Millheim Journal. [volume] (Millheim, Pa.) 1876-1984, 1882-08-24

The Mehdi La d messenger from on high,
who 10 expected TO come In the last days,
little before the second coming Of Christ.
He is TO reform Ialamism, and beat down
its enemies. He Is thus TO prepare the
way for Jesus Christ, who, according to
the Moslem belief, will then appear and
will unite Moslems and true Christians
into one vast body for the utter destruc-
truction of Antlchrist. ANY good Moslem
will say that the Mehdi Is TO be man who
is TO bear the same name as Mahomet, and
who will appear either from the East or
from the West He is TO come from one
of the two cities of Iabnlka or Iabulsa.
In answer to inquiries as to the locality Of
these favored cities your good Moslem will
take down ponderous tome from his Ii
brary, and will turn to the heading "Ia.
bulks," TO read the description: ''Iabulka,
great city IN the West. 1t has 1000
gates and 1000 gatekeepers. Then he
will turn over little further to reSd: SIS
abulsa, q great city In the East. It has
1900 gates and 2, 900 gatekeepers" The
Oriental mind is not given TO scientific
curiosity, and Is thoroughly satisfied to
build upon the ponderous tones of the
library faith IN the existence of suitable
birthplace for sc great a parsonage as the
Mehdi.
The Persian branch Of Islam, regarded
as heretical by ne Western Mohammedans,
believes that tle MehdI has already come
to earth and IS somewhere secreted until
the fullness of time shall arrive. The
Perslans hold that In the latter part of the
ninth century the twelfth of the Imams OF
the line of ali mysteriously disappeared.
This Imam Ia the Mehdi, and is popularity
called the Expected. In the village of
Samara, in Mesopotamla. is q sacred shrine
carefully guarded by Persian doctors of
divinity. In the center ls q magnificent
dome Iavishiy gilded upon the inside aud
ornamented with pr0fusion CT precious
stones The Inclosed space Is lighted only
by skylight in The top Of this come.
| Directly under the dome IS deep well In
which the lost Imam Is supposed to have
established himself. To this place come
Thousands OF Persian pilgrims, VINO enter
awe-stricken the golden hall of gold, and
crawl on their knees 70 the edge of the
well to see in the sparkle Of the water be-
low the dome the 'glory" of the Mehdi
who waits below. To this place also
comes All occasional Moslem of the West
ern rite-some turk or Kourd In disguise
who enters the sacred place solely to
crafty his hatred of heretics by surrepti-
ousiy splitting into their we'll as he pre-
tends to gaze in its depths.
Both of the great branches of Moham.
medans unite in expecting the Mehdi very
soon. The Mrslem year 1899 ends in No
vember, With the year 1900 great things
are expected TO occur. Every new cen.
tury Is ser down IN Moslem Listory as
having brought some marked event with
its early years, and the consensus OF opln.
ION fix upon 1900 as peculiarly impor-
tant figure. Among the many combina-
tions Which make up the portfolios of those
who divine events by means OF numerals
this one appears most fcrtile in portent.
Thus the popular mind is ready to seiz )
upon any token of the advent OF the
Expected One. Seem look for the Mehdl
as Monjeddid or renovator, who 10 10
effect his reform by peaceful exhortations
Others hold that he will be Sahib i
khourOuj, or one who abandons his ale
glance to the ruling powers in order to
initiate reform by the sword. The vast
majority OF Moslems look for this more
violent method of reform. But each in
divldual regards his neighbor as more
worthy than himself to be a subject for
the avenglng sword that ia to purge the
land Ot Islam from all contaminating in
1uences CT false disciples and contuma-
cious infdels. Therefore each man is
eager for The long-expected appearance.