I wrote this in november 2003 but as usual I stopped and started writing something else. I have removed quite a bit from it because Qur'an numbers. You can make correction to it and make it into better article if you like, otherwise it is correct-------

Revelation 16:
12 And the sixth angel poured out his vial upon the great river Euphrates; and the water thereof was dried up, that the way of the kings of the east might be prepared.
13  And I saw three unclean spirits like frogs come out of
      the mouth of the dragon, and out of
      the mouth of the beast, and out of
      the mouth of the false prophet.
14  For they are the spirits of devils, working miracles, which go forth unto the kings of the earth and of the whole world, to gather them to the battle of that great day of God Almighty.
15  Behold, I come as a thief. Blessed is he that watcheth, and keepeth his garments, lest he walk naked, and they see his shame.
16  And he gathered them together into a place called in the Hebrew tongue Armageddon.

This is the Armageddon people heard a lot, it is not a name of battle but place. Sound very like very big and ultimate battle, as we imagine it and wish it to happen of course. And we are like maniac imagining the blood flowing and cities after cities destroyed. Those who long for it for all his life will take very deep breath, "Good Lord", than he/she will go to bed happy and smiling, the ultimate orgasm finally arrived and over, or IS IT?
Islamically this devil known as DAJJAL, yet this dajjal or the armageddon both not mention in the Qur'an, this dajjal came from khadith and armageddon came from from Bible.
If those are not in the Qur'an therefore they are false? not necessarily, I do believe in this "great battle" but not what people have in mind, thing that most likely you never thought, the real big and decisive battle where the "strong" survived and the weak goes to dust, a final battle, and it is coming or maybe it is going already. It is not a day, a week, months or even years but war for generations.
The funny thing of this is, nobody knows who is the opponent and noone even think that they are in the war.

We heard some people said that the reason for this battle is oil, as oil will became so scarce therefore attacking those countries with oil sources will be justified.

We heard some people said that the reason for this battle is water, as water will be so scarce therefore war for water will be even more just compare to oil.

Those reasons for war are possible, but to avoid war for those reasons are available, in other word the war is avoidable event. But there is a reason which is very hard to avoid, except with one reason.

And if ye turn away, still I have conveyed unto you that wherewith I was sent unto you, and my Lord will set in place of you a folk other than you. Ye cannot injure Him at all. Lo! my Lord is Guardian over all things. (11:57)

Although the above reason which is derived from the story of Hud and His people is different, but the result always the same, remove the people and place another people in their place.
Although it would be nice for most of us to hear more theories about above armageddon, In my mind I have completely different Armageddon, not a conflict which shed bloods or the destruction of buildings but a conflict which everyone see today and eventually will reach all with no exception.

I based this on a khadith which I only heard but I heard more than once. The wording of this khadith is not important but the meaning.
According to it Iblis was receiving reports from his armies, one of them said that he just made a nation to attack the other by their military might, just for an example. The other said he just starved some section of people, again just for an example. It was the last report that was important according this khadith. The report was -
he said he just split a married couple. Hearing that Iblis stood up from his throne and hug his army genius work. That was the method he praised most.

Now we look at this method in wider view instead of a married couple, how about a community? in much larger scale the humanity itself.

Did I not charge you, O ye sons of Adam, that ye worship not the devil - Lo! he is your open foe! (36:60)

Glory be to Him Who created all the sexual pairs,
of that which the earth groweth, and of themselves, and of that which they know not! (36:36)

Those who break the covenant of Allah after ratifying it,
and sever that which Allah ordered to be joined, and (who) make mischief in the earth: Those are they who are the losers. (2:27)


Lo! Pharaoh exalted himself in the earth and made its people castes. A tribe among them he oppressed, killing their sons and sparing their women. Lo! he was of those who work corruption. (28:4)

I have never enjoyed reading Revelation and I don't know why John wrote that.

Also, I don't know why was it so necessary to include it in the New Testament?

Salam Alaikoam

Armageddon

Armageddon does not have to mean a total collapse and catastrophe in the world.

To me it means Army Gathering for W.A.R.S.=World Arising Responsibly and Spiritually setting the playing field level so all Mankind has access to Education, Counseling, Consultation this is true justice.

People of all Races, Religions and Walks of Life called together, working together for the good of all Mankind.

Though we are working everyday on many issues in life there needs to be a Call to Revive, Renew and Encourage Everyone in Their Struggles that there is Help and Hope.

In this Army Gathering everyone will be called into Service to do Their part at making the World a better place and become a better People.

Just because historical books talk about a day of collapse does not mean it has to happen.

We can and We must work with what We have and encourage more resource sharing and caring amongst all people.

The world, the Earth has blessed us with many resources and these resources are for the well being and benefit of everyone not just a few.

It is time we found a system to ensure everyone has a share in the bounty of this world and is Encouraged, Educated, Trained, Counseled, Consulted and Guided towards being the best Person they can be and let go of the ills of the past and forge a new future that is bright with good Words, Deeds, Actions and Thoughts.

Though as it says in Surah 99, 1-8 we need to sort into resolution groups to see what We have done wrong and what We have done right and work towards increases those good deeds, actions and thoughts many fold.

We are at a point where we have the power to destroy the world many times over and I say we call everyone to the table and debrief on where we have been and what we want to see in the world and ourselves and create an even more vibrant and wonderful world for all Beings, Seen and Unseen with Affirmations of Faith.

Though we cannot control others we can control ourselves and we can encourage each other to get the Education, Training, Counseling and Consultations we need to prepare and accomplish the Greatest wonder of the World, Peace.  Peace within ourselves, others and the World.

We are the key ingredients in making this World Wonderful and making Us a Wonderful People.

There is hope, we are that hope.

May your day be Blessed with a more positive attitude.

May you find hope within Yourself, Others and the World!

Anne Marie Elderkin Habibi

Hello everyone!  Here is what the Catholic Church believes about the last days:

I. HE WILL COME AGAIN IN GLORY

Christ already reigns through the Church. . .

668 "Christ died and lived again, that he might be Lord both of the dead and of the living."[548] Christ's Ascension into heaven signifies his participation, in his humanity, in God's power and authority. Jesus Christ is Lord: he possesses all power in heaven and on earth. He is "far above all rule and authority and power and dominion", for the Father "has put all things under his feet."[549] Christ is Lord of the cosmos and of history. In him human history and indeed all creation are "set forth" and transcendently fulfilled.[550]

669 As Lord, Christ is also head of the Church, which is his Body.[551] Taken up to heaven and glorified after he had thus fully accomplished his mission, Christ dwells on earth in his Church. The redemption is the source of the authority that Christ, by virtue of the Holy Spirit, exercises over the Church. "The kingdom of Christ [is] already present in mystery", "on earth, the seed and the beginning of the kingdom".[552]

670 Since the Ascension God's plan has entered into its fulfilment. We are already at "the last hour".[553] "Already the final age of the world is with us, and the renewal of the world is irrevocably under way; it is even now anticipated in a certain real way, for the Church on earth is endowed already with a sanctity that is real but imperfect."[554] Christ's kingdom already manifests its presence through the miraculous signs that attend its proclamation by the Church.[555]
. . . until all things are subjected to him

671 Though already present in his Church, Christ's reign is nevertheless yet to be fulfilled "with power and great glory" by the King's return to earth.[556] This reign is still under attack by the evil powers, even though they have been defeated definitively by Christ's Passover.[557] Until everything is subject to him, "until there be realized new heavens and a new earth in which justice dwells, the pilgrim Church, in her sacraments and institutions, which belong to this present age, carries the mark of this world which will pass, and she herself takes her place among the creatures which groan and travail yet and await the revelation of the sons of God."[558] That is why Christians pray, above all in the Eucharist, to hasten Christ's return by saying to him:[559] Maranatha! "Our Lord, come!"[560]

672 Before his Ascension Christ affirmed that the hour had not yet come for the glorious establishment of the messianic kingdom awaited by Israel[561] which, according to the prophets, was to bring all men the definitive order of justice, love and peace.[562] According to the Lord, the present time is the time of the Spirit and of witness, but also a time still marked by "distress" and the trial of evil which does not spare the Church[563] and ushers in the struggles of the last days. It is a time of waiting and watching.[564]

The glorious advent of Christ, the hope of Israel

673 Since the Ascension Christ's coming in glory has been imminent,[565] even though "it is not for you to know times or seasons which the Father has fixed by his own authority."[566]. This eschatological coming could be accomplished at any moment, even if both it and the final trial that will precede it are "delayed".[567]

674 The glorious Messiah's coming is suspended at every moment of history until his recognition by "all Israel", for "a hardening has come upon part of Israel" in their "unbelief" toward Jesus.[568] St. Peter says to the Jews of Jerusalem after Pentecost: "Repent therefore, and turn again, that your sins may be blotted out, that times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord, and that he may send the Christ appointed for you, Jesus, whom heaven must receive until the time for establishing all that God spoke by the mouth of his holy prophets from of old."[569] St. Paul echoes him: "For if their rejection means the reconciliation of the world, what will their acceptance mean but life from the dead?"[570] The "full inclusion" of the Jews in the Messiah's salvation, in the wake of "the full number of the Gentiles",[571] will enable the People of God to achieve "the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ", in which "God may be all in all".[572]

The Church's ultimate trial

675 Before Christ's second coming the Church must pass through a final trial that will shake the faith of many believers.[573] The persecution that accompanies her pilgrimage on earth[574] will unveil the "mystery of iniquity" in the form of a religious deception offering men an apparent solution to their problems at the price of apostasy from the truth. The supreme religious deception is that of the Antichrist, a pseudo-messianism by which man glorifies himself in place of God and of his Messiah come in the flesh.[575]

676 The Antichrist's deception already begins to take shape in the world every time the claim is made to realize within history that messianic hope which can only be realized beyond history through the eschatological judgement. The Church has rejected even modified forms of this falsification of the kingdom to come under the name of millenarianism,[576] especially the "intrinsically perverse" political form of a secular messianism.[577]

677 The Church will enter the glory of the kingdom only through this final Passover, when she will follow her Lord in his death and Resurrection.[578] The kingdom will be fulfilled, then, not by a historic triumph of the Church through a progressive ascendancy, but only by God's victory over the final unleashing of evil, which will cause his Bride to come down from heaven.[579] God's triumph over the revolt of evil will take the form of the Last Judgement after the final cosmic upheaval of this passing world.[580]

II. TO JUDGE THE LIVING AND THE DEAD