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The preceeding is a duplicate of the lead post in this thread. Rather than waste bandwidth I deleted most of it. I had responded to some of it earlier, but felt that I needed to clarify it some more. Most of the post refers to the Islamic messiah called Mohammad al-Mahdi. Remember that most of the world's Muslims are divided into two main groups; shia or shiite and sunni. There are a number of smaller groups, and groups which retain the identity of a major group, but for all intents and purposes these two are the main groups. They are very similar to Christian organizations. The Shia sect is based mostly in Iran and is organized like the Roman Catholic church. The Ayatollah is the equivalent of the pope. The Sunni sect is loosely organized and is much like Protestantism. There is no major big kahuna among Sunnis. Saudi Arabia and Qatar are the principle host nations for Sunni Islam. Back to the messiah Mohammad al-mahdi... According to Sunni ideology, the al-mahdi exists as a man much like all men. He either isn't born yet or has been born and hasn't been revealed. According to Shia ideology, the al-mahdi lived centuries ago and disappeared as a young boy. He will have a miraculous return to the world stage at some point and take up the office of the 12th Imam, or calif or leader, of Islam. Most Iranians believe and hope in the coming of al-mahdi as the 12th Imam and are therefore called twelvers. The difference is basic. In summary; to Sunnis the al-Mahdi is to be born in the modern generation of man and assume leadership. For Shiites/Shia Islam, the al-Mahdi disappeared long ago and is about to return. In both scenarios, Jesus Christ will return as a sort of prophet - announcing the holy mission of al-mahdi to convert all men (especially Jews & Christians) to the true faith of Islam. This is why the Islamic Jesus is referred to in Biblical prophecy as the false prophet of the anti-christ (al-Mahdi?). It's a little confusing here. The Islamic Jesus isn't the anti-Christ, merely his prophet, his mouth piece as it were. Two thousand years ago, Jesus warned his disciples not to give serious attention to false prophets, especially those WHO CAME IN HIS NAME. but that's just me, hollering from the choir loft...