A picture containing nature, photo Description automatically generated BSS 194 (2020): Unintended and Natural Threats - Eschatology Eschatology •Eschatology, the doctrine of the last things. A close up of text on a white background Description automatically generated Those are: •Cristianity/Islam/Judaism: •Dying •Death •Final Judgement (artwork by Jacob de Backer, 1585) •Afterlife (Heaven and Hell) •Return of Jesus / Mahdi *historical/mythological • •Hinduism/Buddhism/Jainism •Dying •Death •Afterlife: - Samsara (Cycle of Reincarnation) - Karma - Nirvana - Moksha (ultimate state of soteriological release, the liberation from repeated rebirth) • •Bhavachakra (cyclic existence) Differences in Eschatology •Monotheisms •codified / canonized • •Linera time-frame • •Everyone has the same strategy • •Judge is a Person •Eastern religions •Canon is less agreed upon • •Cyclical time • •Eschatological strategies: Karma-oriented vs nirvana-oriented life • •Judge is im-personal Eschatology – Mental Impact Head with Gears •Eschatological themes thrive during crises, serving as consolation for those who hope for a better world or as motivation for a revolutionary transformation of society. • •Shaped by the extent and nature of the believer’s involvement in the world, eschatological expectations assume either: - Individual form - tend to foster either apolitical or politically conservative attitudes—predicated on the belief that each person experiences God’s judgment upon death and that there is therefore little purpose to changing the world. - Collective form – sometimes involve political activism and the expectation of the public manifestation of God’s justice. Not only do they hope for collective corporeal salvation and a transformation of the world, but they actively prepare for it. • Why Eschatology at Unintentional and Natural Threats? A close up of a map Description automatically generated A picture containing snow, outdoor, nature Description automatically generated Because: Eschatology and Politics A picture containing building, book, text Description automatically generated A person smiling for the camera Description automatically generated A close up of text on a black background Description automatically generated A picture containing sky, text Description automatically generated A screenshot of a cell phone Description automatically generated A screenshot of text Description automatically generated A picture containing outdoor, sky, man Description automatically generated Example I. - Islamic State of Iraq and al-Sham •A pillar of ISIS ideology that makes it different from other Islamist and jihadist movements, including al-Qaeda, is the group's emphasis on eschatology and apocalypticism: a belief in a final Day of Judgment by Allah, and specifically, a belief that the arrival of one known as Imam Mahdi is near. ISIS believes that it will defeat the army of "Rome" at the town of Dabiq, in fulfilment of prophecy. Following its interpretation of the Hadith of the Twelve Successors, ISIS also believes that after al-Baghdadi there will be only four more legitimate caliphs. Wood, G., What ISIS Really Wants, The Atlantic, 3/2015, https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2015/03/what-isis-really-wants/384980/ • •“References to the End Times fill Islamic State propaganda. It's a big selling point with foreign fighters, who want to travel to the lands where the final battles of the apocalypse will take place. The civil wars raging in those countries today [Iraq and Syria] lend credibility to the prophecies. The Islamic State has stoked the apocalyptic fire. [...] For Bin Laden's generation, the apocalypse wasn't a great recruiting pitch. Governments in the Middle East two decades ago were more stable, and sectarianism was more subdued. It was better to recruit by calling to arms against corruption and tyranny than against the Antichrist. Today, though, the apocalyptic recruiting pitch makes more sense than before.” McCants, W., The ISIS Apocalypse: The History, Strategy, and Doomsday Vision of the Islamic State, St. Martin's Press, 2015, p. 147. World Muslims beliefs about Eschatology •Pew Research Centre: most Muslims believe they will live to see the return of the Mahdi. This expectation is most widespread in Afghanistan (83%), Iraq (72%), Turkey (68%) and Tunisia (67%). Views of return of Jesus (prophet Isa) are similar, since they are tied to the return of Mahdi. The Mahdi is an end-times messianic figure of Islam who will fill Earth with justice and equity, restore true religion, fight the Dajjal (“Antichrist”) and usher in a short golden age during his rule for several years before the Judgment Day and the end of the world. But before the golden age, Mahdi and his army of the faithful will be almost eliminated, down to only 5000 fighters. ISIS uses this part of the prophecy when it starts to look like they are losing. This way even being close to defeat is a rallying point – because it is all part of the plan of Allah that was foretold and it fits the narrative about the apocalyptic battle. Jesus will arrive a while after Mahdi to join him in his war against the Dajjal and to persuade the People of the Book (Jews and Christians) to join Islam., Pew Research Center, The World’s Muslims: Chapter 3 - Articles of Faith, 2012, http://www.pewforum.org/2012/08/09/the-worlds-muslims-unity-and-diversity-3-articles-of-faith/ A screenshot of a cell phone Description automatically generated A screenshot of a cell phone Description automatically generated A screenshot of a cell phone Description automatically generated A screenshot of a cell phone Description automatically generated Meaning... •These views can help understand why ISIS apocalyptic message could gain ground in some places and could have persuaded some Muslims to join – it simply correlates with general belief of majority of Muslims in the area that end times are near. • A large crowd of people Description automatically generated Other practical applications. Sheikh Imran Hosein How far is the MALHAMA? | Sheikh Imran Hosein •Position: - Principal of the Aleemiyah Institute of Islamic Studies in Karachi - Imam at Masjid Dar al-Qur'an in Long Island, New York •He also led the weekly Jumu'ah prayers and delivered the sermon at the United Nations headquarters in Manhattan once a month for ten years. https://web.archive.org/web/20030817214431/http://www.sundayobserver.lk/2003/07/13/new50.html Islamic Preppers – Sheikh Omar Baloch Shiekh Omar Baloch Zverejnené: 2. 1. 2019 • •Prophet saw.: said “THE LIFE OF MY COMMUNITY WILL NOT EXTEND MUCH PAST 1500 YEARS.” • •(Suyooti, Al-Kashf ‘an Mujawazat Hadhihi al-Ummah al-Alf, ‘Al-Hawi lil-Fatawi’, Suyuti. 2/248, (Arabic) 4/262, Ahmad Ibn Hanbal, Kitab al-`Ilal, P. 89). A person holding a book shelf Description automatically generated Islamic Apocalyptic Commandos – Malhama Tactical A picture containing sky, outdoor Description automatically generated Example II.: Buddhist vs. Muslim Violence in Burma Ashin Wirathu on Muslims Who is Ashin Wirathu? A person in a red shirt Description automatically generated •is a Burmese Buddhist monk (50), head of the Masoyein Monastery in Mandalay and the communal leader of the anti-Muslim movement in Myanmar. • •He leads the movement that calls itself 969, three digits that monks say symbolize the virtues of the Buddha, Buddhist practices and the Buddhist community. • •Supports President Thein Sein‘s (2012) plan to send Burmese Rohingya Muslims to a third country. •“You can be full of kindness and love, but you cannot sleep next to a mad dog,” Ashin Wirathu said, referring to Muslims. • •“I call them troublemakers, because they are troublemakers,” Ashin Wirathu told a reporter after his two-hour sermon. “I am proud to be called a radical Buddhist.” • •“If we are weak,” he said, “our land will become Muslim.” • •https://www.nytimes.com/2013/06/21/world/asia/extremism-rises-among-myanmar-buddhists-wary-of-musl im-minority.html •The theme song to Ashin Wirathu’s movement speaks of people who “live in our land, drink our water, and are ungrateful to us.” • •“We will build a fence with our bones if necessary,” runs the song’s refrain. Muslims are not explicitly mentioned in the song but Ashin Wirathu said the lyrics refer to them. Pamphlets handed out at his sermon demonizing Muslims said that “Myanmar is currently facing a most dangerous and fearful poison that is severe enough to eradicate all civilization.” • •https://www.nytimes.com/2013/06/21/world/asia/extremism-rises-among-myanmar-buddhists-wary-of-musl im-minority.html Reasons for Buddhist-Muslim violence •Regieme change in 1980s, Socialist government was overthrown by the military, which eventually started ruling as a junta – The State Peace and Development Council (SLORC) • •To fight socialist identity, SLORC tried to utilize nationalism and Buddhism • •Many monks protested, but many have allied with SLORC • •Emergence of Buddhist Nationalism (Buddhist-Government alliance is not new, goes back hundreds of years, see i.e. Cakkavatti Sihanada Sutta) What does that have to do with Eschatology? •A lot • •Cyclical time – 4 ages (kalpas) • •Popular interpretation: Can be influenced by human actions (especially by Sangha), and we live in the last quarter of last kalpa • • A close up of a logo Description automatically generated Sangha – one of three jewels of Buddhism •If its strong and faithful, the approach of The End is slowing down •If its weak and corrupt, its speeds up BUT •If it disappears completely, The End will come very quickly. Meaning: Attack on a monk is perceived both as: 1. Attack on Buddhism as a Way of Life and Buddhist Community 2. Attack on the stability of the whole world and accelerating the approach of The End of all things. Killing a monk means to be on the side of the apocalypse •Who would do that? The answer: Only a Demon. • •Demon Mara tried to manipulate Buddha, and that is what he is trying to do to every human. There are some that are possessed by demons, and killing a demon, or a possessed human, dos not produce bad karma. Example: Monk Kittiwuttho in 1970s in Thailand stated that communists are demons, meaning that killing them does not generate bad karma. https://historyweb.dennikn.sk/clanky/detail/apologia-nasilia-v-budhizme • •Also – in some mahayana schools – killing out of mercy is considered acceptable (Bodhisattva-bhumi: Bohisattva and the Murderer story). • •So – killing a human produces bad karma, but stopping a demon actually produces good karma. Killing Muslims thus according to some interpretations does not generate bad karma •Because they are either possessed by demons (literar example of „demonization“) •Or very bad, which means killing them out of mercy while protecting the Buddhist Community is acceptable. •And even if it produces bad karma, it can be compensated by generating good karma (only killing your father, an arhant, injuring a Buddha or causing a schism in Sangha cant be compensated) • I am sure you think – i have no eschatological fears... Relax, you wouldnt be alone. Why does Eschatology work? Thank you for your attention A black sign with white text Description automatically generated