Islamic State Driven by Apocalypse Prophecies
BAGHDAD (Worthy News)– Leaders of the Islamic State movement in Syria and Iraq are infatuated with apocalyptic Muslim prophecies foretelling a titanic final battle of good and evil that even involves the re-emergence of Jesus Christ to join their cause at the end of time in the Middle East, the Washington Times reported.
Analysts say the Sunni extremist group is consumed by such fantasies in a way Osama bin Laden’s original al Qaeda never was, and its propaganda is so saturated with them that intelligence officials are working to determine how much of the group’s operational strategy is actually being shaped by the obscure predictions.
From the Islamic State’s circulation on social media of photos depicting a so-called “cyclops baby” to its fixation on a Syrian town where the prophecies say the final battle will occur, analysts say the group’s leader, Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, is tapping the mythology to convince his followers that the apocalypse has already begun. –[wp_colorbox_media url=”http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2015/jan/5/apocalypse-prophecies-drive-islamic-state-strategy/” type=”iframe” hyperlink=”Source”]