Sathya Sai Baba as the Saviour of Islam – Mehdi Moud

Sathya Sai Baba was heralded as the Islamic messiah, the Mahdi (or Mehdi Moud, also known as the Expected Messiah, Imam Al Zaman), a claim which was propagated in various books about him.   A text was first published in a book in Farsi by an Iranian devotee known as ‘Irani Ma’ where she claimed to have been mysteriously led to find a volume in a Middle Eastern covered market entitled ‘The Universe of Light’ (said to be the 14th edition of the Discourses of Mahommed in 25 volumes). In that volume, its contents having been collected some 700 years after the death of Mohammed, she found a set of predictions of the coming of the Mehdi Mou’d. (see inset text below). I met the Iranian lady once in ndia in 1987, but she could not speak much English. Incidentally, she also wore an alleged ‘green diamond’ ring, exactly like the one Sai Baba gave me in 1986 – (which proved to be a cheap synthetic sapphire set in an 18 carat gold ring). An early full version of the claims was published by the South African Robert Lowenberg, who had met Irani Ma. Peggy Mason in UK also later regurgitated the whole story uncritically in her Sai Baba magazine.

IS SA BABA TRULY THE MEHDI OR ALLAH (AS HE VIRTUALLY CLAIMS)?

Here is an excerpt from a popular version of this story published by Lowenberg:-

“The disciples of Mahomed asked how they would find this great teacher. Mahomed first gave “The Great Guide” five names. He called Him “The Master of the World”, “Master of Time”, “God’s President”, “A Great Part of God on the Ground” and “God speaking and advising.” He then went on to say to his disciples, “You can never find him, because at that time you will be so bad that you cannot recognise Him. Only a handful will find Him.”

Mahomed allegedly continued by giving about 300 signs that would clearly refer to Sathya Sai Baba, his appearance, habits, actions etc. and said this master would live until 95 to 96 years of age. Then he went on, “In the last twenty years of his life, He will be the “King of the whole world”, “but at that time only two thirds of the people of the world will believe in Him. Mussalmans will only recognise Him nine years before his passing from the world.”

“Christians and other people of other religions will see Him, but Mussalmans will be so bad that they will not find him. The people of those religions will collect under a great tree, and they will have a spot on their foreheads.” Of the physical signs she mentions: “His hair will be profuse. His forehead will be large and concave. … His body will be small in size, but His stomach will be large. His legs will be like those of a young girl … He will give everyone gifts that are light in weight. … He will wear two robes. … He will live 95 or 96 years on earth. … Mussalmans will only recognise Him nine years before His passing from the world. … So as not to be deceived, you should know that the Master of the World will bring things out of His body, through His mouth.” (‘The Heart of Sai’ by R. Lowenberg, India Book House PVT. Ltd. BOMBAY- 1981, p 122), pp. 122-3)  See disclaimer

One can already note that the prophesy was flawed in that Sathya Sai Baba was not recognised by more than a tiny handful of Muslims nine years before his death and, besides, did not live to anywhere near 96 years. He died in his 85th year, aged 84.  It is quite clear from study of the issue that most of the signs Mahomet supposedly gave according to Lowenberg and other Sai believers, that the signs have been concocted post facto to fit with Sai Baba’s person and habits.
AN EXCERPT FROM ZEBA BASHIRUDDIN’S AND ALSO BRIAN STEEL’S WRITINGS ON THE SUBJECT (CLICK ON IMAGE ON RIGHT HAND)

The Islamic messianic belief has existed for ages throughout much of the Muslim world, being as widely held as that of the Second Coming of Christ and the Judgement Day of the Book of Revelations by some Christian sects. In 2006 and again in 2007, “President Ahmadinejad of Iran was at the U.N. General Assembly on September 26, 2007 where he both times prayed in public to Allah to “hasten the arrival of Imam al-Mahdi…. the promised one,” who “will fill this world with justice and peace.” Ahmadinejad tried to garner favor with a university audience in New York by telling that he was an academic himself and still teaches university students. One commentator wrote: “Ahmadi-nezhad broke new theological ground, even within Shia Islam, by claiming that not only would the Mahdi come, but that Allah himself will arrive with Moses and Christ and Muhammad to rule the world.” (see http://hnn.us/articles/43298.html)

A few excerpts from reports on Ahmadinejad’s “vision” at the U.N. are amusing:- “On the last day when I was speaking, one of our group told me that when I started to say ‘Bismillah Muhammad,’ he saw a green light come from around me, and I was placed inside this aura,” he says. “I felt it myself. I felt that the atmosphere suddenly changed, and for those 27 or 28 minutes, all the leaders of the world did not blink. When I say they didn’t move an eyelid, I’m not exaggerating. They were looking as if a hand was holding them there, and had just opened their eyes – Alhamdulillah!”

Mrs. Zeba Bashiruddin, who asked Sathya Sai Baba if he was the Mehdi, which he let her believe, though he did not give her asked permission for printing the claim (wise, considering the repercussions it could have involved from fanatical Islamists). He did, of course, virtually claim to be Allah since he pronounced he was God, the Creator of the Universe, the Father who sent Jesus and the Deity of all Deities. Bashiruddin eventually accepted Sai Baba as the Mehdi of Islam, writing in the official Sai Baba magazine, Sanathana Sarathi (pp. 298-300) as seen in the scan on the right (click to enlarge)

The most thorough research into the entire issue of Sai Baba as the Mahdi of Islam by academic Brian Steel clearly shows the falsity of the claims. In a visit to Prashanthi Nilayam after 2000 he also even found the display of a faked translation of Persian prophetic texts in Sai Baba’s self-glorifying Chaitanya Jyoti museum at Prashanthi Nilayam.

“Page 49 of the glossy SSSO publication Chaitanya Jyoti offers the following version of the alleged prophecy by the Prophet Muhammad, enshrined for posterity in the Puttaparthi Museum of the same name. “Mahdi Mou’d”.” (http://bdsteel.tripod.com/More/indmmtrans.htm) Steel shows correct professional translation of the displayed text to be entirely discrepant from the translation given by the Sai propagandists!

Brian Steel’s researches detail the various phases in which the rumours were made and propagated by Sai Baba devotees. See Sai Baba as the Islamic messiah, the Mahdi: http://bdsteel.tripod.com/More/Prophecy.htm and http://bdsteel.tripod.com/More/indmmtrans.htm

See also www.saibaba-x.org.uk/7/Sathya_Sai_Baba_prophesies_and_rumors_on_Islam.htm

CLICK ON THIS THUMBNAIL TO READ AN EXCERPT FROM BRIAN STEEL’S WRITINGS ON THE SUBJECT 

Sai Baba as the Islamic Saviour ‘Mahdi’?

Sathya Sai Baba has been heralded as the Islamic messiah, the Mahdi and much has been written to try to prove he is ‘the one’. Indeed, this extremely inauthenticated text is publicised in a faked translation of Persian prophetic texts in Sai Baba’s self-glorifying Chaitanya Jyoti museum at Prashanthi Nilayam. Yet it would be difficult, if not impossible to find Sai Baba accepted as the Mahdi (much less accepted at all) by prominent religious-political Islamic figures, not least those who accept the notion of the foretold appearance of the Mahdi. One report noted that President Ahmadinejad at the U.N. General Assembly on September 26, 2007 again did as he had done the previous year in the same venue; opened his speech by praying to Allah to “hasten the arrival of Imam al-Mahdi….” “the promised one,” the one who “will fill this world with justice and peace.” Wisely, he did not mention the fuller revelation, that the Madhi would come at the end of time and a great apcocalypse would ensue).

The Mahdi claims wrote off Ahmadinejad as a primitive kind of Shiite believer. Yet this belief has been – and still is – widely encountered in the history of the Islamic world, probably as widespread as is that of the Second Coming of Christ and the Judgement Day of the Book of Revelations. Such apocalyptic visions are also part and parcel of Hinduism, and Sathya Sai Baba also dabbled in various apocalyptic scenarios of this type. Here are a few excerpts from reports on Ahmadinejad’s “vision” at the U.N., which is strangely reminiscent and alarmingly similar to statements he has made about his personal role in ushering in the return of the Shiite Muslim messiah:- “On the last day when I was speaking, one of our group told me that when I started to say ‘Bismillah Muhammad,’ he saw a green light come from around me, and I was placed inside this aura,” he says. “I felt it myself. I felt that the atmosphere suddenly changed, and for those 27 or 28 minutes, all the leaders of the world did not blink. When I say they didn’t move an eyelid, I’m not exaggerating. They were looking as if a hand was holding them there, and had just opened their eyes – Alhamdulillah!”

The next, more public venue for Khameini’s mouthpiece was the now-famous Columbia University speech, in which he proclaimed that there was no homosexuality in Iran, courting the helpless laughter of the large and well-educated audience. Ahmadinejad began his talk by praying for Allah to “hasten the arrival of Imam al-Mahdi.” Yet no one, in the ensueing Q & A, bothered to ask him about this! Shi`ism’s self-styled spokesman tried to garner favor with his audience by reminding them that he is an academic himself and still teaches university students. One commentator (see Link below) wrote: “Ahmadi-nezhad broke new theological ground, even within Shia Islam, by claiming that not only would the Mahdi come, but that Allah himself will arrive with Moses and Christ and Muhammad to rule the world.” This was allowed to “pass without investigation, because the moderators were unprepared—or perhaps simply uncomfortable—with it.” From Everybody’s Got Something to Hide, Except for Me and the Mahdi

“He sees his main mission, as he recounted in a Nov. 16 speech in Tehran, as to “pave the path for the glorious reappearance of Imam Mahdi, may Allah hasten his reappearance.” “People are anxious to know when and how will He rise; what they must do to receive this worldwide salvation,” says Ali Lari, a cleric at the Bright Future Institute in Iran’s religious center of Qom: “The timing is not clear, but the conditions are more specific,” he adds. “There is a saying: ‘When the students are ready, the teacher will come.’”  Ahmadinejad and others in Iran are deadly serious about the imminent return of the 12th imam, who will prompt a global battle between good and evil – with striking parallels to biblical accounts of “Armageddon.”” (WorldNetDaily: Iran prepares people for ‘messiah miracles’ )

Comment: The above saying about the teacher’s coming closely reflects what Sathya Sai Baba has stated about himself, that he is the Universal teacher come to save humanity. He is hailed as the Mehdi Mou’d by Zeba Bashiruddin, a Moslem teacher at his women’s college in Anantapur, near to his Puttaparthi ashram, and who he has made efforts to persuade (Shiite) Muslims to accept him. Like Ali Lari (above). Sai Baba has also said: When the soil is ready, the seed appears from somewhere! The Spiritual guru will be alerted and the thirst will get quenched.” (Sathya Sai Baba in Sathya Sai Vahini, p. 97. SSB Books and Publications Trust)

For a most thorough account and researched analysis of the carefully cultivated rumour that Sathya Sai Baba fulfils the requirements of the Islamic prophesy of the coming Mahdi [aka Mehdi Moud] saviour, see Sai Baba as the Islamic messiah, the Mahdi: http://bdsteel.tripod.com/More/Prophecy.htm and http://bdsteel.tripod.com/More/indmmtrans.htm

Also see ‘Followers of Islam maligned by the Sathya Sai Baba movement’:  http://www.saibaba-x.org.uk/7/Sathya_Sai_Baba_prophesies_and_rumors_on_Islam.htm. As to some kind of Armageddon, Sai Baba has also leaked many rumours about this. One can see the propaganda about Sai Baba’s world leadership being prophesied in an [alleged] Islamic source here.

Public Petition for Official Investigations of Sathya Sai Baba and his Worldwide Organization
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(Spanish version PETICIÓNPÚBLICA PARA INVESTIGACIONES OFICIALES)