Because of the constant demand for miracles and in order to fulfill his spiritual work, one day he declared, "Tomorrow I shall enter the lunatic asylum."
Thus on 26 August 1892, the incident occurred that caused Tajuddin to be incarcerated by the British authorities in the mental asylum the next day. There was an uproar of protest among the local people, especially the Mohammedans. But because one of the British women at the club had been so disturbed by the sight of Tajuddin's nakedness, her husband used his influence to force the authorities to imprison the Muslim. Tajuddin's trial received considerable attention, and during this time the judge became drawn to him. Although Tajuddin was dressed in poor attire, the judge kept seeing him dressed like a king! The judge became distressed by the court proceedings. Despite the hesitation of the judge, however, the British authorities compelled him to sentence Tajuddin to the asylum for the rest of his life.
Tajuddin was 31 years old when he was taken in chains to the asylum a few miles outside of Nagpur. Today this place is a public mental hospital, but then it served as a prison for lunatics — a madhouse where those inside were locked up for life and the keys were thrown away. There was virtually no medical treatment for the inmates and their condition was pitiable.
Dressed in a long green gown, Tajuddin would perform manual labor of breaking stones and moving dirt along with the other inmates. But when those in charge of the asylum got an inkling of his true stature, they tried to prevent him from doing such demeaning work. Tajuddin, however, refused to stop and insisted on continuing the strenuous tasks.
Once Tajuddin was carrying a large ghamela (iron pan) full of earth on his head. The officials of the institution were amazed to see that the ghamela was not resting on his head, but was actually suspended some inches in the air! Tajuddin would move about nonchalantly while everyone saw this. From time to time, such occult incidents would occur, further strengthening the inmates' and officials' faith in his spiritual stature.
The officials also noticed a remarkable change in the other inmates. Around Taj, they would become calm and happy and were deferential towards him. Having no private room, he would sleep in a large dormitory with the other inmates. One day one of the lunatics escaped.