"12th Imam," key facet of Islamic prophecy, fueling Middle East 
turmoil, experts say

Aug 7, 2006
By Olivia Tulley
Baptist Press

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (BP)--Among the nearly 68 million people in Iran, 
the vast majority are Muslim who place their hope not in modern-day
politics or rulers but in a person who walked the earth centuries 
ago and is promised to return.

"Both Islam and Christianity have a very well-defined eschatology, 
or period of the last days; both of them cannot be correct ...," said
William Wagner, senior professor at Golden Gate Baptist Theological
Seminary and author of the book, "How Islam Plans to Change the
World."

A majority of Shiite Muslims traditionally believe that the "12th
Imam" (Islamic religious leader), born in 868 A.D., was placed by God
into hiding (known as occultation) until the day of judgment. Southern
Baptist author and evangelist Anis Shorrosh explained that many
Shiites also refer to the 12th Imam as the Mahdi, an Arabic word 
that generally references a messiah, or a guide.

"This man will come to show them the way, because the prayer of every
Muslim five times a day - ends with 'Show us the right path, not the
path of those who have incurred your anger or those who are lost, but
those upon whom grace has come,'" Shorrosh said.

Though most strains of Islam have a belief in the Mahdi, Shiites
traditionally believe he is Mohammed ibn Hasan, the 12th in the line
of imams who were descendents of the prophet Mohammed. Though they do
not know when the Mahdi will return, they believe he will come to end
the misery of his people. Some strains of Islam even hold a belief
that Jesus will be the Mahdi who will return and proclaim Islam as the
true religion.

"Satan always tries to duplicate everything that God does," Wagner
said, "and I believe he has created his own eschatology that is
somewhat similar to that of Christianity, but false enough to where 
it is apparent that it is not the truth."

[...]

Full article at "Baptist News"
http://www.sbcbaptistpress.org/bpnews.asp?ID=23746


Cheers, Steve..

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