1884.] Professor W. Bohertson Smith on Mohammedan Mahdis. 147 



WEEKLY EVENING MEETING, 



Friday, May 9, 1884. 



The Duke of Northumberland, D.O.L. LL.D. President, 

 in the Chair. 



Professor W. Robertson Smith, M.A. LL.D. 



Mohammedan Mahdis. 



1. The nameMahdi. Al-Mahdi is not a corruption of Al-muhdi, 

 and does not mean " the spiritual guide," as has been lately asserted 

 by scholars both in England and in the East, but as can be proved by 

 the metre of poems in which it occurs is a passive form (Al-Mahdiyu, 

 " the rightly-guided one"). The idea of the Mahdi is therefore that of 

 a chief of Islam who is himself infallibly guided by God. 



2. This idea does not belong to the original doctrine of Islam, which 

 makes Mohammed the seal of the prophets and regards the Koran as 

 all-suf&cient for the future. Source of Mohammed's theory of revela- 

 tion by a hook ; its inadequacy to sustain and inspire the Moslems 

 after his death except in their first career of victory ; the empire of 

 the Caliphs did not realise the ideal of a theocracy guided wholly by 

 the Koran even for the Arabs and much less for the Persians. 



3. Rise of Messianic ideas ; i:)oints of resemblance to and distinction 

 from such ideas in Judaism. The Messianic idea takes shape among 

 the Persians in conformity with their high-flown notions of Kingship 

 as almost divine. The tragedy of Ali and his family leads the Shia 

 to accept his family as legitimate and expect the golden age from its 

 restoration. 



4. The doctrine of the hidden Imam arises, on the failure of 

 successive attempts at religious revolution in favour of the Alidae. In 

 the darkest times God's sovereignty on earth is rejDresented by a hidden 

 leader w^ho in due time will appear in victory. The hidden Imam is 

 the Mahdi, and both names appear together for the first time in 

 connection with Mohammed ibn al Hanafiya. 



5. The Shiite doctrine of the Imam modified so as to become 

 influential outside the Shia circle : the Ismailis. Abdullah al Kaddah 

 and his secret society ; the Carmathians ; the Fatimites. 



6. Ultimately the doctrine of the Mahdi becomes a stereotyped 

 element in all popular risings within Islam against oppression, and is 

 not limited to the Shia. A typical example is found in Ibn Tumert 

 the Almohade Mahdi. His history proves him to have been an 

 impostor, not an enthusiast, and this is almost always found to be the 

 case with political Mahdis. Of unpolitical and unselfish Mahdis the 

 chief type is the Persian religious teacher Bab. 



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