prasad1
Active member
In recent years, India has seen growing tensions — and sometimes violence — between Hindus and the country’s large Muslim minority, often stoked by some of the country’s numerous political parties and extremist groups from both religions. The fraught relations between the two groups trace back centuries, from the persecution of Hindus and Sikhs by some Muslim rulers, to tensions perpetuated by the British in colonial India and the partition of India and Pakistan in 1947.
But in the past, devotion united Indians of both faiths, as the story of a late-19th century and early 20th century Indian religious leader and his followers reminds us.
Shirdi Sai Baba’s real name, birthdate and origins are unknown, but according to his Hindu and Muslim followers, he was born in the 1830s and followed an ascetic lifestyle from an early age, living under a neem tree and spending long hours in meditation. He wore Islamic garb but offered prayers at both the local mosque and temple.
Shirdi Sai Baba’s influence was monumental in shaping Indian spirituality. Sufi mystics praised how his idea of seeing divinity in all beings corresponded with their core philosophy and that of Advaita Hinduism, which preaches non-dualism between living beings and the Divine. Sai Baba influenced a Zoroastrian mystic, Meher Baba, who credited him with articulating a philosophy of looking inward for realization.
But in the past, devotion united Indians of both faiths, as the story of a late-19th century and early 20th century Indian religious leader and his followers reminds us.
Shirdi Sai Baba’s real name, birthdate and origins are unknown, but according to his Hindu and Muslim followers, he was born in the 1830s and followed an ascetic lifestyle from an early age, living under a neem tree and spending long hours in meditation. He wore Islamic garb but offered prayers at both the local mosque and temple.
Shirdi Sai Baba’s influence was monumental in shaping Indian spirituality. Sufi mystics praised how his idea of seeing divinity in all beings corresponded with their core philosophy and that of Advaita Hinduism, which preaches non-dualism between living beings and the Divine. Sai Baba influenced a Zoroastrian mystic, Meher Baba, who credited him with articulating a philosophy of looking inward for realization.