Dr Warren’s contribution is outstanding in this respect. Sai Baba should be studied, not in isolation, but as a holy man working within the circles of Maharashtrian bhakti saints. Like Shekh Mahammad and Shah Muni, Sai Baba, as Dr Warren establishes, belongs to the great Maharashtrian Sufi tradition. The image of Sai Baba in his shrine offers both spiritual and physical solace to the pilgrims who visit it.ĭr Marianne Warren’s work is the first scholarly attempt to provide a historical context to Sai Baba’s teachings. The bhaktas, the true devotees of Sai Baba have experienced their spiritual and material aspirations come to fruition through his divine powers. Sai Baba of Shirdi stood for the principles of universal tolerance and peace, and the brotherhood and sisterhood of all mankind.
Marianne Warren left this world on 7th September, 2004. They released two Compact Discs, which have been very well received internationally. Her interest, in collaboration with her husband Michael, had been in writing Indian-style devotional songs (bhajans) in English in honour of both Shirdi Sai Baba and Sathya Sai Baba. She then went back to University to study for a BA in South Asian Religions at McMaster University, followed by her MA and Ph.D.
After emigrating to Canada, she became interested in Yoga, and went on to teach Indian Philosophy, Psychology and Religion as part of a Yoga Teachers’ Training Course. Marianne Warren was born in England where she earned her first BA degree from the University of Exeter. While Sai Baba has attained a universal appeal, transcending anyone sectarian religious tradition, it is necessary to understand his Sufi origins in order to obtain a deeper and fuller appreciation of the enigmatic saint of Shirdi.ĭr.
Both these contributions allow us to look into a world hitherto closed, and expand our awareness of the famous miracle-worker of Shirdi. Secondly, she includes the English translation of the previously untranslated Urdu notebook, jotted down by Abdul, Sai Baba’s faqiri pupil, from teachings based on the Qur’an given to him by his pir Sai Baba. Their lives and writings echo the life and teachings of Sai Baba. First she elucidates the English translation of part of the works of some 17th and 18th century Maharashtrian Sufi poet-saints-their contribution having hitherto been neglected by scholars. Warren brings two new pieces of scholarship to the subject. Immediately the more puzzling aspects of the saint’s actions and sayings fall away, and Sai Baba himself becomes more understandable, attractive and lovable.
The author assumes that the reader will have some familiarity with previous biographies of Shirdi Sai Baba, and she reviews incidents, anecdotes and sayings of the hagiography surrounding Sai Baba, in the light of the goals, practices and stories of the Sufis from the golden era of Sufism, and discovers that an amazing similarity and correspondence begins to emerge. However, no previous researcher has examined him thoroughly in this light. Sai Baba is consistently described by his Hindu biographers as a ‘Muslim faqir’ and a mystic, which, by definition, makes him a Sufi. Unravelling The Enigma - Shirdi Sai in the Light of Sufism is an exciting new piece of research which examines Sai Baba of Shirdi from the standpoint of Islamic mysticism - the Deccani Sufism of 19th century Maharashtra - in order to resolve the mystery surrounding the saint.
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