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Is an Islamic NATO beginning to form?
Notice the following:
‘Islamic Nato’: What’s the military might of Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, and Turkey?
14 August 2026
Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, and Turkey have signed the landmark Mecca Joint Defence Agreement. With this move, the three Muslim nations bring together nearly 1.4 million active military personnel, more than 3,400 aircraft, and over 6,000 tanks …
Islamic Nato has become a buzzword since last week when Pakistan, Saudi Arabia and Turkey signed the Mecca Joint Defence Agreement — a new security alliance seeking to deter Iran. The defence pact binds the three powerful Sunni countries with a Nato-style clause that considers any attack on one country as an attack on all. …
Owing to the presence of the three Sunni Muslim nations, some pundits have said that this agreement is a “Nato in the Middle East” or “Muslim NATO.” …
When it comes to manpower, the three nations combined boast of having nearly 1.4 million active military personnel. Ankara has 481,000 active members in its fighting forces while Riyadh has 247,000. Islamabad has 660,000 troops. …
While officials from the three nations have repeatedly stated that the Mecca agreement isn’t directed at any one actor or threat, there’s no doubt that it is a deterrent, mainly against two other nations, Iran and Israel. https://www.firstpost.com/explainers/pakistan-saudi-arabia-turkey-mecca-joint-defence-agreement-islamic-nato-military-strength-14038204.html
Well, the idea is not new. Since at least 2018, I have warned of a coming Arab/Islamic NATO. Back then, we even made the following video: Arab NATO and the Coming King of the South.
One of the reasons that the Mecca agreement is being called an Islamic NATO is because a Turkish government official basically quoted the NATO provisions for how this agreement is supposed to work. Notice also:
How the “Islamic NATO” Shifts Global Geopolitics
August 14, 2026
They’re calling the agreement the Islamic NATO because amongst other things, it includes A NATO Article 5 style clause promising in effect that an attack on one is an attack on all. If it holds, the alliance could form a long term defense structure for the region and its ripples will be felt much further from India to China to the US and the world at large, a world that is very much in realignment. …
The Middle east becoming coherent and more powerful will have a significant effect, particularly in the regions around the Middle east, say India, China, as well as to some extent Europe. https://geopoliticalfutures.com/special-edition-how-the-islamic-nato-shifts-global-geopolitics/
Yes, Europe will one day be affected.
Furthermore, despite the view from several that this is not an Islamic NATO, notice the following:
OIC hails Makkah defence pact as Türkiye, Saudi Arabia and Pakistan forge NATO-style Muslim alliance
Three countries signed Makkah Joint Defence Agreement on Friday, pledging that attack on any one of them will be treated as attack on all — landmark commitment struck against backdrop of widening regional war with Iran
8 August 2026
RIYADH (MNTV) — The Organisation of Islamic Cooperation has welcomed a newly signed trilateral defence pact between Türkiye, Saudi Arabia and Pakistan as a “historic” and strategically significant step for the security of the wider Muslim world. …
OIC’s endorsement
OIC Secretary-General Hissein Brahim Taha expressed what the organisation described as his strong appreciation and support for the agreement, calling it an important strategic step that reflects the three countries’ commitment to strengthening regional and international cooperation.
Taha described the pact as a fundamental pillar for supporting security and stability across the region and the Muslim world, and said it embodied a shared determination to confront growing security challenges and deepen solidarity among OIC member states.
He praised the leadership of the three countries and voiced hope that the agreement would contribute to peace and prosperity in the region and beyond. …
Shifting security architecture
Analysts have described the agreement as a potential turning point in the security order of the Middle East and South Asia.
The Atlantic Council characterised it as an inflection point in an emerging multipolar order, noting that for Ankara it broadens a protective umbrella already extended to allies such as Qatar, Syria and Libya — adding significant new resources to what amounts to an emerging Muslim collective-defence mechanism.
Abdulaziz Sager, chairman of the Saudi-based Gulf Research Center, said the political symbolism of three of the Muslim world’s most influential states convening at a moment of heightened uncertainty was significant in itself, demonstrating a growing willingness among regional powers to coordinate more closely on security.
If institutionalised and translated into concrete cooperation, he argued, the framework could strengthen the three countries’ collective diplomatic and defence weight and contribute to a more regionally driven security architecture — one less dependent on outside powers.
For the three governments, and for the OIC that has now blessed the arrangement, that may be precisely the point: at a moment when the region’s traditional security guarantees look increasingly uncertain, three major Muslim states have chosen to bind their defence together — and to do so in Islam’s holiest city, where the symbolism could hardly be clearer. https://www.muslimnetwork.tv/oic-hails-historic-makkah-defence-pact-as-turkiye-saudi-arabia-and-pakistan-forge-nato-style-muslim-alliance/
Additionally, it needs to be understood that more Sunni Muslim countries are invited and expected to join.
In a video released today:
Pakistan’s Defense Minister Khawaja Asif has called for Islamic nations to join the Mecca Joint Defense Agreement. https://www.facebook.com/watch/?v=1519462666601838
While the Mecca alliance army is substantial, the Bible teaches that:
25 the king of the South shall be stirred up to battle with a very great and mighty army (Daniel 11:25)
Growing the Mecca alliance, or something like it, will result in the prophesied army Daniel wrote about!
Most (and perhaps all) of the other 11 nations that signed a naval military deal which included Saudi Arabia, Turkey, and Pakistan the day before the Mecca agreement was announced (see Saudi Arabian general appointed head of a multinational military confederation: Another step towards the ‘King of the South’?) may join the Mecca alliance.
Consider further that Egypt, itself, has also been working on this type of alliance: https://www.rfi.fr/en/international/20260320-could-war-in-middle-east-bring-region-closer-to-an-arab-nato
Turkey said that it expects that Egypt will join the Mecca alliance (see Egypt, the possible home of the King of the South, is expected to join the Mecca Defense Alliance).
Now what about Egypt?
It was the position of the old Radio Church of God that Egypt could very well become the final leader of the King of the South, but it would take time for that to be the case. Notice a quote from the July 1963 Plain Truth article by Garner Ted Armstrong titled “And when you see the Abomination…” which clearly proves that:
Daniel was given specific visions of events to occur in OUR TIME!…Notice! And at the TIME OF THE END (this prophecy, then, is absolutely DATED as pertaining to OUR DAY, NOW) shall the king of the south push at him (the “king of the north”) and the king of the north 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” (verse 40). Bible scholars have recognized the FIRST, TYPICAL fulfillment of this surprising prophecy, but have failed to see its LITERAL application to OUR TIMES!…
But what of the MODERN powers meant by these designations? Remember-the Bible is written, SPIRITUALLY and GEOGRAPHICALLY, from the point of view of PALESTINE! If you were to look on a map, and try to find two powers fitting this description, you would have a fairly easy task…Who else could this be, then, except the coming UNITED STATES OF EUROPE, a resurrection of the ancient ROMAN EMPIRE, Just as we have been fearlessly proclaiming…A rearmed GERMANY, heading up a final union…IN EUROPE -THIS is the Biblical KING OF THE NORTH!
The king of the South? EGYPT, of course. But not Egypt of today. Egypt of a few more years from now–Egypt as she continues to expand the U.A.R., bringing more and more of the North Africa Mohammedan nations into the same Afro-Arabian power block! (p. 22).
Whether or not the King of the South will himself be an Egyptian, the Bible is clear that Egypt will be part of the King of the South confederation.
The late Radio/Worldwide Church of God evangelist Raymond McNair (who was also once part of the old Global Church of God) wrote:
Daniel 11 also mentions some of the Mideast peoples who will be involved in that struggle among the nations at the close of this age. The belligerents will include the “King of the North,” the leader of the European Union (or its final outgrowth, called the “Beast”). The “King of the South” (an Islamic leader—apparently from Egypt {or} some other Muslim state) is also referred to. The following lands/peoples are specifically mentioned: Egypt, the Holy Land (Israel/Palestine), the Ethiopians (modern Cushites, south of Egypt), Libya, Edom, Moab and Ammon. Many descendants of the ancient peoples known as Edomites or Idumeans now live in the West Bank, Jordan, Iraq, Turkey, Syria, Arabia, Yemen, the Persian Gulf states, etc. (McNair R. Solving the Arab-Israeli Impasse! Copyright Raymond F. McNair 2005, Church of God—21st Century).
Notice that Raymond McNair realizes that Egypt or some other Muslim country is where the king of the South will come from and that the term translated as Ethiopians really means the Cushite peoples who live in southern Egypt, Sudan, as well as elsewhere, like Pakistan.
An unintended consequence of the USA/Israel-Iran war is that the Arab nations are looking for increased military cooperation. Daniel 11:40-43 will come to pass.
Here is what the old Radio and Worldwide Church of God taught about a coming ‘King of the South’ related alliance:
Notice part of number 19 in my list of 26 items to prophetically watch in 2026:
19. Steps Towards the Formation of the King of the South Will Occur
The formation of the King of the South is something to look for.
40 “At the time of the end the king of the South shall attack him; and the king of the North shall come against him like a whirlwind, with chariots, horsemen, and with many ships; and he shall enter the countries, overwhelm them, and pass through. 41 He shall also enter the Glorious Land, and many countries shall be overthrown; but these shall escape from his hand: Edom, Moab, and the prominent people of Ammon. 42 He shall stretch out his hand against the countries, and the land of Egypt shall not escape. 43 He shall have power over the treasures of gold and silver, and over all the precious things of Egypt; also the Libyans and Ethiopians shall follow at his heels. (Daniel 11:40-43)
US and European politicians have called for a confederation or coalition of nations in the Middle East and North Africa …
Now there already is an alliance in the area. But the Bible tells of a coming confederacy that will be more unified.
Saudi Arabia, Egypt, and others have taken steps that will help the ultimate formation of the King of the South (see Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince Salman pushing King of the South? and watch Mystery Babylon USA, Mecca, or Rome?).
In 2025, some have advocated for an expansion of the so-called Abraham Accords to include essentially a confederation of the Islamic nations of the Middle East and North Africa, but excluding Iran, to be a political and military alliance. This is a consistent with territories that the prophesied King of the South is to be over.
That Accord is helping get various Islamic nations to cooperate closer together.
Economic, religious, food price inflation and shortages, as well as and other problems will be factors in the rise of that leader.
While the confederacy is not expected be fully formed in 2026 (though that could happen), watch for events that will point in its direction. I expect one not too many years after a major regional conflict at least involving Iran, Syria, and Israel.
Talks about an Islamic NATO in 2026 are consistent with that. The lands and peoples mentioned as supporting the King of the South in Daniel 11:40-43 are all basically dominated by Sunni Islam now.
As long time readers of this COGwriter Church of God News page are aware, I have long warned that the coming King of the South would rise after Iran became somewhat weakened/neutralized militarily. RT reported:
In Moscow, experts at the Middle East Studies Center analyzed the pact and broke down its implications. Writing exclusively for RT, the center’s president, Murad Sadygzade, explained how its members will have the task of deterring both Israel and Iran – all without overt US involvement. https://www.rt.com/news/644258-rt-top-stories-ukraine-russia/
Yes, the alliance looks to be because of Iran and Israel.
Although the King of the South leader, himself, has not yet arose to prominence, we are now seeing more military cooperation among Arabic and Islamic nations.
And yes, this Mecca alliance will tie in with the rise of the final King of the South that the Bible prophesies.
Biblical prophecies are coming to pass.
Remember the Apostle Paul warned Christians:
20 Do not despise prophecies. (1 Thessalonians 5:20)
We in the Continuing Church of God are striving to “Watch” as Jesus told His followers to do (Mark 13:37) and report as a watchman like God told Ezekiel to do (Ezekiel 3:16-21, 33:1-9; watch also Who is your watchman?).
Some items of possibly related interest may include:
Is the Future King of the South Rising Up? Some no longer believe there needs to be a future King of the South. Might Egypt, Islam, Iran, Arabs, or Ethiopia be involved? Might this King be called the Mahdi or Caliph? What does the Bible say? Two videos of related interest are: The Future King of the South is Rising and he Rise and Fall of the King of the South. Here is a version the Spanish language: ¿Esta Surgiendo el Rey Del Sur?
The Arab and Islamic World In the Bible, History, and Prophecy The Bible discusses the origins of the Arab world and discusses the Middle East in prophecy. What is ahead for the Middle East and those who follow Islam? What about the Imam Mahdi? What lies ahead for Turkey, Iran, and the other non-Arabic Muslims? An item of possibly related interest in the Spanish language would be: Líderes iraníes condenan la hipocresía de Occidente y declaran que ahora es tiempo para prepararse para el Armagedón, la guerra, y el Imán Mahdi.
Islamic and Biblical Prophecies for the 21st Century This is a free online book which helps show where biblical and Islamic prophecies converge and diverge. Here are links to related sermons: Seeing Christianity Through Islamic Eyes, Imam Mahdi, women, and prophecy, and Terrorism, Iran, and Fatima, Dajjal, Antichrist, Gold, & Mark of the Beast?, and Jesus and God’s Plan for Muslims. Here is a link to a sermon in the Spanish language: El Imám Mahdi las mujeres y la profecía bíblica. Here is a link to the book in Spanish: Profecías islámicas y bíblicas para el Siglo 21°.
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