He depicts the rise of callers to a hidden Imam, the oppression and corruption of people, and calls for the use of reason as God commanded.

*** Finally, in Egypt, the word "Mahdi" was applied to one who converted to Islam, and who was either he or his father a Christian. They call him in Syria "Al-Mahdi," like the famous Sheikh Muhammad Al-Hefni Al-Mahdi, who was of Coptic origin. He converted to Islam and studied at Al-Azhar, and continued to study jurisprudence until he became the Sheikh of Al-Azhar. He became involved in affairs and connected with the French upon their arrival. When they organized the Diwan that administered judgments among Muslims, they appointed him to their Diwan. He was the one referred to, and people sought him out for their needs, walking around him and in front of him. His intercessions were accepted, and peasants brought him gifts of sheep, money, and the like. He became immensely wealthy and continued as the Sheikh of Al-Azhar and taught there. Muhammad Ali Pasha chose him to travel with his son Toussoun to the Hijaz to fight the Wahhabis. When he returned, Al-Azhar turned against him, and he was dismissed, and so on. Our Sheikh, Professor Muhammad Al-Mahdi, was also given this title. He was a professor to us at the School of Judiciary and one of Sheikh Muhammad Abduh's closest students. He was of origin