[Reader-list] The Beliefs and Politics of a Pseudo-Mahdist Cult: Goharshahi and the Mehdi Foundation International

[Yogi Sikand]

The Beliefs and Politics of a Pseudo-Mahdist Cult: Goharshahi and the
Mehdi Foundation International



By Yoginder Sikand*







Introduction



This paper looks at the origins and development of the cult of Riyaz
Ahmad Goharshahi (1941-2001), who, a large section of his followers
believe, claimed to be the Imam Mahdi. It begins with a brief
description of his teachings and his life and goes on to deal with the
cult after his death, when his followers split into two main groups:
the London-based Mehdi Foundation International (MFI) and the
Pakistan-based Anjuman-e Sarfaroshan-e Islam (ASI). It then focuses,
in particular, on the beliefs of the former group and its political
involvement in Pakistan and elsewhere.



Note on Sources



The paper is based largely on material hosted on the several websites
run by both groups of Goharshahi's followers as well as literature by
the cult's critics. Claims on behalf of Goharshahi put forward by both
the ASI and the MFI need to be taken with extreme caution, as both
groups present him in an obviously exaggerated, hagiographic mould and
are very likely to be false. To add to this, it is clear from a
reading of these sources that both groups put forward several claims
on behalf of Goharshahi that may not necessarily be in accordance with
Goharshahi's actual teachings. Be that as it may, these claims reflect
the way in which Goharshahi's followers presently perceive him. Both
the ASI and the MFI have fairly contradictory views on Goharshahi on
several crucial points, each claiming to be his legitimate successor.
This itself suggests that their claims are disputable.





Riyaz Ahmad Goharshahi: His Life, Teachings and Claims





The Goharshahi cult is centred on the figure of Riyaz Ahmad
Goharshahi, who was born in 1941 in the village of Dhak Goharshahi in
the Gujjar Khan tehsil of the Rawalpindi district of Pakistan's Punjab
province.[1]  Little is mentioned about his early years in the
available literature. He is said to have studied in a regular school
till the matriculation level. He did not receive any formal Islamic
education, but he claimed to have been directly taught by the Prophet
Muhammad himself. [2]

In 1975, Goharshahi publicly claimed that what he called the jussa-e
tawfiq-e ilahi, or 'the sub-spirit of God', had entered him. [3] Five
years later, he began preaching, presenting himself as a Sufi of the
Qadiriya order. He set up a centre in the town of Hyderabad and then
shifted to the town of Kotri in Sindh, where he established what he
called the Khuda Ki Basti ('The Locality of God'). Over time, his
controversial views about basic tents of Islam as well as claims about
himself brought him into conflict with several Pakistani 'ulema, who
accused him of blasphemy.



In the late 1990s, a number of criminal cases, including related to
murder, illegal possession of arms and illegal possession of land,
were instituted against Goharshahi, forcing him to flee to Britain.
Soon after his arrival there he was given life sentence in absentia by
the Sindh High Court. In Britain, he succeeded in making a fairly
significant number of followers, particularly among expatriate
Pakistanis. For his bizarre beliefs and teachings, he was stiffly
opposed by some Muslims there, too, and his house in Manchester was
bombed. Yet, he kept up his preaching work, traveling to several other
European countries and America and making converts, mainly among
people of Pakistani origin. In addition to the ASI, which he had set
up in Pakistan in 1980, he established the Riaz Ahmad Goharshahi
(RAGS) International and the MFI in Britain and the American Sufi
Institute in the United   States to propagate his views, giving these
small outfits high-sounding names in order to portray them as larger
than life.



According to the MFI, Goharshahi went into occultation or ghaiba in
London on 27 November 2001, while according to the ASI he died a
natural death. Consequently, the ASI constructed a tomb for him at
Kotri, in Sindh, where he had preached for many years, which was later
to become a major bone of contention of the two rival groups. In
addition to these two major groups, some splinter groups, now with
very few followers, emerged following Goharshahi's death, each
claiming to inherit his legacy.[4]





Goharshahi's Teachings and Claims



Goharshahi was credited with having written several books. The most
important of these, in the eyes of his followers, is the Din-e Ilahi
('The Religion of God'), which he wrote after he fled Pakistan. [5] It
appears, in parts, like a Sufistic text, focusing particularly on love
for God and His creation. However, in this and in other texts penned
by him, Goharshahi made claims that were fiercely contested by Muslim
clerics, resulting in several fatwas of disbelief against him. Thus,
for instance, a tract penned by a Pakistani Sunni Barelvi scholar,
Muhammad Afzal Kotalvi, claims that Goharshahi sought to justify the
consumption of drugs and womanizing by seeking to provide what he
called

'exoteric' (batini) interpretations for the explicit (zahiri)
commandments of Islam. [6] By claiming privileged access to what he
called the 'esoteric meaning' of the Qur'an, Goharshahi is said to
have argued that the 'luxorious cars and vehicles' in which he
traveled in the company of 'young girls' and the 'luxorious life' that
he led were comparable to the 'precious horses' used by the Prophet
Muhammad during his military campaigns. [7] These and other similar
claims naturally earned Goharshahi considerable opposition from the
Pakistani 'ulema.



According to some sources, Goharshahi opposed the strict following of
the shar'iah, arguing that it related only to the 'external'
dimension, while 'true' religion, so he claimed, was solely of the
heart and pertained to what he labeled as 'the love of God'. [8] He is
said to have gone so far as to claim that key aspects of Islamic
ritual practice, such as salat, zakat, saum and haj, were only of a
temporary nature and did not have continuing relevance. [9] He claimed
that the salience that Muslims gave to the external shari'ah was a
principal cause of sectarianism and conflicts among them, owing to
differences of opinion about and interpretation of rules of the
shari'ah, as well as placing barriers between Muslims and others.
Thus, in his Din-e Ilahi he argued that 'true' religion did not take
cognizance of externals. He claimed to preach what he termed as a
'universal' religion in which all people, Muslims and others, could
equally participate.



Curiously, while critiquing the external shari'ah, on several
occasions Goharshahi also argued to the contrary, and insisted that
his teachings were entirely in consonance with Islam. [10] He
announced that if his teachings could be proved to contain anything
against the shari'ah he was prepared to face any sort of punishment.
It is probable that this was merely a tactic to deflect criticism of
the movement as un-Islamic and also to appeal to the essentially
Muslim audience that Goharshahi was addressing.



Based on his claim of having access to 'secret divine knowledge',
Goharshahi is also said, by some critics, to have claimed that the
existing Qur'an was not complete in itself. In his Kitab Haq ki Awaz
he is said to have argued that the thirty existing parts (paras) of
the Qur'an were meant for 'ordinary' mortals and pertained to
'external' or zahiri matters. However, he is said to have alleged,
there were ten other paras of the holy scripture which were accessible
only to the 'spiritual elite' (khawas), such as he claimed himself to
be. This allegedly 'hidden' portion of the Qur'an, he is said to have
written, pertained to what he called the batini aspects of faith, and
he claimed to have full knowledge of these. [11]  He is said to have
gone to the extent of claiming that 'The batini and the zahiri Qur'an
are in conflict with each other', and that hence there was no need for
his followers to follow the rules of the external shari'ah. [12]
Thus, for instance, he argued that there was no need for non-Muslims
to recite or believe in the Islamic creed of confession (kailma
shahadah), and that they could attain salvation by remaining in their
own religions. [13] In fact, so a section of his followers claims, he
went to the extent of declaring that all existing religions, including
Islam, had lost their relevance and had merged into the new religion
that he was expounding, which he called Din-e Ilahi ('The Religion of
God'), which, he claimed, was based on love of God ('ishq-e ilahi) and
contained all the good points in other religions. [14]



More details about Goharshahi's absurd teachings are available in a
tract produced by another Pakistani critic, the Deobandi Sunni scholar
Ahmad Miyan Hamadi, in-charge of the Sindh provincial unit of the
Majlis Tahaffuz-e Khatm-e Nabuvvat, an organization concerned
particularly with rebutting groups that question the belief in the
finality of the prophethood of the Prophet Muhammad. Hamadi quotes
from Goharshahi's pamphlet Kitab Haq Ki Awaz, where he claimed that
his teachings were not his own. Rather, Goharshahi wrote, they were
provided to him by God and the Prophet Muhammad and he was
commissioned by them to preach them. [15]



One of Goharshahi's major claims was that God had allegedly provided
miraculous signs to prove that he was His chosen one. In this regard,
Hamadi refers to Goharshahi's claim that his own image had appeared in
the moon, the sun, the black stone in the Ka'aba in Makkah (hijr-e
aswad), in an unnamed Hindu temple in Pakistan and in several other
such places, and points out that Goharshahi used this claim to argue
that he had been divinely appointed to unite all the peoples of the
world, irrespective of religion, and to preach to them a new religion,
the Din-e Ilahi, which he claimed was meant for all of humanity. [16]
To deny these images, Goharshahi announced, would be to defy God, for
God, so he claimed, had arranged these to be displayed in order to
glorify Goharshahi's name.[17]



Goharshahi's grandiose claim that his image had appeared in several
places, particularly in the hijr-e aswad, was carefully calculated to
garner publicity for himself. In several letters to the Paksitani
President, he insisted that the government investigate this claim if
it were really true to Islam. To rebut his detractors, he claimed,
without, of course, supplying any proof, that in 1998 the Imam of the
Ka'aba had allegedly announced that he had seen a human image, which
Goharshahi claimed was his own, in the hijr-e aswad, but that the
Saudi rulers and Wahhabi 'ulema had quickly painted it over in order
to conceal this image from the Muslim public. [18] This meant,
Goharshahi announced, that Muslims visiting the Ka'aba for the Haj
were unable to complete their pilgrimage, because, he wrote, 'Just as
if one polishes one's nails, one's wuzu (ritual ablutions before
prayer) is not complete, so, too, one's haj cannot be complete as the
Saudi government has coated my image in the hijr-e aswad with paint'.
He argued that kissing the hijr-e aswad was 'the most important item
of Haj (sic.) ritual', but since the Saudis had allegedly covered it
with a coat of paint, the pilgrims were unable to kiss the stone but
were forced to kiss the paint instead, which was inadmissible. Hence,
he went on, the Saudis were effectively 'responsible for making the
Haj of millions of Muslims null and void'. [19]  'But', he added,
'since Allah wants to make this image clear, it cannot remain hidden
for long'.



The bizarre claim of his image being contained, among other things, in
the hijr-e aswad soon emerged as the single most salient aspect of
Goharshahi's message and certainly the most controversial. It appeared
to have been carefully calculated to inflame Muslim passions and
thereby attract attention for himself. In an article published shortly
before he fled Pakistan, Goharshahi announced that his image was
contained in the hijr-e aswad 'since eternity'. He claimed that the
Prophet Muhammad had kissed the stone because 'the soul of the person
whose image is in the stone [i.e. Goharshahi himself] and that of the
Prophet Muhammad were together in the skies. When the Prophet came
into this world, he saw this person's image and remembered that this
person was he whom he had loved greatly […] The Prophet recognised
this person by seeing his image and so kissed the stone'. [20] This
absurd claim was to be later further magnified and elaborated upon by
the MFI soon after Goharshahi's death or alleged 'occultation' in
2001, winning the cult widespread condemnation from Muslim groups in
Pakistan and elsewhere.



Another contentious issue that set Goharshahi against his Muslim
critics was approval of the replacement of the phrase 'Muhammad is the
Prophet of Allah" (muhammadur rasul allah) in the kalima shahadah or
Islamic creed of confession of faith by his own name. This was a major
point in the criminal case instituted against him in 1999 by Ahmad
Miyan Hamadi, author of the above-mentioned booklet Fitna-e
Goharshahi. The case was tried and decided by the Anti-Terrorism Court
in Mirpurkhas in Sindh, but Goharshahi escaped punishment as he had
already fled to England by the time the court announced its decision.
[21] Goharshahi was also accused by Hamadi of claiming that a certain
syllable used in several places in the Qur'an actually referred to
him. [22]





Splits in the Goharshahi Cult and the Formation of the MFI



Following the death of Goharshahi in 2001, the cult that had developed
around him split into several factions. Essentially, these splits had
to do with contestations over leadership of the cult and rival claims
to Goharshahi's legacy, although complex religious arguments were
marshaled to back each position. The two major groups of Goharshahi's
followers are today represented by the ASI and the MFI.



The ASI has its headquarters in Kotri in the Dadu district of the
Pakistani province of Sindh and has branches in several places in the
country. [23] Among the top leadership of the group are several of
Goharshahi's relatives, including his wife [24] and children [25], his
father Syed Fazl Hussain [26], as well as some of Goharshahi's close
disciples.  [27] The ASI claims to be the true heir of Goharshahi's
legacy, a claim which is hotly contested by the MFI.



The ASI claims to be a Muslim Sufi group within the broader framework
of Islam, a point that is constantly stressed in its literature. It
argues that Goharshahi, too, firmly believed in Islam and that he
insisted that going against the shari'ah is a sin for Muslims,
although he also claimed that the tariqa or the Sufi path was
necessary in order to complement it. [28] Those who violate the
shari'ah, the ASI claims Goharshahi stressed, were not his true
followers. [29] However, given the fact that several of Goharshahi's
beliefs, particularly regarding the shari'ah as well as grandiose
claims about himself, were seen as placing him outside the fold of
Islam by his 'ulema detractors, the ASI's claim of being 'Muslim' is
hotly contested by its Muslim opponents. Given the mounting opposition
to the cult after Goharshahi's death, the ASI has perhaps sought to
conceal some of the more bizarre or un-Islamic beliefs and teachings
of Goharshahi in order to present itself as just another Muslim group.



No sooner had Goharshahi died than his followers began contesting with
each other, each claiming to represent his legacy. Ever since
Goharshahi's death, fierce polemics have characterized the relations
between the ASI and the MFI, the two main groups of Goharshahi's
followers. Based in London, the MFI was set up soon after Goharshahi's
death by Yunous al-Gohar, who styles himself as its 'Chief Executive
Officer'. Yunous has been accused by the ASI of hijacking the official
website of the movement after Goharshahi's death and using it to
spread blasphemous and anti-Islamic beliefs which he wrongly
attributes to Goharshahi. [30] It also accuses Yunous of being a
'hypocrite' [31] and an 'agent of the Jews' and of 'enemies of Islam
and Pakistan' by deliberately seeking to distort Goharshahi's message.
[32] It claims that Yunous' distortion of Goharshahi's teachings was
motivated by 'his desire for wealth'. ASI leader and Goharshahi's
father, Syed Fazl Hussain, sent a letter to the group's activists,
warning them against Yunous, who, he said, was bent on sabotaging the
group and who, he claimed, was 'in league with the Jews and was being
paid by them'. [33]



Of particular importance in the ongoing conflict between the ASI and
the MFI are the contradictory stands of both groups on the issue of
whether or not Goharshahi claimed to the Imam Mahdi. It is not clear
if Goharshahi himself explicitly claimed to be the Imam Mahdi at any
point. The ASI claims that Goharshahi himself denied being the Imam
Mahdi and even said that those who believed him to be so were wrong.
It sees Goharshahi as a Sufi murshid, and not as the Imam Mahdi.
Goharshahi's father, Syed Fazl Hussain, claims that Goharshahi
appeared to him in a vision and informed him that 'He had only
indicated the signs of the Imam Mahdi, and that he was not the Imam
Mahdi himself, although some foolish people had claimed him to be so'.
[34]



The MFI denies the ASI's claims and insists to the contrary. MFI
sources offer muddled, confused and contradictory responses on the
issue. The MFI argues that Goharshahi did claim to be the Imam Mahdi
in 1997 before he fled to England [35] as well as in the Introduction
to his main work, Din-e Ilahi. [36]  Elsewhere, it argues that he kept
this concealed but arranged for certain 'enlightened souls', by which
is obviously meant the MFI's leaders, to 'automatically recognize him
as the Imam Mahdi' without his having to publicly declare this as such
[37]. Elsewhere it claims that Goharshahi 'revealed' the 'fact' of his
being the Imam Mahdi only to a select few, including, and
particularly, Yunous al-Gohar. [38] Yunous claims that he was close to
Goharshahi and knew many of his 'secrets', including that 'according
to the Divine plan, Goharshahi did not publicly announce that he was
the Imam Mahdi', and adds that in 1999 Goharshahi had said, after
claiming to see his image in the sun, the moon and the hijr-e aswad,
that he might be the Imam Mahdi. Goharshahi said, so Yunous claims,
that he could be sure of this only when 'the saints testify to this'.
Yunous argues that although Goharshahi did not publicly claim to be
the Imam Mahdi, 'his images that appeared in all religious places,
including mosques, churches and temples' were a divine way of
informing 'enlightened beings' that he was indeed the Imam Mahdi, and
that he had come as the saviour promised by all religions. He claims
that Goharshahi had informed him that 'owing to some reason' he did
not openly preach that he was the Imam Mahdi, but had, instead,
appointed Yunous and his followers to do so, 'in order to test their
faith'.  [39] Yunous insists that by denying that Goharshahi was the
Imam Mahdi, the followers of the ASI are 'heretics', 'hypocrites',
'frauds', 'enemies of Goharshahi', 'worshippers of Satan' [40] and
'bastards' [41]. In addition, the MFI announces that because the ASI
does not accept Goharshahi as the Imam Mahdi, it 'will announce war
and jihad against it'. [42]





 The MFI: Beliefs and Claims



The MFI has its headquarters in London. Its name has been probably
deliberately chosen so as to give it a larger than life image, as a
respectable 'international' organisation, rather than the bizarre cult
that it actually is. Yunous al-Gohar, who styles himself as the
outfit's 'Chief Executive Officer', is said to be a London-based
billionaire and hypnotist of Pakistani origin. He claims to have been
specially selected by Goharshahi to carry on his mission as his deputy
and to be in constant touch with him. He argues that Goharshahi is
omnipresent, although in communication only with him [43], and that he
will again reveal himself in his physical form in London, shortly
before a grand apocalyptic battle that he will wage, along with Jesus,
against the Dajjal or Anti-Christ that will herald the Day of
Judgment. He claims that in December 2001, Goharshahi 'transferred all
his light' into him. After this, Yunous claims to have 'flown to the
grand castle  of Ra Riyaz Goharshahi'. [44] Several of the MFI's
bizarre beliefs, such as the claim that Goharshahi is God, that Yunous
is the only person he is in communication with and that those who do
not believe in or oppose Goharshahi or doubt his claims are in league
with the Devil and are 'dogs of Hell' [45], are, so Yunous claims,
said to have been 'revealed' to him by Goharshahi after his alleged
'occultation' in 2001.





The MFI operates through a number of fronts. Its main vehicle for
disseminating its propaganda is the Internet. In order to create the
impression that it is much larger than it actually is, Yunous and his
followers, almost all Pakistanis based in England and America, run
numerous sophisticated websites with different names, although these
contain much the same material. [46] These are in several languages,
including Arabic, Urdu, Hindi, English and French. The MFI also hosts
an online radio station. It has sponsored advertisements in numerous
popular newspapers in different languages in various countries,
including India, Pakistan, Sri  Lanka, Thailand, Australia, Hong
Kong, Canada and Britain, announcing its claim of Goharshahi being the
Imam Mahdi and inviting those who want to know more to contact the
group through its websites. [47] In these advertisements, it presents
its claims about Goharshahi in the guise of being an apparently
benign, spiritual and apolitical inter-faith group, which, it claims,
is committed to peace, harmony and love of God and of humanity.



The MFI claims to have several hundred thousand followers in Pakistan,
India, Bangladesh, Sri  Lanka, Europe, North America, and South-East
Asia, although these numbers are probably grossly exaggerated. In
these countries it has its representatives who work as missionaries,
distributing MFI literature and organizing public events. These
programmes are presented as get-togethers to promote 'divine love' and
'peace' but are actually means for the cult to propagate its bizarre
beliefs. The MFI has also participated in some programmes organized by
inter-faith groups in order to present itself as motivated by
universal love, a claim that is completely belied by its claims and
its politics, as we shall see later in the course of this paper.




Key Teachings of the MFI



Yunous' critics in the ASI have accused him of deliberately distorting
the teachings of Goharshahi and of attributing to him beliefs and
statements which they say were not his. They claim that Yunous has
done this deliberately in order to sabotage the movement. Yunous, on
the other hand, defends his stance, saying that what he preaches is
precisely what Goharshahi taught his disciples and also what
Goharshahi secretly continues to 'reveal' to him while in
'occultation'. He insists that he says nothing on his own. [48] He
claims that he has been in 'external' (zahiri) and 'esoteric' (batini)
closeness with Goharshahi for over two decades [49], and that he has
privileged access to him as his 'representative' in his supposed phase
of 'occultation'. He claims that in addition to the 'external'
knowledge that Goharshahi imparted his disciples, as contained in his
book Din-e Ilahi [50], he is privy to 'secret' knowledge (batini 'ilm)
which he says Goharshahi provides to him and other 'special' (khawas)
people in the MFI. Referring to the ASI, he says that this group
limits itself only to 'external' knowledge and hence has 'gone
astray'.



Yunous argues, referring to himself, that those who also have access
to the 'secret' knowledge from Goharshahi 'are on the right path'.
[51]He claims that the knowledge imparted in the Din-e Ilahi
represents the 'secret knowledge' that the Prophet Muhammad
transmitted to Imam 'Ali. This knowledge, he claims, had been kept a
closely guarded secret all this while but the Prophet had, so he
wrote, given it to Goharshahi, who, in turn, had 'opened' it for all
to access easily by simply reciting his name. In other words, he
claims, the batini 'ilm of the Prophet Muhammad was the zahiri 'ilm of
Goharshahi, implying that the batini 'ilm that he claims Goharshahi
possessed was superior to the batini 'ilm of the Prophet as well as
the zahiri 'ilm that the Prophet imparted through the Qur'an.
Goharshahi, the MFI proclaims, is privy to that 'secret' knowledge
that 'the Prophet Muhammad wanted but was denied'. [52] Going even
further, the MFI claims that the 'secret knowledge' that Goharshahi
possesses is not from God but from his own self, suggesting, thereby,
the argument of Goharshahi's alleged superiority to God. [53]





In contrast to the ASI, which believes that Goharshahi is dead, the
MFI, as mentioned earlier, believes that he is alive and physically
present in the world, being allegedly 'immortal' [54], although
concealed from everyone except his 'chosen' followers, i.e. members,
particularly leaders, of the MFI, especially Yunous al-Gohar. The
'concealment' of Goharshahi is said to be 'an unparalleled miracle',
which will 'drown the entire world in amazement', causing 'all souls
to believe in him'. [55] In this alleged period of 'concealment',
Goharshahi is said to commune with Yunous in person and sometimes, so
Yunous claims, even appears before him. The MFI believes that
Goharshahi's alleged occultation is actually a test for his 'true'
believers, who, in this period, might have to suffer persecution while
proclaiming his 'impending arrival'. These 'true believers' are
assured that if they faithfully carry on the work of 'proclaiming the
Imam Mahdi', 'all their sins will be washed away'. [56] In this test,
the MFI insists, the ASI and its followers have miserably failed,
proving themselves to be 'hypocrites' and engaged in 'a Satanic
conspiracy' to distort Goharshahi's teachings, as they claim that
Goharshahi is dead and conceal or deny the claim of his being the Imam
Mahdi. [57]





The single most salient feature of MFI propaganda, which is constantly
repeated in all its literature and on the websites that it runs or
sponsors, is that Goharshahi is the Imam Mahdi of the Muslims, as well
as the Promised Messiah of the Christians and Jews, the final Buddha
of the Buddhists and the Kalki Avatar of the Hindus. [58]  The MFI
claims that the Christian and Jewish belief that the Messiah would
rule the world has been fulfilled in Goharshahi's alleged
establishment of his 'global spiritual dominion'. As for the Hindu
belief that the Kalki Avatar would make all people Hindu, the MFI
claims that this, too, has been fulfilled by Goharshahi in that he
will allegedly make all humans 'devotees of someone connected to the
Indian subcontinent', that is, himself.[59]



'To preach about the Imam Mahdi', in the form of Goharshahi, Yunous
writes, is 'the basic aim' of the movement. 'We will carry on
preaching about the Imam Mahdi', he announces, 'even if we have to
wage war against others'. [60] For this purpose, although MFI leaders
insist that the group is not Muslim, and that, instead, it preaches a
new religion, what they call 'the Goharian Philosophy of Divine Love',
the MFI frequently refers to Islamic scriptural resources but
misinterprets them to put forward its bizarre claims about Goharshahi.
Thus, the MFI insists that its teachings are 'based on the teachings
of the Prophet Muhammad' [61], but it uses this argument to arrive at
conclusions which Muslims will find completely opposed to Islam. This
is a central theme in MFI propaganda, and geared essentially to appear
innocuous and more acceptable to a largely Muslim audience, [62] or
else, in several cases, to deliberately provoke Muslim anger and
thereby perhaps win the support of anti-Muslim and anti-Islamic
forces, particularly in the West.



The MFI makes numerous absurd claims related to the Prophet Muhammad
in order to press its argument that the Prophet had allegedly
predicted the arrival of Goharshahi as the Imam Mahdi. Thus, it claims
that the Prophet Muhammad had predicted that the Imam Mahdi would
'look exactly like him' and says that this holds true in the case of
Goharshahi. [63] It claims that the Prophet Muhammad 'transferred all
his knowledge to Goharshahi'. [64] It claims that the Muslim belief
that near the Last Day, the sun will rise from the West is actually a
reference to Goharshahi, whom it identifies with the 'sun'. The 'West'
here refers, the MFI claims, to the city of London, where Goharshahi
stayed for some years, and where the MFI believes he will 'reappear'
after his period of 'occultation' is over in order to herald the end
of the world.



Referring to the Muslim belief that the Imam Mahdi would 'distribute
the treasures of the Ka'aba', the MFI claims that this is an
allegorical reference that has been fulfilled by Goharshahi's alleged
distribution of 'the spiritual food for all human beings in the form
of love of God ('ishq-e ilahi)'. [65] It claims that in accordance
with a prophecy that Imam Jafar Sadiq is said to have made, Goharshahi
has the 'seal of Mahdihood' (mehr-e mahdaviyyat) and the kalima
shahada inscribed on his body. It refers to what it calls a hadith and
claims that the Prophet Muhammad prophesied that the Imam Mahdi would
appear in Makkah between the rukn yamani and the maqam-e ibrahim, and
says this is fulfilled in the alleged appearance of Goharshahi's image
in the hijr-e aswad. It claims that all the prophets, from Adam to
Muhammad, deeply revered the hijr-e aswad because it allegedly
contains the picture of Goharshahi. It even argues that 'from the very
first day, every being, including every prophet, has prostrated before
the supposed image of Goharshahi in the hijr-e aswad'. [66] It refers
to what it claims is a hadith report, according to which the Prophet
kissed the hijr-e aswad and wept, and says that this was because he
allegedly saw Goharshahi's image in it. It claims that Imam 'Ali
informed Hazrat 'Umar that the hijr-e aswad was not just a stone, but,
rather, had a pair of eyes, ears and a tongue and that it would
intercede for those who kiss it on the Day of Judgment. It argues that
this means that the hijr-e aswad has a human image in it and that this
is that of Goharshahi. [67]



In what is perhaps a deliberately designed claim to infuriate Muslims,
the MFI argues that, in addition to Goharshahi, images of Jesus
Christ, the Virgin Mary and the Hindu goddess Durga have also appeared
in the hijr-e aswad. [68] Hence, the MFI argues, it ought to be
accessible to all peoples, and not just Muslims, as at present.
Because it claims that the hijr-e aswad contains an image of
Goharshahi, and since it argues that Goharshahi is meant for all
humankind, it claims that allowing only Muslims to visit the shrine is
'unfair' and that this rule must be changed at once.[69]  It claims
that Adam brought this stone from heaven 'for the sake of the blessing
and intercession of all human beings'. Hence, this stone, presented as
the 'first place of worship in the world', was allegedly revered by
all communities. 'Ever since it came under the control of the
Muslims', the MFI says, 'other peoples have been forbidden to kiss
it'. It argues that the MFI is the 'rightful owner' of the hijr-e
aswad and claims that Goharshahi will 'soon snatch it back' from the
Saudi rulers after deposing them and make it accessible to all human
beings, not just Muslims, so that everyone can 'kiss the stone that
contains the picture of Goharshahi'. [70]



The MFI claims that in addition to the hijr-e aswad, the image of
Goharshahi has appeared in a large number of places, including the
moon, the sun and numerous stars, as well as churches, mosques,
imambarghas and temples. This, it says, shows that Goharshahi is meant
for all peoples of the world, transcending boundaries of religion. Its
propaganda material contains numerous photographs of these objects,
with claims alongside that the image of Goharshahi is visible therein.
However, to an unbiased observer, these images are, of course, not
apparent at all.



According to the MFI, the word mahdi actually means 'man of the moon'
(chand wala). Hence, it argues, the supposed image of Goharshahi on
the moon is 'proof' of him being the Imam Mahdi. It claims that Imam
Ja'far Sadiq had allegedly prophesied that the Imam Mahdi's face would
appear on the moon and argues that this face is that of Goharshahi.
[71] It claims that the medieval Jewish scholar, Nostradamus, had
predicted the arrival of 'the main of the moon', who would
'spiritually revolutionise the world', and states that this figure is
none other than Goharshahi.



Using this argument of Goharshahi's image being allegedly visible in
the moon, MFI propaganda material repeatedly makes grandiose claims on
behalf of Goharshahi that clearly sets the group outside the fold of
Islam. The MFI exhorts people to gaze upon the supposed image and then
utter the word 'Allah' thrice for seven days, whereupon they are told
that the image would 'enter their hearts' and that they would acquire
a particular 'meditation chant of the heart' (zikr-e qalb) from
Goharshahi himself, reciting which they can attain 'salvation'. This
easy path to 'salvation' is said to be open to all people,
irrespective of religion. According to the MFI, prayers to the
supposed image of Goharshahi in the moon can be made in any language,
for, it claims, he can understand all languages. This image, if
beseeched, the MFI claims, can cure all ills. [72]



Indeed, so 'great' is Goharshahi, the MFI claims, that the size of his
'hidden' (batini) face is 150 times that of the sun. [73] The MFI even
claims, of course without any reference or proof, that NASA scientists
in America have attested to this and to have declared that his image
is 'suspended in the space'.[74]  'The whole of humanity', it
announces, 'will look up to him as the world approaches its end. His
teachings shall be honoured and adopted by all human beings
open-heartedly'. 'One day', so it claims Goharshahi had declared, 'all
souls will bow down before me and accept me as the Imam Mahdi',
adding, 'If they refuse to do so, God will force them to recognize me
as such'. [75] 'Every soul, accepting the greatness of Goharshahi,
will prostrate before him', the MFI insists. [76] 'As humanity
awakens', Yunous writes in clumsy English in an article hosted on the
MFI's official website, 'every nation will claim "Gohar is ours". True
saviour of humankind is the one who turn (sic.) the (sic.) humanity
into Divinity. And that is Gohar Shahi. Gohar Shahi is already turning
humanity into Divinity. No wonder he is the Promised Messiah, Awaited
Mehdi and Predicted Kalki Avatar. Yunous says so. Prophets came for
nations, saints for groups, but Gohar is for all humanity'.



Equally bizarre is the MFI's claim that the 'soul of Muhammad' had
entered Goharshahi's body. Hence, it argues, if one prays for
blessings on the Prophet (durud) and utters the phrase ya muhammad,
the prayer 'collides against the body of Goharshahi and changes into
ya gohar 'automatically'. Likewise in the case of prayers and
supplications to God. If someone does zikr of God or the Prophet
Muhammad, that prayer relates only to God or the Prophet, the MFI
argues. But because the MFI claims that Goharshahi is above even the
Prophet Muhammad and God, zikr of Goharshahi, it says, includes the
zikr of God and Muhammad as well. The implication, therefore, is that
one need not do the zikr of God and Muhammad, and that the zikr of
Goharshahi is sufficient. [77] By simply chanting the phrase ya gohar,
the MFI says, Goharshahi will provide people assistance. [78]
Accordingly, those who 'turn away from' the zikr of Goharshahi are
warned that God would turn away from them, too. [79]  Hence, the MFI
argues, 'there is no greater worship that the glimpse of Goharshahi'
and 'prostrating before him'. [80]



The MFI presents Goharshahi as having supposedly 'renewed' all other
religions, including Islam, and to have caused them all to merge into
a 'universal faith', the Din-e Ilahi, which it terms as 'a brand new
religion'. [81] This faith, Yunous says, is 'superior' to all other
religions, including Islam. [82] While in the past this religion was
accessible only to a select few, who had to undertake stern
austerities for this, Goharshahi is said to have made it easily
accessible to everyone, irrespective of religion, who believes in him.
One can now reach God, the MFI insists, only through Goharshahi's
Din-e Ilahi. All other religions, including Islam, so it claims, have
now become 'useless', having degenerated into sources of 'strife'
because, among other reasons, of their alleged excessive concern with
external rituals.  [83] Accordingly, Muslims as well as others who
refuse to accept Goharshahi as the Imam Mahdi are said to possess
'devilish souls' and to be 'hypocrites, like the assassins of Imam
Hussain'. [84] They are accused of opposing the very religions that
they claim to follow, because, the MFI claims, all the religions of
the world have prophesied Goharshahi's arrival as the messiah. [85]



In some places, the MFI writes that the religion that Goharshahi
preached was 'given by God', whereas other religions are described as
having been made by 'prophets who were mere mortals'. [86]
Goharshahi's religion is described as the 'religion of the soul',
because of which, it is stressed, there is no need to follow the
shari'ah and external forms of worship, the argument being that these
allegedly relate only to the body while 'true 'religion pertains only
to the soul. [87] It is argued that prior to Goharshahi, the religions
taught by the various prophets to most of their followers pertained
only to the 'body' and to the external rules of shari'ah. The 'true
religion of love' that is said to 'transcend' the sharia'h was taught
by them to only a very few select followers. However, now, it is
claimed, Goharshahi had made this 'true religion' of Din-e Ilahi
accessible to all, irrespective of religion. Goharshahi is described
as being allegedly unique in this regard, for no prophet or saint is
said to have provided access to the 'love of God' to all of humanity,
they being said to have been sent only to a particular community. [88]



In contrast to the Islamic understanding that the Prophet Muhammad was
sent for all of humankind, the MFI believes that this position was
granted to Goharshahi alone. In thus 'uniting' all of humanity into
one 'universal ummah', the MFI says, Goharshahi has allegedly caused
'all other ummahs to be finished'. [89]  Falsely claiming that the
Prophet Muhammad 'shed tears in the hope of getting a glimpse' of
Goharshahi, Yunous insists 'our guide is not Muhammad' but Goharshahi.
[90] He even goes to the extent of writing that the Muslim saints who
attained help from God 'did not get this through Islam but, rather,
through learning the Din-e Ilahi of Goharshahi. [91]



Significantly, Yunous explicitly states that he and his followers are
not Muslims, but, instead, what he calls 'Goharians'. He claims that
Goharshah, too, never followed Islam, and critiques the ASI for
claiming the contrary. [92] Yunous claims that the 'final limit' of
Islam taught by the Prophet Muhammad is 'love for God'(muhabbat- e
ilahi), which, he says, is 'the beginning' of Goharshahi's Din-e
Ilahi, whose 'limit' is 'passion for God' ('ishq-e ilahi), which is
said to be 'much higher than muhabbat-e ilahi'. Hence, he says,
Goharshahi's religion is superior to Islam. Islam, he says, 'is
limited by the kalima of Muhammad', while Goharshahi's Din-e Ilahi
'has no limitation of a prophet but is universal, so that all people,
irrespective of religion, can gain spiritual merit from Goharshahi'.
In this way, he says, 'the superiority of Islam has ended'. [93] He
argues that Goharshahi claimed that 'the verses of the Quran have been
abrogated'. [94] He announces that Islam was meant only for Muslims,
and that because, so he alleges, it has 'lost its spiritualism' and
has 'been reduced by the 'ulema to the shari'ah', it has 'lost its
relevance', being now supposedly used to promote conflict and hatred.
Hence, he says, Goharshahi's 'new religion of Din-e Ilahi' has 'put an
end to Islam' [95]





Again marshalling Islamic scripturalist resources for what critics
would argue is an un-Islamic purpose, Yunous claims that Prophetic
traditions that allegedly talk about the sudden disappearance of the
Imam Mahdi and then the return of Jesus Christ and his joining forces
with the Imam Mahdi to kill the Dajjal and establish the rule of God
throughout the world are being fulfilled through the person of
Goharshahi. Thus, he claims that Jesus came to meet Goharshahi first
in London in 1997[96]  and then later in the same year in a hotel in
the town of Taus, in New Mexico, in the United States. [97]
Meanwhile, he writes, Jesus is now somewhere in Sri Lanka, while
Goharshahi, although physically present in the world, is concealed
from others, save for his closest companions, whose leader Yunous
presents himself as. In the period of the 'occultation' of Goharshahi,
Yunous says, the 'foremost worship' would be to 'wait for the Mahdi'
(muntazir-e mahdi). Hence, he insists, those, such as members of the
ASI, who believe that Goharshahi is dead, have actually reneged on
their faith, while the MFI's followers, awaiting his 're-appearance',
are walking faithfully on his path, for which they are told that they
would earn a place in heaven. [98]



Goharshahi's Stature in MFI Propaganda



The MFI's claims about the spiritual stature of Goharshahi goes far
beyond what the ASI claims for him. While the ASI accuses the MFI of
deliberately distorting Goharshahi's teachings and of claiming a
stature for him which they say he himself did not claim, the MFI
insists that it strictly abides by what Goharshahi preached to his
followers, as well as what he is said to have 'revealed' to a small
select group of his disciples before his 'occultation' and what he is
said to continue 'revealing' to Yunous after that.



The stature of Goharshahi, the MFI claims, is far superior to that of
the saints. [99] Yunous writes that Shaikh 'Abdul Qadir Jilani,
founder of the Qadriya Sufi order, had predicted to his disciples that
Goharshahi would appear as the Imam Mahdi and that 'only he would rule
the entire universe'. Hence, he adds, the Qadriya order, as well as
all other Sufi orders, have been 'absorbed' into the Din-e Ilahi of
Goharshahi. Consequently, he announces, 'Till the Day of Judgment, the
spiritual benefits of the names of God can be had only from
Goharshahi'. [100] This means, he elaborates, that Goharshahi is 'the
last of the saints', and even that 'all the prophets have transferred
the spiritual benefit that they provided their followers with to him'.
[101]



Yunous also argues that Goharshahi is superior to all the prophets.
[102] He claims that till now the various prophets of God 'have taught
only two of the twenty-seven letters of knowledge' and that Goharshahi
would teach the rest twenty-five. [103] He claims that Goharshahi
alone 'is able to awaken a evil doer's soul by just one look at him',
and says that this is a miracle that none of the prophets was able to
perform. [104] He describes Goharshahi as the 'spiritual master' (pir)
of the prophets. [105] Because, according to a Prophetic tradition,
Jesus would give the oath of allegiance (bai'ah) to the Imam Mahdi,
Goharshahi is claimed as the 'guide of the prophets' (nabiyon ka pir).
[106] A picture hosted on the MFI's website depicts Jesus touching
Goharshahi's feet. [107]



Because, allegedly, Jesus would come back to the world to 'have a
glimpse' of Goharshahi [108] and to take him, and not the Prophet
Muhammad, as his guide, Goharshahi is, it is sought to be implied,
'superior' even to the Prophet. [109] This claim is further advanced
in Yunous' announcement that Goharshahi is allegedly 'assisted by
numerous prophets', including the Prophet Muhammad and Jesus.[110]  30
Furthermore, Yunous claims that the Prophet Muhammad kissed the hijr-e
aswad and wept because therein he allegedly saw the image of
Goharshahi and was overwhelmed with 'his love and faith in him', thus
implying the claim of Goharshahi's superiority over him. [111] Yunous
claims that the Prophet Muhammad represents the zahir or 'external'
aspect of God, while Goharshahi represents His batin or real, hidden
self, and writes that God refused to let the Prophet see this self
despite his desire to. In contrast to the Prophet, Yunous claims that
Goharshahi is 'immortal' (la fani). [112] In short, then, the MFI
portrays Gohar Shahi as a super-divine figure superior even to the
Prophet Muhammad.





Not stopping at claiming Goharshahi's superiority to the prophets, the
MFI goes so far as to claim that Goharshahi is superior even to God.
Goharshahi, announces an issue of the Hatif-e Mehdi, the MFI's
Urdu-cum-English tabloid, is, in fact, God himself. 'La Ilaha il Al
Gohar' ('There is no god but Gohar') its cover page proclaims. MFI
members are asked to recite this phrase as part of their daily zikr,
[113] and it is claimed that this phrase also appears on the sun.
[114] Goharshahi, announces one of the several MFI-sponsored websites,
is 'Lord of the Lords' and 'The Emperor of all the Worlds' (malik
ul-muluk). [115]Yunous announces this claim of Goharshahi being above
God when he says 'I am a slave of Riaz [Goharshahi]. I swear by the
Mahdi! I don't know anyone—neither Allah nor the Prophet of
Allah—except for Ra Riyaz Goharshahi'. [116] He further insists, 'My
God is Riaz Ahmad Goharshahi' [117].  Goharshahi is said to be 'The
Master of Everything' (maula-e kul),  [118] the 'ruler of the whole
world', [119] and 'creator of all beings'. [120] Accordingly, in place
of Khuda Hafiz or Allah Hafiz, the standard South Asian Muslim way of
saying farewell, MFI activists use the phrase Gohar Hafiz. Similarly,
Inshallah ('God willing') is replaced by Insha Gohar, and the place of
the Qur'an is taken by Goharshahi's tract Din-e Ilahi. [121] Those who
have the picture of Goharshahi in their hearts', Yunous writes, 'have
a much higher spiritual status than those whose hearts are drawn to
Allah'. [122]



Further illustrating the MFI's belief in Goharshahi being superior
even to God, Yunous writes that the aim of the 'esoteric knowledge'
imparted by Goharshahi is to 'attain a being (zat) beyond even Allah',
whom he identifies as none other than Goharshahi himself, and who, he
says, resides in the highest form of paradise which he names as riyaz
ul-jannah. Allah, or God, Yunous suggests, is subordinate to
Goharshahi. Because God has a religion (din)—love ('ishq)—He must,
Yunous argues, 'have a deity whom he worships' (ma'bud). Since one of
Allah's names is mu'min or 'believer', he claims that this implies
that God 'must have faith in some other being'. This 'being', Yunous
implies, is none other than Goharshahi, whose religion he describes as
'being the treasure of all esoteric knowledge'. [123]



Further elaborating on what he claims is Goharshahi's exalted
spiritual stature, Yunous writes that 'the path of Allah' can 'lead
one at most to the vision of God', but 'God will not let one sit next
to Him but will, instead, send him to some heaven or the other'. In
contrast, he says, following 'the path of Goharshahi', one will be
taken by Goharshahi to the 'highest heaven' where he 'resides'—riaz
al-jannah—where one will get 'eternal closeness to Goharshahi'. This,
however, can only happen when 'one worships no one but Goharshahi'.
[124] Those who have been provided 'secret knowledge' by Goharshahi,
Yunous claims in an obvious reference to himself and his coterie, will
enter this paradise. [125] This supposed 'secret knowledge', Yunous
says, was not given to the Prophet Muhammad but Goharshahi had given
it to Yunous. [126]



In MFI propaganda, God is described in crude anthropomorphic terms. He
is said to 'look

like Adam' and to be similar to a 'virgin youth, a handsome boy, like
a seventeen years (sic.) youth'. He is said to 'walk on two legs' and
to have 'for his companionship, beautiful females to make him happy'.
God is thus presented as a mere physical being, and is sought to be
contrasted with Goharshahi, who is described as 'the Grand God', and
who, so it is claimed, 'created God'. Accordingly, Goharshahi is said
to be 'the only spiritual personality who not only directed people
towards God […], but He rather (sic.) opened doors (sic.) to human
intellect to quench its thirst to know what is beyond God'. Further,
this alleged 'Grand God' or 'Lord of Lords', Goharshahi himself, is
said to have 'created 35 million God-like figures', and God or Allah
is said to be 'just one of them'. [127]



Goharshahi is described in such a manner as to clearly suggest his
proclaimed 'superiority' over God in even physical terms.  He is said
to have 'innumerable model bodies which can be seen at the same time
all over the world'. [128] He is said to be 'present in all the
worlds'. 'The prayers of all worshippers pass through him' and he can
'deny the prayers of anyone that he wants', Yunous claims. [129]
Arguing the 'superiority' of Goharshahi over God, Yunous claims that
'there are innumerable worlds beyond Allah', and that is why, he says,
'we have left the path of Allah and adopted that of Goharshahi'. [130]



Since Goharshahi is presented as a super-divine figure, it follows
from this that the MFI believes that those who do not believe in him
or oppose him are destined to doom in hell. Likewise, it is argued
that salvation is possible through Goharshahi alone, because, the MFI
claims, 'all other religions have lost their value'. [131] It is
striking how while making this claim on behalf of Goharshahi, the MFI
also claims to be committed to universal harmony and spirituality that
transcends religious barriers, although both claims are obviously
irreconcilable. MFI propaganda material is replete with claims that
Goharshahi did not preach any religion and that he is for all
humankind, irrespective of religion, pointing the way to God. This
claim of Goharshahi's message of 'spiritualism' that transcends
religion being for people of all religions is obviously hollow
rhetoric, because, at the same time, the MFI announces that the only
way to salvation is through Goharshahi and none other. [132] Likewise,
the claim that Goharshahi leads the way to God is also fallacious
given the fact that Yunous describes Goharshahi as 'superior' to God.
Clearly, these claims are meant only for public consumption and are a
rhetorical device to conceal the MFI's bizarre beliefs.




MFI's Missionary Work Among Non-Muslims



Given its brazenly anti-Islamic teachings, it is hardly surprising
that the MFI has met with stiff opposition from Muslim circles,
although several of its activists are of Pakistani Muslim background.
Seeking to conceal the real reason for Muslim opposition to the cult,
the MFI projects this opposition as a reflection of what it calls its
'broadened (sic.) approach and universal peace-loving teachings'.
[133] Of late, particularly since early 2006, the MFI seems to have
begun deliberately seeking to cultivate support among non-Muslims,
particularly Hindus and Sikhs as well as Pakistani Christians, opening
it to the charge of playing on the latent anti-Muslim prejudices among
sections of these communities.



Accordingly, in recent years MFI activists have organized numerous
programmes in Pakistan under the banner of two letterhead
outfits—'Welcome Jesus International' and the 'Interfaith Spiritual
Movement'—aiming at winning the support of local Christians for its
claims about Jesus and the Imam Mahdi and for its stance on  what it
calls 'Islamist extremism'. [134] It has also organized numerous
missionary programmes among Hindus in Sindh, Pakistan, Sri Lanka and
Bangladesh and Hindus and Sikhs in America, Australia and Thailand.
[135] Several of these programmes have been held in temples and
gurudwara premises and the MFI has sought to win over Hindu and Sikh
priests to its cause. The programmes inevitably seek to convey the
same message: that Goharshahi is the Kalki Avatar of the Hindus and
that the hijr-e aswad is actually a phallic object (ling) associated
with the Hindu deity Shiva, whom it identifies as Adam, and who, it
says, brought the stone down to earth from heaven. In order to endear
itself to Hindus, it claims that the image of the Hindu goddess Durga
has also appeared in the hijr-e aswad  [136]along with that of
Goharshahi, and exhorts Hindus to join it in its demand that Hindus,
as well as other non-Muslims, be allowed to enter Makkah. It appeals
to Hindus to gaze at the supposed image of Goharshahi in the moon, and
they are told that by taking his name all their problems can be
solved. [137] The MFI has also floated a outfit called the Kalki
Avatar Foundation to work among Hindus. Despite its bombastic-sounding
name, the outfit is probably just a letterhead organization, working
as a front of the MFI.



Is the MFI 'Muslim' in Any Sense?



The answer to this question is, of course, an explicit 'no', as the
above outline of the basic beliefs of the MFI makes amply clear. In
fact, Yunous has explicitly claimed on numerous occasions that he and
his followers are not Muslims and that the religion that they
propagate is not Islam. However, it is important to note that on some
other occasions Yunous and the MFI have claimed that their group is
'Muslim' in a sense [138] and have even announced that if anything in
what they teach is found against the Qur'an, they are willing to
accept any punishment. This, of course, must be seen simply as a
propaganda gimmick, geared essentially to win more prospective
converts and also the favour or attention of Muslim leaders to whom
the MFI has dispatched numerous letters, seeking their support in
proclaiming Goharshahi as the Imam Mahdi, as we shall see further in
the course of this paper.



Violence in Pakistan and Accusations of MFI involvement



Given its brazenly anti-Islamic beliefs, the MFI has naturally faced
considerable opposition in Pakistan from Muslim religious groups as
well as from the police, resulting in the arrest of several of its
activists. The MFI claims that these activists have been 'wrongly' and
'falsely' accused of blasphemy, but a perusal of the tenets of the
group clearly marks them out as blasphemous from the Islamic point of
view. It appears that the MFI relishes controversy as a means to win
public attention, making bizarre claims for Goharshahi that seem to be
deliberately calculated to win the opposition of Islamic groups, on
the one hand, and the sympathy of the West as well as certain forces
inimical to Islam, on the other.



MFI activists have been involved in pasting posters on the walls of
Pakistani towns with the provocative claim that 'There is no God but
Riyaz Ahmad Goharshahi', which caused Islamist groups as well as
'ulema organizations to demand that if the government did not stop
this they would take the law into their own hands. These groups
described this as a conspiracy to divide Muslims, and denounced the
cult's leaders and activists as kafirs and as traducers of the
Prophet, appealing to people to boycott the cult and to the government
to ban it. [139] In response, the MFI declared that it would not 'sit
back' and that it would 'retaliate' against a range of Islamic groups,
whom it branded as 'Satanic'. It even threatened that this might lead
Pakistan to civil war. [140]