List of Mahdi claimants
In
A claimant Mahdi can wield great
Background
Traditionally interest in "apocalyptic speculation", (with the appearance of the Mahdi being central), has been strongest among mainstream
While at least in
Mahmoud Pargoo offers the explanation that according to Shīʿa hadiths, the mahdi "will bring a new religion, a new book and a new law"; making hard won Islamic learning and beloved, established religious rituals and institutions "redundant".[6]
Eighth century
Ṣāliḥ ibn Ṭarīf
Islamic literature considers his belief heretical, as several tenets of his teaching contrast with orthodox Islam, such as capital punishment for theft, unlimited divorces, fasting of the month of Rajab instead of Ramadan, and ten obligatory daily prayers instead of five. Politically, its motivation was presumably to establish their independence from the Umayyads, establishing an independent ideology lending legitimacy to the state. Some modern Berber activists regard him as a hero for his resistance to Arab conquest and his foundation of the Berghouata state.
Abdallah ibn Mu'awiya
Muhammad ibn Isma'il
Tenth century
In the tenth century the Isma'ili sect split into two – the Salamiyids, headquartered in
Abdullah al-Mahdi Billah
In 899 CE,
The
The dynasty ended when Salah-ud-Din Ayubi (also called Saladin) took over Egypt and ended the Fatimid state. He imprisoned the last Fatimid Caliph and his family in the Fatimid Palace until death.
Kadu ibn Mu'arik al-Mawati
A young Kutama Berber, al-Mawati was proclaimed as the Mahdi by disillusioned adherents of al-Mahdi Billah, in the aftermath of the purge of Abu Abdallah al-Shi'i and anti-Kutama riots in the cities of Ifriqiya. The Fatimid heir-apparent, al-Qa'im was given command of an army sent against the rebels. On 21 June 912, the Fatimid army decisively defeated the rebels near Mila. The anti-Mahdi al-Mawati and the other rebel leaders were soon captured, and prominently featured in al-Qa'im's triumphal entry into Kairouan in autumn.[11]
Abu'l-Fadl al-Isfahani
Muhammad al-Mahdi Billah
In the summer of 945, during the
Muhammad ibn al-Mustakfi
Twelfth century
Hassan II of Alamut
In the late eleventh century, as the Fatimid dynasty relinquished any supranatural claims or interest in millenarianism, the
In the middle of Ramadan in 559 AH (1164 CE), a successor of Hasan-i-Sabbah, Hassan II gathered his followers and announced to "jinn, men and angels" that the Hidden Imam had freed them "from the burden of the rules of Holy Law". With that, the assembled took part in a ritual violation of Sharia, a banquet with wine, in violation of the Ramadan fast, with their backs turned towards Medina.[14] Hassan II explained that he had abrogated the exoteric practice of Sharia and stressed on the esoteric (batini) side of the laws. And "while outwardly he was known as the grandson of Buzurgumid", in this esoteric reality, Hasan claimed "he was the Imam of the time" (the last Imam of Shia Islam).[15] Observance of Islamic rites was punishable by the utmost severity; Resistance was nonetheless deep, and Hasan was stabbed to death by his own brother-in-law. Islamic law was reintroduced after the death of his son.[16]
Ibn Tumart
In Sunni Morocco, Muhammad ibn Abdullah ibn
Although declared mahdi by his followers in 1121 CE,[19] and calling himself imam and masum (literally in Arabic: innocent or free of sin), ibn Tumart consulted with a council of ten of his oldest disciples, and conform traditional Berber representative government, later added an assembly of fifty tribal leaders.[citation needed] The Almohad rebellion began in 1125 with attacks on Moroccan cities, including Sus and Marrakech.[citation needed]
His failure to capture Marrakech in 1130 "undermined his messianic pretentions to invulnerability", and he died shortly after designated
Fourteenth century
Shia in Iran and Iraq
With the Mongol invasion of the eastern Muslim world in the 13th century, many Muslims were killed, and Iran and Iraq came under Mongol control. By the early 14th century Shi'a in Iran and Iraq began "clandestine dissidence". For example, in
- Fazlallah al-Astarbadi
After the Mongol khanate disintegrated after the death of
Fifteenth century
Nurbakhsh
A generation after the execution of Fazlallah al-Astarbadi in the early fifteenth century, Ishaq al-Khuttalani, a Sufi master of the Kubrawiyya order in what is now Tajikistan, proclaimed one of his followers, Nurbakhsh (the Gift of Light), the awaited Messiah (i.e. Mahdi). This movement "grew in size and influence", staged an unsuccessful revolt, whereupon Khuttalani and dozens of followers – but not Nurbakhsh – were executed in 1425. Nurbakhsh eventually established his own order in Kurdistan "but was forced to publicly renounce any claims to the imamate."[22]
Muhammad Ibn Falah
Another example of how a "millenarian insurrection " gave rise "to a new dynastic power"
Syed Muḥammad Jaunpuri
He (Syed Muhammad Jaunpuri) claimed to be the Mahdi-e-Maoud on three occasions:
- Between the rukn and maqam in front of the Kaaba in Masjid al-Haram (901 AH)
- Taj Khan Salaar Mosque, Ahmedabad, Gujarat (903 AH)
- Badli, Gujarat, where he attracted a large amount of followers but opposition from the ulema. (905 AH)
His five
Syed Muhammad Jaunpuri died in 1505 AD, aged 63, at
Sheikh Bedreddin
Sixteenth century
In 1509, the Banū Saʿdid, a family claiming ancestry from Muhammad and aided with the military support of the Shaziliyya, "the most powerful brotherhood in the region", took control of Sous. It leader, born Muhammad al-Mahdi, was proclaimed sovereign, and his followers "saw in him the realization" of a famous hadith stating that "a descendant of the Prophet, bearing the same name, Muhammad, will come to restore justice on earth."[17] The dynasty of Banū Saʿdid went on with the help of firearms to rule Morocco for most of the following century.[26]
Ahmed ibn Abi Mahalli
Unsuccessfully challenging the Saʿdid dynasty was another figure making use of Mahdi title, Ahmed ibn Abi Mahalli (
Shah Ismail I Safavid
Nurbakhsh influence was felt in the
"Strongly influenced" by one of Nurbakhsh's disciples, Ismail used eschatology to justify the savagery of Qizilbash, claiming he was the Mahdi.[23] The ferocious Qizilbash took successively Baku, Tabriz, Isfahan, Shiraz, Baghdad, but were routed in 1514 by the Ottoman artillery.
"Unable any longer to pose as the Mahdi, he now claimed to be an ambassador of the Hidden Imam. The Anatolian origins of the Safavid family were conveniently forgotten and replaced by a prophetic ancestry that allowed the dynasty to represent itself as the instrument of the twelfth imam during the course of the Great Occultation. A minority of the Qizilbash nonetheless continued to consider the shah to be the Mahdi himself."[17]
This heresy was suppressed by Ismail's son and successor..
Muhammad Nur Pak
The Mahdi and final Prophet of Zikrism who has revealed new Scriptures as Ta'wil of Quran and Other Scriptures called Burhan or Kanzul Asrar and was born in 1570, nothing is known about his life to scholars but Zikris have a hidden Scripture about his life called Mahdi Nameh in Balouchi, they have many other hidden Scriptures about the lifes of Prophets and their teachings which all are secretive and hidden and scholars today have only few sources about them.
Seventeenth century
Ahmad al-Mansur
Ahmad al-Mansur (1578–1603), sultan of Morocco. The jurist Ahmad bin Muhammad bin al-Siddeeq wrote a treatise exclusively on the Mahdi, presenting a hundred arguments in support of the Mahdism of al-Mansur.[29][30]
Ahmed ibn Abi Mahalli
Eighteenth century
Āghā Muḥammad Rezā
Nineteenth century
The 19th century provided several Mahdi claimants, some of whose followers and teachings survive to the present day.
Bu Ziyan
One Mahdi who did not aim to reinvent Islam but to uphold it against kafir invaders, was Bu Ziyan. In 1849, Muhammad appeared to him in a series of dreams, commanding him "three times" to "assume the duties of the Mahdi" and drive the French colonists from Algeria. Bu Ziyan had served as representative of the Anti-French leader Abd al-Qadir, but now led an uprising with the help of many members of the strongest Sufi brotherhood, Rahmaniyya. The French besieged their headquarters at the oasis of Zaʿatsha for 52 days, breaking through and annihilated the population. Bu Ziyan's head was mounted on a pike at the village entrance, but "word spread through the Sahara that the Mahdi – or at least one of his sons had escaped alive."[31]
Alí Muḥammad (Báb)
Alí Muḥammad (1819–1850) claimed to be the Mahdi in 1844, taking the name the Báb and founded a religious movement known as Bábism. He was later executed by firing squad in the town of Tabriz. While Bábism was violently opposed and has very few members in modern times, it continued in the form of the Baháʼí Faith, whose followers consider the Báb as a central figure of their own.
Muḥammad Aḥmad
Muhammad Ahmad bin Abd Allah (1844–1885) was a Sudanese Sufi sheikh of the Samaniyya order. Expelled for puritanical outbursts of anger, he founded his own order amidst Sudanese popular protest and millenarian unrest over Anglo-Egyptian rule.[32] In June 1881 he declared himself Mahdi, announcing he had dreamt that he had been enthroned by Muhammad. He established control over the province of Kordofan and went on to lead a successful military campaign against the Turko-Egyptian government of Sudan, defeating the Anglo-Egyptian army and capturing the Sudanese capital, Khartoum in 1885. He predicted he would soon say prayers in Mecca, Medina, Cairo, and Jerusalem, but died a few months after his victory.[32] The Mahdist State continued under his successor, Abdallahi ibn Muhammad, until 1898, when it fell to the British Army following the Battle of Omdurman.
Mīrzā Ghulām Aḥmad
Mirza Ghulam Ahmad (1835–1908) claimed to be both the Mahdi and the second coming of Jesus in the late 19th century in
Twentieth century
Muḥammad bin abd Allah al-Qahtani
Muhammad bin abd Allah al-Qahtani (1935–1979) was proclaimed Mahdi by his brother-in-law,
Riaz Aḥmed Gohar Shahi
Riaz Ahmed Gohar Shahi (born 1941) is the founder of the spiritual movements Messiah Foundation International (MFI) and Anjuman Serfaroshan-e-Islam.[33][34][35] He is controversial for being declared the Mahdi, Messiah, and Kalki Avatar by the MFI.[36] Shahi's supporters claim that his face became prominent on the Moon, Sun, nebula star and the Black Stone in Mecca. Shahi disappeared from public view in 2001. There have been claims that he died in that year or in 2003, but these are unconfirmed.
Ariffin Moḥamed
Ariffin Mohammed (born 1943), also known as "Ayah Pin", the leader and founder of the banned
Mouhammadou Limamou Laye
Mouhammadou Limamou Laye (1843–1909) was the founder of the Layene Sufi order, based in Senegal.[37] After the death of his mother he declared himself to be the Mahdi on May 24, 1884. This caused controversy with the French and many orthodox Muslims. His message emphasized cleanliness, prayer, alms, and social justice.
Twenty-first century
Dia Abdul Zahra Kadim
In 2006, Dia Abdul Zahra Kadim, announced he was the awaited Mahdi and organized an armed group called "the Soldiers of Heaven". According to official reports, in late January 2007, Kadim marched towards the Shiite holy city of Najaf planned to execute the Shiite authorities and Grand Ayatollahs there and "take over their hawzas." Alerted to this menace, Iraqi forces surrounded Kadim and killed him,[2] and "263 terrorists" in the 2007 Battle of Najaf.[38] Unofficially, Iraqi and American forces are accused of wiping out the entire community of the Soldiers of Heaven, including women and children, at a "camp in Zarga, north of Najaf",[38]
Other cases
According to seminary expert, Mehdi Ghafari, some dozens of Kurdish Sufis who claimed to be the Mahdi were imprisoned in Iran in 2012.[39]
People claimed to be the Mahdi by their followers or supporters
- Musta'lis, in addition to 2 million Druze.
- televangelistand cult leader.
- Twelvers and Isma'ilis. Claimed to be the Mahdi according to the Tawussite Shia.
- Muhammad Qasim ibn Abd al-Karim (born 1976), Pakistani preacher claimed by his followers in Malaysia to be the Mahdi.
- Wallace Fard Muhammad, founded the Nation of Islam, a religious movement, in Detroit, United States on 4 July 1930. The Nation of Islam teaches that W. Fard Muhammad was both the "Messiah" of Christianity and the Mahdi of Islam.
- Muhammad Bayazeed Khan Panni, a Bangladeshi politician, homeopathic medicine practitioner, writer, and social reformer. He was a member of East Pakistan provincial assembly. Claimed to be the Mahdi according to the Hezbut Tawheed.
- Abdullah al-Aftah ibn Ja'far al-Sadiq), believed that Muhammad was the son of Imam Abdullah al-Aftah, whom they believed to be the Imam after his father Ja'far al-Sadiq.
- Abbasid caliph Al-Mansur.
- Twelver Shia, respectively.
- , in what is now northeastern Afghanistan.
- Musa al-Kazim, a descendant of the Islamic prophet Muhammad and the seventh imam in Twelver Shia Islam. Claimed to be the Mahdi according to the Waqifite Shia.
- Fulani scholar, Islamic religious teacher, poet, revolutionary and a philosopher who founded the Sokoto Caliphateand ruled as its first caliph.
- Yahya ibn Umar, In the days of the Abbasid caliph Al-Musta'in, he marched out from Kufa and lead an abortive uprising from Kufa in 864-65 C.E., but was killed by the Abbasid forces led by Husayn ibn Isma'il, who had been sent to deal with him.
People claiming to be representatives of the Mahdi
According to at least Shi'i beliefs, before the hidden imam or the Mahdi himself appears, "a messenger that represents him and serves as an intermediary between him and the people" will appear, conveying his commands and carrying out some of his tasks.
- Haidar al-Munchidawi, an Iraqi man nicknamed al-Qahtani, wears a turban and describes himself as "the mediator of the Mahdi"; his followers opened a Facebook page entitled, "Fully Dedicated Youth".[2]
- Fadel al-Marsoumi, self-described as "the divine preacher", claims to be sent by God to unify all sects in a single group; also has a Facebook page.[2]
- American invasion of Iraq, he called for a defensive jihad against "the American Satan", and threatened all those who resisted him with being put to the sword or dying "in the shadow of the sword".[41] In addition, he has called on Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei and "all other" Muslim leaders to "yield their power to him",[41] and "excoriated" all leading Shi'a who deny that "the end of Great Occultation is at hand".[38]
- Abdullah Hashem, an Egyptian-American disciple of Ahmed al-Hasan, claimed to be the Qa'im Al Muhammad and founded the Ahmadi Religion of Peace and Light (AROPL) in 2015.[43]
See also
- Messiah
- Messiah complex
- Jewish Messiah claimants
- List of people who have claimed to be Jesus
- List of messiah claimants
- List of avatar claimants
- List of Buddha claimants
- Second Coming of Christ
- Unfulfilled Christian religious predictions
- List of founders of religious traditions
- List of people who have been considered deities
- Signs of the reappearance of Muhammad al-Mahdi
- Reappearance of Muhammad al-Mahdi
- Mahdism
References
- ^ Filiu, Apocalypse in Islam , 2011: p. 49
- ^ a b c d Abu Zeed, Adnan (2 February 2015). "'Messengers of God' multiply amidst Iraqi chaos". Al Monitor. Retrieved 2 June 2022.
- ^ Hardy, Roger (January 31, 2007). "Confusion surrounds Najaf battle". BBC.
- ^ Roug, Louise; Fakhrildeen, Saad (January 30, 2007). "Religious cult targeted in fierce battle near Najaf". Los Angeles Times.
- ^ Gamel, Kim (29 January 2007). "Iraqi army kills leader of Shiite cult". news.yahoo.com. Associated Press. Archived from the original on 7 February 2007. Retrieved 29 January 2007.
- ^ a b Mahmoud Pargoo (April 2019). "Who is Ahmad al-Hassan al-Yamani, and why do so many Shīʿas think he is the promised messiah?". ABC. Retrieved 31 May 2022.
- ^ Halm, Heinz (2004). Shi'ism (2nd ed.). Columbia University Press. p. 22.
- ^ a b c d e Filiu, Apocalypse in Islam , 2011: p. 50
- ^ a b c d Filiu, Apocalypse in Islam , 2011: p. 51
- ^ a b Filiu, Apocalypse in Islam , 2011: p. 52
- ISBN 978-3-406-35497-7.
- ISBN 978-1-86064-724-6.
- ISBN 978-3-406-35497-7.
- ^ Lewis, Bernard (1967). The Assassins : A Radical Sect in Islam. Oxford University Press. p. 72.
- ^ Lewis, Bernard (1967). The Assassins : A Radical Sect in Islam. Oxford University Press. p. 74.
- ^ Filiu, Apocalypse in Islam , 2011: p. 53
- ^ a b c Filiu, Apocalypse in Islam , 2011: p. 59
- ^ Filiu, Apocalypse in Islam , 2011: pp. 59–60
- ^ a b c Filiu, Apocalypse in Islam , 2011: p. 60
- ^ Filiu, Apocalypse in Islam , 2011: pp. 55–56
- ^ Filiu, Apocalypse in Islam , 2011: p. 56
- ^ a b Filiu, Apocalypse in Islam , 2011: p. 57
- ^ a b c d Filiu, Apocalypse in Islam , 2011: p. 58
- ^ Filiu, Apocalypse in Islam , 2011: pp. 57–58
- ^ a b "Biography – Promised One, a biography of Syed Muhammad Jaunpuri". Archived from the original on 27 September 2008. Retrieved 29 July 2006.
- ^ Filiu, Apocalypse in Islam , 2011: p. 61
- ^ Mercedes Garcia-Arenal, "Imam et Mahdi : Ibn Abî Mahallî", in Revue des mondes musulmans et de la Méditerranée, 2000, pp. 157–180 [1] (retrieved 3-2-2011) translation in English, in: Mercedes Garcia-Arenal, Messianism and puritanical reform: Mahdīs of the Muslim west, Brill, 2006
- ^ Filiu, Apocalypse in Islam , 2011: pp. 61–62
- ^ Nabil Matar (2008). Queen Elizabeth I Through Moroccan Eyes
- ^ Ibraz al-Wahm al-Maknun min Kalam Ibn Khaldun aw al-Murshid al-Mahdi li-rad ta’an Ibn Khaldun bi Ahadith al-Mahdi, National Library of Rabat, MS Dal 1878
- ^ Filiu, Apocalypse in Islam , 2011: p. 62
- ^ a b Filiu, Apocalypse in Islam , 2011: pp. 62–63
- ^ "Messiah Foundation International Site about Shahi". Messiah Foundation International. Retrieved 13 March 2010.
- ^ "Website from Pakistan Sector". goharshahi.pk. Archived from the original on 22 October 2010. Retrieved 12 March 2010.
- ^ "Gohar Shahi, chief of Anjuman-e-Sarferoshan-e-Islam, granted pre-arrest bail". Dawn newspaper. 18 November 1997. Retrieved 7 March 2010.
- ^ Claimed on the official site Gohar Shahi, and all other major sites of MFI http://www.goharshahi.com/ as accessed on August 19, 2015
- ^ Laborde, Cécile (1994). La Confrérie layenne et les Lébou du Sénégal: Islam et culture tradtionnelle (in French). Bordeaux: Institut d'études politiques de Bordeaux: Université Montesquieu-Bordeaux IV.
- ^ a b c Filiu, Apocalypse in Islam , 2011: p. 160
- ^ Iran’s multiplicity of messiahs: You’re a fake economist.com
- ^ "Glad Tidings". saviorofmankind.com. Archived from the original on 12 August 2016. Retrieved 18 August 2016.
- ^ a b c Filiu, Apocalypse in Islam , 2011: p. 159
- ^ Pargoo, Mahmoud (1 April 2019). "Who is Ahmad al-Hassan al-Yamani". ABC Editorial Standards. Retrieved 13 April 2019.
- ISSN 2532-2990.
External sources
- Filiu, Jean-Pierre (2011). Apocalypse in Islam. Translated by DeBevoise, M. B. Berkeley: University of California Press. ISBN 978-0-520-26431-1.
- Yohanan Friedmann, "Prophecy Continuous – Aspects of Ahmadi Religious Thought and Its Medieval Background"; Oxford University Press (2003) ISBN 965-264-014-X
- Timothy Furnish, "Holiest Wars: Islamic Mahdis, their Jihads and Osama bin Laden" (Greenwood, 2005)
- Peter Smith, the Bábí and Baháʼí Religions – from messianic Shi'ism to a world religion; Cambridge University Press (1987); ISBN 0-521-30128-9
- Abbas Amanat, Resurrection and Renewal – the Making of the Bábí Movement in Iran 1844–1850; Cornell University Press (1989); ISBN 0-8014-2098-9
- Esslemont, J.E. (1980). Bahá'u'lláh and the New Era, An Introduction to the Baháʼí Faith (5th ed.). ISBN 0-87743-160-4.