Barelvi
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Barelvi (Hindi: बरेलवी, Urdu: بریلوی, /bəreːlviː/) is a term used for the movement of Sufi , Sunni Islam originating in the Indian subcontinent. The Movement is known as Ahle Sunnat movement to its followers.
The movement traces its history to mid nineteen century when in 1857 Allama Fazl-e-Haq Khairabadi (1797–1861) issued fatwa against Wahabism in 1857.[1] This movement against Wahabi Ideology continued and was shaped by the writings of Ahmed Raza Khan Barelvi (1856–1921).[2] The movement has taken a stand against all hardliner ideologies running in the name of Islam. It defended against contemporary traditionalist Islamic beliefs and practices and from the criticisms of movements like the Deobandi, Wahabi and Ahl al-Hadith.[3] This included a defence of many traditional practices and rites associated with popular Sufism.[4]
Etymology
To its followers the movement is known as Ahle Sunnat wal Jama'at ("People of the traditions [of Muhammad] and the community"), to lay exclusive claim to be the legitimate form of Sunni Islam, in opposition to its reformist rivals like the Deobandi, Ahl al-Hadith or Salafi and Nadwatul Ulama movements.[5]
Presence
India Today estimates that the vast majority of Muslims in India adhere to the Barelvi movement,[6] and The Times (UK) writes that most (South Asian) Muslims in the United Kingdom also adhere to the movement.[7] Similarly, the conservative think tank The Heritage Foundation gives such estimates for the vast majority of Sunni Muslims in Pakistan.[4]
Beliefs and practices
Like other Muslims, Sufi Sunni base their beliefs on the Qur'an and Sunnah, and believe in monotheism and the prophethood of Hazrat Muhammad. Barelvis follow the Ash'ari and Maturidi schools of aqidah, any one of the four school of fiqh, and the Qadri, Chishti, Naqshbandi or Suhrawardi Sufi orders.[8]
Beliefs regarding Hazrat Muhammad
Ahle Sunnat have several beliefs regarding the nature of the Islamic prophet, Muhammad, which distinguish them from Deobandi,Salafi and Shia groups in South Asia:
- He is "NOOR O BASHAR" means Noor (Light) as well as Human being.[9]
- He is hazir (present in many places at the same time).[10]
- He is nazir (witnessing all that goes on in the world).[10]
- He has ilm-e-ghaib (knowledge of the unseen/unknown).[11]
- He is mukhtaar kul (having the authority to do whatever he desired).[12]
Practices
- Public celebration of the Mawlid (the birthday of Muhammad).[13][14]
- Asking awliyā' (Muslim saints) for intercession to God on behalf of the living.[15]
- Ziyarat (visiting) the mazar (tombs) of notable Muslims.
Mosques
Relations with other movements
- Support
This movement is working in line with more traditional Sufi Islam ,which is established in other parts of the world.So it is obvious the views and Ideologies shared by them are also similar. All India Ulema & Mashaikh Board representing Ahle Sunnat movement of south Asia has demanded protection and reconstruction of Holy Muslim Shrines of Hijaz Makkah and Medina , destroyed in 1803 and 1804 by the Saudis, such as the shrine built over the tomb of Fatimah, the daughter of Prophet Muhammad, and even intended to destroy the grave of Prophet Muhammad himself as idolatrous.Even in 1998 the Saudis bulldozed and poured gasoline over the grave of Aminah bint Wahb, the mother of Prophet Muhammad, causing resentment throughout the Muslim world.[16][17][18][19]
- Opposition
Islamic Scholar Ahmad Raza Khan, along with other religious figures, issued fatāwā of apostasy against the founders of the Deobandi, Wahhabism, Shia Islam and "Qadiani" (Ahmadiyya) sects of Islam. Commenting on this, historian Usha Sanyal, in her research entitled Devotional Islam and Politics in British India: Ahmad Raza Khan Barelwi and His Movement, 1870-1920, stated:
Not only did Ahmad Raza Khan obtain confirmatory signatures from other scholars in the subcontinent, he managed to get agreement from a number of prominent
ulama in
Mecca. That occurred in the first years of the twentieth century—long before the
Al-Saud and their Wahhabi allies got control of the Haramayn.
[20] The feat was, nevertheless, stunning. The antipathy of the Deobandis toward the Ahl-i Sunnah on the emotional level becomes more comprehensible when Ahmad Riza's fatwa receives a full explication.
[21]
Opposition to the Taliban
The Barelvi movement has taken a stance against Taliban movements in South Asia, organising rallies and protests in India and Pakistan, condemning what they perceive as unjustified sectarian violence.[22] The Sunni United Council (SUC), an amalgamation of eight Sunni organizations, launched the Save Pakistan Movement to stem the process of Talibanisation. Terming the Taliban a product of global anti-Islam conspiracies, the leaders of SUC charged it with playing into the hands of the United States to divide Muslims and bring a bad name to Islam.[23]
Supporting this movement, the Pakistan Minister of Foreign Affairs, Shah Mehmood Qureshi, said:
The
Sunni Tehreek has decided to activate itself against Talibanisation in the country. A national consensus against terrorism is emerging across the country.
—Shah Mehmood Qureshi
[24]
Sectarian violence
In the 1990s and 2000s, sporadic violence resulted from disputes over control of Pakistani mosques between Barelwi and Deobandi.[25] In May 2001, sectarian riots broke out after Sunni Tehreek leader Saleem Qadri was assassinated by the Sipah-e-Sahaba Pakistan, a Deoband-affiliated terrorist group.[25] In April 2006 in Karachi, a bomb attack on a Barelvi gathering to celebrate the mawlid (Muhammad's birthday) killed at least 57 people, including several central leaders of the Sunni Tehreek.[26][27] In April 2007, Sunni Tehreek activists attempted forcibly to gain control of a mosque in Karachi, opening fire on the mosque and those inside, killing one person and injuring three others.[28] On February 27, 2010, militants believed to be affiliated with the Taliban and Sipah-e-Sahaba attacked Barelvis celebrating mawlid in Faisalabad and Dera Ismail Khan, again sparking tensions among the rival sects.[29]
Notable scholars
Early scholars
Present scholars
Notable organizations
In Pakistan, the prominent Barelvi religious and political organizations include[30]:
Other organizations include:
Main institutions
Notable individuals
See also
Notes
- ^ http://www.sunniforum.com/forum/showthread.php?p=158113
- ^ Usha Sanyal. Generational Changes in the Leadership of the Ahl-e Sunnat Movement in North India during the Twentieth Century. Modern Asian Studies (1998), Cambridge University Press.
- ^ Jones 1989: 70
- ^ a b "Pakistan plays Sufi card against jihadis | World War 4 Report". Ww4report.com. http://www.ww4report.com/node/7500. Retrieved 2009-09-30.
- ^ Geaves 2006: 148
- ^ Sandeep Unnithan and Uday Mahurkar (2008-07-31). "The radical sweep". India Today. http://indiatoday.digitaltoday.in/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=12343&Itemid=1&issueid=67&limit=1&limitstart=0. Retrieved 2009-09-30.
- ^ Norfolk, Andrew (2007-09-07). "Hardline takeover of British mosques". The Times (London). http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/comment/faith/article2402973.ece. Retrieved 2010-04-26.
- ^ Rama Sankar Yadav & B.N. Mandal. Global Encyclopaedia of Education. Global Vision Publishing Ho, 2007. ISBN 8182202272, 9788182202276
- ^ http://www.faizaneraza.org/book-detail/172
- ^ a b N. C. Asthana & A.Nirmal. Urban Terrorism : Myths And Realities. Publisher Pointer Publishers, 2009 ISBN 817132598X, 9788171325986. pg. 67
- ^ Clinton Bennett. Muslims and modernity: an introduction to the issues and debates. Continuum International Publishing Group, 2005 ISBN 082645481X, 9780826454812. pg. 189
- ^ Muḥammad Yūsūf Ludhiyānvī (1999). Differences in the Ummah and the straight path. Zam Zam Publishers. pp. 35–38. http://books.google.com/books?id=wPLXAAAAMAAJ. Retrieved 20 April 2011. . DEOBANDI-BARELWI DIFFERENCES... Mukhtar Kul The fatal consequence of ascribing the exclusive qualities of Allah unto Rasulullah sallallahu alaihi wa sallam is that people believe that Rasulullah sallallahu alaihi wa sallam shares certain powers with Allah.
- ^ Sirriyeh 1999: 49
- ^ Sirriyeh 2004: 111
- ^ Martin Parsons (1 January 2006). Unveiling God: Contextualizing Christology for Islamic Culture. William Carey Library. pp. 149–. ISBN 9780878084548. http://books.google.com/books?id=HPTovQ7s2_EC&pg=PA147. Retrieved 20 April 2011.
- ^ http://m.timesofindia.com/PDATOI/articleshow/10394315.cms
- ^ The Destruction of Holy Sites in Mecca and Medina By Irfan Ahmed in Islamic Magazine, Issue 1, July 2006
- ^ Nibras Kazimi, A Paladin Gears Up for War, The New York Sun, November 1, 2007
- ^ John R Bradley, Saudi's Shi'ites walk tightrope, Asia Times, March 17, 2005
- ^ Haramayn refers to the Masjid al-Haram ("Sacred Mosque") in Mecca and the Al-Masjid al-Nabawi ("Mosque of the Prophet") in Medina. Dictionary of Islamic Architecture
- ^ Gregory C. Doxlowski. Devotional Islam and Politics in British India: Ahmad Riza Khan Barelwi and His Movement, 1870-1920. The Journal of the American Oriental Society, Oct-Dec, 1999
- ^ Indian Muslims protest against Talibani terrorism. TwoCircles.net 17 June 2009
- ^ Pakistan’s Sunnis unite against Talibanisation. Thaindian News. May 9, 2009
- ^ Clashing interpretations of Islam. Daily Times (Pakistan), May 5, 2009
- ^ a b "Serious threat to Pakistan's civil society". The Hindu (Chennai, India). April 18, 2006. http://www.hindu.com/2006/04/18/stories/2006041805780800.htm.
- ^ Bomb carnage at Karachi prayers, BBC Online, 11 April 2006
- ^ Special Coverage of Nishtar Park bombing, Jang Group Online
- ^ "One dead as ST tries to take control of Ahle Hadith mosque" Daily Times (Pakistan), April 11, 2007
- ^ Sectarian clashes kill seven in Pakistan, Agence France-Presse via Sydney Morning Herald, February 28, 2010
- ^ The widening split, Express Tribune, April 26, 2010
References
- Riaz, Ali (2008). Faithful Education: Madrassahs in South Asia. Rutgers University Press. http://books.google.com/books?id=HxOOwy-4J4UC&lpg=PP1&pg=PA75#v=onepage&q&f=false.
- Geaves, Ron (2006). "Learning the lessons from the neo-revivalist and Wahhabi movements: the counterattack of the new Sufi movements in the UK". In Malik, Jamal; Hinnells, John R.. Sufism in the West. Routledge. pp. 142–157. http://books.google.com/books?id=VgGVulz0gjcC&pg=PA142#v=onepage&q&f=false.
- Jones, Kenneth W. (1989). Socio-Religious Reform Movements in British India, Part 3. 1. Cambridge University Press. http://books.google.com/books?id=8HV4nHv8urgC&lpg=PP1&pg=PA70#v=onepage&q&f=false.
- Malik, Jamal, ed (2008). Madrasas in South Asia: Teaching terror?. Routledge. http://books.google.com/books?id=0lo_Whlz-sYC&printsec=frontcover&source=gbs_atb.
- Sanyal, Usha (2008). "Ahl-i Sunnat Madrasas: the Madrasa Manzar-i Islam, Bareilly, and Jamia Ashrafiyya, Mubarakpur". In Malik, Jamal. Madrasas in South Asia: Teaching terror?. Routledge. pp. 23–44. http://books.google.com/books?id=0lo_Whlz-sYC&lpg=PA23&pg=PA23#v=onepage&q&f=false.
- Sanyal, Usha (2005). Ahmed Riza Khan Barelwi: In the Path of the Prophet. Makers of the Muslim World. Oxford: Oneworld. http://www.scribd.com/doc/33417132/Ahmad-Riza-Khan-Barelwi-In-the-Path-of-the-Prophet-Makers-of-the-Muslim-World.
- Sirriyeh, Elizabeth (1999). Sufis and Anti-Sufis: The Defense, Rethinking and Rejection of Sufism in the Modern World. Routledge. ISBN 0700710582. http://books.google.com/books?id=taESmRsDlo4C&printsec=frontcover&source=gbs_atb.
- Sirriyeh, Elizabeth (2004). "Sufi Thought and its Reconstruction". In Taji-Farouki, Suha; Nafi, Basheer M.. Islamic Thought in the Twentieth Century. I.B. Tauris. pp. 104–127. ISBN 1850437513. http://books.google.com/books?id=miT_ySSiwacC&lpg=PP1&pg=PA104#v=onepage&q&f=false.
External links