Word: mahdi
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Dates: during 2000-2009
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...Sunni and Shi'ite Islam do not recognize them as such, because of a series of Ahmadiyah beliefs deemed contradictory to the basic tenets of Islam - Ahmadiyahs believe, for example, that Muhammad was not Islam's last prophet, and that the sect's founder, Mirza Ghulam Ahmad, was the Mahdi or Messiah. The sect is banned in Pakistan, although it has coexisted peacefully with Indonesian Muslims since being established in the country in 1925. The group is estimated to have around 200,000 adherents in Indonesia today...
Throughout southern Iraq, members of the police and army are drawn largely from the Badr Organization, the chief rival of al-Sadr's Mahdi Army. That's why it was no surprise, said Lieutenant Ryan Lawson, who is based in Hilla, that the Shi'ite town's Badr-dominated forces were "chomping at the bit to go after [the Mahdi Army]" in recent fighting. In areas where al-Sadr's militia dominates, many soldiers simply deserted, either out of loyalty to the cleric or out of fear. "Most of the officers are scared that if they attack the militias...
...draw al-Qaeda back into the capital's spotlight, just as Iraqi and American military commanders announced limited progress made on another fiery front line. For the last month, the attention of the Iraqi and American militaries shifted in large part from Sunni insurgents to the Shi'ite Mahdi Army. With daily car bombings and IEDs still lower in Sunni areas of the capital than they were a year ago, officials are hesitant to declare a return of al-Qaeda just yet. But with all eyes focused on the Mahdi Army's stronghold of Sadr City, it appears that...
Iraqi military spokesman Major General Qassim Atta told reporters on Sunday that the government was making some headway in its battle in the sprawling Shi'ite slum of Sadr City against the Mahdi Army militia of radical cleric Moqtada al-Sadr. "The roads into Sadr City were laden with mines and IEDs," he said, adding that three entrances into the besieged Mahdi Army stronghold had now been opened. The General added that Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki has designated $100 million for the neighborhood's reconstruction once the fight is finally over. But despite that progress report, the American-backed...
...forces. More troublesome is their heavily sectarian composition. Throughout southern Iraq, members of the police and army are pulled largely from the Badr Brigade - a militia tied to a Shi'ite political party, the Islamic Supreme Council of Iraq, which is the chief rival of Moqtada al-Sadr's Mahdi Army. A number of MPs in Baghdad even suspect that Maliki's Basra assault was a poorly disguised government campaign to wipe out Sadr's base of popularity before local elections in October. That's why it was no surprise, said Lieutenant Ryan Lawson, who is based in Hilla, that...