28 Bible and Quran - THE END TIMES AND THE BIBLE

A great deal of information regarding the end times and Jesus' return
to earth appears in Islamic sources. That being the case, the
following question arises: Could the subject of the end times also be
discussed in the texts of the pre-Islamic divine religions? Could God
have given information about the events of the end times to the
messengers who came before the Prophet Mohammed (peace be upon him)?
That is of course possible. It is very likely that the Torah and the
Bible will contain references to the end times.
There is a strong likelihood that those references compatible with the
hadiths of the Prophet (peace be upon him) and the verses of the
Qur'an are original. In fact, when the references in the Bible are
examined it is indeedstriking that there are indications regarding
theend times, and that thereare many parallels between these and
thosein Islamic sources. Some of these references are asfollows:
Portents of the End Timesin the Bible
The most distinctive characteristic of the end times is Jesus' return
to earth. A number of signs are provided on the subject of the events
thatwill herald the coming ofJesus. Some of these signs may have
occurred at various times. Yet for all these signs, in other words
what we are told about the end times, to come together at the same
time is to be regarded as a portent that the coming of the Prophet
Jesus (peace be upon him) is approaching.
As it will be seen in the other sections of this website, according to
Islamic sources, the Mahdi must already have started his work aimed
atbringing the moral values of Islam to prevail in the world. Since
the Mahdi will prepare the ground for the Prophet Jesus and will act
with him when he returns, theappearance of Jesus mustbe close at hand.
The Bible and Islamic sources have many similarities in a number of
respects. Heading the list are the portents concerning the coming of
the Prophet Jesus. These portents before the return of Jesus are
described in the Bible in the following terms:
Now I tell you before it comes, that when it does come to pass, you
may believe that I am He. (John, 13:19)
Now as He [Jesus] sat on the Mount of Olives, the disciples came to
Him privately, saying, "Tell us, when will these things be? And what
will be the sign of Your coming, and of the end of the age?" And Jesus
answered and said to them: "Take heed that no one deceives you.For
many will come in Myname, saying, "I am the Christ," and will deceive
many. And you will hear of wars and rumors of wars. See that you are
not troubled; for all thesethings must come to pass,but the end is not
yet. Fornation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom.
And there will be famines, pestilences, and earthquakes in various
places. All these are the beginning of sorrows."Then they will deliver
you up to tribulation andkill you, and you will be hated by all
nations for My name's sake. And thenmany will be offended, will betray
one another, and will hate one another. Then many falseprophets will
rise up and deceive many. And because lawlessness will abound, the
love of manywill grow cold. But he who endures to the end shall be
saved. And this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in all the
world as a witness to all the nations, and then the end will
come.(Matthew, 24: 3-14)
- The Spread of War:
In the Bible we can see a similar reference to the Prophet's hadith
concerning the appearance of the Mahdi in which he says, "The world
will be in utter confusion."
But when you hear of wars and commotions, do not be terrified; for
these things must come to pass first, but the end will not come
immediately." Then He said to them, "Nation willrise against nation,
and kingdom against kingdom." (Luke, 21: 9-10)
And you will hear of warsand rumors of wars. See that you are not
troubled; for all these things must come to pass,but the end is not
yet. Fornation will rise against nation, and kingdom against
kingdom... (Matthew, 24: 6-7)
- The Drying up of the Waters of the Euphrates, The Fire and Smoke That Burns
Then the sixth angel poured out his bowl on the great river
Euphrates,and its water was dried up, so that the way of thekings from
the east mightbe prepared. And I saw three unclean spirits like frogs
coming out of the mouth of the dragon, outof the mouth of the beast,
and out of the mouth of the false prophet. For they are spirits of
demons, performing signs, which go out to the kings of theearth and of
the whole world, to gather them to the battle of that great day of God
Almighty... And they gathered them together to the place called in
Hebrew, Armageddon. (Revelation, 16: 12-16)
Now the number of the army of the horsemen was two hundred million...
A third of mankind was killed--by the fire and the smoke and the
brimstone which came out of their mouths. (Revelation, 9: 16-18)
We are told in the above verses that the waters of the Euphrates will
dry up,that a great war will erupt in the place called Armageddon, and
that most people will die fromfire and smoke. These portents are also
to be found in the hadiths of the Prophet Mohammed (peace be upon
him). Thedrying up of the waters of the Euphrates, the fire and smoke
coming from the east and burning people; all of these are examples of
portents regarding the end times spoken by the Prophet.
- Natural Events (Famines,Earthquakes)
In the other sections of this website we have seen in some detail how
extraordinary natural events will take place. Similar indications can
be found in the gospels of saints Matthew and Luke. Two examples read:
...And there will be famines, pestilences, and earthquakes in various
places. All these are the beginning of sorrows. (Matthew, 24: 7-8)
Men's hearts failing them from fear and the expectation of those
things which are coming on the earth, for the powers of the heavens
will be shaken. (Luke, 21: 26)
In addition to the extraordinary natural phenomena on earth, other
portents are indicated in the sky. Indeed, we have already looked at
some signs concerning heavenly bodies.
The Bible makes reference to extraordinary natural events taking place
in the skies. One of these takes the following form:
And there will be great earthquakes in various places, and famines and
pestilences; and there will be fearful sights and great signs from
heaven. (Luke, 21:11)
- There Will Be Signs in the Sun, the Moon and the Stars
We have already stated that there will be an eclipse of the Sun and
Moon during the month of Ramadan, that Halley'sComet and Hale Bob
Comet will pass by the earth, and have looked at the interesting
connections between these and the hadiths. The Bible also says that
these phenomena in the sky will herald the end times:
And there will be signs in the sun, in the moon, andin the stars; and
on the earth distress of nations, with perplexity, the sea and the
waves roaring; men's hearts failing themfrom fear and the expectation
of those things which are coming on the earth, for the powers of the
heavens will be shaken. (Luke, 21: 25-26)
Immediately after the tribulation of those days the sun will be
darkened,and the moon will not give its light; the stars will fall
from heaven, andthe powers of the heavens will be shaken. (Matthew,
24: 29)
- An Increase of Evil
Moral degeneration among people and the resulting loss of love and
respect between them is shown as another of the signs of the end
times. These also appear in the Bible:
And then many will be offended, will betray oneanother, and will hate
one another... And because lawlessness will abound, the love of
manywill grow cold. (Matthew,24: 10-12)
- Non-religious Life Will Spread
Religion's ceasing to play a defining role in peoples' lives is also
shown as another sign ofthe end times:
For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine, but
according to their own desires, because they have itching ears, they
will heap up for themselves teachers; and they will turn their ears
away from the truth, and be turned aside to fables.(2Timothy, 4: 3-4)
Now the Spirit expressly says that in latter times some will depart
from the faith.... (1Timothy, 4: 1)
But know this, that in thelast days perilous times will come: For men
will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boasters, proud,
blasphemers, disobedientto parents, unthankful, unholy, unloving,
unforgiving, slanderers, without self-control, brutal, despisers of
good,traitors, headstrong, haughty, lovers of pleasure rather than
lovers of God, having a form of godliness but denying its power. And
from such people turn away! (2Timothy, 3: 1-5)
But as the days of Noah were, so also will the coming of the Son of
Manbe. For as in the days before the flood, they were eating and
drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noah
entered the ark, and did not know until the flood came and took them
all away, so also will the coming of the Son of Manbe. (Matthew, 24:
37-39)
- Oppression
In many regions of the world people are regarded as a danger for
saying "God is our Lord," and are thus subjected tooppression. This
danger awaiting believers is referred to in these termsin the Bible:
Then they will deliver you up to tribulation andkill you, and you will
be hated by all nations for My name's sake. (Matthew, 24: 9)
Another reference in the Gospel of Saint Luke describes the oppression
and torture awaiting believers thus:
But before all these things, they will lay their hands on you and
persecute you, deliveringyou up to the synagogues and prisons. You
will be brought before kings and rulers for My name's sake... You will
be betrayed even by parents and brothers, relatives and friends;
andthey will put some of youto death... By your patience possess your
souls. (Luke, 21: 12, 16,19)
- The Wealthy Will Become Wealthier
As poverty and famine prevail on the one hand in the end times, the
goods and fortunes of the wealthy will increase still further on the
other. In other words, the few wealthy people will groweven wealthier,
and a huge chasm will emerge between people.
Come now, you rich, weep and howl for your miseries that are coming
upon you! Your riches arecorrupted, and your garments are moth-eaten.
Your gold and silver are corroded, and their corrosion will be a
witness against you and will eat your flesh like fire. You have heaped
up treasure in the last days. (James, 5: 1-3)
- False Prophets Will Appear Most Will Claim to Be the Messiah
In the end times many people will emerge claiming to be Jesus and some
will openly declare themselves to be prophets. The appearance of false
Messiahs, described as a portent of the coming of the Mahdi in the
hadiths of our Prophet, is also to be found in the Bible:
For many will come in My name, saying, "I am the Christ," and will
deceive many. (Matthew, 24: 5)
Then if anyone says to you, "Look, here is the Christ!" or "There!" do
not believe it. For false christs and false prophetswill rise and show
great signs and wonders to deceive, if possible, even the elect. See,
I have told you beforehand. (Matthew, 24: 23-25)
Then many false prophetswill rise up and deceive many. (Matthew, 24: 11)
And He said: "Take heed that you not be deceived.For many will come in
My name, saying, 'I am He,' and, 'The time has drawn near.' Therefore
do not go after them." (Luke, 21: 8)
- There Will Be Great Tribulations and Confusion in the End Days
For then there will be great tribulation, such as has not been since
the beginning of the world until this time, no, nor ever shall be. And
unless those days were shortened, no flesh would be saved; but for the
elect's sake those days will be shortened. (Matthew, 24: 21-22)
"Therefore when you seethe 'abomination of desolation,' spoken of
byDaniel the prophet, standing in the holy place"... For then there
will be great tribulation, such as has not been since the beginning of
the world until this time, no, nor ever shall be. (Matthew, 24: 15,21)
- Jesus' Return to Earth
As we have already mentioned, Jesus' returnto earth is one of
fundamental subjects in the Bible, which seeks to teach people by
giving examples from his life. In addition, there are frequent
references to the return of Jesus and all believers are called upon to
be prepared for such a great event. Some of the references in the
Bible to the coming of Jesus read as follows:
Then the sign of the Son of Man will appear in heaven, and then all
the tribes of the earth will mourn, and they will see the Son of Man
coming on the clouds of heaven with power and great glory. (Matthew,
24: 30)
Now when He had spoken these things, while they watched, He was taken
up, and a cloud received Him out oftheir sight. And while they looked
steadfastly toward heaven as He went up, behold, two men stood by them
in white apparel, who also said, "Men of Galilee, whydo you stand
gazing up into heaven? This same Jesus, who was taken up from you into
heaven, will so come in like manner as you saw Him go into heaven."
(Acts, 1: 9-11)
Looking for the blessed hope and glorious appearing of our great God
and Savior Jesus Christ. (Titus, 2: 13)
And to give you who are troubled rest with us when the Lord Jesus is
revealed from heaven with His mighty angels, inflaming fire taking
vengeance on those who do not know God, and onthose who do not obey
the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ. (2 Thessalonians, 1: 7-8)
So Christ was offered once to bear the sins of many. To those who
eagerly wait for Him He will appear a second time, apart from sin, for
salvation. (Hebrews, 9: 28)
Behold, He is coming with clouds, and every eye will see Him...
(Revelation, 1: 7)
Therefore if they say to you, "Look, He is in the desert!" do not go
out; or"Look, He is in the inner rooms!" do not believe it.For as the
lightning comes from the east and flashes to the west, so also will
the coming of the Son of Man be. (Matthew, 24: 26-27)
Jesus said to him, "It is as you said. Nevertheless, I say to you,
hereafter you will see the Son of Man sitting at the right hand of the
Power, and coming on the clouds of heaven." (Matthew, 26: 64)

27 Bible and Quran - WAITING FOR JESUS The Good Tiding Awaited by Christians and Muslims

It is very important for a Muslim that Jesus is going to come back to
the earth again. He is a Prophet born by a miracle of God without a
father; he invited the Children of Israel to follow the true path and
showed them many miracles. He is the Messiah and, as the Qur'an says,
he is the"word of God" (Qur'an, 4:171). Together with his return to
earth, the lack of understanding between Christians and Muslims who
believe in the same God, share the same moral values and, as the
Qur'an says, are closer to one another in love than all other people
(Qur'an, 5:82) will be repaired, and these two greatest of the world's
religious communities will be united. The members of the world's third
monotheistic religion, the Jews, will also accept Jesus as their true
Messiah and find their way to the true religion (Qur'an, 4:159). So
the three monotheistic religions will unite, therewill be one single
religion on earth based on faith in God and obedience to Jesus, His
Prophet. This religion will defeat the atheistic philosophies and
pagan beliefs with intellectual means; thus, the world will be saved
from wars, conflicts, racial and ethnic hostility, cruelty and
injustice. Humanity will enter a "Golden Age"of peace, happiness and
well-being.
Certainly, this will be the greatest event in the history of the
world. In this situation in which the three monotheistic religions
will unite, the whole American continent, Europe, the Islamic world,
Russia and Israel will be allied on the basis of a shared faith, and
no such unity has ever occurred before.The peace, well-being,
stability and happiness tobe established in the world by this union
has never been known in anyprevious period; its likeness has never
been seen.
And, when Jesus returns to earth, it will beone of the greatest
wonders in the history of the world.
Those prophets whom Allah has chosen performvarious miracles by His
will. The miracles performed by Jesus in Palestine 2000 years ago were
such marvels as raising the dead, healing the blind and lepers, and
giving life to inanimate substances. (Qur'an, 5: 11)
The return of Jesus to theearth after 2000 years and the beginning of
his new life in his mature years without a mother and father will be a
greatwonder. And he will show people new miracles. As a result,
materialist philosophy, which has already collapsed on the levels of
science and philosophy, will suffer irrevocable ruin for all the world
to see, and people will witness the clear proofs for the existence and
power of God.
So, in the light of the signs in the Qur'an, the sayings of our
Prophet and the interpretations of leading scholars in Islam, we
believe that this blessed period is very near. As Muslims, weare very
excited about the imminent return of Jesus and are doing all we can to
prepare ourselves and the world to receive this blessed guest.
We call on Christians to be as sensitive, aware and eager as possible
about this.
Is the Christian World Ready for Jesus?
The love of Jesus has given to Christians throughout history a proper
morality. In the Qur'an, God describes Christians as"most affectionate
to those who believe"and says that"That is because some of them are
priests and monks and because they are not arrogant." (Qur'an, 5:82)
In another verse, Christians' positive morality is mentioned:
Then We sent Our Messengers following in their footsteps and sent
Jesus son of Mary after them, giving him the Gospel. We put compassion
and mercy inthe hearts of those who followed him. (Qur'an, 57:27)
Because of their faith in God, Christians throughout history have
endured all kinds of cruelty, chosen to forgo the pleasures of life
and live with suffering and performed deeds of great self-sacrifice.
Theseare indications of a deep sincerity. But in this age when the
return of Jesus is near, this sincerity must be stronger, and service
to Jesus' religion must be performed more effectively.
- According to Christian scriptures Jesus will return to earth.
It is stated several times in the New Testament that Jesus will return
to earth."So Christ . . . will appear a second time . . . to bring
salvation to those who are waiting for him." (Heb. 9: 28)In many other
passages in the New Testament it is announced that Jesus will return.
Seeing that this promise will most certainly come true, all Christians
must make thisthe basis of their worldview, constantly expect this
Second Coming and to influence the world accordingly.
- According to Christian scriptures, the return of Jesus is near.
Many Christians believe that the Second Coming is near. This is
because almost all the announcements in both the New and Old
Testaments regarding the return of the Messiah have been fulfilled.
The spread of religious morality all over the world, the beginning of
the collapse of atheist philosophies and the return to faith in God
areimportant signs and under these circumstances, Christian should not
remain indifferent about the Second Coming.
- According to Christian scriptures, the return of Jesus will be the
greatest event in history.
Since Christian scriptures say that the Second Coming is definitely
near,this ought to be the mostimportant item on the agenda of the
Christian world. Since Jesus, a blessed Prophet whom Allah chose, will
come soon again to the world, preparations for his arrival should be
kept continually in view.
- Seeing that Jesus will bring all people togetherwhen he comes,
Christians should leave aside their differences, arguments and
hostilitiesthat will soon have no significance anyway.
- Since Christians and Muslims who believe in Jesus will be united in
a common faith when he comes, both communitiesmust try from this
moment to overcome theprejudice and distrust between them.
In the "Book of Revelation," the last bookin the New Testament, it
says:"The kingdom of theworld has become the kingdom of our Lord andof
his Messiah and he willreign for ever and ever." (Rev. 11:15)
All Christians should be eager, excited, aware and filled with love as
they await this blessed event. And we, as Muslims who have this
eagerness, excitement, awareness and love, say to Christians:
Come, let us prepare together for the coming return of Jesus.Let us
have respect for one another's differences in belief knowing that
Jesuswill teach us the truth anyway. Let us strive to fill the world
with peace, brotherhood, mercy and love as he wants to see it.Let us
struggle together in word and deed against philosophies and ideologies
that are hostile to him and reject God.
Let us wait together for one of the greatest glad tidings and the
miracles in the world history.

Story, - I love them both!

I've been married for ten years. My marriage is a happy one and we
have a 7-year-old child.
You wander what more could I want?
I've been maintaining a love-affair for 2 years with someone else. At
first we didn't say a wordto each other; then, we got closer; we
talked for hours; we laughed. He started sharing his familyproblems
with me and this was the way we became friends.
I changed the place I worked and two days after that we started our
relationship. I've never thought that I will be faithful to my
husband, but I've also never imagined that I could have such deep
feelings for some other man.
My love is for both of them! I'd never divorce and I don't want the
other person to do it. I think highly of his family.But put together,
both of my men represent the perfect MAN. But it is the same when they
are separated!
When I'm with the one, my thoughts are occupied with the other, and
visa versa. My husband found out but he was not so upset until the
moment he discovered that I had feelings for this person. Now we hide
and we keep seeing each other. I'm afraid!
I can't imagine bringing to an end my extramarital affair. Where will
this lead us to and what price will I pay?

Story, - Love tetragon

Hi,
Here is my story – I started an affair with my husband's best friend.
Gradually, things got serious and we started falling in love with each
other.
I wanted all this to stop because I love my husband. We have two
wonderful children and I felt awful knowing what I'm doing to them.
But despite that I needed to continue my secret love affair.
One day I found out that my husband had a relationship with my lover's
wife. It was true, as funny as it might sound. We both admittedour
fault and decided that all this has to stop. I found it harder because
of my deep feelings, but Imade an enormous effort.
We gathered our best friends to talk and confessed our mistakes. We
decided that we had to keep our friendship, no matter what. We are
still doing our best to get over this and, step by step, we will
manage it.
My husband and I are happier than ever. Now, we have the love we had
in the beginning of our relationship.