n. [ Ar., guide, leader. ] Among Muslims, the last imam or leader of the faithful. The Sunni, the largest sect of the Muslims, believe that he is yet to appear. [ 1913 Webster ]

☞ The title has been taken by several persons in countries where Islam prevails, -- notably by Mohammad Ahmed, who overran the Egyptian Sudan, and in 1885 captured Khartum, his soldiers killing General Gordon, an Englishman, who was then the Egyptian governor of the region. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. See Mahdism. [ Webster 1913 Suppl. ]

n. Belief in the coming of the Mahdi; fanatical devotion to the cause of the Mahdi or a pretender to that title. -- Mah"dist n.

Mahdism has proved the most shameful and terrible instrument of bloodshed and oppression which the modern world has ever witnessed. E. N. Bennett. [Webster 1913 Suppl.]