From Sufism to Fundamentalism: The Mahdiyya and the Wahhabiyya

Both the Wahhabiyya and the Mahdiyya were based on different styles of tajdid (renewal). The Mahdiyya was based on the charisma of its leader and was a leader oriented tajdid movement. The Wahhabiyya, on the other hand, was a message oriented movement, which viewed Sufism with hostility. In contrast to Sufi traditions, which embraced al-Mahdi al-Muntazar, who claimed that he was _Khalifat Rasul Allah, Ibn 'Abd al-Wahhab embraced tawhid (Unitarianism), as his guiding message. Consequently, the neo-Mahdiyya, which emerged during the twentieth century, shied away from radicalism, and became part of the Sudanese Political establishment. The Wahhabiyya, on the other hand, maintained its tajdid message, and gradually emerged as part of the Jihad oriented, Islamic fundamentalism.