Why were people confused about whether Sai Baba had truly died, and what happened immediately after?

Immediately after Sai Baba's breath left his body, a period of confusion and deliberation ensued for twenty-six hours. Chapter 44 explains that both Hindu and Muslim devotees began to debate how to perform the final rites and where to locate the Samadhi, or tomb. The root of this uncertainty was a past event, which the chapter references, where Baba had drawn his life force into the crown of his head for three days, appearing to be dead. He then suddenly returned to his body. Because of this previous incident, when he passed for the final time, everyone became doubtful, questioning whether it was a similar state of deep trance (Samadhi) or actual death.