An Islamist group that had been outlawed by Tunisia’s ousted regime was legalized by the nation’s interim authorities on March 1. The move is an early indication of what the results of the wave of uprisings will be, not just in Tunisia, but in all of the Middle East.

The Islamist outfit, Ennahda, meaning “awakening,” was founded in 1981 by Tunisia’s Rached Ghannouchi. After Tunisia’s recently toppled Zine El Abidine Ben Ali first came into power back in 1987, Ennahda was tolerated but denied legal registration as a political party. In 1989, after an Islamist-backed coalition won 17 percent of the vote, Ben Ali banned the Islamist movement. In the following years, around 30,000 activists and sympathizers were arrested and many, including Ghannouchi, went into exile.

On January 30, two weeks after Ben Ali’s regime was toppled, Ghannouchi returned to his homeland after 22 years and was welcomed by hundreds of thousands of Tunisians. The removal of the ban on Ennahda had been among the demands made by the protesters who ousted Ben Ali.

Only one month after Ghannouchi’s triumphant return, Tunisia’s interim government granted Ennahda legitimacy, and the outfit is now poised to join the government. The withdrawal of the ban on Ennahda, and Tunisia’s enthusiastic reception for its symbolic leader of Islamism, provide a sobering indication of things to come, not just in Tunisia, but also in Egypt and beyond.

Ditto in Cairo

In Egypt, the group that inspired Ghannouchi to establish Ennahda is also on the move.

Back in 1981, then Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak banned Muslim Brotherhood leader Yusuf Qaradawi from preaching in Egypt, prompting the Islamist sheik to flee to exile in Qatar, where his prolific writing and weekly television broadcast made him one of the most popular clerics among mainstream Muslims.

On February 18, only one week after Mubarak’s regime was toppled, Qaradawi returned to his homeland even more triumphantly than Ghannouchi had—to a welcome by more than 1 million Egyptians in Tahrir Square.

Throughout Egypt’s revolution, Muslim Brotherhood (MB) spokesmen have said that the overthrow had nothing to do with the Muslim faith and everything to do with the Egyptian nationality. Islamist blogger Abdelrahman Ayyash explained this, saying, “If it’s ever perceived that this revolution is an Islamic one, the U.S. and others will be able to justify a crackdown.” So the MB intentionally downplayed its role in the uprising. But behind the scenes, it played a pivotal part by protecting protesters from regime henchmen, providing medical care and food, and maintaining a measure of stability throughout the demonstrations.

On February 21, only 10 days after Mubarak resigned and fled Cairo, the MB announced the formation of its Freedom and Justice Party, which will participate in future elections.

The protests against Mubarak demonstrated that the MB is not the only group able to mobilize thousands of Egyptians, but since they are not yet well organized, these outfits would greatly benefit from having a year or two to congeal. But Cairo will not give it to them. On February 28, Egypt’s Supreme Council of the Armed Forces announced an accelerated timetable for the nation’s elections. A referendum on constitutional amendments is slated for April, to be followed by parliamentary elections in June, and a presidential election in October. The accelerated schedule will play powerfully to the MB’s favor, allowing it to harness the fervor of the revolution and to use its superior organizational structure to dominate the vote.

Neil Hicks of Human Rights First said, “This swift timetable will make it difficult for opposition political parties to organize or for new political groupings to coalesce and register.”

Analysts have been all over the map in speculation about the outcome of the uprisings in Tunisia, Egypt and elsewhere in the Middle East. They have predicted everything from Western-style democracies to military states. Biblical prophecies, however, reveal that the region will become home to a radical Islamist power bloc led by Iran. Alongside Lebanon’s recent fall to the Hezbollah terrorists, the legitimization of Ennahda in Tunisia and the revitalization of the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt show the Middle East moving quickly toward radical Islam and Iran.

Colossal changes are sweeping through the Middle east, and the outcome means some perilous times ahead for the nations of the West. But the Prophet Daniel made plain that these staggering and sobering events will conclude with the return of Jesus Christ to usher in an age of peace on Earth. That is the awesome culmination of this longest single prophecy in the Bible!