Islamic empire foretold in Daniel 2

Hello and salam dear readers!
Welcome to the first blog post on the truth of islam blog. Today’s topic is rather interesting and its one that I’ve been wanting to write a peace on for a while. I feel that I haven’t properly articulated my view in a public platform, and the people who speak to me in private only got hints and clues as to what my view is, and not a concise work providing evidence to support my view, nor answering possible objections from others who may disagree with me.
As you already know, today’s topic is that chapter 2 of the book of Daniel is a prophecy, fitting the discription of none other than the islamic empire. Before we get right into my view, I will seperate this peace into several sections.
1. The islamic position with regards to jewish and christian texts.
2. My view in a nutshell.
3. Background of the entire chapter.
4. The vision.
5. Interpreting the vision.
5.1. Analyzing the four kingdoms.
5.2. The fifth kingdom.
5.3. Providing evidence for the islamic empire.
6. Answering objections and other views.
7. Conclusion.
Now that you know what to expect, buckle in for the ride as we go back in time, and explore one of the most interesting prophecies in the entire bible!
Note: All of my sitations will come from the NIV, New International Version, english translation of the bible.
We begin in the name of Allah almighty, the most gracious, the most merciful.
The islamic position on the jewish and christian texts:
Its very much possible, and has happened several times within christian and muslim discourse, that upon hereing the title of this blog peace alone, a christian apologist will comment something along the lines of, well you think the bible is corrupted, you don’t accept it, so why are you quoting it? Doesn’t that make you appear as if you’re desperate and simply looking for material that’ll fit your narative, regardless of where its from? However, this not only makes them look hipocritical, but its also a blaitant misrepresentation of the islamic position on these texts.
The islamic position is simple. We don’t accept the biblical literature, and I can give several reasons for that. But of course, that’s a totally different blog post. However, we don’t believe that the text has become entirely corrupted. We believe that the text does contain some true revelation from Allah almighty, which was later altered or changed, whether directly or indirectly, as a result of some unknown action. However, our method of distinguishing what is true and what is false within these texts, is to use the quran, the last and final revelation from Allah almighty, as a criterian.
But let’s say some christian apologist had an issue with this. If they did, it creats a problem for their theology. They surely don’t believe that the quran is entirely false, as it afirms several things the bible believes about prophets of god. However, if they have a problem with us as muslims using the quran as a criterian to distinguish truth and falsehood in other revelation, then they should have a problem with christians doing the same with the bible, which of course they don’t.
In line with what we just established, there is no problem with muslims quoting the bible for prophecies of the prophet or his empire, may peace be upon him. However, its also important to note that the only reason muslims quote the bible to christians is because this is the book that christians follow, and believe to be the inspired word of the creator of the heavens and the earth. if they didn’t accept the bible, there would be no valid reason to quote from it in arguments between christians and muslims. The attempts of muslims quoting these texts is to show that the prophet, may peace be upon him, is in their own text. However, this isn’t, and shouldn’t be, the approach of muslims when giving dawah, or inviting others to islam. Our number 1 approach should be showing that islam is true from the evidence it gives us. The proofs for the quran’s divinity, prophecies of the prophet, may peace be upon him, the 4 step method, and others. I will most likely be writing blog peaces, about all of these aformentioned topics, so look out for them if you want to know more.
Let’s say a christian still had an issue with this. If I, as a muslim, am not allowed to quote the bible to a christian, even though I don’t accept it, this would limit the normal tactics of apologists when interacting with muslims and jews. Under this logic, a christian who does not accept the quran, should not be quoting it to me to prove anything, not the crucifiction nor this trinitarian divine concept of jesus, may peace be upon him. Nor is an apologist allowed to quote the rabbinic literature to a jew, in an attempt to prove the rabbinic opinions about the trinity, or the messianic prophecies in the old testament, aline with the christian position. Let’s see if they will follow their own logic they place upon us.
My view in a nutshell:
My view on Daniel chapter 2 is quite simple. I believe that the last kingdom described in the vision fits the description of none other than the islamic empire, which was founded and lead by the prophet, may peace be upon him.
Background of the chapter:
In this chapter, Nebuchadnezzar, the king of Babalon, receives a dream. he is unable to interpret it and wants to know what it means, as it really disturbs him. Because of this, he calls his magicians, astrologers and sorcers on his counsel, and tells them to tell him what it means. Since they are unable to, the king orders the execution of all the wise men of Babalon. However, one wise man, Daniel, prays to god and gets told what the dream is, and its meaning.
The vision:
Its important to note that a lot of bible prophecies are simbolic. This book, along with the infamous book of revelation, is proof of this. However, luckily for us, Daniel does the work for us and interprets part of the vision.
Below is the text of the vision from Daniel 2, 29-45
29 “As Your Majesty was lying there, your mind turned to things to come, and the revealer of mysteries showed you what is going to happen. 30 As for me, this mystery has been revealed to me, not because I have greater wisdom than anyone else alive, but so that Your Majesty may know the interpretation and that you may understand what went through your mind.
31 “Your Majesty looked, and there before you stood a large statue—an enormous, dazzling statue, awesome in appearance. 32 The head of the statue was made of pure gold, its chest and arms of silver, its belly and thighs of bronze, 33 its legs of iron, its feet partly of iron and partly of baked clay. 34 While you were watching, a rock was cut out, but not by human hands. It struck the statue on its feet of iron and clay and smashed them. 35 Then the iron, the clay, the bronze, the silver and the gold were all broken to pieces and became like chaff on a threshing floor in the summer. The wind swept them away without leaving a trace. But the rock that struck the statue became a huge mountain and filled the whole earth.
36 “This was the dream, and now we will interpret it to the king. 37 Your Majesty, you are the king of kings. The God of heaven has given you dominion and power and might and glory; 38 in your hands he has placed all mankind and the beasts of the field and the birds in the sky. Wherever they live, he has made you ruler over them all. You are that head of gold.
39 “After you, another kingdom will arise, inferior to yours. Next, a third kingdom, one of bronze, will rule over the whole earth. 40 Finally, there will be a fourth kingdom, strong as iron—for iron breaks and smashes everything—and as iron breaks things to pieces, so it will crush and break all the others. 41 Just as you saw that the feet and toes were partly of baked clay and partly of iron, so this will be a divided kingdom; yet it will have some of the strength of iron in it, even as you saw iron mixed with clay. 42 As the toes were partly iron and partly clay, so this kingdom will be partly strong and partly brittle. 43 And just as you saw the iron mixed with baked clay, so the people will be a mixture and will not remain united, any more than iron mixes with clay.
44 “In the time of those kings, the God of heaven will set up a kingdom that will never be destroyed, nor will it be left to another people. It will crush all those kingdoms and bring them to an end, but it will itself endure forever. 45 This is the meaning of the vision of the rock cut out of a mountain, but not by human hands—a rock that broke the iron, the bronze, the clay, the silver and the gold to pieces.
“The great God has shown the king what will take place in the future. The dream is true and its interpretation is trustworthy.”
Interpreting the vision:
Analyzing the four kingdoms:
First off, Daniel states that the first kingdom, represented by the head of gold, is the kingdom of Babalon, the kingdom in power during his time. Now the question is, who, or what, is the second kingdom? Does anyone know which kingdom not only came after babalon, but ended up defeating them? None other than the Medo-Persian empire! Hence, we can conclude that the Medo-Persian empire is the second kingdom, the one described as the chest and arms of silver. Also, this fits in with other prophecies from the old testament, which talk about the Medes destroying Babalon.
Isaiah 13. 17-19, See, I will stir up against them the Medes… Babylon, the jewel of kingdoms, the pride and glory of the Babylonians, will be overthrown by God.
But of course, this isn’t over yet, we’ve still got more to go! What’s the third kingdom in this sequence?
Amazingly enough, Daniel gives us a clue as to who it could be. Daniel’s Suttle hint in verse 39 where he states: Next, a third kingdom, one of bronze, will rule over the whole earth, is enough to lead us right to our suspect. And the answer is, what is Greece!
Alexander the great, the king of the greek kingdom, was not only that, but also a milatary general the likes of which none has ever seen. His empire expanded from Macedonia to Egypt and from Greece to part of India. Not only that, but he also overthrough the meto-persians. Guess we’re starting to see a bit of a pattern here?
You might be wondering, how does verse 39 give us a hint as to who this could be? The answer is in the statement, will rule over the earth. From a metaforical interpretation alone, we can deduce that this means that the kingdom will rule over a vast expanse of land, which is what happened. Fourth kingdom, anyone?
This one is a little harder to pinpoint, but Daniel gives us just the right tools to decode this. The first thing we know is that this kingdom is described to be made of iron, and it is said to break all the others, as iron breaks things to peaces. This clearly means that it will be stronger in comparison to the others. Also, we know from the ongoing pattern, that this must be a successer to Greece. What better kingdom to fit this discription, than Rome!
There are several reasons why Rome is our guy here. The first, giving more light to the iron reason, is that the roman empire was a military power the likes of which has never been seen up until then. it destroyed everything that got in its way, and its laws were imposed on all different kinds of people from all different places. Another reason is the description of the kingdom being of iron and clay in verses 41-43. Rome fits this discription as well. By the end of the fourth century ce it had split into two, with the Western part ruling from Ravenna and the Eastern part ruling from Constantinople. Jewish commentaries also note this, with the jewish commentary Artscroll Tanach states, "The division of the kingdom may also refer to the split of the Roman empire into the Eastern (Byzantine) Empire, and the Western (Roman) Empire.
The fifth kingdom:
Liked our adventure so far, that was just a warm-up. Now here’s the real task. What kingdom fits the discription of the fifth kingdom? Here are a few key characteristics that’ll help us identify it.
1. It will emerge at the time of the last kingdom. It won’t be far off in the future, as verse 44 afirms.
2. It will be from the god in heaven, meaning it will be a godly kingdom, in contrast with all the other pagan nations before it.
3. It will be a mountain that fills the whole earth, meaning it will spread throughout the entire world.
Now, can you guess which kingdom fits all these characteristics? Its none other than the islamic empire!
Providing evidence for the islamic empire:
When we examine all these characteristics, we find that only one kingdom fulfills them all. The islamic empire was founded during the time of the Roman empire, so it checks box 1. It spread throughout the entire world, taking some of the lands referenced previously, which are muslim lands now, so it checks box2. And finally, in contrast to the pagan and idolatrous nations which came before it, the islamic empire and the prophet were teaching monotheism and implemented god’s law all the way to the end. Furthermore, Daniel describes the kingdoms as succeeding one another. There has been no event in history which fits the discription of this vision than the 4 successive kingdoms referenced above.
Answering objections and other views:
Now that you have seen a concise defense for my view, let’s get into answering some objections.
1. Daniel 2 is not speaking of an islamic empire, rather it is speaking of Jesus of the new testament.
Answer: There are many ways to answer this one. Although this would account for box1, it wouldn’t check boxes 2-3, nor would it fit with the continuity and consistency of the prophecy.
While yes, it is true that Jesus, according to the new testament, started his ministry when Rome was still in existence, he simply does not fit the discription. As we have infered from the prophetic pattern, every part of the statue represents a certain nation. Jesus was never a king or leader of any nation, which therefore disqualifies him. if christians attempt to reconcile this problem by simply stating that the fifth kingdom is spiritual, then they create more problems. The first is that the kingdom is described to smash the statue into peaces, implying military conquest, which jesus never did.
Furthermore, another prophetic pattern is that the next kingdom always overthrows the one who came before it, as we’ve seen with the 4 earlier kingdoms. However, Jesus not only didn’t lead any military conquests, but never even condoned overthrowing the government, and neither did his apostles who came after him.
Romans 13. 1-2, Let everyone be subject to the governing authorities, for there is no authority except that which God has established. The authorities that exist have been established by God. Consequently, whoever rebels against the authority is rebelling against what God has instituted, and those who do so will bring judgment on themselves.
And well, it doesn’t check box3 because its not a nation and it enforces no laws compared to the other pagan nations which enforced their laws of false gods.
2. What about in verse 44 where it says the kingdom will be established forever. The islamic empire isn’t united as it was back then, so doesn’t that debunk your theory?
Answer: No, it doesn’t, for 2 primary reasons. The first is that the phraze, forever and ever, is a lot of the times used metaforically, to symbolize a very longtime. Here are some examples.
Geremiah 17:4, Through your own fault you will lose the inheritance I gave you. I will enslave you to your enemies, in a land you do not know, for you have kindled my anger, and it will burn forever.”
If you think it means that god’s anger will burn literally forever, you create a problem for your theology.
Psalms 103. 8-9, 8 
The Lord is compassionate and gracious,
    slow to anger, abounding in love.
9 
He will not always accuse,
    nor will he harbor his anger forever.
Secondly, the fraze, it will endure forever, can simply be refering to the message the kingdom brought. While the Babalonian, Meto-Persian, Greek, and Roman empires are gone along with the vast majority of their religious tradition, the islamic empire was both never overthrown, nor was the islamic message erased.
3. Daniel 2 isn’t talking about the islamic empire, its talking about a later nation established by God.
Answer: This is not consistent with the text. Verse 44 specifically says, in the days of those kingdoms. many commentaries take it to mean, in the days when Rome is still in existence, rather than after that time. Based on this premiss alone, we’ve disqualified any of your other candidates. All other nations, including the concept of a jewish messianic nation established by God are eliminated.
Conclusion:
Now that everything has been interpreted and established, I’d say its pretty clear who Daniel 2 foretells. No other nation, in all of history, fits the discription of the fifth kingdom described in Daniel 2 so perfectly as the islamic empire, lead by the best of creation, our beloved prophet, may peace and blessings be upon him.