Iran Hints at Aug. 22 Doomsday for Israel

By the NewsMax.com Staff
For the story behind the story... Tuesday, Aug. 8, 2006 4:06 p.m. EDT

Noted Middle Eastern scholar Bernard Lewis warns that Iran is preparing for an apocalyptic "end of time” – and that it could come as soon as August 22.

The July 28 edition of NewsMax’s Insider Report pointed to the connection between that date, when Iran leader Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said his country would respond to Western demands regarding Iran’s nuclear program, and a possible attack on Israel.

Now Lewis, professor emeritus of Near Eastern Studies at Princeton, writes about that scenario. He notes in the Wall Street Journal that this year, August 22 corresponds, in the Islamic calendar, to the night when Muhammad flew first to "the farthest mosque” – usually identified with Jerusalem – and then to heaven and back.

"This might well be deemed an appropriate date for the apocalyptic ending of Israel and if necessary the world,” writes Lewis, whose most recent book is "From Babel to Dragomans: Interpreting the Middle East.”
He also points to an intriguing reason why the Iranians might not fret at all about an Israeli counterstrike – even with nuclear weapons.

What deterred both sides from using nuclear weapons during the Cold War was the concept of MAD, mutual assured destruction. But the "apocalyptic worldview” of Iran’s current leaders works against that concept, according to Lewis.

Ahmadinejad is a strong believer in the Shiite tradition of a 12th imam, the so-called "hidden” Imam Mahdi who Allah has miraculously kept alive since his disappearance in 874 A.D.

Shiites believe Imam Mahdi will return at a time of great global chaos – and the Web site Zionist.com states: "Ahmadinejad sees himself as Allah’s instrument to pave the way for Imam Mahdi.”

According to Lewis, Ahmadinejad and his followers "clearly believe that this time is now.”

He cites the phrase "Allah will know his own” to explain why Iran might be willing to usher in the apocalypse even if it means the death of many Muslims.

"It means that while infidel, i.e., non-Muslim, victims will go to a well-deserved punishment in hell, Muslims will be sent straight to heaven,” enjoying "the rewards without the struggles of martyrdom.”

For people with this mindset, Lewis writes, "MAD is not a constraint; it is an inducement.”

He adds: "It is far from certain that Mr. Ahmadinejad plans any such cataclysmic events precisely for Aug. 22, but it would be wise to bear the possibility in mind.”

And in the long term, Lewis feels, the best hope of staving off an Iranian-spurred conflagration "is to appeal to those Muslims, Iranians, Arabs and others who do not share these apocalyptic perceptions and aspirations, and feel as much threatened, indeed even more threatened, than we are.”