Prophecy
and the Fundamentalist Quest An Integrative Study of Christian and Muslim
Apocalyptic Religion
Author:
Farzana Hassan
"This
work traces the origins of apocalyptic prophecy in Christianity
and Islam through in-depth examinations of several texts found
within the Bible, the Quran, and the Hadith. The author contends
that Christianity and Islam, often seen as two of the primary
fundamentalist and proselytizing world faiths, remain pitted
against each other in an ongoing struggle to impose their
religious ideology on the rest of the world through either force
or persuasion. The religious prophecies discussed in this book
are largely focused on end-time or apocalyptic scenarios (such
as the Book of Revelation from the Bible's New Testament, the
prophesized hour of judgment in the Quran, and the Book of
Tribulations in the Hadith). The final two chapters provide an
analysis of current world politics, including the Iraq War,
within the context of Christian and Islamic prophecy." - A
Brief description @ McFarland, the Publisher.
Review
by Zubair
Masood
This
is Farzana Hassan’s third book. Her first book – Islam, Women
and the Challenges of Today – is a bold and honest attempt to deal
with women’s rights within Islam. The second book - Echoes
from the Abyss - "a
fictionalized version of a grim reality".
Farzana
Hassan is a renowned freelance writer, a public speaker, an activist
and president of Muslim Canadian Congress (MCC), a think tank
espousing a liberal version of Islam in North America.
In
her recent book: Prophecy and the Fundamental Quest, she
assays an unflinching appraisal of Muslim and Christian apocalyptic
religions at a time when the fundamentalist adherents of both the
religions believe that they are living in end times. They gloat over
global conflicts and see the world reeling headlong towards the
prophesied apocalyptic confrontation and final catastrophe.
Referring
to the ‘Hour of Judgment’ in the Quran and quoting from the
‘Book of Tribulations’ in the Hadith and the ‘Book of
Revelations’ from Bible’s New Testament, Ms Hassan brings out
the ideological bases of the prophecies about apocalyptic or end
time scenarios. She also discusses the thornier doctrinal bases of
the ruthless struggle the Christians and Muslims are waging for
world dominance through force or persuasion.
This
scholarly book gives us an insightful historical perspective on
various conflicts between Christians and Muslims in the light of
their conflicting ideologies. Christians for example believe in the
divinity of Jesus, his death on the cross, original sin, vicarious
atonement and the trinity of God. Muslims on the other hand believe
that Allah is indivisible and has no progeny. They also do not
believe in the concepts of original sin and vicarious atonement of
humankind’s sins through crucifixion of Jesus Christ. Unlike
Christians, who think of Jesus as son of God, the Muslims revere
Christ as one of the many prophets of Islam. They in fact hold the
Christians guilty of ‘shirk’, which is the ultimate heresy.
Farzana Hassan (author), John S. Niles (foreword)
Paperback, 227 x 155 x 12mm , 185 pp,
glossary, notes, bibliography, index
15 Mar 2008
McFarland & Co Inc.
0786433000
9780786433001
Believing
that the Armageddon - the last battle between good and evil - shall
be fought between the adherents of Islam on one side and Christians
and Jews on the other, the fundamentalists of both sides are pitched
against each other for the final show down before the day of
judgment, hoping that their version of good shall eventually
prevail.
Ms
Hassan maintains that our world today is riddled with ethnic
conflicts, religious wars and wars for political control, access to
economic resources and cultural supremacy. In her book, she tries to
bring healing to a world torn by conflicts through a better
understanding of the causes of the conflicts. This quest takes her
to a frank look at the doctrinal bases of the conflicts and their
historical perspective.
After
broadly explaining fundamentalism as a literalist and anti-secular
approach to religious scriptures, the author affords us a candid
appraisal of fundamentalism among Muslims and Christians. She sees
Christian fundamentalism as a reactionary force against the general
tide of reformist ideologies and liberalism, especially the sexual
liberalism of the 1960s. However, the Christian fundamentalists
believe in scientific method, modern nationalism and separation of
church and state. Islamic fundamentalism, on the other hand, is a
reaction against Western domination and sees no dichotomy between
religion and politics. Islamic fundamentalism manifests itself as
political Islam.
This
scholarly and well-researched book provides us an in-depth analysis
of the mindset of jihadists, crusaders and terrorists. Just like
crusaders, who were motivated by a spiritual reward in the
hereafter, jihadists too wage the battle in the cause of God,
believing that if killed, they will go to paradise as martyrs, there
to live in eternal bliss. They look at jihad as a personal struggle
and participation in a battle to defend Islam. Influenced by the
teachings of Maulana Maudoodi, Hassan al-Banna and Syed Qutb,
founders of modern jihadist ideology, the Islamists espouse jihad on
all forms of oppression, economic, political and ideological – in
essence any thing that does not conform to their view of Islam. Like
Televangelists and the Christian right, the Islamists go a step
further and support jihad to establish Islam’s supremacy across
the world. This inevitably leads to violent conflicts with
Christendom.
The
book is a must-read for any one who wants to understand the modern
world, which the author contends, is under threat of radicals,
jihadists, crusaders, neo-imperialists and multi-national
conglomerates. What is required is a hard look at all the conflicts
afflicting the world and their possible causes; and this is what the
book provides in a succinct and readable form.
