In Islam, the Mahdi is the foretold redeemer who will come to the Earth before Judgment Day and cleanse the world of injustice. He is not mentioned in the Quran, only the Hadith.
There is not uniform belief about when the Mahdi will return and what he will do when he arrives. Beliefs about the Mahdi on which most Sunni and Shia agree are:
- he will be a descendant of Muhammad
- he will have the name Muhammad
- his return will coincide with the rising of the Antichrist
- there will be a solar eclipse in the month of Ramadan
Shia Islam has a more developed doctrine about the Mahdi. Many Shia believe the Mahdi:
- was born in 869 CE
- was taken by Allah when he was five years old
- he will have black hair and dark eyes
- he will come in an odd year
- he will first appear in Mecca at the Kaaba
- he will initially be feared, but eventually many will follow.