So when police officers and local Indonesian Ulema Council (MUI) leaders and government officials accused him of claiming to be the Imam Mahdi and propagating a heretical strain of Islam, the news took them by storm.

In 2013, the 45-year-old man turned his house in Depok, West Java into padepokan (informal religious school) called Trisula Weda, which gained a steady following.

The actual identity of the self-proclaimed Imam Mahdi, which in Arabic means “the guided one” and is the name of a messianic figure involved in the End Times, according to some Islamic traditions, was a tightly guarded secret until late last month when a padepokan letter, an invitation for members of the public to attend an Idul Fitri gathering at Winardi’s house on June 6, went viral on social media.

Winardi moved to Kampung Prigi, Sawangan subdistrict, Depok from his hometown in Blora, Central Java in 2004. He was described as a quiet man who rarely socialized away from his house. Few in the neighborhood knew him personally, although he had lived there for about 15 years.

A father of two, he reportedly spends five days a week working as a full-time security guard at a hotel in Jakarta. He apparently spends his days off practicing faith healing as a religious duty, free of charge.

Winardi reportedly told his followers he received a divine revelation in a dream in 2007.

He allegedly claimed he met the spirits of his ancestors and God, who took him to the Kaaba, the black stone structure that sits at the heart of the Grand Mosque in Mecca. He claimed it was in the dream that God named him Imam Mahdi.

In 2016 he and his followers built a replica of the Kaaba in his front yard to depict the revelations he received from God. His critics reportedly see this as the most visible proof of his misguided religious faith. He has used it as a mushalla (prayer room).

The head of the Depok chapter of MUI, Dimyati Badruzzaman, said he believed that Winardi talked to a demon in his dream.

“His testaments have no roots in Islamic books, which say that Imam Mahdi will be born in the Middle East,” he told The Jakarta Post.

On May 30, the Depok chapter of the MUI announced the case was closed because Winardi had admitted wrongdoing, apologized, pledged to return to the “true” Islam and renounced his claim to be Imam Mahdi.

Sawangan Police chief Comr. Prasetyo said he has personally ensured that that there were no “misguided rituals” taking place in the padepokan, as some people suspected. 

For more than 10 years, neighbors have known Winardi as an introverted security guard for a hotel in Jakarta and as a traditional healer.

So when police officers and local Indonesian Ulema Council (MUI) leaders and government officials accused him of claiming to be the Imam Mahdi and propagating a heretical strain of Islam, the news took them by storm.

In 2013, the 45-year-old man turned his house in Depok, West Java into padepokan (informal religious school) called Trisula Weda, which gained a steady following.

The actual identity of the self-proclaimed Imam Mahdi, which in Arabic means “the guided one” and is the name of a messianic figure involved in the End Times, according to some Islamic traditions, was a tightly guarded secret until late last month when a padepokan letter, an invitation for members of the public to attend an Idul Fitri gathering at Winardi’s house on June 6, went viral on social media.

Winardi moved to Kampung Prigi, Sawangan subdistrict, Depok from his hometown in Blora, Central Java in 2004. He was described as a quiet man who rarely socialized away from his house. Few in the neighborhood knew him personally, although he had lived there for about 15 years.

A father of two, he reportedly spends five days a week working as a full-time security guard at a hotel in Jakarta. He apparently spends his days off practicing faith healing as a religious duty, free of charge.

Winardi reportedly told his followers he received a divine revelation in a dream in 2007.

He allegedly claimed he met the spirits of his ancestors and God, who took him to the Kaaba, the black stone structure that sits at the heart of the Grand Mosque in Mecca. He claimed it was in the dream that God named him Imam Mahdi.

In 2016 he and his followers built a replica of the Kaaba in his front yard to depict the revelations he received from God. His critics reportedly see this as the most visible proof of his misguided religious faith. He has used it as a mushalla (prayer room).

The head of the Depok chapter of MUI, Dimyati Badruzzaman, said he believed that Winardi talked to a demon in his dream.

“His testaments have no roots in Islamic books, which say that Imam Mahdi will be born in the Middle East,” he told The Jakarta Post.

On May 30, the Depok chapter of the MUI announced the case was closed because Winardi had admitted wrongdoing, apologized, pledged to return to the “true” Islam and renounced his claim to be Imam Mahdi.

Sawangan Police chief Comr. Prasetyo said he has personally ensured that that there were no “misguided rituals” taking place in the padepokan, as some people suspected. (das)

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