Tim
2008-04-07 11:33:10
Anthony,
See, a very good Charlton Heston movie can lead folks astray (“Khartoum”), alas.
No, Mahdism does not necessarily contradict mainstream Islam because the Mahdi is NOT a new prophet, but simply recapitulates Muhammad and renews the ummah–the umman becoming, in his case, the entire world, eventualy.
Richard,
Good point. Although I know little about ghost dance, there do seem to be parallels. Of course the closer parallels are Jewish, Christian and Zoroastrian messianism.
