THESE CYCLES are the heart of Muslim apocalyptic. Many, though not all, of the previous cycles are designed to lead up to the messianic era. Throughout all these cycles runs the common theme of justice and righteousness lacking in the everyday commonplace world, which can only be restored by. messianic figure by means of the sword. This feeling is summed up by the messianic tradition par excellence that “a man will fill the earth with justice and righteousness, just as it has been filled with injustice and oppression”. In other words, justice will be the dominant quality of the messianic age, just as the opposite has been true in the age previous to it. Other themes exist as well, such as generosity, which along with eloquent speech was one of the two qualities most desirable to the noble Bedouin, and frequently examples are given of the manner in which money will be handed out freely during this time, and distributed fairly.The basic desire is to return to the pristine condition that had existed during the time of Abū Bakr and ‘Umar, the first two successors of the Prophet.

A fact that has not been adequately appreciated in the past is that the name “Mahdī” is taken from. wide variety of messianic figures, including regional and tribal models, that were available during the first centuries of Islam. Some of the traditions concerning these figures have survived, and occasionally these figures themselves have been given new significance by being attached to the dominant figure of the Mahdī. Since many of these characters belong to milieus outside Syria (the focal point of most of the apocalyptic traditions in our possession), we should not be surprised that few of these traditions have survived. Probably many more existed.