Title
Apocalypse in Islam [electronic resource] / Jean-Pierre Filiu ; translated by M.B. DeBevoise.
Uniform Title
Apocalypse dans l'islam. English
ISBN
9780520947153 (electronic book)
9780520264311
Publication Details
Berkeley : University of California Press, 2010.
Language
English
Language Note
Translated from the French.
Description
1 online resource (xxi, 260 p.) : col. ill.
Call Number
BP166.8 .F4513 2010eb
Dewey Decimal Classification
297.2/309
Summary
This work is an exploration of a troubling phenomenon: the fast-growing belief in Muslim countries that the end of the world is at hand, and with it the "Great Battle," prophesied by both Sunni and Shii tradition, which many believers expect will begin in the Afghan-Pakistani borderlands. The author uncovers the role of apocalypse in Islam over the centuries, and highlights its extraordinary resurgence in recent decades. Identifying 1979 as a decisive year in the rise of contemporary millenarian speculation, he stresses the ease with which subsequent events in the Middle East have been incorporated into the intellectual universe of apocalyptic propagandists. He also shows how Christian and Jewish visions of the Final Judgment have stimulated alarmist reaction in Islamic lands, both in the past and today, and examines the widespread fear of Christian Zionist domination as an impetus to jihad. Though the overwhelming majority of Muslims remains unpersuaded, the mounting conviction in the imminence of apocalypse is a serious matter, especially for those who are preparing for it.
Note
Description based on print version record.
Bibliography, etc. Note
Includes bibliographical references and index.
Access Note
Access limited to authorized users.
Prologue: the end of the world draws near
True and false messiahs of Islam
Archeology of the end of the world
Grand masters of the medieval apocalypse
Avatars of the Mahdi
Apocalypse now
Dawn of the fifteenth century of Islam
Pioneers of the contemporary apocalypse
The horsemen of apocalyptic jihad
The beginning of the end in Iraq
The grand return of the Shiʻi Mahdi
Diasporas of the apocalypse
The armageddon of jihad
Through the looking glass-and beyond.
