Palestinian Arabs Rally for the Caliphate and the Mahdi

A rally took place in the West Bank city of Ramallah in which the Palestinian Arabs were calling for the establishment of a Caliphate, a Muslim empire ruled by a caliph.  The caliph, they are saying will be the Mahdi, the promised redeemer of Muslim prophecy.  There are many interesting points in this article at Israel National News including that there were a lot of young well educated Palestinians at the rally.  The young Palestinians are becoming increasingly radical in their beliefs.  This does not bode well for a peaceful future in Israel.

PA Arabs Fete 'New Mahdi," Establishment of Calpihate

Thousands of PA Arabs participated in a mass rally in Ramallah earlier this week calling for the establishment of the Muslim Caliphate – the worldwide Islamist government that will “bring the coming of the Mahdi.” the Muslim messiah.

The Caliphate is essentially a union of Muslim countries under the spiritual and political leadership of a single individual, the Caliph. It has been an Islamic concept since the days of Muhammad, when it was established by several of his disciples. The office of “official Caliph” has been disputed at times, with rival would-be Caliphs battling each other for the title.

The last official Caliph was Abdülmecid II, who lost the office in the aftermath of the defeat of Ottoman Turkey in World War I. The best-known Caliph in the West was Suleiman the Great, an early Ottoman sultan who, in the 16th century, conquered most of the Middle East and the Persian Gulf, even conquering parts of Europe, until he was stopped at “the Gates of Vienna.”

With many Muslim states politically and religiously divided, and dependent on the West for support, radical Islamists have been pushing for the reestablishment of the Caliphate – this time to be led by the all-powerful Mahdi, who will unite all Muslims and establish Islam as the dominant religion in the world, ruling for several years before the "Day of Judgment". Although the identity of the Mahdi is a secret, many Islamists believe that he is alive now, and several individuals have claimed the title. Many Islamists were said to have believed that Osama Bin-Laden was the Mahdi, or his right-hand man, until he was killed several years ago by U.S. forces in Afghanistan.

http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/168639#.Ua_Fy9d38Yw