The Arrivals: The sooner they depart the better

Author: 
Irfan Jalil

We love a good argument. We can debate the correct length of a beard with the best of them. We can rip into each other over whether Muslims are allowed to vote. We will accuse fellow Muslims of committing shirk and bid'ah and being kafir. We can tear ourselves apart over whether it's OK to celebrate Milad. Argument is keeping us in a perpetual fight with each other.

But nothing unites Muslims like a good conspiracy theory. The crazier the better. At the first mention of Freemasons we'll put aside differences in aqidah. We'll forget about haazir or naazir at the first hint of a subliminal message. As long as something is thrown in about how this was all foretold in the Quran and Hadith, we'll hear you out.

Tell us that America is run by Satan's minions and we'll start believing you. Tell us about how Muslims are the innocent victims in a global intrigue and we're all yours. We'll be putty in the hands of anyone who can pump out the craziest mind-numbingly weird drivel about how everyone is out to get Muslims.

This is where "The Arrivals" comes in. An eight-hour internet-based video supposedly telling Muslims that they need to wake up and realise that they are the victims of a satanic conspiracy to destroy Islam by making children watch Disney's Alladin and having Beyonce do some weird stuff in her music videos.

The Arrivals tells us how a secret group of people run the world and how they are trying to control our minds through television and other media. Symbols of their influence and power are everywhere from the Starbucks logo to those little drawings on the side of a Weetabix box. The ultimate aim of this group is to lay the foundations for the arrival of Dajjal – the false prophet who will be defeated by a united Muslim army led by prophet Isa (as) and the Imam Mahdi.

Some parts of The Arrivals have been taken down from Youtube. The film-makers are making a big deal of this because they believe that they are being censored for telling the truth. But no, that's just more of the spin and lies. Only clips that use copyrighted material have been taken down by Youtube. The film-makers have used clips from films and music videos without paying royalties. It's a copyright issue - not a heroic Muslims being suppressed by the system issue.

There are a few video clips in The Arrivals. One of the extended video clips is a dream sequence from Disney's Dumbo. Most of the “documentary” is a collage of still images of symbols taken from obscure websites, pictures of celebrities and stills from Hollywood films. This is occasionally interlaced with text slides rather than an actual narration. Any narration that is used is taken from a similar project produced a few years ago called “Shadows”.

This "documentary" has generated a craze (literally) among young Muslims. Whether on a fag break or on internet discussion forums, it's apparently what we're all talking about. And as ever, we've been adding things to the story. The makers of the film are supposedly in hiding. It's anybody's guess who they are actually hiding from. Because they quite easily came out of hiding to make their video available to the idiots at Pakistani digital channel ARY.

The film-makers claim that their documentary is based on the work of three non-Muslims – David Icke, William Cooper and Tex Marrs. David Icke believes that the Queen is a lizard in disguise. William Cooper was an American militiaman intent on overthrowing the US government. Tex Marrs is an extremist Christian who likes nothing better than to accuse other Christians of “going Jew”. Hardly the kind of people who have in interest in saving Islam and Muslims from the “global masonic conspiracy”. Truth is, these people are out pushing their own paranoid view of the world. But just because they don't like their own governments does that mean that we can start mixing their views with revelations from Islam?

The only Muslim scholars who are mentioned as inspirations for the The Arrivals are Imran Hossein and Hamza Yusuf. Imran Hossein regularly speaks about the Dajjal and the end of times. But you won't hear him talking about lizards in disguise like David Icke does or taking up arms to defend the 2nd Amendment right to bear arms like William Cooper did. Hamza Yusuf has made no endorsement of The Arrivals and his message of spirituality and political engagement is at odds with the freakish paranoia of this “documentary”. So, here we have the crazy political opinions of British and American conspiracy theorists mixed in with the views of Muslim scholars.

Islam has a narrative about the end of the world. Life on earth is only temporary and we will return to Allah (swt) to be judged for our conduct. The Ahadith tell of several signs that will herald the end of the world. These signs include the arrival of false prophets and the arrival of the Imam Mahdi. However, there is disagreement among scholars about the interpretation of these signs and whether or not some have already occurred. But what The Arrivals does is mix together Islamic and Christian ideas of the end of the world. What we are left with is something that could make sense but actually contradicts Islamic teachings.

Yes, the end times are near. They always have been. We are always getting closer to the end. The end of our jobs, the end of our lives, the end of everything. But should we have to rationalise our politics with the end times at the forefront of our thoughts? Life is too short to be thinking about the end of the world. When it happens, you won't be able to do anything about it. No matter how many of the 50 depressing episodes of The Arrivals you manage to watch or however many people you share this "well-proper knowledge" with. Instead, be a better Muslim. Use the Quran and Hadith to better yourself rather than let it be mixed in with such crazy conspiracy stuff.

There are more immediate things that affect you than Satan's minions paving the way for the arrival of the anti-Christ. Drugs are destroying Muslim communities more than Beyonce's dance moves. If you want to save Muslims from Dajjal then tackle the drug dealers who are peddling their poison on your doorstep to your children. An honest living is more important for most Muslims than Mickey Mouse cartoons. Help your fellow Muslims get a good education and a good job. That will raise us from our slumber. Forget David Icke. Listen to Salma Yaqoob if you want empowerment and political strength.

The Quran and Hadith should not be fodder for fuelling our political ignorance. We should be better Muslims as a result of the lessons we learn from reading the Quran and following the Hadith. Yet here we are mixing the tenants of our faith with the insane ramblings of old non-Muslim men sitting in their pyjamas typing out onto the internet whatever comes into their heads.

We all have a need to rationalise what is happening in the world around us. We want to understand it and be able to handle what it throws at us. But that should not lead us to believe whatever we see or read on the internet or allow our religion to be mixed in with whatever racist, paranoid and prejudiced narrative appeals to our most basic levels of thought. We should think for ourselves and not rely on David Icke or Tex Marrs to tell us that we should be afraid, very afraid.

We know that the Quran is the word of Allah (swt). We know that it is relevant for all time. But we don't need to have it mixed into a Youtube video with dramatic music and a scary voice over to appreciate it's significance.

The Arrivals does not use purely Islamic sources and is heavily influenced by radical non-Muslims. It is a hodge-podge of emotive images, dramatic music and disconnected narratives of various ideas about the end-of-days. It is more of a schizophrenic conspiracy theorist's wet dream than a serious documentary. This film should not be taken seriously as a source of information on Dajjal, Imam Mahdi or the place of Muslims in world politics.

Comments

Y'know its about time someone wrote an article like that regarding The Arrivals...I have friends who cant stop talking about it ''Omg did you see lady gaga sitting in that triangle'' ''Obama's a freemason'' and blah blah. I remember always telling them that dont get too hyped up about it seriously. I was literally laughing when I found out the play it on ARY! :O But yeah I think its a great article Smile

CrazyLilMaria wrote:
Y'know its about time someone wrote an article like that regarding The Arrivals...I have friends who cant stop talking about it ''Omg did you see lady gaga sitting in that triangle'' ''Obama's a freemason'' and blah blah. I remember always telling them that dont get too hyped up about it seriously. I was literally laughing when I found out the play it on ARY! :O But yeah I think its a great article Smile

will your friends change the mind and see the light after reading this? if yes, then they can't be as obsessed as my friends! lol

and theres a play about it on ARY??

"How many people find fault in what they're reading and the fault is in their own understanding" Al Mutanabbi

Its hinted at in the article - ARY Digital managed to track them down from their uner secret hiding place and give them money to recommission some parts of this along with new parts for their TV stations.

Where the CIA failed, ARY succeeded... unless the bit about them being on the run or in hiding was simply untrue.

"For too long, we have been a passively tolerant society, saying to our citizens 'as long as you obey the law, we will leave you alone'" - David Cameron, UK Prime Minister. 13 May 2015.

LOL what a joke

"How many people find fault in what they're reading and the fault is in their own understanding" Al Mutanabbi

Sadly, some of this Ummah will never awake. If you don't like The Arrivals, then stay asleep and live your dreams of Islamic Modernism. Condemnation without investigation is a serious crime, and you obviously haven't done your homework.

Refer to lectures by Imran Hosein, Hamza Yusuf, and many more on the subject of Freemasony and Islam.

What would you say if I suggested that "The Arrivals" itself was a conspiracy? A conspiracy to keep the Muslims weak.

(Most sensible people who still like The Arrivals can move right to the end and read the caveat in the last brackets of this post.)

Mix fact with fiction and then bamboozle your audience into believing it and an overarching plan to take over the world while they are blind to what is happening in front of their very eyes.

I would say more Muslim youth have been corrupted by alcohol and drugs than by the illuminati.

More, are you even aware that "The Arrivals" is a cut and paste job? Many of the source documentaries are aimed at the christian far right and people in the bible belt in America. David Icke, who is quoted extensively in there considers himself to be the son of god (Na'udhubillah, There is no god but Allah (swt)) and believes that the world is controlled from the shadows by "lizard people".

Is that what you really want your brethren to believe?

Even if a lot of what is in The Arrivals is true (and I will disagree here), it is still not "useful" to Muslims - if you failed your exams, it is down to you and not down to some shadow conspiracy organisation. If you drink, no shadow conspiracy organisation put that bottle into your hands. If you smoke, no shadow conspiracy organisation put that spliff in between your lips.

"The Arrivals" is all about not taking charge, not feeling you have any control. It will keep you weak by making you think you are a victim.

They are all actions of individuals and they need to be dealt with by tackling their root causes instead of being helpless and blaming some shadow organisation for our downfall.

"The Arrivals" is not the qur'an and sunnah. It is not a primary source of knowledge and when people take it as that, that is wrong. (if people on the other hand are aware of it being just a work that *may* contain things that make them think, that is another thing.)

"For too long, we have been a passively tolerant society, saying to our citizens 'as long as you obey the law, we will leave you alone'" - David Cameron, UK Prime Minister. 13 May 2015.

"The media's the most powerful entity on earth. They have the power to make the innocent guilty and to make the guilty innocent, and that's power. Because they control the minds of the masses.
-- Malcolm X

"How many people find fault in what they're reading and the fault is in their own understanding" Al Mutanabbi

Although I like The Arrivals - I liked your mini essay there You, it was interesting, to say the least, like a powerful kind of speech.

Jihad of the Nafs (The Struggle of the Soul)

I stumbled on this article because of a strange coincidence. I was just browsing the internet looking to learn some interesting new facts about Islam because my teacher advised me to, of course I ended up on Youtube looking at videos "exposing" Freemasons. For a long time now I've believed The Arrivals but this article has truly opened my eyes and made me realise that all the time I've used to babble about Freemasons to my friends, I could have used to tell them to stop smoking and committing other sins. Call me crazy but for some reason I think it was more than a mere coincidence I found this article.

the_student wrote:
I stumbled on this article because of a strange coincidence. I was just browsing the internet looking to learn some interesting new facts about Islam because my teacher advised me to, of course I ended up on Youtube looking at videos "exposing" Freemasons. For a long time now I've believed The Arrivals but this article has truly opened my eyes and made me realise that all the time I've used to babble about Freemasons to my friends, I could have used to tell them to stop smoking and committing other sins. Call me crazy but for some reason I think it was more than a mere coincidence I found this article.

Biggrin

"How many people find fault in what they're reading and the fault is in their own understanding" Al Mutanabbi

Alladin? What is all that about?
(Allah-di'n)-Am i on the correct lines?

Love is a serious mental disease.

well...i totally disagree with this article.
Freemasons exist, i believe in it all and the illuminati all of it!!!!
don't really give a damn if you think im a lunatic or whatever.

I can't believe when theres so much evidence people are so blind!
bloody hell....
Allah mentioned that being a muslim was never going to be an easy thing.
They are not out "to get us!" but they are slowly, slowy gonna destroy Islam
while people like you sit still totally blind.
And Qiyaamah will arrive......

"BLIND FROM THE TRUTH"

Except that there is little factual evidence... and some guy who claimed to ahve been the son of God being extensively quoted...

Believe it if you want.

But it does not replace the qur'an and sunnah.

There may be freemasons or other shadow organisations, but they do not force the people around you to take drugs or drink alcohol.

The Arrivals could potentialy be a conspiracy to keep the eyes of the Muslims closed, to stop them from focussing on real problems and focus instead on made up bogeymen.

"For too long, we have been a passively tolerant society, saying to our citizens 'as long as you obey the law, we will leave you alone'" - David Cameron, UK Prime Minister. 13 May 2015.

You don't understand how much i hate this stuff. I feel claustrophobic because I'm surrounded by people who swear by this stuff. If we're talking about democracy in gov&pol, it's all "but we don't REALLY have democracy because the illuminati control everything" and "the new world order".

If we're talking about history, it's all "the PM was an illuminati" and the book actually says the fenians were accused of being freemasons so this excited the believers even more Blum 3 lol

If somebodys talking about x-factor, it's all "It's a fix, Katy (i think? or whoever went out yesterday) was a threat to the illuminati so got voted out and so and so's gna be a great illuminati they keep doing this symbol {shows the eye thing, probs done when they dance}

ARGH, i can't get away from it. I don't bother telling people I don't believe in it/not sure about it, anymore cuz it would lead to a pointless debate/argument BUT i still can't get away from it!! ARGHHHHHHHH

"How many people find fault in what they're reading and the fault is in their own understanding" Al Mutanabbi

i feel for you, i really do, but remember, the revival is always here for you to have such similar rants.

Is it true? Is it kind? Is it necessary?

Anisah Ali wrote:
well...i totally disagree with this article.
Freemasons exist, i believe in it all and the illuminati all of it!!!!
don't really give a damn if you think im a lunatic or whatever.

I can't believe when theres so much evidence people are so blind!
bloody hell....
Allah mentioned that being a muslim was never going to be an easy thing.
They are not out "to get us!" but they are slowly, slowy gonna destroy Islam
while people like you sit still totally blind.
And Qiyaamah will arrive......

"BLIND FROM THE TRUTH"

Yes This Is True All Those People That Agree With This Article Are Just Blind To The True Face, Shaitan Is Deceiving These People To Think They Will Rule The World At The End... Its Okay If You Dont Believe But I Do And Always Will!

do a google searh on "the ilumanati" and reseach it that will shed more light on this topic.

People often mistake Virtue with Honour
Virtue is what we do
Honour is how we do it.

the master calligrapher wrote:
do a google searh on "the ilumanati" and reseach it that will shed more light on this topic.

Yes. Don't think for yourself, just Google.

Great article, very well written. Some 2 odd years back my friends wouldn't stop talking about the arrivals. After a month or so I decided to give it a watch, I was already familiar with David Icke and when I saw his blabber being used out of context for this movie I knew this was a joke. I only had to watch this for 5 minutes.

Pakistani muslims have become very self centered. They think they should always be the center of attention, if there is nothing going on they will create fabrications in order to make themselves feel important.

i think,the arrival is closed.instead of arguing about nice documentray pliz think about main topic.the arrival

This article is very good. Jazaka Allah khair akhi. Only one thing I dont agree bout; Selma Yaqoob shedding us light into politics? She's not that good mate.

The arrival series should be hacked and terminated asap as it does more harm than good to poor muslims who cant be asked to read a book. I watched few parts some 2 yrs ago but what brought me to your article was me googeling 'the makers of the arrivals' as I wanted to advice some friends to stay away from it. But im happy I read this article and very much like the lizard comments LOL. David Icke is a very confused man and he believes in many weird fiction stories not to mention unislamic theories, now why would a decent muslim listen to a man like that? However, when he talks bout politics ie general issues (REAL issues) then perhaps he can be listened to coz he's got some good points there.

Why cant people make good judgements anymore? Why cant they do their own research and most importantly why do they not turn to Allah swt the greatest and the sunnah of the Prophet pbuh?

Hamza Yousuf is not even a scholars! I dont know what he is other than a muslim. Muslims! Read books from authentic scholars (sadly most of them have past away), we have so many resources to old books...read that!!!

">http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4qIvpUNYK1E&feature=related]

"How many people find fault in what they're reading and the fault is in their own understanding" Al Mutanabbi

Im glad that someone bought it up. The arrivals isnt all true ok... But part of it helped me the freemason theory and the brain washing helped me stop listening to music and watching tele. So overall it had a good impact on me and actually helped me become a better muslim. This is coming from someone who couldnt stop listening to music.