The Leopard
(Islam)
1.
The Third Beast
And then after this, as I continued watching, another wild beast, it was just like a leopard, and it had four wings that were stretched out above it, and the beast had four heads (Dan. 7:6 LXX)
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According to tradition, the origins of Islam can be traced back to AD 610, the year an angel appeared to a man named Muhammad in a cave in western Arabia.
The story goes this angel imparted many revelations to Muhammad and commissioned him to spread these revelations to the world.
As a result, Muhammad spent the next 12 years trying to win over the residents of Mecca (his hometown) to this nascent religion of Islam, but without success.
He was eventually run out of town and ended up in a city north of Mecca called Medina.
After arriving in Medina in AD 622, Muhammad decided that a change of tactics was in order. From that point on, he would no longer try and persuade people to convert to Islam.
He would force them.
This new strategy proved to be extremely effective, and within 10 years he had conquered the whole of the Arabian Peninsula.
…and it had four wings that were stretched out above it (Dan. 7:6 LXX)
When Muhammad died in AD 632 without an heir, four men were elected to be his successors:
Abu Bakr (AD 632—634)
Umar ibn al-Khattab (AD 634—644)
Uthman ibn Affan (AD 644—656)
Ali ibn Abi Talib (AD 656—661)
These four men are known to history as the Rightly Guided Caliphs.
(A caliph is the supreme leader of the Muslim world, and the Muslim state over which a caliph rules is called a caliphate. The Rightly Guided caliphate was called the Rashidun Caliphate.)
After the passing of Muhammad, the duty fell to his successors to not only maintain his legacy, but to increase it.
And increase it they did.
Over the course of their 29-year reign, Islamic expansion grew at an unprecedented rate, particularly under Umar.
The great civilizations of Persia, Egypt, and the Byzantine Empire were all brought under the submission of Islam at this time, making the Rashidun Caliphate the largest and most powerful empire in the world.
…and the beast had four heads (Dan. 7:6 LXX)
The Rashidun Caliphate was the first of four major Caliphates in history:
Rashidun Caliphate (AD 632—661)
Umayyad Caliphate (AD 661—750)
Abbasid Caliphate (AD 750—1258)
Ottoman Caliphate (AD 1517—1924)
Although smaller caliphates have sprouted up in various places over the years, none have been so widely recognized or regarded as these.
As for Jerusalem, let us take a look at the history of the Holy City under Islamic rule:
Rashidun Caliphate (AD 638—661)
Umayyad Caliphate (AD 661—750)
Abbasid Caliphate (AD 750—969)
AD 969 to AD 1070 saw the rule of the Fatimids, a dynasty/caliphate whose legitimacy/authority was rejected by the majority of Muslims at the time. *
AD 1099 marked the beginning of the Crusades in Jerusalem, which saw almost two hundred years of conflict between Christians and Muslims over the Holy Land.
Following the Crusades was the Mamluk period from AD 1249—1517. The Mamluks were a group of non-Arab soldiers who eventually declared themselves a sultanate (not a caliphate).
4. Ottoman Caliphate (AD 1517 — 1924)
By AD 1517, the Ottoman Empire had conquered the Mamluks and declared itself a caliphate. The Ottoman Caliphate lasted for 400 years, until it was finally abolished in 1924.
2.
The Belly and Thighs of Bronze
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Under the leadership of Muhammad, Islam was a unified force. One body.
Shortly after his death, however, a rift occurred between the Muslim people that effectively split that body in two.
This division led to the creation of the two branches (or sects) of Islam we still see today:
Sunni and Shia.
* Note: The Fatimids were rejected by the Sunni majority primarily for being Shia.
