It never occurred to me that when the AC declares himself to be God in the Jewish temple, the Muslims would consider that blasphemy because they thought he was claiming to be Allah. I thought he would actually unite the Muslims because they thought he was the Imam. Whose armies will defeat the king of the north and the king of the south? I thought that would be Jesus returning with His saints.
At the beginning of Daniel’s 70th week everyone will think of the anti-Christ as a great peacemaker and he will use peace to deceive the whole world (Daniel 8:25, 1 Thes. 5:3). It’s not until the middle of the week, when he claims to be God, that true followers of Judaism and Islam will reject him. But the unbelievers of the world, which will constitute the great majority, will still follow him and his army will come from among them. Remember, his battle with the kings of the north and south will take place as he’s on his way to Jerusalem to proclaim himself to be God. That will happen in the middle of the 70th week, at the outset of the Great Tribulation.