A baton-wielding man, arrested in Saudi Arabia last week for trying to attack Imam (prayer leader) of the grand mosque, has claimed to be long-awaited Imam Mehdi.
Dressed in Ihram, the attacker, 40, was seen live on television charging towards the prayer leader and was halted by one of on-duty police officers.
Saudi police arrested the suspect for the attack who later, during the investigation, claimed to be Imam Mehdi.
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The man is a Saudi national and the police are also medically examining him to gauge his mental health.
#WATCH: During the Friday sermon earlier today, a man in Ihram with a long weapon approaches the Khateeb, Sheikh Baleelah, in an attempt to attack him. He was thwarted by alert security officials and taken into custody #masjidalharam #Makkah #SaudiArabia pic.twitter.com/uBJo8bsxE8
— salaamedia (@salaamedia) May 21, 2021
In Islam, the anticipated Mehdi is the prophesied redeemer of Islam who will rule for seven, nine or nineteen years (according to various interpretations) before the Day of Judgment and will rid the world of evil, reported Gulf News.
This is not the first time, history is full of such instances when people claimed to be Islam’s redeemer.
In 1979, Juhayman Al-Otaibi and his fellow Mohammad Al-Qahtani took hundreds of pilgrims hostage at the grand mosque while claiming to be Mehdi.
On the other hand, in March this year, a man was arrested for shouting slogans in support of terrorist outfits while holding weapons.