See RAJA.
MAHDI, Al, Caliph, A. D. 775-785.
MAHDI, The.
"The religion of Islam acknowledges the mission of Jesus, but
not His divinity. Since the Creation, it teaches, five
prophets had appeared before the birth of Mahomet—Adam, Noah,
Abraham, Moses, and Jesus—each being greater than his
predecessor, and each bringing a fuller and higher revelation
than the last. Jesus ranks above all the prophets of the old
dispensation, but below those of the new, inaugurated by
Mahomet. In the final struggle He will be but the servant and
auxiliary of a more august personage—the Mahdi. The literal
meaning of the word Mahdi is not, as the newspapers generally
assert, 'He who leads,' a meaning more in consonance with
European ideas, but 'He who is led.' … If he leads his
fellow-men it is because he alone is the 'well-guided one,'
led by God—the Mahdi. The word Mahdi is only an epithet which
may be applied to any prophet, or even to any ordinary person;
but used as a proper name it indicates him who is
'well-guided' beyond all others, the Mahdi 'par excellence,'
who is to end the drama of the world, and of whom Jesus shall
only be the vicar. … The Koran does not speak of the Mahdi,
but it seems certain that Mahomet must have announced him. …
The idea of the Mahdi once formed, it circulated throughout
the Mussulman world: we will follow it rapidly in its course
among the Persians, the Turks, the Egyptians, and the Arabs of
the Soudan; but without for an instant pretending to pass in
review all the Mahdis who have appeared upon the prophetic
stage; for their name is Legion."
_J. Darmesteter,
The Mahdi, Past and Present,
chapters 1-2. _
See, also,
ISLAM; ALMOHADES;
and EGYPT: A. D. 1870-1883, and 1884-1885.
MAHDIYA:
Taken by the Moorish Corsair, Dragut,
and retaken by the Spaniards (1550).
See BARBARY STATES: A. D. 1543-1560.
MAHMOUD I., Turkish Sultan, A. D. 1730-1754.
Mahmoud II., Turkish Sultan, 1808-1839.
Mahmoud, the Afghan, Shah of Persia, 1722-1725.
Mahmoud, the Gaznevide, The Empire of.
See TURKS: A. D. 999-1183.
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