In the fourteenth century, the Sunni Muslim version of Mahdi belief was summarized by the Arab historian Ibn Khaldun: "It has been commonly accepted among the masses of the people of Islam, as the ages have passed, that there is inevitable that a man of the family of Muhammad will appear at the end of Time, who will aid the faith and make justice triumph; that the Muslims will follow him and that he will reign over Muslim kingdoms and will be called al-Mahdi. The appearance of Dajjal and of the other Signs of the Last Day, which are established in sound tradition will come after him. cIsa will descend after his appearance and will kill Dajjal or will descend along with him and aid him in that killing; and in worship cîsâ will follow the Mahdi.” And indeed, it is generally acknowledged that it was in the hearts of the Muslim multitude that the belief in the Mahdi was kept alive and, so that, in times of particular strain, arising from alien domination or from inner tensions of an unstable society, it could become quite active. That is to say, his arrival was expected in the immediate future in order to set things straight. In such circumstances, the ill-defined Sunni conception of the Mahdi was made more applicable to the situation at stake by being attached to a claimant at hand, or so formulated that an appropriate candidate could declare himself the Expected One. In this respect, Islamic history shows many instances of claimants to the throne of the Mahdihood, who together with a group of supporters would seek to challenge and overthrow the existing political order by force of arms. If successful, such a mahdi-movement has been described to have passed three major phases of progression.
Mahdism: the Doctrine and Its Implications
