ISLAMABAD- A man who attempted to attack an imam at Makkah’s Grand Mosquelast week is a Saudi national who claimed to be the awaited Imam Mehdi,Saudi media reported on Sunday.

The armed man, in his 40s, was seen on live television charging towards theimam’s pulpit on Friday but was intercepted by fast-acting securityofficers and subsequently arrested.

Initial investigations by police revealed that the attacker claimed to beImam Mehdi (messiah), *Arab News* reportedlink.

The imam, Sheikh Bandar Baleelah, continued delivering the Friday sermon asthe attacker, dressed in *ihram*, was tackled and removed from the mosque,Islam’s holiest site.

The man has also been medically examined to gauge his mental ability,according to a *Gulf News*reportlink.

In Islamic belief, Imam Mehdi (Arabic: “guided one”) is “a messianicdeliverer who will fill earth with justice and equity, restore truereligion, and usher in a short golden age lasting seven, eight, or nineyears before” the Day of Judgement, according to *Encyclopaedia Britannicalink*.

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