9. The Abomination Of Desolation

The abomination of desolation is a very important Biblical term. It is quite clear, but the Christians have, as usual, surrounded it with a ring of obscurity concerning the term and its interpretation.

This term has been translated in various ways such as: 'beast of desolation,' 'abominable desolation,' as well as interpretive translations such as: 'transgression of desolation,' 'desolation of transgression,' and it has even been rendered more clearly as 'the kingdom of transgression.' As for Bates, he has determined that it is the 'abominable destroyer.' It can also be translated as the 'unclean' or 'abominable destroyer.' Perhaps the most correct translation, and the one most in harmony with Allah's Words, is to call it the 'abominable corruptor' or the 'corrupting abomination.'

Let us read what the book of Daniel says about it, since it is he who gave the term its great historical importance. But let us begin my explaining that after the first angel explained to Daniel the vision of the previously mentioned four beasts, he concluded with a definitive conclusion:

“Then the kingdom and dominion, and the greatness of the kingdoms under the whole heaven, shall be given to the people, the saints of the Most High. His kingdom is an everlasting kingdom, and all dominions shall serve and obey Him. This is the end of the account.”

However, Daniel was greatly disturbed, and needed more understanding. It is as if he understood that the dream of the idol was general, and connected to the king who saw it, while the vision of the four beasts especially concerned himself. So he desired a clearer explanation of what would happen in the near future, as well as at the end of time, which are the two eras of interest to most people. As for the near future, everybody, wise or ignorant, strives to understand the development of humanity and the events which occur during his own lifetime. As for the distant future, the end is always a subject of question and interest: The end of the world, the end of his own nation, the end of the people of faith, or of unbelief, especially, for one who is a prophet or a follower of the prophets.

Thus, we have the third vision:

“I lifted up my eyes and saw, and there, standing beside the river, was a ram which had two horns, and the two horns were high; but one was higher than the other, and the higher one came up last. I saw the ram pushing westward, northward, and southward, so that no animal could withstand him; nor was there any that could deliver from his hand, but he did according to his will and became great.

“And as I was considering, suddenly a male goat came from the west, across the surface of the whole earth, and without touching the ground; and the goat had a notable horn between its eyes.

“Then he came to the ram with two horns… and ran at him with furious power. And I saw him confronting the ram; he was moved with rage against him, attacked the ram, and broke his two horns. There was no power to the ram to withstand him, but he cast him down to the ground and trampled him…

“Therefore the male goat grew very great; but when he became strong, the large horn was broken, and in its place four notable ones came up toward the four winds of heaven. And out of one of them came a little horn which grew exceedingly great toward the south, toward the east, and toward the Glorious Land. And it grew up to the host of heaven; and it cast down some of the host and some of the stars to the ground, and trampled them.

“He even exalted himself as high as the Prince of the host; and by him the daily sacrifices were taken away, and the place of His sanctuary was cast down. Because of transgression, an army was given over to the horn to oppose the daily sacrifices; and he cast truth down to the ground. He did all this and prospered.

“Then I heard a holy one speaking; and another holy one said to that certain one who was speaking, 'How long will the vision be, concerning the daily sacrifices and the transgression of desolation, the giving of both the sanctuary and the host to be trampled underfoot?' And he said to me, 'For two-thousand three hundred days; then the sanctuary ²⁰ shall be cleansed.'” (8:3-13)

According to one of the Catholic translations it is:

“For two-thousand three hundred days; then the rights of the sanctuary shall be returned to it.”

Thus, did Daniel ask the angel to interpret the vision, so he said to him:

“Understand, son of man, that the vision refers to the time of the end…Look, I am making known to you what shall happen in the latter time of the indignation; for at the appointed time the end shall be.

“The ram which you saw, having the two horns –they are the kings of Media and Persia. And the male goat is the king of Greece. The large horn that is between its eyes is the first king. As for the broken horn and the four that stood up in its place, four kingdoms shall arise out of that nation, but not with its power.

“And in the latter time of their kingdom, when the transgressors have reached their fullness, a king shall arise, having fierce features, who understands sinister schemes. His power shall be mighty, but not by his own power; he shall destroy fearfully, and shall prosper and thrive; he shall destroy the mighty, and also the holy people. Through his cunning he shall cause deceit to prosper under his rule; and he shall exalt himself in his heart. He shall destroy many in their prosperity. He shall even rise against the Prince of princes; but he shall be broken without human means.

“And the vision of the evenings and mornings which was told is true; therefore seal up the vision, for it refers to many days in the future.” (8:2-26)

However, the desire for knowledge increases. Especially, since Daniel lived during a time of great events in the struggle between the two empires of Babylon and Persia. He was very concerned for the future of his wretched, captive people, and he was very concerned for Jerusalem and who would conquer it. So he began to beseech, cry and pray to Allah until showed him a vision of more detail concerning times and numbers. However, its interpretation is very difficult. Without doubt they have distorted it, and changed its clarity and accuracy into obscurity. It is the well-known vision of the weeks, in which the angel says:

“Seventy weeks are determined for your people, and for your holy city, to finish the transgression, to make an end of sins, to make reconciliation for iniquity, to bring an everlasting righteousness, to seal up vision and prophecy, and to anoint the Most Holy. Know therefore and understand, that from the going forth of the command to restore and build Jerusalem until the Messiah the Prince, there shall be seven weeks and sixty-two weeks…

“And the people of the prince who is to come shall destroy the city and the sanctuary. The end of it shall be with a flood, and till the end of the war desolations are determined. Then he shall confirm a covenant with many for one week; but in the middle of the week he shall bring an end to sacrifice and offering. And on the wing of abominations shall be one who makes desolate, even until the consummation, which is determined, is poured out on the desolate.” (9:24-27)

According to the Catholic translation:

“A prince will come and destroy the city and the sanctuary, and its end will be by flood. Until the end shall be the killing and desolation that have been determined. In one week he will make a covenant with many, a firm covenant, but in the middle of the week he will end the sacrifices and offerings. In the wing of the temple will be the abomination of desolation, until the consummation is determined to finish the desolate.”

It is because of this obscurity that we assert the occurrence of distortion, although scholars have gone to great lengths to interpret this prophecy so that it will conform to the birth of Christ, or the sending of Muhammad –Allah's blessing and peace be on them.

In any case, Daniel understood the time line of events. But how would they happen? The human has a strong desire to understand, and the Lord is generous in giving every time. So Daniel went back to his prayers and petitions, and the angel came to him and said:

“Now I have come to make you understand what will happen to your people in the latter days, for the vision refers to many days yet to come.” (10:14)

Here we should note the repeated advice that the time of the fulfillment of the vision would be delayed, so that Daniel would not err in this regard. This is because Daniel wanted to know about the near future, but the vision concerned what the more important end-times of the distant future. Thus, the angel advises Daniel not to forget that, and suppose that it concerned the near future. Nevertheless, he informed him about the wars that would occur between the kings of Persia and Greece, and the king of the North and the king of the South. The portion which interests us is his saying:

“And forces shall be mustered by him [the king of the North], and they shall defile the sanctuary fortress; then they shall take away the daily sacrifices, and place there the abomination of desolation.” –(11:31)

He refers to a pagan government that will conquer the sanctuary of Jerusalem and establish their worship there. The followers of the Bible disagree about their identity. That is not our concern, but what concerns us is to explain the other abomination of desolation which will be set up by the beast, or the little horn in the land itself, which is a state. The name here is the same, but what is mentioned here is pagan, while the later one is Israelite.

His discussion of these events is concluded with the arrival of the final hour, and the day of resurrection, then he says to Daniel:

“But you Daniel, shut up the words, and seal the book until the time of the end.” However, the two angels talk to each other so that Daniel can hear them and understand:

“ When the power of the holy people is completely shattered, all these things shall be finished.”

At this point Daniel says:

“Although I heard I did not understand. Then I said, “My lord, what shall be the end of these things?” And he said, “Go your way, Daniel, for the words are closed up and sealed till the time of the end…And from the time that the daily sacrifice is taken away, and the abomination of desolation is set up, there shall be one thousand two hundred and ninety days. Blessed is he who waits, and comes to the one thousand three hundred and thirty-five days. But you, go your way till the end; for you shall rest.”

So the book ends and Daniel rests, especially, since he learns that Jerusalem will have its rights restored in forty-five years. But the Jews and Christians have not rested, and will have no rest about the meaning of these events, except for those who leave aside their partisanship and open their eyes to the truth. Yes, they have tired themselves, and tired the world, and tired us.

The preceding was a brief treatment of the most important of all the Biblical prophecies: the book of Daniel. From it we take note of several matters:

This wicked, corrupt little horn destroys and builds. He destroys the sanctuary of Allah, and sets up the abomination of desolation in its place. For this reason some of Biblical commentators say that it is an idol set up in the temple. In actuality it is the temple that will be set up in the sanctuary [the mosque]. This does not contradict the meaning of 'abomination' [or defilement]. A foreign, enemy structure cannot be set up within the holy place of a nation, except by force. Thus, an abomination is what it is in both its general and particular meanings. In general, it is the establishment of the unholy state itself, and the particular instance is the setting up of the idol, or abomination that is worshipped or in which they worship.

Likewise, the idol cannot be removed from the house of Allah except by force. That is what the Prophet –Allah's blessing and peace be on him- did when he conquered Makkah, and that is what his followers will do when they enter the sanctuary of Jerusalem and find that an unholy structure is set up there by an unholy state.

It is possible that the only abomination there will be the flag of the Zionist state. Therefore, most of the commentators do not doubt that the establishment of the abomination is the establishment of an unholy, destructive state in the land of Jerusalem. But what is this state? Each of the three religions which venerate Jerusalem have established states there, or conquered it, and there is no doubt that only one out of the three is the abomination.

By this we are able to identify this state, not only from the statements of Daniel alone, but from history and reality. The important matter here is that this state will arise after Christ, since, as in Matthew and other gospels he relates the words of Daniel and explains that it will be in the latter days, as will be explained in greater detail soon. This demonstrates the error of that the setting up of the abomination of desolation occurred before the time of Christ, or that it means the idol of Zeus that was erected in the temple, or that it refers to the events shortly after his ascension in 70 or 135, for many reasons:

Jewish commentators, due to their rejection of Christ and his message, do not even consider his statements, and because of this interpret the abomination of desolation as an idol set up in the temple. Thereafter, they are confused and differ concerning the time when this occurred or will occur. Some of them place it in the time before Christ, and some of them after, and they are extremely contradictory concerning the time which Daniel specified with such precision, especially those who understand by 'days' the usual meaning of the term. As for those who interpret it as years, they must admit that it has not occurred and will not except after two thousand, three-hundred years have passed. Especially since in all of history there has never been a state that came after 2,300 days and established a state that lasted for 45 days, and then passed away. This would be such a trivial event that it wouldn't even deserve to be recorded in history, except as a footnote.

This is because the Biblical prophecies themselves specifically refer to years as 'days,' such as in Ezekial (4:6): “I have laid on you a day for each year,” and in the text of the vision itself: “Blessed is he who waits,” does not mean forty-five days, but one who waits for forty-fives years.

Furthermore, we have the witness of the Jews themselves. A large segment of them believed, and still do believe, that the Zionist entity which exists today is the abomination. They have continually warned their followers about Zionist ideology in the past and present. They have a deep faith that the Jewish gathering is taking place so that the vengeance of Allah's wrath can be poured down upon them. This is a large movement in America and elsewhere. They have large communities in the occupied territories themselves, including Rabbi Hirsch, leader of the 'Naturei Karta [Guardians of the City]' and the minister for Jewish affairs in the cabinet of Arafat's Palestinian Authority ²². Other Jews believe this fact also, but interpret it in a secular manner, such as the philosopher and linguist Noam Chomsky. Enough then from the Jews, let us see what the Christians say.

The common mistake of both camps is that they consider the abomination of desolation to be of a people other than the Jews. Both religions consider people other than the Jews to be idolaters. In this case, it is easy to describe any idolatrous state as an abomination. Bates himself, despite his admission that the Jews will be idolaters in their worship, interprets the abomination as the 'Kingdom of Assyria,' which will invade the holy land in the latter days (p 209).

Perhaps he can be excused since he wrote this before the establishment of the State of Israel. Nobody imagined the establishment of a Jewish state. For this reason, he does not call them a state after their return to Jerusalem, but a 'bloc' or group, as we have previously seen.

Furthermore, he and others like him, imagined that the Jews would be oppressed by a gentile state (the Arabs), and so they would quickly turn to faith in Christ at the approach of the millennium, or at the time of his descent, which would be a great miracle as, in the words of Macintosh:

“The entire world on that day will be baffled, 'How did this unclean nation become holy to the Lord?'” ²³

He explains it by the fact that “only a third of them will be saved from the consuming fire and poverty,” by which he is referring to the end of the unholy state as depicted in the prophetic books, which will be featured in an upcoming chapter.

Thus, they possess half the truth, which is the Jew's unbelief and unholiness, but as far as their possessing a state, that is the half which they lack. Yet, without doubt, they are better than the other commentators and historians on whom contemporary fundamentalists rely, including Stephen Ronsman, author of the well known book concerning the crusades, who said:

“One day in the month of Febuary, 638, the Caliph `Umar entered Jerusalem…

“The Patriarch Saphronius came to the side of the Caliph, since he was considered the chief administrator of the surrendered city. Upon which `Umar immediately proceeded towards the site of the Temple of Solomon from which his companion Muhammad ascended into heaven. While the Patriarch stood watching him, he recalled the words of Christ, and began uttering them through his tears, 'when you see the abomination of desolation, spoken of by Daniel…'

“That was the last public service done by the Patriarch, which was the dramatic culmination of a long life which he spent in service of Orthodoxy, and the unity of the Christian world.”²⁴

Sharing this opinion is the Arab Christian historian Phillip Hitti.²⁵

Rightly-guided Jews and Christians turned to refute this. Moreover, some of them mention the biblical prophecy of `Umar's entry into Jerusalem, without knowing who made this shameless statement. That is, the verse in the book of Zechariah:

“Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion! Shout, O daughter of Jerusalem! Behold, your King is coming to you; he is just and having salvation, lowly and riding on a donkey, a colt, the foal of a donkey. I will cut off the chariot from Ephraim and the horse from Jerusalem; the battle bow shall be cut off. His dominion shall be 'from sea to sea, and from the River to the ends of the earth.'”²⁶

This is the prophecy which the Christians interpret –in spite of itself- as meaning the entry of Christ into Jerusalem as a lone visitor. ²⁷ Even if the Islamic conquest is not mentioned in any prophecy, and if its conqueror had not been `Umar himself, the attribute of abomination or uncleanness is as far away as possible from the Islamic community of monotheism and its great conquests, which brought the people out of darkness, oppression and uncleanness into light and purity. This is the witness of all of history –praise be to Allah- rejected only by arrogant fools, sickened by bigotry and blinded by hatred.

Furthermore, it cannot apply to that event in any case since it must occur 2,300 later, whether beginning from Daniel's death, or from the Seleucid year, since Daniel died in 456 B.C.E., and between that year and the Islamic conquest was only 1091 (453+638) years, and if you calculate according to the Seleucid year it was only 971 years later (333+638).

At this point we must turn to Daniels numerology, although we would prefer to delay discussing it since the confirmed facts and events of history are adequate for our purpose. However, it is necessary in order to complete the picture:

Daniel says that the abomination of desolation will be set up in 2,300 years –as we have explained. The terms 'how long?' 'until' are frequently repeated, both within the vision itself, and in other books of the Bible. It is an error of the translator, or a too-literal translation. Especially, as we have seen, there is emphasis that it shall occur at the latter day, at the far-distant time of the indignation

None of the commentators who interpret the days as years disagree with us in this regard, and we have clearly understood the baselessness of its literal translation as common days. So what is the source of the dispute and confusion? It is possible to learn the various opinions from Chauncy's commentary, which he claims to have gathered from eighty-five Biblical commentaries, in which he says (as summarized by Rahmat-Allah al-Hindi):

“From the earliest times it has been very difficult for scholars to ascertain and define the time of the commencement of the event to which this vision refers.

“The majority of the scholars have concluded that the time of its commencement is certainly one of the four periods in which four royal commands were issued by the kings of Persia:

“The days mentioned in this vision are not days as usually understood, but days signifying years. Keeping this in mind, the ending of the period of this vision would be as follows:

Chauncy, who wrote his book in 1838, says:

“The first and second periods have passed, and the third and fourth remain. The strongest in my opinion, is the third, of which I am sure.”

According to us and the whole world today, this was an error, so what more can be said?

Chauncy says:

“According to some, its beginning is the Greek Alexander's attacking the King of Asia (that is Darius of Persia), and according to this the end point will of the prophecy will be in the year 1966.” ²⁸

Shaykh Rahmat-Allah (who died in 1891) adds:

“If the falsehood of the first and second periods were apparent in his lifetime, as he himself acknowledged, and the falsehood of the third, which according to him is the strongest, is apparent, and likewise the falsehood of the fourth…then only the fifth period remains.” ²⁹

Since the purpose of the Shaykh was to refute all Biblical prophecies so as to demonstrate that they are distorted or doubtful, he also expected that the fifth would be false, and said:

“Those who are alive at that time will see that it too is false, God willing.”

Moreover, when the Shaykh quoted the statements of those of them who say that it is reality which will demonstrate the truth of this prophecy, he rejected it with scorn, saying that they are to be excused since it is the words of the prophecy itself which are corrupted. ³⁰

Allah have mercy on Shaykh Rahmat-Allah, he could have suspended judgment since it is rash to firmly reject the occurrence of something which is a reasonable possibility, despite the fact that his purpose was to confirm the existence of distortion in the text of the Bible. Since it is agreed that not every word of the Bible is distorted, the least one can do is leave open the possibility of its occurrence.

Furthermore, that being the Shaykh's purpose, he did not attempt to rule on the relative strength or weakness of the last opinion, which is necessary, so we say:

The cause of the error of the four opinions is determining the commencement of the period by the proclamation of imperial decrees concerning the restoration of Jerusalem, which is not mentioned in the vision itself (the vision of the ram and goat), it is only mentioned in the aforementioned vision of the toes, which is a different vision altogether, and in our opinion, the phrase 'from the going forth of the command' is an interpolation, and Allah knows best. Therefore, those who interpret the commencement as the appearance of Alexander are more correct, since they derived it from the text itself. Its commencement is from the incident of his conquering Asia which was in the year 334 according to some, but was 333 according to the most correct and well-known opinion. This calendar remained in worldwide use until the Church devised the Christian calendar.

According to this the establishment of the abomination of desolation would be (2300-333)=1967, which is what actually happened, which was a very painful event for the nation of the saints, and of great joy to the Zionists and fundamentalists.

Indeed, disregarding the numerology and prophecies, it was the greatest event in Jewish history in nearly two-thousand years.

Now we have seen the establishment of the abomination of desolation, in all its abomination and its desolation, its barbarity and atrocity, its idolatry and blasphemy, its cancellation of the daily prayers in the Aqsa Mosque, and its destruction and burning. We ask Allah's protection from their evil and to preserve what remains of His sanctuary. Now we will go back to Christ's statement about it so as to see whether these Evangelical Zionists are truly Christians as they claim, or followers of the Zionist beast, whether they know it or not.

According to Matthew:

“Now as [Jesus] sat on the Mount of Olives, the disciples came to him privately, saying, 'Tell us, when will these things [the destruction of the Temple] be? And what will be the sign of your coming, and of the end of the age?'

“And Jesus answered them and said to them: 'Take heed that no one deceives you. For many will come in my name, 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 these things must come to pass, but the end is not yet. For nation 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 many false prophets will rise up and deceive many people…But he who endures to the end will be saved [through the preaching of:]…this gospel [or message of good news] of the kingdom will be preached in all the world as a witness to all the nations, and then the end will come.

“'Therefore, when you see the “abomination of desolation,” spoken of by Daniel the prophet, standing in the holy place (whoever reads let him understand), then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains. Let him who is on the housetop not go down to take anything out of his house. And let him who is in the field not go back to get his clothes…

“'Then if anyone says to you, “Look, here is the Christ!” or “There!” do not believe it. For false christs and false prophets will rise and show great signs and wonders to deceive, if possible, even the elect. See, I have told you beforehand. Therefore, I 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 lightening comes from the east and flashes in the west, so also will the coming of the Son of Man be. For wherever the carcass is, there the eagles will be gathered together.'” (23:3-28)

As usual, we have texts concerning tremendous events, whose vagueness is bewildering, and the Christian disputation concerning them is extreme. This is because of the distortion of emendations and omissions, yet despite this, there is only one possible, correct interpretation. The more the Jews and Christians –as we hope- use the free keys of symbolic interpretation which we have given them, the more they will discover the acceptable interpretations –on the condition that textual distortions are always a possibility. The key in this case, is the 'Son of Man,' who is Muhammad –Allah's blessing and peace be upon him, who is mentioned in this page of the gospel for a clear purpose, which is to distinguish between him and between the Son of the Virgin, Jesus –peace be upon him. We already understand the abomination of desolation, so when it is established it will be the Son of Man who comes, in the form of his armies, not in person.

Thus, the subject is combination of what is found in the book of Daniel, and what is in the gospel. Kingdom will rise against kingdom, and the end of it will be the establishment of the kingdom of the Son of Man, whose armies will be summoned to destroy the abomination of desolation (the carcass). (Daniel 7:13,14) (Matthew 24:24-31)

The abomination of desolation is itself. Moreover, Daniel is specified by name in Matthew and Mark (13). Luke, however, explains the abomination in such a way as to support our interpretation:

“But when you see Jerusalem surrounded by armies, then know that its desolation is near.” (21:20) They all discuss the same topic, I doubt that even the fundamentalists would dispute that. In that case, what is Christ's advice to those who live to see that time, the time of the establishment of the abomination of desolation? He most clearly warns against false christs in the first part of his speech and in the last part, and he warns against being deceived by their claim that Christ has come or is present here or there. He strongly warns against remaining among unclean ones, emphasizing that one must quickly flee from among them because of Allah's painful chastisement of them at the hands of the armies of the other messiah, the son of man, not the son of the virgin, whose armies will attack the unclean, decaying Zionist state like eagles attacking unclean, decaying carrion.

It is great advice, and as clear as the sun, but do people like Jerry Falwell, Pat Robertson, or Jimmy Swaggart understand it? And will the chosen people (the Islamic community) listen so that they will not fall into error like the Jews and Christians? Perhaps the fundamentalists will debate the interpretation of this text as usual saying that the Son of Man is a heavenly personality. That may be, but what do they say about Christ's advice when the abomination is set up? Is it in harmony with the great commotion and clamor they create out of their joy and happiness over the establishment of the abomination of desolation, their announcement to the world that its establishment heralds the coming of Christ, their encouragement to their followers to visit and make pilgrimage to it so that they will be their when he suddenly comes, and the strong pressure they put on America and the rest of the world to support the state of the abomination and enmity?

Is this not a great contradiction and rejection of Christ's advice?

Furthermore, do not all their gospels attribute the so-called killing of Christ and the plots against him to the Jews? Has any rational person heard of a community that venerates the killer of the prophet whom they worship, and fights those who love that prophet and believe in him? Does Christ not describe the Jews as broods of vipers, killers of the prophets, who worship to be seen of men, blind guides, and extorters? It is enough for you to read the twenty-third chapter of Matthew. When will the millions of fundamentalists who follow these false christs wake up?