mahdism

n. Belief in the coming of the Mahdi; fanatical devotion to the cause of the Mahdi or a pretender to that title. -- Mah"dist n.

Mahdism has proved the most shameful and terrible instrument of bloodshed and oppression which the modern world has ever witnessed. E. N. Bennett. [Webster 1913 Suppl.]

prop. n. A system of economic and political thought, originated by Karl Marx, and elaborated by others. It holds that the state has been the a device for suppression of the masses, allowing exploitation by a dominant (capitalistic) class; that historical change occurs through class struggle; and that the capitalist system will inevitably wither away to be superseded by a classless society. [ PJC ]