The Mahdi: Islam’s Awaited Messiah Among the Major Signs, the most anticipated and central sign that Muslims are awaiting is the coming of a man known as, “The Mahdi.” In Arabic, al-Mahdi means, “The Guided One” 1 He is also sometimes referred to by Shi’a Muslims as Sahib Al-Zaman or Al-Mahdi al-Muntadhar which translated mean “The Lord of the Age” and “The Guided/Awaited One.” The Mahdi is the first of the Major Signs. This is confirmed by Ibn Kathir, the renowned Muslim scholar from the eighth century: After the lesser signs of the Hour appear and increase, mankind will have reached a stage of great suffering. Then the awaited Mahdi will appear; He is the first of the greater clear, signs of the Hour.2 The coming of the Mahdi is the central crowning element of all Islamic end-time narratives. So central to Islamic eschatological expectations is the coming of the Mahdi, that some Muslim scholars do not even refer to “the Minor Signs” as such, but instead, refer t