Mahdi

MAHDI

Arabic term for the redeemer or messiah.

In Arabic, the term al-mahdi means "the guided one." For Islam, the term developed through medieval Shiʿite thought into a concept charged with genealogical, eschatological (referring to the end of the world), and political significance. By the eighth century, the mahdi would be characterized as a descendant of the prophet Muhammad, whose appearance as the redeemer, or messiah (from Hebrew mashiah, the anointed), presaged the end of the world and all earthly political and religious corruption.

Today, in Iraq and Iran, and in portions of Arabia and the gulf, the Shiʿa branch of Islam is represented by Twelver Shiʿites, who believe in the return of the hidden twelfth descendant of Muhammad as the mahdi. Until he reappears, Twelver Shiʿites believe that only their mujtahids (an elite group among their religious learned) have the power as the mahdi 's intermediaries to interpret the faith.

The concept of the mahdi is not central to the beliefs of Sunni Islam, but it has popular appeal. In 1881, Muhammad Ahmad (d. 1885) claimed to be the mahdi and led an uprising in the Sudan that outlasted him and was not put down by the British until 1898. Mahdism inspired unrest during the nineteenth century in both West and North Africa. In 1849, Bu Zian led a revolt in Algeria against taxation and the French occupation in the name of the mahdi.

see also ahmad, muhammad; shiʿism; sunni islam.

Bibliography

Sachedina, Abdulaziz Abdulhussein. Islamic Messianism: The Idea of Mahdī in Twelver Shīʿism. Albany: State University of New York Press, 1981.

denise a. spellberg