Background and career
Riaz Ahmed Gohar Shahi (Urdu: ریاض احمد گوھر شاہی) (born 25 November 1941) is a Sufi leader and founder of the spiritual groups RAGS International (now known as Messiah Foundation International) and Anjuman Serfaroshan-e-Islam.
He is the author of a number of Urdu books on topics relating to spirituality, the most successful among these being Deen-e-Ilahi "The Religion of God" (2000), which was republished by Balboa Press, a division of Hay House and translated into English and other languages by Messiah Foundation International in 2012.
RAGS International was renamed to Messiah Foundation International in 2000. MFI reports that Shahi claimed to be the Mahdi, Messiah, and Kalki Avatar. Shahi disappeared from public view in 2001. There have been claims that he died in that year or in 2003, but these are unconfirmed.
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