Before Donald J. Trump, the Muslim world was on the rise, with ISIS (ISIL, as President Obama would have it) threatening to take over most of the Middle East. While Trump was in the White House, it was increasingly apparent that the forces of Islam were scattering, to an extent. There was even a move toward ancient enemies beginning to put aside some differences in order to seek at least a modicum of peace with Israel.

As a matter of fact, there were fears among some of those knowledgeable about Bible prophecy that the so-called Abrahamic Accords involving Israel and the Islamic world would bring about cursing for the effort—thus because of Joel 3:2, in which the prophet foretold that all nations of the world will be brought to the Valley of Jehoshaphat because of the dividing of God’s land.

I’ve read numerous opinions that state the writers believe Donald Trump lost the presidency because he supported the Abrahamic Accords effort, which they viewed as, like all other peace efforts, offering God’s land for promises of peace.

Now, with the Biden administration and a return to business as usual (as carried out by the Obama administration,) Islam is on the grow again. They are once again flexing their muscles, atrophied because of Trump’s strong hand during his years as president.

All of that is to say that writers in Bible prophecy who were, during the Obama years, making inroads with their “Antichrist will be a Muslim” predictions, and lost audience as the Muslim world retracted during the Trump years, are now again in vogue. Some Middle East observers are seeing a resurgence in forces that made up ISIS and the other terrorist organizations. This means to some observers that the Muslim world is on track again to bring the Dajjal (Antichrist) to power.

Islamic scholars who are Muslim themselves are in disagreement with each other in a number of critical ways—so much so that there continue to be deep divisions of intramural ideological pyrotechnics that threaten bloody conflicts. Those differences and what they portend will have to be considered in another essay because of space limitations. Suffice it to say that the two major branches of Islam, Sunni and Shiite, diverge in eschatology in profoundly different ways.

Dr. David Reagan of Lamb & Lion Ministries, however, writes about the major signs generally covered in the eschatological belief system of Islam according to the Hadith (any of the various collections of the words, actions, and habits of the prophet Mohammad during his lifetime):

The major signs pointing to “the Hour” are all critical events that are part of the end-time sequence of events, beginning with the appearance of the Antichrist. Muslim scholars generally don’t try to present a strict chronological order of what is going to ultimately transpire, but the order presented below is representative:

1. The appearance of the Antichrist, called the Dajjal.
2. The rising of the Islamic Messiah, called the Mahdi.
3. The Return of Jesus.
4. The Reign of Jesus.
5. The Day of Resurrection, called “The Hour.”
6. The Day of Judgment.

There are many other end-time events mentioned in the Hadith, but these are the most important:

The Return of Jesus.

It is not clear at what point in the career of the Mahdi Jesus will return. Some believe it will be as soon as the Mahdi is able to organize his Muslim army to oppose the Dajjal’s Jewish army. Jesus will return to the Mount of Olives and then head to Damascus where he will meet up with the Mahdi and submit himself to him as a subordinate. At some point in the Mahdi’s wars Jesus himself will be the one who will kill the Dajjal and see to the annihilation of the Jews. Jesus will then serve as an Islamic evangelist, proclaiming Islam as the one and only true religion, and he will establish Islamic Shari’ah law throughout the entire earth. (“The Muslim Antichrist Theory,” Lamb & Lion, Dr. David Reagan, https://christinprophecy.org/articles/the-muslim-antichrist-theory)

It isn’t too hard to understand how such an evil, mixed-up view as presented by Islam could lead those not spiritually attuned to the conclusion that the “man of sin” will be a Muslim. But this is not what God’s Word says. It is clear from Daniel 9:26–27 that this “son of perdition” will come out of the people who, in AD 70, destroyed the city and the sanctuary—i.e., Jerusalem and the Temple atop Mount Moriah.

Nonetheless, I heard a preacher on his program, with all the sincerity he could muster, tell of the book he has written proving Antichrist will be a Muslim. He seemed, otherwise, a soundly grounded pastor of a local church—i.e., he presented the gospel and other doctrine from a true, biblical perspective, best I could tell.

The people who destroyed the city and the sanctuary in AD 70 were Romans , dear pastor. They were not from Islam, which didn’t even exist until hundreds of years later.

Deep studies into the matters involving who this beast of Revelation 13 will be show that he will come from a revived form of the Roman Empire. That can be determined, most scholars I trust teach, through looking into the following prophecy:

And there are seven kings: five are fallen, and one is, and the other is not yet come; and when he cometh, he must continue a short space. And the beast that was, and is not, even he is the eighth, and is of the seven, and goeth into perdition. And the ten horns which thou sawest are ten kings, which have received no kingdom as yet; but receive power as kings one hour with the beast. These have one mind, and shall give their power and strength unto the beast. These shall make war with the Lamb, and the Lamb shall overcome them: for he is Lord of lords, and King of kings: and they that are with him are called, and chosen, and faithful. (Revelation 17:10–14)