Messiah Foundation International (Urdu: مہدی فاونڈیشن انٹرنیشنل) (or MFI) is a spiritual organisation formally established in 2002 to promote the Goharian Philosophy of Divine Love.

The MFI purports that Gohar Shahi's image on the moon has spoken to people in different languages and rendered spiritual grace to those searching for divine love.

[13][20] They consider it their responsibility to propagate alleged images of Shahi, Jesus Christ, Durga, and others on the Moon, Sun, and the Holy Black Stone in Mecca, which they say are "divine signs".

After this incident, an image of Jesus Christ, which the photograph's owner claimed had appeared miraculously from pictures taken of sacred places, was shown to Shahi in Tucson, Arizona, United States.

[5][14][25] Their teachings, based on the Goharian Philosophy of Mystical Sciences and Divine Love, are purported to be acceptable to all regardless of religious affiliation or nationality.

[16] AlGohar asserts that because the MFI does not lay emphasis on rituals and worship, people from different religions can follow their teachings while practicing their own faith.

On the front cover, Shahi states, "This book requires unruffled concentration and attention, pondering and research from all religious sects and every man.

"[36] Originally Deen-e-Ilahi was written in Urdu, the native tongue of Shahi, however the book is available in English, Dutch, Arabic, French, German, Hindi, Italian, Persian, Portuguese, Sindhi, Spanish, Thai, and Tamil as well.

[41]The government of Pakistan also banned The Religion of God and his magazine Hatif-e-Mehdi for allegedly "...[containing] matter which is objectionable and maliciously intended to outrage the religious feelings of the Muslims and these should be seized".

[4][43] Messiah Foundation International claims that the Pakistani government has persecuted and jailed some 50 MFI members under false charges of blasphemy against Islam.

[44] In a related incident, an armed group hijacked a bus in Faisalabad, claimed that their leader was the Imam Mehdi, and went on to have a shootout with the police.

[7][45] The leader, Shahbaz Khan, claimed in an interview with a Pakistani newspaper to be supported by the alleged billionaire and hypnotist Younus AlGohar.

[48] In addition, the Sunday Telegraph stated that "There is no suggestion that [Messiah Foundation International] either organised [Shahbaz] Ahmed's actions in Pakistan or knew what he and his disciples were planning".

[7] Due to the nature of topics covered in speeches by AlGohar released onto the internet, some Muslims in Pakistan have staged protests against MFI and declared them infidels.

C/31/08, Date of Report 6 August 2008, Police Station Sharif Abad, District Karachi, Sindh Province, Pakistan) (See copy of English translation of FIR, attached)

The National Human Rights Commission (NHRC), New Delhi, wrote on 4 September 2008, to the Ministry of Home Affairs, Government, setting out the case well.

It was reported on 4 August 2009 in the daily Safeer, that Mr Paras Masih, organiser for the Christian community of the MFI, had been murdered in Karachi.

During their protests, they burnt their passports and travel documents that tied them to Pakistan, Pakistani flags, and effigies of Pervez Musharraf and Maulana Fazlur Rehman.

[44][63][64] According to Zee News, IBN Live, Outlook India and other newspapers, the Pakistani government had banned their practice of faith in Pakistan.

[India]is a secular democracy observing high standards of human rights including the right of peaceful practice of religion, and Pakistani Muslims consider that the religious beliefs of the Mehdi Foundation International are blasphemous, making its followers vulnerable to criminal charges for which the penalty is death under the controversial Pakistani Blasphemy Act.

[73] Mail Today reported in March 2011 that the UNHCR was asked by the Indian High Commission to conduct interviews of the jail members and grant them asylum in countries other than India within 6 weeks of December 2, 2010.

[78][79][80] In December 2011, various newspapers disclosed that the 65 MFI members from Tihar Jail had been granted refugee status and were being sent to Canada and the United States.

[84] Due in part to their efforts in India to raise awareness of Zakir Naik's link to Wahhabism, he was declared a proclaimed offender by the National Investigation Agency and his Indian passport was revoked.