Mahdi

plural Mahdis

1. SunnicountableuncountableIslamA leader who, according to Sunni eschatology, will appear and restore peace and justice before the end of the world.First known use 17th c.

   Ahmadis consider Mirza Ghulam Ahmed to be the Mahdi.

   2 more examples

   "Of course, my Lord. You asked what they were shouting, though. It was Mahdi! They directed the term at the young master. When they-" "At Paul?" "Yes, my Lord. They've a legend here, a prophecy, that a leader will come to them, a child of a Bene Gesserit, to lead them to true freedom. It follows the familiar messiah pattern."

   1965 October 1, Frank Herbert, “Book I: Dune”, in Dune, Philadelphia, Pa.: Chilton Book Company; [Toronto], Ont.: Thomas Nelson & Sons, →OCLC, page 99

   Al-Afghani was a polyglot Persian who became an international agitator, aspiring [...] to unify the Muslim masses behind the Caliph (or even the Mahdi) and to become himself the Luther of an Islamic reformation.

   2012, Piers Brendon, ‘Beginning the Dissent’, Literary Review, volume 401

2. countableuncountableMuhammad b. Hasan al-Mahdi, the last of the Twelve Imams, born in 868 AD but believed alive and present in this world in a state of occultation; Similarly to Sunni belief, he will reappear before the end of time.
3. countableuncountableA male given name from Arabic.
4. countableuncountableA surname from Arabic.