Apocalyptic prophecy served rebels by casting them as expected saviors

Evidence

Predictions of this kind were central to another form of propaganda, the apocalyptic and eschatological tracts known as mala¯hfiim (sg. malhfiama). Writings of this kind circulated among Jews and Christians, both before and after the advent of Islam. Examples may be found in both the Old and New Testaments. Muslim predictions often have a specific political agenda. They purport to de­ scribe the struggles at the end of time between good and evil and the final triumph of a messianic figure who, in the common phrase, “will fill the world with justice and equity as it is now filled with injustice and oppression.” These predictions were used to convey a message of religious dissent and protest against the existing order, and to support the claim of a rebel pretender to the headship of the Islamic community. Such pretenders made a great effort to conform to prophecies that were current at the time and thus to cast themselves in the role of the expected savior. — Bernard Lewis, From Babel to Dragomans, 498 (#corroborates, via linked claim)

Categorization

• XREF: connects to: Apocalyptic predictions served as political protest propaganda for rebel pretenders. — Bernard Lewis, From Babel to Dragomans: Interpreting…, 498

Broader Connections

• Apocalyptic predictions served as political protest propaganda for rebel pretenders. #corroborates (0.95) — Bernard Lewis, From Babel to Dragomans, 498