Mahdin.
/ˈmɑːdi/, U.S. /ˈmɑdi/ In Muslim belief: the restorer of religion and justice who will rule before the end of the world; a claimant of this title (frequently the Mahdi), esp. Muhammad Ahmad of Dongola in Sudan, who proclaimed himself such in 1881 and launched a political and revolutionary movement which overthrew the Turco-Egyptian regime.
ΘΚΠ
society > faith > church government > member of the clergy > clerical superior > various non-Christian superiors > [noun] > Muslim
mufti1586
Mahdi1625
Sheikh-ul-Islam (properly Sheikhu 'l Islam)1686
Khilafat1921
ayatollah1950
1625 S. Purchas Pilgrimes II. vii. iv. 1214 One Abdalla,..passed into Africa, and called himselfe Mehedi (that is, making plaine).
1797 Encycl. Brit. X. 460/2 The coming of the Mohdi, or director.
1801 Asiatic Ann. Reg. 1800 Misc. Tracts 125/1 Mahommed, who was proclaimed Khalif at Medina in the year of the Hejira 145, and who assumed the title of Mohdi or Mahadi.
1803 T. Winterbottom Acct. Native Africans Sierra Leone I. xiv. 246 Some years ago a celebrated impostor, who called himself Mahadee,..made his appearance among the Soosoos and Mandingos.
1868 J. P. Brown Dervishes ii. 74 It is from among the descendants of 'Alee that the more devout Moslems expect the Mehdee.
1885 Times 20 Mar. 5/5 The desert Arabs state that a new Mahdi has appeared in Kordofan.
1915 Encycl. Relig. & Ethics VIII. 339/2 Mahdīism..was an enforced communism, maintained by plunder, divided arbitrarily by the Mahdī.
1986 Times 10 Nov. 7 Mehdi—or ‘the Mahdi’ as he is more popularly pronounced in the West—is the twelfth Imam whom [sic] Shia Muslims believe will return on Judgement Day.
2000 M. Ruthven Islam in World (ed. 2) v. 198 Time and again, the millenarian doctrines associated with the mahdi have proved an effective means of mobilizing popular discontent.
Derivatives
ˈMahdian n. rare = Mahdist n.
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society > authority > rule or government > politics > African politics > [noun] > principle or policy in Sudan > supporter of
Mahdian1885
Mahdist1885
Ansar1891
1885 Daily Tel. 21 Mar. 5/1 No hardy Mahdian got nearer than twenty yards.
1996 A. Hastings Church in Afr. x. 407 The Muslim community was on the whole turning..away from the jihadic and Mahdian intransigencies which had widely characterized its history through much of the nineteenth century.
ˈMahdiship n. rare the dignity or position of Mahdi.
ΘΚΠ
society > faith > church government > member of the clergy > clerical superior > various non-Christian superiors > [noun] > Muslim > position of
Mahdiship1884
1884 19th Cent. May 816 The impostor who has..laid claim to the Mahdiship.
2000 M. Ruthven Islam in World (ed. 2) vii. 292 To his close associates..Muhammad Ahmad confided the secret that the mahdiship had been conferred upon him by the Prophet in a vision.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, March 2000; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
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n.1625