Returning to the Imam Mahdi sepculation

In my post The Imam Mahdi of Shia Islam I talked about how some Sunni Muslims think the Shiite Imam Mahdi will be the Dajjal.  I concluded that I felt the Biblical Antichrist is more likely to be a Sunni Mahdi claimant if a Mahdi at all, and therefore a Shiite one could be a decoy.  But something has come to my attention since then.

In that post I barely alluded to the part about Shiites teaching The Imam Mahdi will destroy Saudi Arabia, maybe even specifically Mecca and Medina.  You can find on YouTube and google searches Shiites saying the Mahdi will destroy Saudi Arabia.

If the Shiite Imam is The Beast of Revelation 17, that fits well with theories of Mecca being Mystery Babylon.  Because as I like to remind people who oversimplify The Beast's relationship to Babylon, the Beast hates and destroys Babylon in Revelation 17.

Chris White has written a book dedicated to debunking Islamic Antichrist theories.  Much of what he says I agree with, but not all.  He refuted the Saudi Arabia as Mystery Babylon argument, but only in terms of how people like Walid Shobat make that argument.  I agree with him there, and even promoted that in my Isaiah 21 post.

However I have developed my own way of making that argument possible, in-spite of my general bias for Babylon simply being Babylon (or at least in Mesopotamia/Iraq). First is my post about The Woman of Revelation 12 and the Woman of Revelation 17 possibly being the same Woman.  Then my earlier theory that The Woman of Revelation 12 will be taken to where Israel wandered in the Wilderness for 40 years.  And then the post on my Revised Chronology Blog where I supported viewing Mecca as Kadesh-Barnea.

Kadesh-Barnea was where Israel rejected the Land because of the Spies bad Report in Numbers, and then were defeated by the Amalekites.  Numbers 14.  It also might be accurate to say they were still at Barnea for Korah and Dathan's rebellion in Numbers 16.

Wikipedia says about the history of the Kaaba.

According to Sarwar,^[42] about 400 years before the birth of Muhammad, a man named "Amr bin Lahyo bin Harath bin Amr ul-Qais bin Thalaba bin Azd bin Khalan bin Babalyun bin Saba", who was descended from Qahtan and was the king of Hijaz had placed a Hubal idol onto the roof of the Kaaba.

In other words, it seems Sheba Ben Joktan had a son named Babylon.  Whether there is any truth to this tradition or not, we have an ancient precedent for linking the name of Babylon to Mecca.  This king however was of a Tribe that had migrated to Mecca from Yemen.  And I've also argued for Mt Sinai being in Yemen, in it's capital City of Sana'a, where there is a Gate called the Bab al-Yaman.

But there is also a theory out there that Mt Sinai was a mountain near Mecca, and the Kaaba could be where the first Tabernacle was first raised.

But if you want to keep Babylon in Iraq, another candidate for a Sunni Babylon that a Shiite Mahdi claimant could destroy is Samarra.  It was an important Capital of many early Sunni Caliphs.  And Contains a Spiral Minaret that I think inspired later European depictions of the Tower of Babel as a Spiral.  And it's supposedly the hometown of the founder of I.S.I.S.  But also if you wanted to view Babylon as a Shiite capital a Sunni Mahdi claimant will destroy, there is Najaf where Ali was buried, to Shiites that is the 3rd holiest site in Islam, not anything in Jerusalem.

What about the possible importance of Egypt I have talked about on this Blog?  Well while today the main regions where the Shia are dominant are in Iran and eastern Iraq.  Historically there was an important Shiite Caliphate in Egypt, the Fatimid Caliphate.  So maybe a Shiite Mahdi claimant will rule in Egypt, but summon his supporters from East of the Euphrates, as Revelation 16 depicts in the account of the 6th Bowl of God's Wrath.

Now is a time to talk about how not all Shia believe in the Twelfth Imam view specifically, they're just the most dominant eschatological view.  For example Al-Hakim, a Fatamid Caliph, is who the Druze believe will someday return.  Of the Fatamid Caliphs, there are only 7 who both ruled Egypt and were considered proper Imams, Al-Hakim was among the first five.  What Hakim and the Twelfth Imam have in common is being descended from Ali.

But I can't help but suspect there are some Shiites who might just cut out the middle man and think it'll be Ali himself.  I talked about Ali a bit on my other Blog last month, when I discussed how the Sunni/Shia split was originally about Democracy vs Hereditary Monarchy.

Some sects have even already outright deified Ali.  In fact it's curious how Ali seems to be more popular to Deify then Muhammad himself, even sects who view Ali as one of many Avatars of Allah, don't view Muhammad as one.  Ali being said to have been born inside the Kaaba, a completely unique occurrence, possibly helps that.

Ali married Fatimah, Muhammad's Daughter.  Fatimah was alive already when Muhammad's was supposedly first called to be a Prophet.  Also it's said Muhammad was told to marry Fatimah to Ali by Allah.  So since some people think Ali was Allah, I can't hep but notice an implication that Allah called Muhammad to be a Prophet because he wanted to bang his daughter.

Ali died by being mortally wounded with a poisoned Sword.  So that can fit him being the Beast of Revelation 13.

But Ali is also associated with a Sacred Sword, the Zulfiqar.  So that could also fit associating him with the Red Horseman or the Terrible of the Nations who will wound the beast of Revelation 13.  (And also make him a Saber Class if Type Moon ever added him to the Fate/ franchise.)

I think the Beast of Revelation 17 will claim to be someone who lived in the past.  But who he really is and who he claims to be may not be the same.

Again, I overall have reasons to doubt the Antichrist will be Islamic in any way.  But it's interesting to observe how Satan has laid the seeds for many possible options.