MAHDI, maide (Ar. al-Mandi, the gadded One). The name given to the of Allah, who is expected by certain sections of the Moham medan world to complete the Prophet's work by converting or exterminating the infidels and by equitably dividing the world's goods. It is sup posed that he will be a second Mohammed in name and in appearance; and, since the time of the Abbassides, that he will carry the black flag of the Prophet. Ae is to meet Jesus in Damas cus and Jerusalem, and to reign seven, eight, or nine years, filling the earth with justice. The idea is not contained in the Koran; but later tradition puts the following words into Moham med's mouth: "Even though time shall have but one more day to last, God will call up a man of my family who will till the earth with justice, as it is now filled with iniquity." The Mandi idea arose in the eastern part of the new Arab empire, nourished by Jewish ideas of the coming of the Messiah, and Christian ideas of the second coming of Jesus; more especially in Persia, where the idea of a Saoshyant (q.v.) Or B.edcemer was part of the popular tradi tion and the trend to mysticism' and deifica tion part of the national character. Its first manifestation was due to the anti-Arab feeling of the Persian Mohammedans who, as legitimists. gathered around Ali, the son-in-law of the Prophet. and resented his neglect in favor of the ommiads. the bitterest opponents of the Prophet. Even during his lifetime Ali was deified, though against his will, by the Jew Abd Allah ibn Saba; and his violent death strengthened the be lief that he would be awakened at the end of time and would conquer the world. By others Ali was considered simply to be the tra?i or vicar of the Prophet : and in the circles which regarded him as the legitimate Imam (leader) he was confounded sometimes with the Messiah. sometimes with Elijah. The subject became one of fierce dispute between the Shiites and the Sun nites. In the course of time the idea was used as a political weapon by numerous pretenders. and the Mandi led the Holy War (jihad) against Moslems as well as against unbelievers. The first Mandi was Mohammed al-llanafiyyah, son of Ali. though not of Fatima, who teas proclaimed by one Mukhtar in the reign of Abd al-Malik (684-(3S7) after the murder of .\li's son l-iosein. When Mohammed died the Persians refused to believe him dead. but asserted that lie would re turn after seventy years. The idea spread, and since then Mandis have arisen very often among Persians, Egyptians, and the Arabs of the Sudan. ('inc of the most famous of these was the veiled prophet Al-Mokanna (see HARD1 MN the subject of Moore's poem. who came to be re garded as divine and was worshiped for cen turies. A large number of Shiites believe that there have existed only twelve Imams. Wien the
twelfth died at Samarra (9411. a child of twelve years, it was held that from that time on the Imam would remain concealed, though he may arise as Malidi at any moment. Of the Egyptian Mandis, the mad Hakim (99(i) is most notorious. Ile also disappeared, hut that be will appear again is the firm conviction of the Druses (q.v.) in the Lebanon Mountains and the Ffauran. Of the sects that have sprung from this idea, the Is mailis may be mentioned. who expect the return of a Slandi, Mohammed Dm Ismail of the family of Ali. The Karmathians also took their origin from this idea. (See MOHAMMEDAN SECTS.) Even orthodox Islam has been affected, and had its Maluli in the person of Ibn Tumart (1121), the founder of the Almohade Berber power.
The modern Mandi is a product of one of the many religious orders (the Sammaniyyah) which, as a protest against the encroachment of the Christian civilization, honeycomb the Moslem world, and are especially numerous in Northern Africa. Born in 1844 or 1S4S in the Province of Dongola, he took the name Mohammed Ahmed, asserting that his father was descended from llosein and his mother from Abbas. Ile studied ut Kereri. four miles north of Omdurman, at Khartum and in Berber. In IS70 he allied him self with the Sammani order, passing part of his time with his uncle, a shipbuilder on the island of Aba in the White Nile, where he lived an ascetic life. He then entered a minor order at Musallemia on the Blue Nile. In these circles the year 1882 (A.n. 1300) was supposed to be the Maluli year. Mohammed soon became famous in the country between the White and the Blue lle was joined in Kordofan by a Bak kara Bedouin named Abd Allah. who afterwards became his Caliph. Ile was proclaimed Slandi in F.I-Obeid in 1SS0, but returned to Aba to con tinue his ascetic life. In May, ISSI, he came forward openly and sent circulars to the chiefs of Islam preaching the Jihad, or linly War. the conversion of all onIndieveys, a return to the sim ple faith of the Piapliet. simplicity in dress and manners, and a sort of social communism and asceticism. Afraid of the' Egyptian Government, he collected a band of Dijem and Kinaru Be douins and proclaimed the Jihad. In July, 1881, a small expedition sent against him was de stroyed on the island. Imitating the Prophet, he left Aba, his Slecea, and came to Masa in South ern Kordofan. which he proclaimed his Medina. For his subsequent movements. see St•DAN. He died of smallpox. Consult: Darmesteter, The Afandi (New York, Is85) : G. Hoffmann, Malidi thum (Kiel, 18991; Snouck Hurgronje. in Ferree Coloniale Infernatianale (18S6): Ernst Miller, Beitrage znr Halidilchre des !slams (Heidelberg, 1901).