Editing Riaz Ahmed Gohar Shahi (section)

===Disappearance===
Shahi was reported to have disappeared in 2001, in [[London]]; afterwards, sightings of him were reported around the world of people claiming to have met and received spiritual guidance from him.<ref name="SL2012">{{cite web|url=http://www.thesundayleader.lk/2012/01/01/spreading-divine-love-messiah-foundation-international/|title=Spreading Divine Love Messiah Foundation International|publisher=Sunday Leader|date=1 January 2012|access-date=1 January 2012|archive-date=23 May 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130523030144/http://www.thesundayleader.lk/2012/01/01/spreading-divine-love-messiah-foundation-international/|url-status=dead}}</ref>

In February 2002, prior to any decision on appeals filed with the [[High Court of Sindh]], [[Ardeshir Cowasjee]] claimed in an article he wrote for the Pakistani newspaper ''[[Dawn (newspaper)|Dawn]]'', 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.<ref name=moon/>

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.<ref name="UNHCR"/> An article from 2006 in the ''[[Sunday Telegraph]]'' reports that Shahi died in 2003,<ref name="UNHCR"/> and a 2009 article in ''[[Your Local Guardian]]'' also says that he was reported to have died in 2003.<ref name="YLG1"/> 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.<ref name="UNHCR"/> 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.<ref name="IndianExpress">{{Citation|title=HC stays deportation of 67 Pakistani nationals|newspaper=The Indian Express|location=New Delhi|date=19 November 2008|url=http://www.indianexpress.com/news/hc-stays-deportation-of-67-pakistani-nationa/387834/|access-date=9 October 2009}}</ref> ''Zee News'' also supported this claim.<ref name="Zee">{{Cite news|title=Delhi HC seeks response from Centre on Pakistan nationals' plea|newspaper=Zee News|author=Bureau Report|location=New Delhi|date=17 December 2008|url=http://www.zeenews.com/states/2008-12-17/491805news.html|access-date=7 May 2010|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://archive.today/20130217024858/http://www.zeenews.com/states/2008-12-17/491805news.html|archive-date=17 February 2013}}</ref> The Hindustan Times has reported that he is "serving a life term".<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.hindustantimes.com/67-Pakistanis-in-Tihar-who-don-t-want-to-return-home/Article1-354375.aspx|archive-url=https://archive.today/20130125063742/http://www.hindustantimes.com/67-Pakistanis-in-Tihar-who-don-t-want-to-return-home/Article1-354375.aspx|url-status=dead|archive-date=25 January 2013|title=67 Pakistanis in Tihar who don't want to return home|work=Hindustan Times|date=27 November 2008|author=Abhishek Sharan|access-date=25 April 2010}}</ref> The ''Sunday Leader'' in Sri Lanka stated that Shahi disappeared in 2001 and sightings of him were thereafter reported around the world.<ref name="SL2012"/>

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]], where devotees performed [[pilgrimage]].<ref name="moon"/>  The MFI, in contrast, declares that he merely disappeared.<ref name="YLG1">{{cite news|url=http://www.yourlocalguardian.co.uk/news/local/topstories/4645892.Croydon_religious_leader_faces_life_in_Pakistani_jail_for_his_beliefs|title=Croydon religious leader faces life in Pakistani jail for his beliefs|work=Your Local Guardian|date=30 September 2009|access-date=6 March 2010|first=Kirsty|last=Whalley}}</ref>