By Theodore and Walid Shoebat (Shoebat Exclusive)

Shockingly, while the world is asleep, here comes Erdogan of Turkey referring to Islamic theology that specifically declares man to becoming God and no one was paying attention. To explain all this we need to show that the theological interests of the soon to be revealed Antichrist of Turkey and explain how accurate were our predictions regarding the rising star Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

So lets begin the very interesting journey. Well, to start off with, for several months now, we revealed through several articles the necessity to focus that the future Antichrist as most likely being Turkish and specifically an adherer of Sufi Islam. But even more specifically on November 28th we stated that he would be magnatized to the specific teaching of the famous Sufi mystic Jalal al-Din Rumi. We concluded this crucial issue since Sufi Islam adheres to a theology called Fana in which man can declare himself to being God which is the signatute of none other than Rumi’s theology. How else can Antichrist declare himself “I am God”?

So low and behold this Wednesday December 17th, 11 days later after we presented our findings, Erdogan of Turkey revealed his fascination with, you guessed it, none other than whom we predicted: Jalal al-Din Rumi.

This is extremely significant. Erdogan wants to warrant himself major titles and he will never be able to do so unless he finds a theological justification within the theology of Islam which at face value rejects that man can be deified. But imbedded within Islam, the act of a man declaring “I am God,” is in fact an Islamic belief, and is right in line with what St. Paul warned about, a verse which mystified theologians from time immemorial, that the Antichrist “as God sitteth in the temple of God, shewing himself that he is God.” (2 Thessalonians 2:4). The reason Islam zigzags in this theology is simple: to reject the deity of Christ but only insert this hidden theology when necessary to become Antichrist; to deny the essence of who Christ is and at the same time to replace Christ.

We in fact even illustrated, before Erdogan’s coming out of the closet this very issue, by quoting the most infamous of Islamic Sufi writers, Rumi, when he wrote of how the goal of the Sufi is to become divine via Fana:

Remember the famous utterance of al-Hallaj, “I am God.” People think that to say “I am God” is a claim of great pretense and spiritual arrogance. It is actually a claim of extreme humility. “I am God” means “I do not exist.” He is all, everything is He, existence is God’s alone. I am without existence, pure non-existence. I am nothing.” “I am God” is not a claim of great pretension, it is a claim of extreme humility. There is more humility in this than any supposed claim to greatness, but people do not understand the inner meaning. When a man acknowledges his servitude to God, he is aware of his being a servant. He may see himself as a devoted servant of God, but he still sees himself and his own actions as apart from the one reality of God. He is not drowned in the Ocean of Divine Unity. Drowned is he in whom there is not separate motion or mobility. Drowned is he whose movement is the movement of the water. And so it is with the enlightenment ones, those who declares, “I am God.” Anyone who says “I am the servant of God” asserts the reality of two existences, one for himself and the other for God. But he who says “I am God” — and has realized the deepest levels of unity within his being — has seen through the illusion of his existence. He knows from the experience of unity that his own separate existence is nothing but an illusion. Knowing that, he casts its former selfhood upon the winds of oblivion. (Rumi, Hearts bear witness one to another, in The Complete Discourses of Jalal al-Din Rumi, discourse 11, p. 75, ed. Louis Rogers)

This is the first time in history that this connect was made and now, it is no surprise to us that this Wednesday, the president of Turkey, Erdogan, praised Rumi’s work, revealing that he himself is not only Sufi but that he also believes in Fana “the art annihilation and becoming God himself”. Why else would Erdogan praise Rumi’s work The Masnavi, saying “A work can live for more than seven centuries only if it is written with love”. The Masnavi is amongst Rumi’s most popular works, and it is in this very book that the idea of man becoming divine is adulated. He praises the Sufi declaration “I am the Truth!” saying, “Mansur’s ‘I am the Truth!’ was purest light” (Masnavi, 2.307, trans. Mojaddedi)

When Christ said “I am The Truth” He was declaring Himself to be God Almighty. Likewise in Sufi Islam, this also exists, yet mimicing Christ. In Sufi Islam for one to exclaim, “I am the Truth,” is to say “I am God!”

According to Islamic scholar, Jawid Mojaddedi, a professor at Rutger’s University, “The ‘I’ in ‘I am the Truth’ is God“. (See Mojaddedi’s translation of Rumi’s Masnavi, book 2, in his notes to pages 19-23) So, when the Sufi says, “I am the Truth!” he is declaring himself to be God and is why it is most adequate to say that the Islamic Antichrist will be Sufi, taking upon himself the titles of Christ in his attempt to vanquish Christ.

It is this very book, the Masnavi, that Erdogan praised just a few days ago, and it is this very book that affirms man’s ability to become divine. Erdogan is praising Rumi with the intention of reviving the Ottoman Empire, for there cannot be a restoration of the Turkish power without a revival in Sufi religion, the spiritual foundation for the Ottoman power, and in addition, to numerous Islamic empires.

In the speech in which Erdogan praised Rumi two days ago, he also praised Sufi mystic Ahmed Yesevi, and Muslim war leaders such as Saladin and Alp Arslan:

If we have a homeland and a flag today, and if we live in an independent country, all fraternally, this is thanks to believers like Mevlana [Rumi], Ahmed Yesevi, as well as our generals such as Saladin (of Ayyub dynasty) and Alparslan (of Seljuk dynasty)

But in order to comprehed Erdogan’s fascination with all this requires a little lesson on history. Firstly, Saladin, like Erdogan, was very interested in Sufi Islam. What is worthy of our notice is the fact that both Saladin and Alp Arslan were involved in major and very significant victories over Christians.

Saladin, who became an idol for the Muslim pantheon, ravished Egypt in 1177 with twenty five thousand men, and as they lay destruction on lands before them and decapitated many, they made their way to Jerusalem–that city on a hill.

What man would raise his sword to scatter such a mob of ruffians? A leper named Baldwin IV, with only six hundred knights rushed their fortress in Ascalon and came before Saladin who now stood stricken with surprise that a man so inexperienced in the ways of war executed such a bold move. The men stood ready in Montigisard, and with eyes locked upon the enemy made their charge, led by St. George himself as the warriors themselves attested. A thousand Mameluke fighters, brave and vicious, surrounded Saladin to protect him, but before their faces were seen descending swords manned by fearless soldiers, striking down hard upon their armour, leaving most of them dead and Saladin vulnerable. He fled, and Jerusalem–that City of God–was saved. Carroll, A History of Christendom, vol. iii, ch. iii, p. 121; see also John France, War Cruel and Unremitting, in Thomas F. Madden’s Crusades, part 3, p. 68)

Saladin tried to lay siege to the Crusader castle of Kerak. The eyes of the Christians could not turn without seeing sharp and rugged swords and to and fro, being propelled at them by the warriors of the Muslims. So many were these devastating rocks that the men dared not to raise a hand, nor lift up their heads in utter fear of being struck dead. Some Christian soldiers attempted to setup a war machine, and as they were assembling the device a wave of stones were hurled at them. They fled with the fear of death in that somber moment. The unceasing barrage of these stones compelled the men to shake in fear, and even those who retired to the innermost parts of the citadel, under the deepest seclusion, were seized by the harrowing sound of the torrent of stones and taken by horror. But the Muslims were again repulsed by the same leper, Baldwin IV. *Carroll, A History of Christendom, vol. iii, ch. iv, p. 123; William in John France, War Cruel and Unremitting, in Thomas F. Madden’s Crusades, part 3, p. 70*

The success of the Christians would soon turn to their misery; Jerusalem, which was under the hands of the Saints, was now taken by the followers of Muhammad, with Saladin at their head. It is crucial to point out that Saladin was a type of Antichrist, since he called himself the “Saviour,” and “the corrector of the world and of the law.” (Butcher, The Story of the Church of Egypt, vol. ii, part ii, ch. xxii, p. 107)

Erdogan’s most recent title is “Salah ad-Din, known in the West as Saladin.” Erdogan wants to be another Saladin, and thus he wants to be another “Savior,” taking Egypt and then Jerusalem for the glory of the Ottoman Empire. It is crucial that Christ does not only come to Jerusalem (Zechariah 14) but also will come into Egypt (Isaiah 19) to combat the Antichrist there as well and save the Copts of Egypt.

The Christians attempted to repulse Saladin, in what is called the Third Crusade, but when they had lost the Battle of Hattin in 1187, the power of the Crusades began to crumble and their fall became inevitable. (Hilaire Belloc, The Crusades, ch. i, p. pp. 3-4)

When he invaded Egypt, he founded many khanaqas, or Sufi sanctuaries. And after he invaded Jerusalem, in order to replace the authority of the Latin Catholic patriarch in the Holy City, he founded the Sufi al-Khanqah al-Salahiyya Mosque. (See Spencer, The Sufi Orders in Islam) In other words, Saladin wanted to replace Christianity with Sufism, and so the revived Ottoman Empire will want to do the same thing.

Alp Arslan, the other Muslim sultan who Erdogan praised, was the one who truly commenced the beginning of the Turkish Empire. He was of the race of the Seljuk, Tatar Turks who came from Central Asia, and he defeated the Christians in the infamous Battle of Manzikert, a victory which would be the catalyst to the Turks invading much of Asia Minor and forming the Turkish Empire that would really be the precursor to the Ottoman Empire.

In the Battle of Manzikert, Christian civilization itself was fighting for its very existence. The Christian was armed with extensive knowledge in tactical warfare, while his enemy was skillful in the riding of the horse and the bow. The Turks proceeded with their common tactic of attacking and running, which exhausted their Christian enemies. Over-pressed by continuous movement and heat, the Christian emperor Romanus had no other choice but to retire to his camp. As they were marching back, his force became confused and soon fragmented. Many of his reserve soldiers broke away, and were now cut off from the center of the army, leaving the whole force completely vulnerable to the elusive Turk.

Is Erdogan the “Fierce-looking master of intrigue” (Daniel 8:23)?

The commander of this reserve ran off from the field of battle solely to destroy the reputation of Romanus by saying he had lost the battle. When sundown came, and during the night, the Seljuks took advantage of the opportunity: the Christian soldiers were massacred. The barbarians surrounded the emperor, killed his horse and then wounded him. He was taken prisoner, his jewels were stolen, his purple taken, and all of Asia Minor lay open to the Turk. Romanus was led to the Turkish divan where he was presented before that most sinister appearing figure, Alp Arslan. He was commanded to bow down to the Mongol savage and kiss the ground before him. He reluctantly obeyed, and as his lips touched the floor the foot of the tyrant was planted on his neck.

The Turks overran Asia Minor, the nursery of Christianity, and in less than a lifetime the whole vast district of its interior was ruined. (Belloc, The Crusades, ch. ii, pp. 11-16; Gibbon, Decline and Fall, vol. v, ch. lvii, p. 1037; Moczar, Seven Lies about Catholic History, ch. iii, p. 63; John France, “Impelled by the Love of God”, in Thomas F. Madden’s The Crusades, pp. 34-35)

After the battle, Alp Arslan declared

Henceforth all of you be like lion cubs and eagle young, racing through the countryside day and night, slaying the Christians and not sparing any mercy on the Roman nation. (Nicolle, Manzikert 1071, p. 92)

This tyrant who slaughtered countless Christians, and called for the massacre of Christians, is the same tyrant who Erdogan is now praising. What makes Alp Arslan even more significant in our observation of Erdogan, is the fact that Erdogan identifies himself as Alp Arslan.

Erdogan wants to be the next Alp Arslan, and this desire is indicated by his recent actions. For example, in a 2012 conference Erdogan urged Turkish Muslim youths to not only look to 2023 as the year in which Turkey will be a “great nation, a great power”, but also 2071, representing the anniversary year for the Battle of Manzikert in 1071, in which Alp Arslan defeated the Christian Byzantine Empire.

Furthermore, in the same conference, Erdogan attired himself in the traditional white Islamic robes, purposely emulating Alp Arslan when he wore white in the Battle of Manzikert and told his soldiers:

“Here is not a sultan commanding, nor an army being commanded, for today I am only one of you a ghazi [Muslim warrior] with you. He who follows me and gives himself to God Most High, he will gain Paradise and booty. He who goes away, the Fire [of Hell] and ignominy are obligatory for him.” (8)

Notice the speech of Alp Arslan, how he says that those who will follow him will have salvation, and those who don’t will burn in hell. What Alp Arslan essentially was doing was identifying himself with Christ, Who said that He was the only way to salvation.

This is what the Islamic Antichrist will do in the end, making himself as the means to salvation. But what he will also do is ascend Islam up to the depths of power, especially Sufi Islam, in order for it to be the ideological force of the Ottoman Empire.

Regardless to all this, in the end Christian civilization will prevail. Cheer up.