Imagining the End: Visions of

fitan

 was soon

to become synonymous with 

malahim

 – apocalyptic woes and tribulations on

which a book is attributed to Daniel. These civil wars (

fitan

) of  classical

Islam are the easily recognizable context of  a large number of  apocalyptic

traditions which usually take the form of  ‘

ex eventu

 prophecies’. Furthermore,

the Muslim–Byzantine wars constituted the generative historical matrix of  a

considerable number of  apocalyptic traditions on the tribulations of  the end

of  time.

15

 As the events of  these wars underwent apocalyptic transformation

and elaboration, however, the term 

fitna

 itself  acquired the sense of  pre-

messianic tribulation and was included among the signs of  the Hour. I suspect

this tradition anachronistically renders 

malahim

 as 

fitan

. If  so, its referent

might be the apocalyptic battles of  the Kings of  the South and the North,

and especially the battles of  the end of  time against earthly kings in which

the archangels Gabriel and Michael lead the army of  angels against earthly

kings (Daniel 



: 



–



: 



). In any case, the use of  the term 

malhama

 for the

woes and tribulations of  the end of  time is striking. Its derivation from the

Hebrew cognate 

milhama

 (war) clearly points to the influence of  the apoca-

lyptic War Rules in the Dead Sea Scrolls and thus to the bearers of  the

Qumran apocalyptic tradition who also carried the Danielic one.

16

 Muslims

later came to think Daniel’s book also contained the eternal wisdom the

father of  mankind, Adam, had hidden in the treasure-cave mentioned in the

Syriac texts soon to be translated into Arabic. 

17

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110

Judaism, Christianity and Islam

The influence of the Book of Daniel is especially marked in the idea of

Muhammad as the Seal of  the Prophets. There can be little doubt that the

notion of  Seal (

khatam

) is apocalyptic. The Hebrew cognate 

khotam

 is the

messianic signet-ring of  Haggai 



:

 

, where Yahweh declares to Zerubbabel:

‘I shall take you … and make you like a signet-ring; for I have chosen you.’

The apocalyptic connotation of  the term is made explicit, and is, furthermore,

applied to prophecy by Daniel who speaks of  the time for setting the seal on

prophecy (Daniel 



:

 

) and is told by Gabriel to ‘keep the book sealed until

the end of  time’ (Daniel 



:

 

). The basic tenet of  primitive Islam, according

to Casanova, was that ‘the time announced by Daniel and Jesus had come.

Muhammad was the last prophet chosen by God to preside, at the end of

time … over the universal resurrection and Last Judgement.’ His argument

for equating the expression ‘Seal of  the Prophets’ (

khatam al-nabiyin

) with

‘the prophet/messenger of the end of time’ (

nabi/rasul akhir al-zaman

) is

persuasive.

18 

According to one well-known tradition, the finality of  Muham-

mad’s prophecy itself  is apocalyptic: ‘I am Muhammad, and I am Ahmad and

I am the resurrector – the people are resurrected upon my steps – and I am

the final one – there is no prophet after me.’

19

 Even more decisive is the

epithet ‘Prophet/Messenger of  the 

malhama

’ attested for Muhammad in

several early traditions.

20

Muhammad, the prophet of  the end of  time, did begin the conquest of

Arabia as a true ‘Messenger of  the 

malhama

’; his apocalyptic battle was none

other than the battle of  Badr in 



, when God sent down 

, 

angels to

fight alongside his army (Q. [Qur'an] 



: 



–



). The Muslim tradition follows

Daniel in having Gabriel and Michael each lead 

,

 angels to the right and

the left of  Muhammad (and archangel Israfil is added at the head of  another

,

 to reach the number given in the Qur'an)

21

 and considers the battle of

Badr as ‘the day of  redemption/deliverance (

furqan

)’ mentioned in Q. 



:

 

as a parallel to Exodus 



:

  

.

22

The Book of  Daniel was influential in the Judaeo-Christian apocalyptic

lore, as well as the Gnostic-Mandaean literature.

23

 More immediately, the

Danielic apocalyptic notions were most probably introduced in Arabia by the

anti-Rabbinic Jewish, Jewish Christian and Jewish Manichaean sects.

24

 These

sectarian groups have been identified as the bearers of  the Qumran apocalyptic

tradition.

25

 This identification has recently been reinforced through the con-

nection established between the Zadokite (Sadducee) leadership and legal rite

of  the Qumran community and the Sadducee designation and legal rite of

the medieval Karaites.

26

 Through the Karaite connection, the anti-Rabbinic

Jews, such as those of  the Yemen, who ‘have the knowledge’ and accepted

Muhammad as the expected gentile prophet,

27

 saying ‘the promise of  our

Lord is indeed fulfilled’ (Q. 



:

  

), can now be confirmed as the heirs to

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111

Messianism, Millennialism and Revolution

the Essene apocalyptic tradition. In what follows I will point to the Essene

influence on apocalyptic elements in the Qur'an. The connection between the

Qumran sectarian teachings and the origins of  Islam is, however, not confined

to apocalypticism. Philonenko

28

 has persuasively argued that the only express

citation of  the Psalms (indeed, of  the Old Testament) in the Qur'an (Psalm



:

  

 cited in Q. 



: 



 as ‘The earth shall be the inheritance of  My

righteous servants’)

29

 depends on the Essene texts, as does the Qur'anic image

of  David more generally. Furthermore, the evidence for the Essene connection

is not solely textual; there are also important historical indications. According

to the biography of  the Prophet, his confirmation as the gentile prophet (