decades has seen the Shia Muslims in the news as zealots for their Islamic cause of seeking to rule the world with a caliph, as they await the return of the Mahdi, the prophesied redeemer of Islam. The Mahdi is to rule, some say, five, seven, nine, or nineteen years before the Day of Judgement, that is, the Day of Resurrection, where evil will finally be removed from the world. The Muslim life involves five pillars, or principal obligations, as well as six basic beliefs.