- Welcome to The 700 Club,thanks for joining us.
Much of the world sees America's pullout
from Afghanistan as ageopolitical disaster.
For some in the Islamic world,
it has a much different meaning.
- Extremist Muslims seeit as the fulfillment
of an Islamic prophecy
that begins with theraising of black flags
and ends with the conquest of Jerusalem.
Chris Mitchell explains.
- [Chris] The Taliban Twitterpage carried this message,
"Black flags will rise from Khorasan,
and nothing will be able to return them."
The Taliban are nowflying their white flags
but black flags come during a time of war.
- This is very important, Ihaven't heard this talked about
in the mainstream media at all,
but if we look at some ofthe main end time prophecies
within Islam, one ofthe biggest prophecies,
there's a prophecy that says,
armies carrying black flags
will come from the areaof the east or Khorasan.
- [Chris] Khorasan is an ancient land
that includes modern northwest Pakistan,
eastern Iran, and all of Afghanistan.
Joel Richardson wrotethe best-selling book,
"The Islamic Antichrist."
He explained theimportance of this prophecy
on the recent CBN webinar
"Afghanistan: What's NextAfter the US Pullout?"
- It says an army will come from Khorasan
carrying black flags, then it says this,
"If you see them, givethem your allegiance,
even if you have to crawl over ice,
because this is the army of the Mehti,"
or in English, you couldjust say the Mahdi,
the Vice Regent of Allah.
So this was one of theirbiggest end-time prophecies.
- Afghanistan is the heart of Khorasan.
- [Chris] Sheik Imran Hosein,
a Muslim expert on Islamic prophecies,
connects the US pullout inAfghanistan to this prophecy.
- What is happening inAfghanistan is validating
the prophecy of prophetMuhammad Allah Satu Hosein.
That the Muslim army is the sign
to come out of Afghanistan, of Khorasan,
and no one would be able to stop it
until it reaches Jerusalem.
- The prophecy points here to Jerusalem.
As the final goal of the Mahdis army,
where it expects to plant its flags
there on the temple mount.
- Jerusalem is the barometer,Jerusalem is the epicenter,
Jerusalem is the goal,that's Satan's target,
that's where Jesus is going to return,
re-establish the throneof his father David,
and rule the world from.
Satan's very well aware of that.
- [Chris] While some Muslims may not know
about these prophecies
or even agree with them,
Richardson says theworld should understand
how parts of the Islamic world
perceive the US pullout from Afghanistan.
- As Christians, of course,
we don't give any credenceto Islamic prophecy,
it's not inspired by God,
it's largely inspired by Satan,
but the point is this,
it gives us a glimpse intothe playbook of the enemy.
Muslims, many Muslims thatare very, very well aware
of their own prophecies, theysee this as the fulfillment
of Islamic prophecy,
and there is power in prophecy.
It's a tremendous recruiting tool.
- [Chris] The Taliban seethemselves as this army
and the ISIS branch inAfghanistan calls itself ISIS K,
K for Khorasan.
Given the unfolding developments,
it's likely Afghanistan will once again
become a magnet forMuslims around the world
to join the black flags of Khorason.
Chris Mitchell, CBN news, Jerusalem.
- Well, this is not astory you're going to see
on any other news network
because they just don't understand
what is the ideology behind this?
When you look at the withdrawalof American forces from Iraq
under the Obama administration,
what rose up in NorthernIraq was a group called ISIS.
And the Islamic State, some call it ISO,
which includes this word, Levant,
they were claiming Jerusalem
as part of the territorythey wanted to conquer.
They claim they had a directdescendant of the prophet
as their leader Baghdadi.
And so you had to pledge allegiance to him
because he's now declaring his caliphate.
Well, under the Trump administration,
ISIS was defeated and now it's morphed.
But in that morphing, they're saying,
well, we're actually nowfulfilling Islamic prophecy.
So what are those prophecies?
There will emerge fromKhorasan, black banners,
which nothing will repel
until they are set up in Jerusalem.
So we've all seen the ISISflag, it's a black banner.
That's because of the prophecy.
They didn't just sort of invent this,
they said, we want to goback to that prophecy,
and in the raising of our black banner,
what they're saying to allMuslims around the world
is you must come andpledge allegiance to us.
And here's that prophecy.
When the black flags comefrom Khorasan, go to them,
even if you have to crawl on snow,
for among them is the Khalifafrom Allah, the Mahdi.
Now who's the Mahdi?
Well, that's the prophet to come,
and that's the signalfor the end of the age.
Iran has their own version of it,
ISIS has its own version of it,
and that has been aroundIslamic circles for a long time.
You go back to the strugglebetween the British empire
and the Sudanese about 130 years ago.
In that, you had someone whodeclared himself the Mahdi
and he defeated the Brits and Khartoum,
and put the BritishGeneral's head on a stake,
and put it on the city walls.
These prophecies have great power.
Not from anything divine,
but from an ideological point of view.
And when you're a Muslimand you see the black flag,
then you're then requiredto crawl over snow and ice
in order to join that group.
So here we had the withdrawalfrom Iraq, ISIS was set up.
We now have the withdrawalfrom Afghanistan.
What comes in to fill that place?
ISIS K, and they're beingvery specific with that,
we are the Islamic state of Khorasan,
and we're flying a black flag.
That means something very significant
for Muslims around the world.
I want you to know this,
I want you to see behind the headlines
what's really goingon, what's the ideology
that's driving this terrorism.
In other news, the US State Department
called its recentnegotiations with the Taliban,
if you can believe this,candid and professional.
Human rights advocates say the Taliban
is brutally cracking down onwomen, religious minorities.
It's also threatening toresume executions, amputations.
John Jessup has more on that story
from our CBN news bureauin Washington. John?
- Thanks Gordon.
As Islamic extremismreturns to Afghanistan
under Taliban rule,
many faith communitiesare hiding in the shadows,
bracing for a wave of persecution.
Religious freedomadvocates are taking steps
to help them survive,
even as the Taliban andISIS fight for control.
CBN's Brody Carter is following new plans
to keep Afghan Christians
and other religious minorities safe.
- Since the Talibantook control in August,
Afghanistan's economy ison the brink of collapse.
Women's freedoms have been stripped,
and people of faith,especially Christians,
fear the worst is yet to come.
USCIRF hopes world leaders
will use the worsening enemy,
and the Taliban's political desires,
as bargaining chips toprotect religious minorities.
- Since the Taliban takeoverof Afghanistan in mid August,
the Taliban has intimidated,threatened, and targeted
leaders from religiousminority communities.
- [Brody] Two monthsinto the Taliban's rule,
young fighters fill the streets of Kabul.
Peace and stability aresilenced by violence,
including targeted kidnappings
and destruction at places of worship.
- In May 2021, at least 85 people,
most Hazara Shi'a female students,
were killed in bombingsoutside a high school.
- [Brody] Members of the US commission
on international religiousfreedom sounding the alarm
and sharing the plightof religious minorities.
- Two weeks ago,
the Taliban's formerhead of religious police
now in charge of prisons,
announced that executionsand amputations would resume.
- [Brody] The Afghan government operates
as a Sunni Islamic Republic,
which pressures citizens toadhere to Muslim traditions.
That leaves a sliver of the populations
such as Christians,Sikhs, Hindus, and Bohai,
living in constant fear of theTaliban's harsh punishment,
including execution, simplyfor believing otherwise.
- [Jaiuddin] One of us isalways awake during the night,
always walking around and praying.
So if the Taliban shouldcome and knock on our door,
we should alert everyone.
- [Brody] USCIRF saysAfghanistan's religious minorities
are nearly extinct.
Noting the last Jew fledthe country in September.
The organization hopes to use
the Taliban's economic problems and desire
for international recognition
as an open door to restore peace
and equal rights for allpeople in the country.
- And how the United States will partner
with other countries touse those leverage points
as a way of encouraging the Taliban
to uphold their side of the agreement,
that was agreed in the peace process
related to inclusive government,related to human rights,
and also related toprotection of security.
- If you'd like totangibly help Afghanistan,
USCIRF recommends helpingthe tens of thousands
of refugees now living here in the States.
Landlords can rent to Afghan refugees
without a credit check.
You can sign up to drive a refugee
or even help teach English
to those living in your communities.
And most importantly,
to pray for those facingpersecution in Afghanistan.
I'm Brody Carter, CBN news.
- Some helpful tipsthere, thank you Brody.
Well hear at home, oil andgas prices are surging,
hitting highs not seenin about seven years.
Gas prices now topping $3 a gallon
with the national averageat $3 and 26 cents.
Analysts blaming pandemicrelated supply backups
and hurricane Ida.
Also, US oil pricesgoing over $80 a barrel,
a high not seen since 2014.
President Biden has urgedOPEC to increase its output.
Critics though, point out he's cut back
on domestic oil production,
shutting down the Keystone pipeline
and putting a moratoriumon new drilling leases.
Well, the Biden justice department, again,
urged the court Monday night to step in
and suspend a new Texas law
that bans virtually allabortions in the state.
The latest attempt comes three days
after the fifth circuit courtof appeals reinstated the law
in response to a districtjudge who earlier suspended it.
The law bans abortions in Texas
once a heartbeat is detected,
usually it's six weeks
and before some women evenknow they're pregnant.
The law's future could bedecided in the upcoming days,
and the Supreme Courtcould eventually be forced
to decide whether it is constitutional.
Now to the fight against COVID-19,
and new hopeful signs,
things are improving.
The FDA may soon approvea new antiviral pill
to treat the virus,
and as CBN's Jenna Browder reports,
a decision about booster shots
for Moderna and J&J could bemade as soon as this week.
- There's a reason to behopeful with COVID-19 cases,
hospitalizations anddeaths, all declining,
including infections among kids.
Add to that new medical advances,
and it's welcome news for Americans.
Still, experts warn weare not out of the woods.
- And it's about 50% effective
at preventing hospitalization.
- [Jenna] Among those medical advances,
the first antiviral pilldesigned to fight COVID.
Merck seeking FDA emergency authorization.
The drug maker says in its trials,
the drug cut the risk ofhospitalization in half
for people at risk for severe disease.
The pill can be taken at home,
four pills every 12 hours for five days.
Still, with transmissionrates high nationwide,
experts continue to encourage the vaccine.
- And remember the vaccineis virtually 99% effective
at preventing hospitalization,
you'd much rather preventgetting the illness
than treating it onceyou've already gotten it.
- [Jenna] Vaccine mandates, though,
are still unpopular in many places.
In Texas, Governor GregAbbott, in an executive order,
is now banning mandates by all entities,
including private businesses.
And in California, the man in charge
of the country's largestSheriff's department,
says he's not enforcingvaccine requirements
for his employees.
- I'm not forcing anyone.
The issue has become so politicized,
there are entire groups of employees
that are willing to be fired and laid off
rather than getting vaccinated.
- [Jenna] Thursday and Friday,the FDA will also review data
on vaccine boosters from Moderna and J&J.
If the agency gives the green light,
they'll go to the CDC forfinal approval next week.
And another symbol of hope
as some aspects of lifebegin to return to normal.
18,000 determined athletes
at the first Boston marathonin two and a half years.
- Well we were pumped, we were excited
to finally have it back,
back to the way it used to be.
- And each runner had toshow proof of vaccination
or a negative COVID test.
The same requirements willbe in place later this month
for the Philadelphiaand New York marathons.
In Washington, Jenna Browder, CBN news.
- Alright, thank you, Jenna.
Gordon, back to you.
- Oh, it's a real shameit's become so politicized
and so divided.
And as a result, the medicalscience can't surface
and we can't come to anykind of reasonable decision
as individuals on what to do.
And it's so divided,
and there's so much informationon both sides of it,
that you really can'tsee your way through.
I'm vaccinated.
I haven't, so far, had any adverse effects
from that vaccination,
but I guess for those who are anti-vax,
well you haven't really seen it yet.
If you're not vaccinated,
I really encourage you to please isolate.
You do not want to get this disease,
even at just a 2% death rate,
some are saying 3%.
Do you really want togamble on your future
and gamble on your health?
That is something that is,
for me, personally, unthinkable.
At the same time, it'sunthinkable to think
that there would be a mandate
that comes from the government.
It's unthinkable, thatthere would be a mandate
that comes from an employer.
If you are front-facing into the public,
I can see if you're not vaccinated,
you shouldn't be in that position,
because you're going tobe, as part of your job,
routinely exposed to the virus.
That, in turn, leads to legal issues,
and we've already seena California company
already being sued byan employee who claims
that they got the virus at employment
and then took it home,
and it's one of the horror stories.
The spouse died.
The spouse contracted it and died.
So litigation is behindeverything these days,
in all of our decisions,
how can we see a way forward?
The real shame,
this thing should be medical science
has got nothing to do with politics.
