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Webster 1913 Edition

Noun.

[Ar., guide, leader.]

Among Muslims, the last imam or leader of the faithful. The Sunni, the largest sect of the Muslims, believe that he is yet to appear.

☞ The title has been taken by several persons in countries where Islam prevails, – notably by

Mohammad Ahmed

, who overran the Egyptian Sudan, and in 1885 captured Khartum, his soldiers killing

General Gordon

, an Englishman, who was then the Egyptian governor of the region.

See also: mahdi

Mahdi

(Islam) A leader in Islamic eschatology, who, it is believed, will appear and restore peace and justice before the end of the world. [from 17th c.]
Ahmadis consider Mirza Ghulam Ahmed to be the Mahdi.
- 2012, Piers Brendon, ‘Beginning the Dissent’, Literary Review, vol. 401:
  Al-Afghani was a polyglot Persian who became an international agitator, aspiring [...] to unify the Muslim masses behind the Caliph (or even the Mahdi) and to become himself the Luther of an Islamic reformation.

a leader in Islamic eschatology, who, it is believed, will appear and restore peace and justice before the end of the world. from 17th c

See also: Mahdi

mahdi m