Riaz Ahmed Gohar Shahi ( ur, ) (born 25 November 1941) is a spiritual leader and founder of the spiritual movements ''RAGS International'' (now known as Messiah Foundation International) and ''Anjuman Serfaroshan-e-Islam''. He is the author of a number of

Urdu Urdu (;"Urdu"
'' Balboa Press, a division of Hay House and translated into English and other languages by Messiah Foundation International in 2012. RAGS International was renamed to ''Messiah Foundation International'' in 2000. MFI

claims Claim may refer to: * Claim (legal) * Claim of Right Act 1689 * Claims-based identity * Claim (philosophy) * Land claim * A ''main contention'', see conclusion of law * Patent claim * The assertion of a proposition; see Douglas N. Walton * A righ ...

that Shahi is the

Mehdi Mehdi () is a common Arabic masculine given name, meaning "rightly guided". People having the name Mehdi are in general originating from Iran mostly and sometimes India, Bangladesh, Pakistan, Afghanistan, Iraq, Azerbaijan, France, Morocco, Algeria, ...

Messiah In Abrahamic religions, a messiah or messias (; , ; , ; ) is a saviour or liberator of a group of people. The concepts of '' mashiach'', messianism, and of a Messianic Age originated in Judaism, and in the Hebrew Bible, in which a ''mashiach ...

, and Kalki Avatar. Shahi disappeared from public view in 2001. There have been claims that he died in that year or in 2003, but these are unconfirmed.

Biography

Early life

Shahi was born on 25 November 1941 in the village of Dhok Gohar Shah in the district of Rawalpindi of

British India The provinces of India, earlier presidencies of British India and still earlier, presidency towns, were the administrative divisions of British governance on the Indian subcontinent. Collectively, they have been called British India. In one ...

. He is a fifth generation descendant of the Sufi Baba Gohar Ali Shah. At the age of twenty, when he was the owner of F.Q. Steel Industries, Shahi began to search for spirituality. Eventually he became disillusioned in this search and returned to work. Shahi then married and had three children. In 1975, he went to

Sehwan Sharif Sehwan ( sd, سيوهڻ شريف, ur, ; also commonly referred to as Sehwan Sharif or ''Noble Sehwan'') is a historic city located in Jamshoro District of Sindh province in Pakistan and on the west bank of the Indus north-west of Hyderabad. The ...

for self-mortification; he spent a period of three years in the mountains of Sehwan Sharif and the forest of Laal Bagh in self-purification, "for the sake of God's love".

Career as spiritual leader

Shahi became popular as a Sufi preacher in

Pakistan Pakistan ( ur, ), officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan ( ur, , label=none), is a country in South Asia. It is the world's fifth-most populous country, with a population of almost 243 million people, and has the world's second-lar ...

during the late 1970s. He formed ''RAGS International'' and ''Anjuman Serfaroshan-e-Islam'' in 1980. Of the two organisations, RAGS International is still active as Messiah Foundation International whereas Anjuman Serfaroshan-e-Islam was reported to have been dissolved and banned in Pakistan in 2011. The CEO of Messiah Foundation International is Younus AlGohar. Shahi claimed to have met with

Jesus Christ Jesus, likely from he, יֵשׁוּעַ, translit=Yēšūaʿ, label=Hebrew/Aramaic ( AD 30 or 33), also referred to as Jesus Christ or Jesus of Nazareth (among other names and titles), was a first-century Jewish preacher and religious ...

in 1997.

Legal persecution and exile

He and many of his followers have been convicted under Islamic blasphemy laws by an antiterrorist court in Sindh. After he fled to

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

, Shahi was convicted ''

in absentia is Latin for absence. , a legal term, is Latin for "in the absence" or "while absent". may also refer to: * Award in absentia * Declared death in absentia, or simply, death in absentia, legally declared death without a body * Election in ab ...

'', receiving sentences that totaled approximately 59 years.

Disappearance

Shahi was reported to have disappeared in 2001, in

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

; afterwards, sightings of him were reported around the world of people claiming to have met and received spiritual guidance from him. In February 2002, prior to any decision on appeals filed with the High Court of Sindh,

Ardeshir Cowasjee Ardeshir Cowasjee (13 April 1926 – 24 November 2012) ( ur, ) was a Pakistani newspaper columnist, social activist, and philanthropist. Belonging from Karachi, his columns regularly appeared in the country's oldest English newspaper, ''D ...

claimed in an article he wrote for the Pakistani newspaper ''

Dawn Dawn is the time that marks the beginning of twilight before sunrise. It is recognized by the appearance of indirect sunlight being scattered in Earth's atmosphere, when the centre of the Sun's disc has reached 18° below the observer's hori ...

'', that unnamed people who identified themselves to him as office-bearers of the All-Faith Spiritual Movement told him that Gohar Shahi died abroad, but this report was unconfirmed. There have been rumours of him dying, with some sources reporting that he died in 2001 and others saying he died in 2003. According to the ''Pakistani Press Foundation'' Shahi died in 2001. An article from 2006 in the '' Sunday Telegraph'' reports that Shahi died in 2003, and a 2009 article in '' Your Local Guardian'' also says that he was reported to have died in 2003. However, none of these reports have been confirmed, as there is no body. On the other hand, the Indian news agency PTI reported in 2008 that Shahi was based in the United Kingdom after being convicted of blasphemy by the High Court of Sindh. This view is supported by the ''Indian Express'' which reported in 2008 that Shahi had fled to the United Kingdom and was presently based there. ''Zee News'' also supported this claim. The Hindustan Times has reported that he is "serving a life term". The ''Sunday Leader'' in Sri Lanka stated that Shahi disappeared in 2001 and sightings of him were thereafter reported around the world. Of the two factions of Shahi's followers, the ''Anjuman Serfaroshan-e-Islam'' had asserted that Shahi died, and built a tomb for him at the Markazi Aastana in

Kotri Kotri ( sd, ڪوٽڙي, ur, ) is a city and the headquarters of the Kotri Taluka of Jamshoro District of Sindh province in Pakistan. Located on the right bank of the Indus River, it is the 29th largest city in Pakistan by population. Name Th ...

, where devotees performed

pilgrimage A pilgrimage is a journey, often into an unknown or foreign place, where a person goes in search of new or expanded meaning about their self, others, nature, or a higher good, through the experience. It can lead to a personal transformation, aft ...

. The MFI, in contrast, declares that he merely disappeared. Shahi's family, including his wife, five sons and a daughter, still resides in Kotri.

Teachings and followers

The teachings of Gohar Shahi have been a source of controversy. Some orthodox theological scholars condemn his teachings as blasphemy, while others, such as Hisham Kabbani, have sat at his feet as well as praised him. Classical singers such as

Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan Ustad Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan ( pa, ; born Pervez Fateh Ali Khan; 13 October 1948 – 16 August 1997) was a Pakistani singer, songwriter, and music director. He was primarily a singer of qawwali — a form of Sufi devotional music. Sometimes ...

and

Ghulam Farid Sabri Ghulam Farid Sabri (1930 – 5 April 1994) was a qawwali singer and member of the Sabri Brothers, a qawwali group in Pakistan in the 1970s, 1980s and 1990s. The Sabri Brothers received the Pride of Performance award by the President of Pakistan i ...

have been presented the message of Shahi. Some singers such as

Aziz Mian Aziz Mian Qawwal ( ur, عزیز میاں قوال) (17 April 1942 – 6 December 2000) was a Pakistani traditional qawwal famous for singing ghazals in his own style of qawwali and is considered one of the greatest qawwals in South Asia. He ...

and

Rahat Fateh Ali Khan Rahat Fateh Ali Khan (Punjabi, ; born 9 December 1974) is a Pakistani Singer, primarily of Qawwali, a form of Sufi devotional music. Khan is one of the biggest and highest paid singers in Pakistan. He is the nephew of Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan ...

have performed at ''Shahi'' related events.

Claims and criticism

Claims made by Shahi and his followers have been strongly opposed by orthodox Islamic theologians in

and abroad. Shahi has been accused of claiming the status of

prophet In religion, a prophet or prophetess is an individual who is regarded as being in contact with a divine being and is said to speak on behalf of that being, serving as an intermediary with humanity by delivering messages or teachings from the s ...

but denied such accusations. His teachings have been condemned by Muslim religious leaders and the Pakistani government. Shahi also predicts that the world would end in the year 2026 due to a comet heading towards earth. He claims the comet will be the cause of "total destruction" though mentions that "in order to intimidate ankind..God plans destruction on a small scale". Many attempts were made on the lives of Shahi and Younus AlGohar including a

petrol bomb A Molotov cocktail (among several other names – ''see other names'') is a hand thrown incendiary weapon constructed from a frangible container filled with flammable substances equipped with a fuse (typically a glass bottle filled with fla ...

thrown into AlGohar's residence in

Manchester Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of Salford to the west. The t ...

, where Shahi stayed when he toured the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the European mainland, continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

. A man attempted to attack him with a hand grenade during a discourse at his home in

. A bounty was put on his head in Pakistan. Shahi's books have been banned by the government of Pakistan, and his followers are not allowed to meet in public. Gohar Shahi claimed to have met with

Jesus Jesus, likely from he, יֵשׁוּעַ, translit=Yēšūaʿ, label= Hebrew/ Aramaic ( AD 30 or 33), also referred to as Jesus Christ or Jesus of Nazareth (among other names and titles), was a first-century Jewish preacher and religiou ...

in America. Shahi's supporters claim that his face became prominent on the moon, sun, nebula star and the Black Stone in Mecca, and that these appearances are signs from God that Gohar Shahi is the awaited

Imam Mehdi The Mahdi ( ar, ٱلْمَهْدِيّ, al-Mahdī, lit=the Guided) is a messianic figure in Islamic eschatology who is believed to appear at the end of times to rid the world of evil and injustice. He is said to be a descendant of Muhammad w ...

, and Kalki Avatar. The alleged images induced greater legal and religious opposition. Shahi has also supported this claim, saying that God had revealed the images of Shahi on the

Moon The Moon is Earth's only natural satellite. It is the fifth largest satellite in the Solar System and the largest and most massive relative to its parent planet, with a diameter about one-quarter that of Earth (comparable to the width of ...

and various locations, for which Shahi himself was not responsible, and if questions should be raised, they should be raised to God. Messiah Foundation International asserts the alleged images to be signs from God, pointing to Shahi being the awaited

; they quote religious texts as well as sayings from the likes of

Nostradamus Michel de Nostredame (December 1503 – July 1566), usually Latinised as Nostradamus, was a French astrologer, apothecary, physician, and reputed seer, who is best known for his book '' Les Prophéties'' (published in 1555), a collection ...

, and

Ja'far al-Sadiq Jaʿfar ibn Muḥammad ibn ʿAlī al-Ṣādiq ( ar, جعفر بن محمد الصادق; 702 – 765 CE), commonly known as Jaʿfar al-Ṣādiq (), was an 8th-century Shia Muslim scholar, jurist, and theologian.. He was the founder of th ...

to support it. Journalists in

asked Shahi,

"Many believe that you are the Mehdi, and God has revealed signs unto them which say that you are the Mehdi, but you do not officially announce that you are the Mehdi. Why?" Shahi gestured towards himself and answered, "Does Imam Mehdi not know the law of Pakistan? He knows that the law of Pakistan declares that 'whosoever claims to be the Mehdi, put him in jail'. I have given the signs of his ehdi'scharacteristics, which the Mehdi knows and none other. Now, it is up to people to recognise him and believe him".

On 18 November 1997, after appearing in court before Justice Rasheed A. Razvi of Sindh High Court Hyderabad Circuit, Shahi said, "The only justification to be Hazrat Imam Mehdi is the mark on ne'sback which can prove his existence". Of the groups following Shahi, Messiah Foundation International claims that Shahi is the awaited Mehdi, Messiah, and Kalki Avatar while ''Anjuman Serfaroshan-e-Islam'' did not. According to MFI's website, Shahi is the Awaited Messiah, but they deny the notion that Shahi is another form of Jesus and claim that Jesus has also returned to support the Mehdi.

Bibliography

Gohar Shahi authored a number of books, including one based on Sufi poetry known as ''Taryāq-e-Qalb'' which translates to the "'Cure of Hearts'". One of his most prominent books is ''Deen-e-Ilahi (The Religion of God)'', which is banned in Pakistan. Works by Gohar Shahi include: On 17 May 2012, Messiah Foundation International republished ''The Religion of God'' with Balboa Press. As of 1 June 2012, it was #5 on the publisher's Best Sellers' List. Messiah Foundation International considers Shahi to be the author of the "Goharian Philosophy of Divine Love", a set of principles upon which the organisation is founded. Shahi has also authored a monthly magazine, ''Hatif-e-Mehdi'', which is banned in Pakistan for allegedly containing material offensive to the religious feelings of Muslims there.

References

External links

Shahi's representative site since 2000: Messiah Foundation InternationalJesus meets Riaz Ahmed Gohar Shahi.
{{DEFAULTSORT:Shahi, Riaz Ahmed Gohar 1941 births 2000s missing person cases Missing people Missing person cases in England Founders of new religious movements Pakistani Sufi religious leaders Pakistani theologians Possibly living people Self-declared messiahs Self-declared mahdi