Sudan: The Mahdist Idea and Sufism: The idea of the savior, the one who will appear one day to end suffering and injustice, is an ancient idea common to the three heavenly religions, despite differences in concept and vision. It appeared in the history of Islam from an early time. The savior is known among Muslims as the "Mahdi." The word "Mahdi" is not found in the Holy Quran, nor in the two Sahih collections, but it is found in some less strict hadith books like Ibn Majah, Al-Tirmidhi, and others. The essence of what is stated in these books about the Mahdi is that he is a person who will appear at the end of time, renew the religion, and fill the world with justice after it has been filled with tyranny, and he will be from the progeny of Fatima, the daughter of the Prophet, peace be upon him.

Ibn Khaldun doubted the authenticity of a large number of these hadiths. The Shiites sought to collect hadiths that supported their logic and arguments. As for the Sunnis, leadership among them is merely a general authority over religious and worldly affairs for a person, unrelated to prophetic lineage or esoteric matters. The roots of the Mahdi idea in Islamic history go back to the days of the conflict that followed the murder of Uthman, which led Muslims to what became known later as the "Great Fitna." The Shiites were the first sect to embrace this belief and the most attached to it. Their constant feeling of injustice and their longing for a new, just order that would guarantee their freedom made them constantly cling to the idea of the Mahdi throughout the ages.

However, we find that the idea of the "Renewer" or "Reformer" holds a more important place for Sunnis than the idea of the Mahdi. This belief stems from a hadith from the Prophet, peace be upon him, which means that God will send to this Ummah, at the head of every century, someone who will renew its religion, so Islam will return to its purity and remove the impurities that have accumulated upon it. Therefore, the belief of the general Sunni populace completely contradicts what the Shiites believe, as they do not believe that...