Russian propaganda claims that controversial mathematician and “prophet” Sediq Afghan told Putin “not to step back from the special operation.”
by Massimo Introvigne
It is not about the Orthodox Church only. Russian propaganda has used predictions allegedly made by Nostradamus and the Bulgarian seer Baba Vanga to argue that Putin’s victory has been described in metaphysical prophecies and is unavoidable.
Now, these prophecies are supplemented by one by Sediq Afghan, a mathematician from Afghanistan who claims to be “the Nostradamus of the 21st century.” Afghan allegedly predicted that “Putin should in no case step back from the special operation. Because otherwise, trouble awaits Russia.” These predictions are spread by Russian nationalist websites, Telegram channels, and other social media in waves that make it probable that an orchestrated propaganda is behind them.
Afghan is also reported as having predicted that in 2023 the whole East-West confrontation will be substantially changed by a new epidemic worse than the 2020 coronavirus, which would make the West largely forget about Ukraine. World War III will thus be avoided, although it is possible that it will start in 2055.
Sediq Afghan will turn 97 in 2055 and perhaps will not be there to help the world with new predictions. At 58, he is already controversial enough. By tracking him on social media, it seems that in recent years he has lectured more often in Russia than in Afghanistan, although he has also lamented that in the past he has been mistreated, poisoned, and beaten by the Afghan police.
Although one can find websites hailing Afghan as a great mathematician and his World Philosophical Mathematical Research Center as a real scientific institution, critics have also noted that for most of his biographic details we have his word only. He claims to have earned a doctorate in the Soviet Union and to have been expelled from the country because he had correctly predicted its collapse, but those who looked for them did not find any evidence of his academic achievements. Nor can it be proved that, based on what he claims are mathematical models rather than magic, he predicted what he calls the 2014 “coup” in Ukraine and COVID-19.
He boasts a 2012 award of “Man of the Year” by the International Biographical Centre of Ely, Cambridgeshire. However, the International Biographical Center is a notorious award mill, where you can buy awards for a fee. Other distinctions seem equally dubious.
Except perhaps one, announced on December 10 on social media: a first class medal by the office of President Putin, for his support to Russia and the special operation in Ukraine. This medal may even be genuine. After all, Afghan really contributes to another bizarre “special operation,” one that uses “prophecies” and “prophets” to support the aggression against Ukraine.
Massimo Introvigne (born June 14, 1955 in Rome) is an Italian sociologist of religions. He is the founder and managing director of the Center for Studies on New Religions (CESNUR), an international network of scholars who study new religious movements. Introvigne is the author of some 70 books and more than 100 articles in the field of sociology of religion. He was the main author of the Enciclopedia delle religioni in Italia (Encyclopedia of Religions in Italy). He is a member of the editorial board for the Interdisciplinary Journal of Research on Religion and of the executive board of University of California Press’ Nova Religio. From January 5 to December 31, 2011, he has served as the “Representative on combating racism, xenophobia and discrimination, with a special focus on discrimination against Christians and members of other religions” of the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE). From 2012 to 2015 he served as chairperson of the Observatory of Religious Liberty, instituted by the Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs in order to monitor problems of religious liberty on a worldwide scale.
