Editing Openai/68212884-5940-8007-ae13-ab8952298d9e (section)

=== Belief in a future savior or end-times redeemer is found in many traditions, but this does not make any one claim uniquely true.  For example: ===
* Islam (Mahdi and ʿĪsā):  Islamic eschatology teaches that a Mahdi (guided leader) will arise at the end of time, reform the world, and shortly thereafter the prophet Jesus (ʿĪsā) will descend to defeat the false messiah (al-Dajjāl) and restore justiceen.wikipedia.org<ref>{{cite web|title=en.wikipedia.org|url=https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Second_Coming#:~:text=In%20Islamic%20eschatology%20%2C%20,1|publisher=en.wikipedia.org|access-date=2025-12-07}}</ref>en.wikipedia.org<ref>{{cite web|title=en.wikipedia.org|url=https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mahdi#:~:text=The%20Mahdi%20,will%20appear%20shortly%20before%20Jesus|publisher=en.wikipedia.org|access-date=2025-12-07}}</ref>.  The Quranic and Hadith literature explicitly expects Jesus’s return, though as a prophet (not divine).  Thus Muslims largely agree that a final redeemer is comingen.wikipedia.org<ref>{{cite web|title=en.wikipedia.org|url=https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Second_Coming#:~:text=In%20Islamic%20eschatology%20%2C%20,1|publisher=en.wikipedia.org|access-date=2025-12-07}}</ref>en.wikipedia.org<ref>{{cite web|title=en.wikipedia.org|url=https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mahdi#:~:text=The%20Mahdi%20,will%20appear%20shortly%20before%20Jesus|publisher=en.wikipedia.org|access-date=2025-12-07}}</ref>, but the figure of Jesus there is one among several eschatological actors.
* Buddhism (Maitreya):  In Mahayana tradition, Maitreya is the future Buddha prophesied to appear when the dharma has been forgotten.  A Tibetan source notes that “1,000 Buddhas will come as universal teachers… and the Buddha Maitreya will be the fifth of the 1,000”studybuddhism.com<ref>{{cite web|title=studybuddhism.com|url=https://studybuddhism.com/en/advanced-studies/abhidharma-tenet-systems/time-the-universe/the-coming-of-maitreya-buddha#:~:text=The%20coming%20of%20Maitreya%20Buddha,human%20life%20span%20goes%20through|publisher=studybuddhism.com|access-date=2025-12-07}}</ref>.  Maitreya will teach compassion and restore the teachings, not serve as a judge in the Abrahamic sense.  This is an analogous “future savior” motif, but centered on Buddhist enlightenment rather than cosmic judgment.
* Hinduism (Kalki):  Hindu scriptures say that at the end of the current Kali Yuga, the god Vishnu will incarnate as Kalki to slay the wicked and inaugurate a new golden age.  Merriam-Webster’s summary: “At the end of the present Kali age… Kalki will appear to destroy the wicked and usher in a new age”en.wikipedia.org<ref>{{cite web|title=en.wikipedia.org|url=https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kali_Yuga#:~:text=15.%20%5E%20Merriam,stamp%20the%20earth%20with%20its|publisher=en.wikipedia.org|access-date=2025-12-07}}</ref>.  Here the redeemer is a divine warrior-king, echoing the idea of cosmic renewal.
* Others:  Many traditions have similar notions: Judaism expects a future Messiah (though not Jesus), Zoroastrianism has Saoshyant, Christianity has been syncretized by some New Age movements (e.g. paramahamsa Yogananda wrote of Christ’s return in tantric terms), etc.

These comparative motifs show a pattern of myth and hope across cultures, but not a convergence of evidence.  That all (or many) religions anticipate a “final teacher/savior” suggests a universal human narrative, yet each tradition describes different characters, timings, and outcomes.  The Mahdi, Maitreya, and Kalki fulfill analogous psychological roles but are logically independent claims.  In a strict sense, their co-existence is incompatible if taken literally (e.g. Mahdi appears now with Jesus in one narrative, Maitreya appears far future).  Thus the comparative study highlights pattern similarity, not a single coherent fact.