Sheikh Muhammad is considered an avatar of the Muslim saint-poet Kabir (c. 1440 - c. 1518). Kabir was a Muslim saint-poet whose patron deity was Rama, a form of Vishnu; while Sheikh Muhammad was a devotee of another form of Vishnu, Vithoba. A Marathi couplet says that the saints Tukaram and Sheikh Muhammad are spiritual successors of Kabir.