Holiest Wars: Islamic Mahdis, Their Jihads, and Osama Bin Laden

Scholars estimate that a fifth of the world's population is Muslim, and this figure is growing rapidly. Traditionally, very few people in the West are familiar with the specific beliefs of Islam, but in an increasingly interconnected global society, there is growing interest in gaining a clearer understanding of the faith. This text, written by an American scholar, highlights one of the lesser-known aspects of Islam called Mahdism, which centers belief on a "rightly guided one," a prophet who will at some point return to earth to rally Muslims and make the world right. This belief is powerful and potentially dangerous, and deserves the attention it receives in this volume.