Exiled nationalists read the Mahdi’s revolt as political strategy, not religion

Evidence

In his articles of this period (1883–1886), and especially in his sketches, the Mahdï is the Sudan, looming large over the chastened heads of the Egyptians, filling the void left by the British defeat of Uräbï Pasha. Like al-Afghänï, Sanüa viewed the Mahdï’s victories less in religious terms than as successful political strategy. — Eve M. Troutt Powell, A Different Shade of Colonialism_…, 465