Your Source for NPR News & Music
Play Live Radio
Next Up:
0:00
0:00
0:00 0:00
Available On Air Stations

Koranic Mythology Behind Al-Sadr's Mahdi Army

NPR's Mike Shuster reports on the mythology behind the Mahdi army, the militia supporting Iraqi insurgent leader Moqtada al-Sadr. The group has invoked the mahdi, an important Koranic symbol, to lend religious significance to their fight.

Copyright 2004 NPR

Mike Shuster is an award-winning diplomatic correspondent and roving foreign correspondent for NPR News. He is based at NPR West, in Culver City, CA. When not traveling outside the U.S., Shuster covers issues of nuclear non-proliferation and weapons of mass destruction, terrorism, and the Pacific Rim.
Related Stories