascus, the ‘pearl of Islam,’ and was hailed as ‘ʾAmīr al-Muʾminīn’ (‘Commander of the believers’ – a greeting reserved only for Caliphs).
In April-May 658 A.D. Mu’awiya received the bay’ah (Islamic oath of allegiance) from Islamic leaders in Syria, completing his Caliph-validation process. He and Ḥasan (Muḥammad’s grandson and his personal choice for the office) signed a peace treaty at that time, promising that the caliphate authority would return to Ḥasan after Mu’awiya’s death and that, in case anything ‘unexpected’ should happen to Ḥasan, his brother Ḥusayn would receive the caliphate. Mu’awiya’s Umayyad Caliphate then moved the capital city to Damascus (661-744 A.D.). Eighty-three years later the Umayyads moved the capital city to Harran in modern Turkey (744-750 A.D.). But neither Ḥasan nor Ḥusayn would ever live to see that day.
The Battle of Karbala – the fateful split in Islam
The last attempt of Ali ibn Abi Talib’s family to reclaim the leadership of the Caliphate – the promise originally spoken over them by Muḥammad – occurred after the death of the First Umayyad Caliph Muʿāwiya in April 680 A.D. Over the years, Muʿāwiya had publicly revoked his ‘peace treaty’ with Ḥasan in many different ways, finally appointing his son Yazid (post-676 A.D.) to be the Second Caliph of the Umayyad Caliphate – the first hereditary succession to the caliphate in Islamic history.
Waiting in the wings, however, was Ḥasan ibn Ali’s younger brother – al-Ḥusayn ibn ʿAlī. According to the now-violated treaty between his brother Ḥasan and Muʿāwiya, Ḥusayn should probably have stood an excellent chance at becoming Caliph at that time, for popular mood was swinging in his favor. But Yazid would not countenance such an outcome. Ḥusayn stubbornly refused to bend the knee to what he considered were Umayyad usurpers, and he would not swear an oath of allegiance to Yazid between the period of April and October 680 A.D. This would have allowed a smooth transition for the realization of Yazid’s imperial dreams. On October 10 680 A.D. the Umayyad governor of Basra in modern Iraq, ʿUbayd allāh ibn Ziyād, blocked Ḥusayn’s approach to the former Caliphate capital city of Kufa with an anti-Ḥusayn army of 4,000 soldiers. In the ensuing Battle at Karbala, Ḥusayn and his retinue of 72 soldiers were slain, and his family was taken prisoner. Ḥusayn’s severed head was sent to Yazid as a trophy, along with all surviving prisoners. Only three years later, in 683 A.D., did Caliph Yazid released the surviving members of Ḥusayn’s family from prison.
The massacre of Muḥammad’s grandson and most of his family shocked the wider Muslim community. Prior to the Battle of Karbala, the Muslim community truly was divided into two political factions, but a distinct religious stream (with distinct theological doctrines and specific set of rituals) had not yet developed among the followers of Ali. Karbala morphed this pro-Ali political stream into a crystallized religious group – the ‘Party of Ali’ (Shīʿat ʿAlī) – the Shi’ites.
- A permanent breach between Sunni and Shia was now created in the world of Islam. The religious and historically-based themes of Sunni persecution of Shias, of Shia resistance and martyrdom would echo down through the corridors of time up to the present day.
At present, Shi’ites total 10-15% of all Muslims. They see themselves as carrying the banner of those who resist oppression – whether by Sunni Ottomans, by British Christians, by Sunni ‘puppet monarchies’ in Saudi Arabia and the Gulf States, by the Syrian and Iraqi socialist/communist Baath movements, by the Sunni jihadi movements of al Qaeda, Islamic State/Da’esh/ISIS and HTS (Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham), by the US military, and especially by the continued existence and victories of the Jewish state of Israel.
The Caliphate moves to Baghdad
The Muslim Caliphate would now undergo a third metamorphosis. The Rashidun (the First Caliphate) were the original embodiment of Muḥammad’s world Islamic government, located first in Medina, Arabia and then in Kufa, Iraq. The Umayyad Dynasty (Second Caliphate) located their capital first in Damascus, Syria and then in Harran, Turkey. The Third Caliphate was established after a successful revolt against the 14th and last Caliph of the Umayyad Caliphate – Marwān ibn Muḥammad ibn Marwān. That revolt was led by al-Saffāḥ (Arabic for ‘the blood shedder’), whose full name was Abū al-ʿAbbās ʿAbd Allāh ibn Muḥammad ibn ʿAlī. Al-ʿAbbās was a Hashemite descendant of Muḥammad’s uncle ‘Abbas ibn ‘Abd al-Muttalib – thus a potential candidate for becoming a caliph. Along with his two outstanding generals – the Persian (non-Arab) Abu Muslim and the Khorasani (Iran-based Arab) Qahtaba ibn Shabib al-Ta’i – al-ʿAbbās decisively defeated the Umayyad Caliphate at the Battle of the Zab on January 25, 750 A.D. The last Umayyad Caliph Marwan II escaped to Egypt, where he was caught and killed on August 6, 750 A.D. The remainder of his family was eliminated, except for one male descendent. Abū al-ʿAbbās then became the First Caliph of the Third Caliphate – the Abbasid Caliphate.
Abū al-ʿAbbās’ successor-caliph was the Caliph al-Manṣūr – his full Arabic name was Abū Jaʿfar ʿAbd Allāh ibn Muḥammad al-Manṣūr. This second Abbasid Caliph (who ruled for 22 years – 754-775 A.D.) decided in 762 A.D. to establish a new capital city on the Tigris River (the biblical Hiddekel; see Genesis 2:14) which was barely 85 kilometres/55 miles north of ancient Babylon. The city was first called ‘Madīnat as-Salām’ (‘the City of Peace’) or ‘The Round City,’ but the name was soon changed to ‘Baghdad.’
Under the Fifth Abbasid Caliph Hārūn al-Rashīd, Baghdad and the Third Caliphate came into what is called ‘The Islamic Golden Age’ – the height of Islamic scientific, economic and cultural flourishing. This zenith is reflected in the many tales from the ‘One Thousand and One Nights’ that were set in that location. Baghdad was a center of Islamic civilization, second only to the Byzantine capital of Constantinople (modern Istanbul). Its ‘House of Wisdom’ (Bayt al-Ḥikmah) – also known as the Grand Library of Baghdad – was one of the world’s largest public libraries and collections of rare books and manuscripts. These included Arabic translations of many of the Greek and Latin philosophers, mathematicians, scientists, theologians and historians. Western scholars would re-discover these scrolls, and these Arabic manuscripts later help to catalyze Europe’s Renaissance. Several world-class academic institutions in that city garnered Baghdad’s reputation as being the international ‘Center of Learning.’
During the time of the Abbasid Caliphate, four different Caliphs were assassinated either by family or by professional rivals. In total, more than ten Caliphs were assassinated, if one combines both Sunni and Shiite rulers. Fault lines in the make-up of the Caliphs and their Caliphates led to a gradual disintegration of their empires. The wealthy Umayyads in their day tended to be less zealous and more secular than Islam’s initial caliphs, the Rashidun. Popular disappointment with corrupt Umayyad leadership in the Second Caliphate caused many non-Arab Muslim converts (the mawali, who were treated as second-class citizens throughout the empire) and many Shi’ites to yearn for a return to the glory and power of the original First Caliphate’s leaders. Most of these mawali hailed from Persia (modern Iran), and the Abbasid caliphs ended up shifting their power centers and cultural emphases to more Eastern locations and expressions. This dynamic fusion of Arabian and Persian culture weakened the Caliphate’s original foundations. Originally, Islam had been a monolithic and unified force – religiously and socially, linguistically and culturally, militarily and politically. But in Abbasid times higher level diplomats were often foreigners, leaving local Arab tribes out of the equation in terms of political and diplomatic influence. The Caliphate’s centralized structures began to disintegrate as cultural divisions grew. The fracturing of the Islamic empire into smaller independent kingdoms led to military weakness in the face of cruel invaders from the East. For many different reasons – most importantly a counterfeit spiritual foundation – Baghdad, like Daniel’s ancient Babylon, had been “weighed in the balances and found wanting” (see Daniel 5:1-30; 1 Samuel 2:6-9; Psalm 113:6-8; Luke 1:51-55).
Baghdad was sacked by the Mongols under Hülegü Khan in January-February 1258. It was then conquered by the Islamic forces of Turkic-Mongol Tamerlane/Timur in 1401. A century later Baghdad was occupied by the Persian/Iranian Shah Ismāʿīl I of the Safavid dynasty in October 1508. Three years after that in 1534, Baghdad was overrun by the armies of Turkish Sultan Süleyman I the Magnificent (of the Ottoman Caliphate). The city became part of the Ottoman Empire, remaining under Anatolian control until the end of World War I.
- The mighty engine of the Caliphate conquerors had stuttered and coughed. The most powerful force in Europe and the Middle East was dwindling in power and glory. Who would make Islam’s Caliphate great again?
How shall we then pray?
- Pray for light, truth and salvation to be revealed to the many people in the Islamic world who have been swept into deception by false gods, false revelation, false scriptures and false leadership
- Pray for revelation and courage to be given to Israel’s leaders in political, intelligence and military spheres – to understand and counteract strategies against Israel, the apple of God’s eye (Zechariah 2:8) – as Islamic State/al Qa’eda/HTS armies gather at our borders
- Pray that enemy strategies against the Jewish people and their state, against Middle East Christians and other minorities – will be confounded, and that a great harvest would take place in all of these areas
- Pray for the protection of Israeli and Jewish people from the assaults of jihadi terror organizations and Western fellow-travelers
- Pray for the return of the Jewish people both to the Land and to Yeshua the Messiah of Israel
- Pray for the physical rescue of the approximately 44 to 50 living Israeli hostages (including two very young children) kidnapped by Hamas, Islamic Jihad and PFLP/PLO. At this moment some of these hostages are being tortured, raped and starved (this based on testimonies of recently released hostages). Sadly, over 100 of all Israeli hostages are dead; Hamas is holding on to their corpses as cold storage bargaining chips
- Pray for the raising up of Ezekiel’s prophetic Jewish army throughout the earth
Your prayers and support hold up our arms and are the very practical enablement of God to us in the work He has called us to do.
In Messiah Yeshua,
Avner Boskey
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