MidnightWatcher – Prophecy in Motion

Revelation 13:1-3, “Then I stood on the sand of the sea. And I saw a beast rising up out of the sea, having seven heads and ten horns, and on his horns ten crowns, and on his heads a blasphemous name. Now the beast which I saw was like a leopard, his feet were like [the feet of] a bear, and his mouth like the mouth of a lion. The dragon gave him his power, his throne, and great authority. And I saw one of his heads as if it had been mortally wounded, and his deadly wound was healed. And all the world marveled and followed the beast…”

By Tufail Ahmad, The New Indian Express – “Islamism is a cultural and political movement aimed at eradicating secular and democratic ethos of a society in a bid to pave the way for Islamic ascendancy. It introduces exhibitionist religiosity in people’s lives: there is no issue if a woman wears a burqa, but the problem is a body of religious and political ideas that makes her choose such a dress code. Subsequently, these ideas begin to strike at the roots of individual liberty, women’s freedom, rights of non-Muslims and a free press. The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language defines Islamism as an ‘Islamic revivalist movement, often characterised by moral conservatism, literalism, and the attempt to implement Islamic values in all spheres of life’. It is pertinent here to look at recent examples of how Islamism unfolds in everyday life.

In 2010, Islamists in Kerala chopped off the hand of college lecturer T J Joseph for setting a question paper which they deemed as disrespecting Prophet Muhammad. In 2011, Islamists led by Syed Ahmed Bukhari forced an exhibition on the ‘Koran in 53 languages’, organised by Ahmadiyya Jamaat in Delhi, to be shut. Not long ago, actor-producer Kamal Hassan was compelled by Islamists in Tamil Nadu to edit his movie Vishwaroopam for showing that jihadists recited Koranic verses before launching attacks. In May, tens of thousands of Bangladeshis led by Islamist group Hefajat-e-Islam marched through Dhaka, demanding stricter blasphemy laws. Pakistani media is full of reports of Hindu girls being converted to Islam forcibly, Christians being accused of blasphemy, homes and mosques of Ahmadi Muslims being vandalised, Shias being declared infidels and murdered.

In Egypt, Islamists are targeting Christians through lawsuits, accusing them of blaspheming Islam, and liberal Muslims are quitting government jobs. In Egypt’s Sinai Peninsula, Islamists killed a man for selling alcohol recently. In Tunisia, Islamists desecrated Jewish cemeteries, and attacked art galleries and cinemas. In Turkey, Islamists stabbed couples who kissed in an Ankara metro station recently to protest against moral policing by Turkish authorities. To make a point, Turkey is building a $100-million mega mosque in America. Jordan is witnessing public demonstrations by Islamists. In a British prison, an Islamist inmate recruited two others to beat up guards in May. In all these cases, there is a single binding factor: Islam. The jihadists of Al-Qaeda variety and Islamists share the same ideological objectives, with the only distinction being that the former are armed and consider themselves fighting on a battlefield against infidels. Their goal is: establishing Sharia rule. Islamism is a softer face of jihadists, sometimes masquerading as liberal Islam in our midst.

Driven by an ideological longing to revive the glory of Islamic caliphate, Islamists are open to using Western tools of election, constitution and the rule of law in introducing Islam in a country’s politics, governance, literature, culture and architecture. Their tactic is to win an election, re-write a country’s constitution to make it compliant with Islam and begin Islamising.” Read more.