Editing Riaz Ahmed Gohar Shahi (section)

== Claims and criticism ==
[[File:India Protest (10).jpg|thumb|Pakistani followers of Shahi burning passports during a protest in India during April, 2007.]]
The teachings of Gohar Shahi have been a source of controversy. Many [[Sunni Islam|mainstream Muslim]] [[Ulema|scholars]] have condemned his teachings as blasphemy. 

Claims made by Shahi and his followers have been strongly opposed by orthodox Islamic theologians in [[Pakistan]] and abroad.<ref name="moon" /> Shahi has been accused of claiming the status of a [[prophet]].<ref name="DAWN" /><ref name="moon" /> His teachings have been condemned by Muslim religious leaders and the Pakistani government.<ref name="Daily Times">{{cite web|url=http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=story_8-7-2004_pg7_43|title=Pakistan's Supreme Court upholds ban on a Shahi disciple's book|publisher=[[Daily Times (Pakistan)|The Daily Times]]|date=8 July 2004|access-date=13 July 2013}}</ref><ref name="AsiaToday">{{Citation | newspaper = Asia Today | title = Chai with...His Holiness Younus AlGohar of Messiah Foundation International | date = September 2014 | url = https://asiatodayaz.com/newspapers/2014/October_2014.pdf | access-date = 7 October 2014 | url-status = dead | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20141010125013/https://asiatodayaz.com/newspapers/2014/October_2014.pdf | archive-date = 10 October 2014 }}</ref>

Shahi also predicts that the world would end in the year 2026 due to a comet heading towards earth.<ref name="jobshire"/><ref name="Guardian"/><ref name="independent"/> He claims the comet will be the cause of "total destruction" though mentions that "in order to intimidate [mankind]… God plans destruction on a small scale".<ref>{{cite book|title=The Religion of God|last=Gohar Shahi|first=Riaz Ahmed|year=2000|publisher=Balboa Press|location=United States|isbn=978-1-45254-908-8|pages=36|access-date=13 July 2013|url=http://bookstore.balboapress.com/Products/SKU-000528516/the-religion-of-god-divine-love.aspx|archive-date=24 April 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170424022931/http://bookstore.balboapress.com/Products/SKU-000528516/The-Religion-of-God-Divine-Love.aspx|url-status=dead}}</ref>

Many attempts were made on the lives of Shahi and [[Younus AlGohar]] including a [[petrol bomb]] thrown into AlGohar's residence in [[Manchester]], where Shahi stayed when he toured the [[United Kingdom]].<ref>{{cite book|title=The Religion of God|last=Gohar Shahi|first=Riaz Ahmed|year=2000|publisher=Balboa Press|location=United States|isbn=978-1-45254-908-8|pages=xi|access-date=13 July 2013|url=http://bookstore.balboapress.com/Products/SKU-000528516/the-religion-of-god-divine-love.aspx|archive-date=24 April 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170424022931/http://bookstore.balboapress.com/Products/SKU-000528516/The-Religion-of-God-Divine-Love.aspx|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref name="Attempts">{{cite web|url=http://www.geocities.com/athens/acropolis/2717/page3.html|title=Who is Holiness|publisher=via Yahoo Geocities|access-date=9 March 2010|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20011123051444/http://www.geocities.com/athens/acropolis/2717/page3.html|archive-date=23 November 2001}}</ref> A man attempted to attack him with a [[hand grenade]] during a discourse at his home in [[Kotri]], [[Pakistan]].<ref name="Attempts"/> A bounty was put on his head in Pakistan.<ref name="Attempts"/>

Shahi's books have been banned by the government of Pakistan,<ref name="Daily Times"/> and his followers are not allowed to meet in public.<ref name="10 held for raising slogans in favour of Gohar Shahi">{{cite web|url=http://www.dawn.com/2002/06/26/nat33.htm|title=10 held for raising slogans in favour of Gohar Shahi|work=Dawn|location=Pakistan|date=26 June 2002|access-date=7 March 2010}}</ref>

Gohar Shahi claimed to have met with [[Jesus]] in [[United States|America]].<ref name=GoharJesus>{{cite web|title=Return of Lord Jesus: Lord Jesus meets Lord Gohar Shahi in America|url=http://www.goharshahi.us/index.php?/about/meeting-with-jesus/|access-date=1 July 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130522005656/http://www.goharshahi.us/index.php?%2Fabout%2Fmeeting-with-jesus%2F|archive-date=22 May 2013|url-status=dead}}</ref> Shahi's supporters claim that his face became prominent on the Moon, Sun, nebula star and the [[Black Stone|Black Stone in Mecca]],<ref name="hrrpt"/> and that these appearances are signs from God that Gohar Shahi is the awaited [[Imam Mehdi|Imam Mahdi]], [[Messiah]], and [[Kalki|Kalki Avatar]].

The alleged images induced greater legal and religious opposition.<ref name="10 held for raising slogans in favour of Gohar Shahi"/> Shahi has also supported this claim, saying that God had revealed the images of Shahi on the [[Moon]] and various locations, for which Shahi himself was not responsible, and if questions should be raised, they should be raised to God.<ref name="GSInterview"/> Messiah Foundation International asserts the alleged images to be signs from God, pointing to Shahi being the awaited [[Mahdi]]; they quote religious texts<ref name="SI">{{Citation|title= 'We are spiritually connected to the Awaited Ones'-Messiah Foundation Intl|place = Colombo, Sri Lanka|pages=4|year=2010}}</ref> as well as sayings from the likes of [[Nostradamus]],<ref name="manonmoon">{{Cite web| title = The Man on the Moon that Nostradamus Prophesized| url = http://www.themanonthemoon.com/| access-date=18 March 2010}}</ref> and [[Ja'far al-Sadiq]] to support it.

Journalists in [[Pakistan]] asked Shahi,
<blockquote>"Many believe that you are the Mahdi, and God has revealed signs unto them which say that you are the Mahdi, but you do not officially announce that you are the Mahdi. Why?" Shahi gestured towards himself and answered, "Does Imam Mahdi not know the law of Pakistan? He knows that the law of Pakistan declares that 'whosoever claims to be the Mahdi, put him in jail'. I have given the signs of his [Mahdi's] characteristics, which the Mahdi knows and none other. Now, it is up to people to recognise him and believe him".<ref name="GSInterview">{{cite web|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r1OFtIKneQI |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211221/r1OFtIKneQI |archive-date=2021-12-21 |url-status=live|title=Gohar Shahi interview with Scholars|date=7 August 2008 |publisher=via YouTube|access-date=13 March 2010}}{{cbignore}}</ref></blockquote>

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 Mahdi is the mark on [one's] back which can prove his existence".<ref name="DAWN">{{cite news| title=Gohar Shahi, chief of Anjuman-e-Sarferoshan-e-Islam|newspaper=Karachi News|date=18 November 1997|agency=DAWN|location=Karachi}}</ref>

Of the groups following Shahi, Messiah Foundation International claims that Shahi is the awaited Mahdi, 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 Mahdi.<ref>{{cite web| title = About Imam Mehdi| url = http://www.goharshahi.us/about/ |  access-date = 13 July 2013}}</ref>