The word · Belief
المَهْدِيّ
Mahdi
A rightly guided leader expected near the end of time, understood very differently by Sunni and Shia Islam.
Also written · Mehdi · Mahdee · Mehdy · Al-Mahdi · Imam Mahdi · Imam al-Mahdi · Mahdiyy · The guided one · Awaited Mahdi
The meaning
What Mahdi means in Islam
In Sunni Islam he is a future man from the family of the Prophet peace be upon him who will rule with justice, described in reports collected by Abu Dawud, al-Tirmidhi and others; most scholars accepted them, while a minority, including Ibn Khaldun, criticised their chains. He is not named in the Qur'an. Twelver Shia belief is different in kind: the Mahdi there is the twelfth Imam, already born, alive in occultation, and awaited. Claimants have appeared in almost every century, and each one so far has been mistaken.
Evidence · Scholars differ · The scholars read this one differently
Read beside it
Rooms that name it
- The Haram at Makkah began as an open space between housesA Light · Masjid al-Haram, Makkah · 638 CE to the present
- Al-Mahdi: The Rightly GuidedThe Path · chapter 54
Words that sit beside it
- Ashrat al-Sa'ahThe signs that come before the Day of Judgement, sorted by scholars into minor and major.أَشْرَاطُ السَّاعَة
- DajjalThe false messiah who appears near the end of time, claiming godhood and testing people with power.الدَّجَّال
- Nuzul IsaThe descent of Isa near the end of time, to break the cross, kill the Dajjal, and rule with justice.نُزُولُ عِيسَى
More from Belief
- Adhab al-QabrThe punishment or ease a person meets in the grave, before the Day of Judgement arrives.عَذَابُ القَبْر
- Ba'thThe resurrection: bodies raised and souls returned, so that everyone stands for judgement.البَعْث
- IstidrajBeing drawn in slowly by blessings while sinning, so that ease becomes a punishment rather than approval.الاِسْتِدْرَاج
- Lawh MahfuzThe Preserved Tablet, in which everything decreed was written down before it happened.اللَّوْحُ المَحْفُوظ
- QalamThe Pen, commanded to write the decree of everything that would happen until the Day of Judgement.القَلَم
- SiratThe bridge laid over Hell that everyone must cross, at speeds matching their deeds.الصِّرَاط