Framtidsförväntningar och fiendebilder. Samtida muslimsk och kristen apokalyptik

Abstract

The purpose of this article is to analyze and compare some of the popular, and yet marginalized apocalyptic narratives in contemporary Muslim and Christian thought. Obviously, the two traditions have many things in common and yet there is an apparent antagonism between them. In order to further investigate into the tensions between Muslim and Christian apocalypticism, this article will focus on how ‘the Others’ are portrayed in these narratives: who are ‘they’ and what is their place in the apocalyptic schemes?

In the case of Muslim apocalypticism, the material that will be examined are primarily the relatively well known Saudi Arabian thinker Safar Al-Hawali’s The Day of Wrath and two recently published studies that primarily discuss Sunni Muslim Arabic apocalypticism: Apocalypse in Islam by Jean-Pierre Filiu and Contemporary Muslim Apocalyptic Literature by David Cook. Christian apocalypticism will be represented by the popular and best-selling book series Left Behind, written by Jerry B Jenkins and Tim LaHaye. Although being fictional it is clear that not only the authors but also a significant number of readers consider them telling the truth about events that will take place in a near future.

The paper identifies the stereotyping and instrumentalizing of the Jew and of Israel as one of the common features in these different traditions. However, the relationship to this world and its present order represent a fundamental difference. While most Muslim apocalypticism is political, in the sense that it seeks to change the political map in this world and its distribution of power, Christian apocalypticism is less intrigued by the idea of changing the political order of this world. Being written by authors in a more privileged position, its apocalypticism is rather apolitical with an emphasis on the escape from this world.