Both Sunni and Shi’a Muslims agree that al-Mahdi will arrive first, and after him, Isa. Isa will proclaim al-Mahdi as the Islamic community leader. A war will be fought—the Dajjal against al-Mahdi and Isa. This war will mark the approach of the coming of the Last Day. After Isa slays al-Dajjal at the Gate of Lod, he will bear witness and reveal that Islam is indeed the true and last word from God to humanity as Yusuf Ali's translation reads: "And there is none of the People of the Book but must believe in him before his death; and on the Day of Judgment he will be a witness against them” (Quran 4:159). As we have already seen in scripture, the false prophet is only manifested in the earth after the Anti-Christ. And Islam believes that their prophet Isa will arrive on the earth after the Mahdi. The scripture reveals to us, that the false prophet will be the one who is instrumental in persuading the world to follow the Anti-Christ. And Islam believes, that Isa will proclaim al-Mahdi as the Islamic community leader. Although scripture does not explicitly state that the false prophet will be with the Anti-Christ when he kills Elijah and Moses, it would be highly unlikely that the false prophet will not be standing alongside his superior when that confrontation takes place. For you will recall that we have stated that it seems as if it is the false prophet that actually demonstrates the power of the Anti-Christ while in his presence. And Islam believes that both Isa and the Mahdi will defeat or kill the “false Messiah”. And so, those who the Muslims believe to be the false “Messiah”, we know to be the Lord’s two prophets. Scripture teaches us that the Anti-Christ will kill the two witnesses in the city of Jerusalem. And Islam believes that their Mahdi will kill the “false Messiah” in the city of Lod in Israel, which is approximately forty-five kilometres from Jerusalem. Although the Muslims get the city wrong they get the nation right, for it is in Israel that this confrontation will take place. And so, we see that scripture clearly spoke about the two central figures of Islam as relating to the end times, four hundred years before the religion of Islam was even introduced into the earth. This is just further evidence that Islam is the fourth kingdom, and that it is from the religion of Islam that the Anti-Christ and the false prophet will emerge.
Michael E.B. Maher
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