Who is the Mahdi?

Who is the Mahdi?

There has been much talk of late about the Muslim Messiah, called the "Mahdi," whose arrival is eagerly awaited by the Iranian president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, among others. Indeed, the Iranian leadership recently reiterated its belief that the precious Mahdi would be arriving "soon," a belief very similar to that of many Christians, who have been awaiting "Christ's return" for the past nearly 2,000 years. Any day now, they have insisted since then. The same can be said of the supposed coming of the Muslim messiah, which has been imminent for centuries, according to fervent Islamic belief.