Although amongst the greatest political acheivement of Shah Ahmad Noorani rehmatuLlahi alaih was the Khatm e Nabuwwat bill, there were other issues which he campaigned and politically fought against as an alliance with other religious sects. He was amongst the founders of MMA (led by deobandi Fazl Rehman today) and other alliances. I see where you are coming from that everyone sharing stages with deviants will try and use the Shah Ahmad Noorani analogy as a get out of jail card, however, in determining the authenticity of that claim the context and consequences of the highlighted incident must be considered. Saad Rizvi shook hands with some deobandis and met them. In no way has his action aided their efforts in furthering their aqeedah and neither has the sunni public accepted it as a precedence for keeping good ties with deviants. ----- "we cannot be sure that saad rizwi indeed holds sunni aqidah; being the son of a sunni alim will give him that benefit of doubt" Why do you need to give Saad Rizvi the 'benefit of doubt' of being sunni. Is his being the leader of a party whose slogan is Labbayk Ya RasoolAllah (sallAllahu alaihi wa sallam) not enough of a proof to show that he is indeed a sunni barelvi? When did you last hear a wahhabi or deobandi proclaiming Labbayk Ya rasool Allah (sallAllahu alaihi wa sallam)? or is the doubt that he is Shia/some other deviant sect inclined?
ulama should keep away from politics. they should be guides to politicians. one of the reasons why ulama shouldn't enter the arena is because it degrades the lofty mantle of ilm upon their shoulders. ---- who has ever stopped anyone from entering politics? as if sunnis did not go into politics at all because ulama somehow prohibited them? and politicians parleying with people of opposing ideologies is not the same as a religious leader hanging out with a leader of a conflicting ideology.
false congruence. for all we know, we cannot be sure that saad rizwi indeed holds sunni aqidah; being the son of a sunni alim will give him that benefit of doubt, but as a public figure now, he will have to earn his stripes by openly showing his allegiance. --- shah ahmad noorani rahimahullah - made it clear that his association with deos and the rest was for a specific religious issue that is common to all of us. saad rizwi should also clarify and openly say that he is a sunni who considers deo4 as kafir in husam and the rest of the bid'ah of wahabis and if he is not creative enough, let him dip into his late father's speeches and just repeat them. --- anybody hanging out with anybody is compared to shah ahmad noorani and sadru'l afadil without context. they were not competing in a political field - shah ahmad noorani sahib was instrumental in getting the khatm e nubuwwat bill passed in the parliament and i don't think he shared stages other than this specific issue. [correct me if i am wrong]. a sunni scholar can meet and sit with deo or maududi or salafi scholars for issues of common interest. especially in countries like india where the kuffar are anti-muslim and they do not differentiate between sunni, deobandi or salafi or even shiah for that matter. issues like hijab, freedom to pray (do namaz) and protection of masajid, etc are common and coming together to ward off a common enemy does not mean that we have compromised on our ideology. however, political rallies and get-together gatherings are not places where we show 'solidarity'. --- when saad was made the chief, i was skeptical - it looked like any political scion taking the place of his departed father. i still am. nas'alu Allah al-aafiyah.
It seems, unfortunately, that Hafiz Saad Rizvi will have to face the same criticism that Shah Ahmad noorani rehmatuLlahi alaih faced. Something which pushed sunnis back decades in the domain of politics and inadvertently propelled deobandis to the forefront. There is a time and place for everything. Almost every rule has its exception.
