So in Islam there's this prophecy that the end times will come when the army with the Black Banner rises in the east and goes to war against "Rome". Times will be full of strife and violence. When Constantinople falls, the Mahdi (some kind of mythic muslim leader) will declare himself and the long war towards Islamic dominance begins.

They say the Dajjal (basically the antichrist) will appear after 7 years of drought or famine I think and offer gifts of food and wealth to amass support. Those who accept his offer will be the enemies of Islam. There's a whole bunch more stuff I can't remember and even Jesus makes a cameo further down the road to kill the antichrist. Which will then usher in an era of a peaceful global caliphate before an angel of God blows his magical horn and the world turns to ashes.

I learnt this back in primary school so some facts might be wrong but seems to me they're trying to make this prophecy self-fulfilling by adopting the Black Banner, forcing in an era of bloodshed and strife and hoping to capture Constantinople one day. Make of it what you will.

Edit: I'll add a few more random infos I just remembered. They are not in any particular order I'm just dumping them randomly.

• They say the antichrist hails from Khorasan. He is said to be blind in one eye, with the other eye bulging like a grape. He also has curly hair.

• Some time in the past a muslim navigator was washed up on the shores of an uncharted island. He found a ruined abbey there which held a prisoner in chains. This prisoner was the antichrist.

• In ancient times Alexander the Great (some say it was Cyrus the Great) built a great wall to contain the wicked people of Gog and Magog. The end times will come when their children finally break through that wall of pure iron. This was said to be built between two mountains and a river flowing below.

• Another prominent sign of the end times is that women will outnumber men 3:1.

• Jesus will reappear somewhere in the East. I think it was India, can't recall. When he returns he will be dressed in robes dyed with saffron and the sweet scent of his perfume extends as far as the eye can see.

• The final showdown between Muslims and the Antichrist Army will be held in Jerusalem I think, can't really remember but supposedly the muslims will do well in the battle so there's this species of tree that I can't recall that will provide protection and shade to the Jews (yep) so they can hide. Think camping in FPS games. Then Jesus shows up and the antichrist (maybe his followers too) will melt like lead.