Abdulla Jan
A young Pathan arrives for worldly help and leaves Shirdi with a changed view of Hindu–Muslim brotherhood.
Sai BabaDevotee experienceVolume 3
The chapter
Abdulla Jan left Tarbella as a boy and travelled toward Manmad hoping to find help to reach Mecca. Hearing that Sai Baba gave money to fakirs, he went to Shirdi in 1913. When his eyes met Baba’s at the Mosque, he immediately felt that Baba was his Guru and stayed because Baba fed the fakirs.
At first Abdulla wanted an easy life and regarded Hindus as enemies. During three years at Shirdi, that hostility disappeared. He began to regard Hindus as brothers and lamented the fighting in Bombay that destroyed both mosques and temples, observing that mutual destruction would only benefit foreign rulers.
After Baba’s Mahasamadhi, Abdulla travelled north. In 1926, while staying near the tomb of Akun Baba in the Swat valley, he dreamed that Sai Baba—not the saint he had prayed to—was seated beside his head and granted him darshan. He returned to India convinced that Baba had continued to care for him from afar.
The chapter also records Baba’s response when Mir Jaman threatened the Hindu worshippers around him: Baba accepted responsibility for the “madness” of both saint and devotees and offered his own throat rather than allow violence. Baba’s words that he would beat with sticks from within the tomb became a further assurance that his work would continue after death.
Editorial note: This page is a concise paraphrase for web presentation and does not reproduce the complete chapter. Please consult the original PDF for the full account and wording.