186 No god but God
revolts against the Umayyad Caliphate. However, the Ismailis were
the first Islamic sect for whom belief in the Mahdi became the central
tenet of faith. Even so, it was not until the majority Shi‘ah—known as
the “Twelvers” because they follow Musa’s line down to the twelfth
and final Imam—also adopted the doctrine of the Mahdi that a
uniquely Islamic eschatology was developed centered on the “Hidden
Imam” who had left this world for a transcendent realm from which
he would return on the Day of Judgment to restore justice on earth.
Because there is no mention of the Mahdi in the Quran, Muslims
looked to the hadith for insight into the second coming of the “Hid-
den Imam.” As one would expect, these traditions differed greatly
depending on geographical location and political affiliation. For
instance, in Syria, where Umayyad loyalty dominated both religious
and civil concerns, the hadith claimed that the Mahdi would be a
member of the Quraysh, while in Kufa, the seat of Shi‘ite aspirations,
the hadith insisted that the Mahdi would be a direct descendant of
Muhammad through his son-in-law, Ali; his first duty upon returning
to earth would naturally be to avenge the massacre at Karbala. Some
traditions predicted that the coming of the Mahdi will be portended
by civil wars and false prophets, earthquakes and the abolition of
Islamic law. According to the fourteenth-century historian and philos-
opher Ibn Khaldun, the Mahdi will either directly precede Jesus, or
both messiahs will descend to earth together and join forces to kill the
Antichrist.
As the doctrine of the Mahdi began to dominate Shi‘ism, Sunni
religious scholars gradually distanced themselves from further specu-
lation on the topic. Sunni schools of law openly criticized belief in the
Mahdi in an attempt to discourage what was fast becoming a politi-
cally disruptive theology. The fears of the Sunni establishment were
well warranted. The Abassids overthrew the Umayyad Dynasty partly
by appealing to the messianic expectations of the Shi‘ah. Indeed,
the first Abassid ruler gave himself the messianic title as-Saffah (“the
Generous”). He was addressed as “The Mahdi of the Hashimis.” The
second Abassid Caliph gave himself the title al-Mansur (another mes-
sianic term for the Mahdi found primarily in Yemen), and the third
simply called himself “the Mahdi,” explicitly identifying his rule with
that of the promised restorer.