My crow has come

Abdul Baba was one of the muslim devotee who permanently attached himself to Sai Baba. Abdul Baba was one of the devotees who Baba personally called to serve him.

Baba wanted some persons to help him in his spiritual work, and we have already seen, they are Kaka Dixit, Das Ganu, Nana Saheb Chandorkar and he had also taken the responsibility of taking the devotees on new spiritual heights, one of the such devotees who was very close to Baba and who looked after Babas needs. Baba gave Abdul the following works

1. Keep the five lamps around Dwarakamai constantly filled with oil

2. Look after a lamp in Lendi Baug (protected by pieces of metal sheet and kept permanently lit by Baba)

3. Keep Dwarakamai and Chavadi clean by sweeping daily.

In addition, he swept the streets and removed “night soil” (human excreta). He fetched water from the river and washed Baba’s clothes daily.

So he was the servant in attendance to Baba. Baba called Abdul His crow. When Abdul Baba came, Baba welcomed him by saying “Mera Kabla Ala” or “My crow has come”. Baba personally wanted Abdul to come, so let us see how Baba called Him. Abdul was born in the year 1871 near Nanded. He was under the care of Fakir Amiruddin of Nanded. Sai Baba appeared in the dream of Amiruddin of Nanded and gave him two mangos and asked Abdul to be sent to Shirdi. Accordingly when the Fakir got up he found two mangos and giving the mangos to Abdul sent him to Shirdi. So we can see here that how much the fakir respected Sai Baba. He immediately complied with the request of Sai Baba.

Abdul Baba stayed near Baba and daily read the Koran sitting near Baba. Baba occasionally opened the Koran and Made him read or rather recite passages at which he opened the book. Baba also quoted passages from Koran and Abdul duly wrote them down in a book which he later extensively used for predictions.

Abdul Baba stuck to Sai Baba to the end doing all odd and menial works. After Babas passing away his work was to decorate the tomb of Baba, arrange clothes and flowers on it and receive the Prasad for his sustenance. His family still does the same seva to Baba even today.

So much trust Abdul Baba had in Sai Baba that when ever anyone came to Abdul Baba for guidance, Abdul Baba used to refer to his notes and give solutions. When the Shirdi Sansthan dug a well and the water turned brackish, Abdul Baba was consulted and Abdul Baba consulted the book and the reply got was to dig deeper and the well was dug deeper and the was sweet.

When Abdul Baba was maintaining Nanda Deep it was a small pit, not the Nanda Deep we seen today. On all the four sides about 20 pieces of cloth were tied and the hole was covered with a zinc. How tough it would have been for Abdul Baba to continuously keep the lamp burning 24 hours in heavy rains, chilly winds, and all vagaries of Nature. It is nothing but a sheer leela of Baba and the faith Abdul Baba had in Sai Baba.

If we think that for the services rendered Abdul Baba was paid by Sai Baba. Baba took the spiritual responsibility of Abdul Baba. No Sai Baba never gave any money or food to Abdul Baba and Abdul Baba had to beg for his survival. Later on Sai Baba started giving him food from the Prasad received.

Abdul Babas services were washing clothes for Baba at the village stream, sweeping the mosque, chadavi and nearby places, lighting the lamps in these places, removing night soil from the way of Baba. And Sai Baba called him “Halalkoor (Scavenger)” and “My Mariambi”.

Abdul Baba later on started staying the place where Radha Krishna Mayi was staying and one day in the year 1927 the three walls of the building fell down, Abdul Baba was reciting Koran during that time and Abdul Baba was buried in the derbies. But Baba saved him and from any harm.

Baba has blessed Abdul Baba in many ways, like he said “Teruku, Dhariaku, Par Uttar Dhea” Tera Matti Sunna Banadiya “Kyabadi Madi Bandhya” “I have enabled you to cross the oceans, Your earth, i.e, mud body has been turned into gold.

Many references are made about Abdul Baba in Sai Satcharitra and even in Sai Satcharitra Baba called Abdul the crow.

After the 1918, till 1922, Abdul’s duties changed as he became the custodian of the shrine of Sai Baba after Sai Babas Samadhi in 1918. Abdul Babas responsibility was to clean, decorate the shrine with flowers, ritual offerings etc. Any food given as prasadam became his sustenance and he lived on the dakshina offered by Baba’s devotees.

In 1922, Kaka Dixit set up a Public Trust through the Ahmednagar District Court to administer the shrine. Persuaded by his well wishers, Abdul challenged the formation of the Trust and claimed that he was the legal heir to Sai Baba. He lost the case and consequently was debarred from having any connection with the maintenance of the shrine. He was refused free food and asked to vacate the room reserved for him in the shrine. Some time later, these severe restrictions were relaxed and Abdul Baba continued to play a role in the maintenance of the shrine till his death in April 1954.

Abdul Baba’s wife was Umranrao Bi and the couple had a son by name Abdul Pathan. The son was born in 1901 and passed away on 14 december 1984. Abdul Baba had five grandsons and two grand daughters. They are Ibrahim, Aziz, Rehman, Rahim and Hamid, Shamshad Bi and Irshad Bi. Only Rahim and Hamid are alive now. Abdul Babas Samadhi is in the Shirdi Sansthan Complex.

Bow to Sai Peace be to all

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