MANIFESTO OF THE MAHDI TO THE INHABITANTS OF KARTOUM.
In the year 1300.
In the name of God, the Merciful and Compassionate.
Praise be to God, the bountiful Ruler, and blessing on our Lord Mahomed and his successors, with peace.
From the servant of his Lord, Mahomed the Mahdi, son of the Seyyed Abdallah, to his beloved in God the believers in God, and in His Book (the Koran).
The changes (disturbances) of the times are not hidden from you, nor the forsaking of the Sunnas; and he who has the (true) faith and understanding will not be pleased thereat, but will leave all he needs and his native place (house and home) in defence of religion and the Sunnas; and therefore jealousy for Islam will not delay to possess in full strength (the heart of) the believer.
Now, O my beloved! as to what the Most High God, to whom be praise, has willed in His Eternity and in His decrees to grant to His servant, the humble and lowly, in (bestowing on him) the great Khalifate:—
The eminent Lord (Mahomed), on whom be blessing and peace, several times informed me that I am the Mahdi, the Expected One, and (appointed) me (as) successor[349] to himself, on whom be blessing and peace, to sit on his throne, and (as successors) to their Excellencies the four Khalifs and Princes[350] (of the Faith), and to El Khudr,[351] on whom be peace: And God gave as my helpers, the angels (who are), the Cherubim, and the saints from Adam to this our day, and also the believing Jinns;[352] and in the hour of battle the eminent Lord, the Bountiful One, on Whom be blessing and peace, will in person go with them before my hosts, as also the four Khalifs and the Princes (of the faith), and El Khudr, on whom be peace.
And He gave me the sword of victory of his Excellency (Mahomed), on whom be blessing and peace; and it was made known to me that none of either race, human or Jinn, can conquer him who has it.
Then said he, on whom be blessing and peace, “God has given to thee a sign that thou art the Mahdi”; which (sign) is the mole on my right cheek; and he likewise gave to me another sign (namely, that) there should go forth before me in the hour of battle a banner of light, borne by Azraïl,[353] on whom be peace, that by it God should convince my friends, and terror should fall upon the hearts of my enemies, and (that) God will destroy whoever should encounter me in hostility.
Then he, on whom be blessing and peace, said to me: “Thou art created out of the effulgence of my innermost heart,” and he to whom happiness (is granted) will believe I am the Mahdi, the Expected One. But God has put hypocrisy (wickedness) into the heart of those who love vain pomp, and they will not believe, being greedy of their vain pomps.
Then he, on whom be blessing and peace, said: Love of wealth and pomps cause hypocrisy to spring up in the heart as water causes the herb to spring up; and it is found in the Athar (traditional sayings about Mahomed): If you see worldlings loving this world, charge them with it. And it is found in some of the ancient books (saying): Do not ask of me a world intoxicated with love of earthly things, for it will close against thee the way of my love. And these (are they who like brigands) stop the way of (true) service (of God).
And when there came to me, O my beloved, from God and His prophet the decree of the great Khalifate, He ordered me (to take my) Hegira[354] (flight) to Jebel Kadeer close by Masāt, and He commanded me to write thence to all entrusted with public offices. I wrote thus to the Emirs and Sheikhs of religion, and the wicked denied (my mission), but the righteous believed; even those who do not mind any hardship they may encounter for God, nor what they fail to attain of their dearest wishes; but steadfastly regard the promises of the most High God, to Whom be praise, in which He said that He will reserve that other world for those who do not desire exaltation in this world, nor (its) corruptions. Now since it is for God to decree, and since He has willed to bestow the office of Mahdi upon His humble and insignificant servant Mahomed the Mahdi, the son of the Seyyed Abdallah, it behoves us to submit to the will of God; and, seeing that it is unanimously agreed by the present and past generations to attribute supreme knowledge to God, and as His knowledge, to Whom be praise, is not limited by control of rules nor by the knowledge of the malevolent, and since God will blot out (abrogate) or establish what He wills, and since He is the source of the Book (the Koran), of which none can understand anything save what He wills, and since with Him is the key of the unknown (future),—none knows it but He, nor is He to be questioned as to what He does,—He creates what He will,—He chooses and bestows His mercy on whom He will. Sheikh Mohi ed Deen Ibn el Arabi especially says in his commentary on the glorious Koran that knowledge of the Mahdi is like knowledge of the hour (of resurrection), and that hour none knoweth but God most High. And Sheikh Ahmed Ibn Edrees said, Fourteen generations of the generations of the people of God have denied the (coming of the) Mahdi. Then he said: He will come forth from a place that they do not know and in a condition which they will disown.
It is not hidden from your knowledge that the writings about the (coming of the) Mahdi are among others the Athar and the Keshef el Ulema and others; and the conclusion of them all (is), and I understand from them, that God will blot out (abrogate) what passages He will, and some of these are the Hadiths (traditional sayings), and among them Ed Dha’eef and El Maktooa’ and El Mansookh and El Mowdhooa’. The Hadith Ed Dha’eef is superseded by the Hadith El Saheehh word for word. The Ayat also are replaced by other Ayat.[355] And the truth as to this is not known save to people of deep thought and insight.
Further, this is what the eminent Lord (Mahomed), on whom be blessing and peace, said to me, “He who doubts that thou art the Mahdi has blasphemed God and His prophet.” This he, blessing and peace be upon him, declared to me thrice.
All that I have told you about my succession to the office of Mahdi was told to me by the eminent Lord (Mohammed), on whom be blessing and peace, when I was awake and in perfect health, free from all transgressions of the law, not in sleep nor in (a state of) hallucination, or drunkenness or madness, but accounted to be of sound mind, following the traditions of the prophet, on whom be blessing and peace, in ordering what he ordered and forbidding what he forbade.
And my Hegira (flight) to the aforesaid places was necessary, according to the Book (the Koran) and to the Sunnas. The Most High God has said, “Those who have had to flee (make a Hegira) for the sake of God after having been persecuted; He will give them good things in this world, and the reward in the next will be greater. And He, on whom is blessing and peace, said, ‘One who has fled from land to land, even though it be but a hand-breath of land, has deserved Paradise, and has become (in so doing) a partaker with[356] Abraham, the friend of God and of Mahomed, on whom be blessing and peace.’”
Thus also in other passages of the Hadiths.
And the duty of listening to God and His prophet is binding. The Most High God has said, “Follow the way of those who are sincere to Me.”
If you have understood this, we order all the chosen ones to flee (make their Hegira) unto us for the Jehād (holy war) in the cause of God, to the nearest town, because God Most High has said, “Slay the infidels who are nearest to you”; and he who holds back from this has come within the threat uttered by the Most High. Say if your fathers, your sons, your brethren, your wives, your tribes, the wealth you have gained, the merchandise you are in fear of losing, or the dwellings you delight in are dearer to you than God and His prophet and the Jehād (holy war) in His cause, then wait till God shall come with His sentence (against you). (So far) the Aya (verse).
The Most High has also said, “O you who have believed, why do you cleave to the earth when called upon to fly (to the war) for God? Do you love the life of this world better than that of the next? But the possessions of this world will be less than nothing in the other world.”
The Most High has also said, “O you who have believed, why do you cleave to the earth when called upon to fly (to the war) for God? Do you love the life of this world better than that of the next? But the possessions of this world will be less than nothing in the other world.”[357]
He has also said, “Seek not to fly.” He will torment you with eternal torments, and will accept others in your place.
Now, if you have understood the foregoing, hasten to us, and fear none save God, for fear of the creature shows lack of trust and confidence in God, from which may God preserve (us).
The Most High has said, “Fear ye not man, but fear ye Me;” and the Most High has said, “Dread them not, but dread Me, if ye be believers.”
The Most High has said, “God is worthy to be feared”; and especially because God has promised in His precious Book (the Koran) victory to him who contends for the faith.
The Most High has said, “If you fight for God, He will fight for you and establish your goings.”
And the Most High has said, “If you do not fight for him (the Mahdi) God fighteth for him.” Because you have known this, if you do not respond to him who calls (in the name) of God and hasten to fight for the faith, you must receive punishment from God, inasmuch as you are the light of creation, its strength, and its head.
Whoever among you is anxious about his faith and zealous for the command of his Lord will answer the call, and will join with those that fight for the religion of God.
Be it known unto you that I am of the family of the prophet of God, on whom be blessing and peace. My father is a Hhusni on his father’s side; and his mother, and my mother likewise, on the side of both father and mother (are) Abbāssides, and God knows that I am of the blood of Hussein, and these excellent indications will suffice for him who has been touched by His grace and (by) the faith.
It will not be wonderful if some do see and do not believe it.
Fear God and join the righteous, and help one another in righteousness, and in the fear of God and in the Jehād (holy war) in the cause of God, and stand firm within the boundaries of God, for he who transgresses those boundaries will injure himself.
Know that all things are in the hand of God. Leave all to Him and rely on Him. He who makes God his support has been guided into the straight way.
Peace (be with you).
In the year 1300.
In the name of God, the Merciful, the Compassionate. Praise be to God, the Bountiful Ruler, and blessing and blessing and peace on our Lord Mahomed and his successors.
From the slave of his Lord, the Imām Mohamed the Mahdi, the son of the Seyyed Abdallah, to all his beloved in God the believers, men and women, in God and in His Book.
What I have to inform you is that the world is the abode of him who has no (other) abode, and it is a prison to believers, and that the other (world) is better, and (is) enduring, and that is the abode of those who fear God.
Fear God and do....
This Manifesto is written on four sides of a two-leaved sheet of paper, and breaks off abruptly, “and do” being written at bottom as catch-word for the next page.
Specially to be noticed is the attempt made to forestall the objections of those who would see that this man contradicts well known passages in the writings which Moslems hold to be authoritative. Mahomed Achmet boldly declares all such passages to be either abrogated or superseded, or unintelligible save to those to whom deep thought and insight are given!