It is dangerous to make blanket statements in public without qualifying them. E.g. 'all devbandis are kafir.' This blanket statement needs a qualifier: 'all devbandis are kafir who believe in the insults that devbandi elders wrote.' So if someone was to say in front a packed masjid: 'both Barelwis and deobandis are Muslims', this is a problematic statement because it's generic. It needs to be qualified. 1. It's factually incorrect. Some deobandis actually believe in those passages that contain insults towards RasulAllah ﷺ. They aren't Muslim. So why is it being said 'deobandis are Muslim'? 2. Even if we ignore the passages for a second, aren't deobandis as a group still deviants? Yes, they are. As Abu Hasan writes in 'The Killer Mistake': 'Secondary Áqīdah Issues: Deobandis do not accept the Prophet ﷺ was given extensive knowledge of unseen; that he ﷺ was a man just like us, citing the last verse of Sūrah Kahf; Deobandis do not permit istighātha, and deem it shirk. Calling upon RasūlAllāh ﷺ for help as a form of tawassul is deemed polytheism by Deobandis following other Wahābīs, even though such prayers are found in ĥadīth. Ismāýīl claimed that RasūlAllāh ﷺ is dead and became dust. First, Ismāýīl and then Gangohī and his followers claim that it is possible for Allāh táālā to lie. Ismāýīl Dihlawī’s books also advocate anthropomorphic beliefs. Scorning Practices as Bidáh/Shirk: Deobandis scorn and ridicule celebration of Mawlids; or prayers known as fātiĥah – donating reward of good deeds to the deceased; including that of saints known as úrs. Thānawī claims that describing RasūlAllāh ﷺ as ‘remover of affliction’ is polytheism. Deobandis deem it an act of faith to possess Tafwiyatu’l Īmān and to read it.' (End of quote) So even if we accept that they're Muslims, they are, as a group, deviants; because the term 'deobandi' is applied to those who acquiesce with the above. So, isn't it perilous to make a blanket statement: 'both Barelwis and deobandis are Muslims'? It is. It gives an incorrect impression. It downplays principle (daruriyat al-din) and secondary (daruriyat ahl al-sunnah) differences. Such statements should altogether be avoided. Ulama should appreciate that they're speaking to lay people. Just imagine for a second uttering such a blanket statement before an audience who have never come across devbandis. What will be their takeaway? Only that devbandis are not misguided and we should take from and associate with them. So just as a blanket statement upon the kufr of all devbandis is problematic, so too is the one that says they're all Muslims. For a scholar who is aware of the kufr and bidah of the devbandis, such speak is downright corrupt. Allah ta'ala save us from such speakers.
