Throughout May, members of Germany’s anti-Muslim Pro nrw party and other right-wing groups rallied near mosques in Solingen, Berlin, Cologne and Bonn. At the rallies, many brandished drawings from a “Muslim cartoon contest”—including controversial depictions of the Prophet Muhammad as a terrorist.

Their message is that Germany needs to strengthen its stance against Muslims in general, and Salafist Muslims in particular—who openly declare the goal of building a global Islamist theocracy.

Islamists have not stood idly by as Germany’s right-wingers lambaste and ridicule their faith.

Reaction on the Streets

At each rally, Salafists have arrived on the scene for counter-demonstrations. With some waving al Qaeda’s black flag, and others throwing bottles and stones, they’ve clashed with Pro nrw members and policemen. In Solingen, the Islamists injured three police officers and one onlooker. In Bonn, more than 100 Islamists were arrested after they injured over 30 policemen—three of them seriously.

One Islamist demonstrator in the streets of Bonn explained his stance to the Associated Press on May 5: “If they wish to curse the Prophet Muhammad, I swear to God that we will not let it pass peacefully …. We will be willing to sacrifice our fathers, our mothers, our children, our money, and everything we own ….”

Online Responses

Perhaps more significant than the violence on the streets has been the response by Islamist leaders writing on jihadi online forums.

On May 17, Ahmad ‘Ashoush, a powerful leader in Egypt’s Salafi-jihadi movement, wrote this on the Shumoukh Al-Islam jihadi forum:

All Muslim scholars are in accord that whoever curses the prophet must be killed; there is no disagreement on this. Killing him is obligatory. The life of the infidel who curses [the prophet] can be spared only if he embraces Islam. Short of that, it is incumbent upon any able-bodied Muslim to kill him. …May Allah eternalize their sorrow and disgrace them, those shameless, impure people, those scoundrels who were born and lived in the whorehouses of Europe. …Let all of Europe’s infidels know this, and let them know that the Prophet Muhammad has followers who love him and value him over themselves, and who will stand up for him and kill whoever curses him, no matter what the challenges or consequences may be. From now on, let every European who curses [Muhammad] fear for his life ….

‘Ashoush also criticized Muslim leaders who, in his assessment, are not reacting strongly to the anti-Muslim protests:

Where are the Salafis’ sheikhs? Where are the leaders of the Muslim Brotherhood? Where [are the clerics of] Al-Azhar? Where are the sheikhs of Saudi Arabia and its mufti? Did he not hear about what is happening in Germany? Or is cursing the prophet a matter that does not concern him?Oh Muslim peoples, stand up to defend the prophet. … There are young, free, Muslim men living in Europe who stood up for the prophet and set out to defend his honor. The Germans beat them, abused them, and arrested them. Where are you in supporting them? … Oh Muslim peoples, the messenger of Allah is our messenger, not just that of the young Muslims of Germany. The obligation to defend [his honor] is incumbent upon all of us. Let us all defend the prophet and support him against dishonor. Let us all set out to support the Muslim youth in Germany, who suffer abuse from the German racists.

Two days later, the Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan (imu) responded with an even more shocking message. In a seven-minute online audio statement delivered by the imu’s German representative, Yassin Chouka (aka Abu Ibrahim Al-Almani), the imu said this:

The Pro nrw ‘s demonstrations are “offensive to us.”

“When I told the mujahideen of Khorasan [Waziristan] about it, they asked me … to tell you to kill them all. You should kill all the members of the Pro nrw.”

Abu Ibrahim then became specific about how German Muslims should carry out the imu’s order to kill these German politicians: Muslims must “ambush one of the members of the Pro nrw; collect sufficient information about his place of residence, daily [travel] routes, and place of employment; do some strategic planning; and then hit him hard.” Abu Ibrahim then called on German Muslims to kill the employees of the media outlets that published the offensive cartoons of Muhammad.

Both of these online statements came, not from insignificant fringe radicals, but from influential and powerful voices in the Islamic community. These online calls for blood are perhaps more significant than the actual violence in Germany’s streets, because Internet technology is rapidly shrinking the world. It takes tensions that a decade or two ago would have been far away and vague, and thrusts them instantly into living rooms, barrooms, and radicalization facilities throughout Europe and around the world. It would be difficult to overstate the impact of such statements.

Galvanizing Both Sides in a ‘Clash of Cultures’

Islam expert Claudia Dentschke says the aggressive reaction of the Islamists is working to the advantage of Pro nrw. “It is only through the confrontation with the Salafists that Pro nrw is now in the focus of public attention,” she said. In the wake of the Islamists’ violent reactions and calls for German blood, Pro nrw can portray itself as the guardian of “Western” or “Christian” values.

Meanwhile, the Salafists benefit from Pro nrw’s rallies because the conflict grants them the opportunity to paint themselves as noble soldiers of a persecuted Islamic faith. In this way, the rallies are helping the Salafists win over more moderate Muslims to their radical side.

Gesine Schwan, a political scientist who was once in the running for the German presidency, said the confrontation between the Salafists and Pro nrw bears the markings of a “clash of cultures” between Islam and Christianity.

Bible prophecy supports Schwan’s assessment: “And at the time of the end [the present age], shall the king of the south [radical Islam] push at him: and the king of the north [a German-led Europe] shall come against him like a whirlwind, with chariots, and with horsemen, and with many ships; and he shall enter into the countries, and shall overflow and pass over” (Daniel 11:40).

Right now, most elements of this conflict are confined to the extremities: a German political party so xenophobic that Berlin classifies it as anti-constitutional, and a group of Islamists who overtly seek to slay infidels in the streets and to replace the German constitution with sharia law. But rather than remaining at the extremes, this confrontation will expand—and lead to a great clash between radical Islam and Europe—unified under the sway of Roman Catholicism. This seismic clash will be a trigger that will bring about the most devastating war the world has ever seen. The unprecedented violence, however, immediately precedes the most hope-filled event in all of history: the return of Jesus Christ.

To understand more, read The King of the South.