0010 Pandangan Ensiklopedia Barat Tentang Imam Mahdi
[Arab., = (he who is devinely guided)], in Sunni ISLAM, the restorer of faith.
It is believed that he will appear at the end of time to restore justice on
earth and establish universal Islam. Among SHIITES the concept of the Mahdi
centers on the IMAM. Throughout Islamic history, many reformers claiming to
be the Mahdi have arisen. One such was Muhammad Ahmad, 1844-85, a Muslim religious
leader in the Anglo-Egyptian Sudan. In 1881 he declared himself to be the Mahdi,
but he died soon after capturing KHARTOUM. Lord KITCHENER defeated his followers
at Omdurman in 1898.
The Columbia Encyclopedia: Sixth Edition, 2000.
(mä´d) (KEY) [Arab.,=he who is divinely guided], in
Sunni Islam, the restorer of the faith. He will appear at the end
of time to restore justice on earth and establish universal Islam.
The Mahdi will be preceded by al-Dajjal, a Muslim antichrist, who
will be slain by Jesus. This belief is not rooted in the
Qur’an but has its origins in Jewish ideas about the Messiah
and in the Christian belief of the second coming of Christ. Among
the Shiites the concept of the Mahdi takes a different form (see
imam). In the history of Islam, many men have arisen who claimed to
be the Mahdi. They usually appeared as reformers antagonistic to
established authority. One such man, who became famous in Western
history, was Muhammad Ahmad, 1844-85, a Muslim religious leader in
the Anglo-Egyptian Sudan. He declared himself in 1881 to be the
Mahdi and led a war of liberation from the oppressive Egyptian
military occupation. He died soon after capturing Khartoum. In his
reform of Islam the Mahdi forbade the pilgrimage to Mecca and
substituted the obligation to serve in the holy war against
unbelievers. His followers, known as Mahdists, for a time made
pilgrimages to his tomb at Omdurman. The final defeat of the
Mahdists in 1898 at Omdurman by an Anglo-Egyptian army under Lord
Kitchener gave Great Britain control of Sudan.1 See P. M.
Holt, The Mahdist State in the Sudan (2nd ed. 1970).