Barelwi
- Thread starter Aqdas
- Start date
Throughout the history of Islam, Muslims have adopted various labels in order to differentiate true Muslims from those misguided.
The title Ahl al-Sunnah wa al-Jama'ah itself is one such example.
Thereafter, Islam produced superlative minds that distinguished truth from falsehood and their impact was so great that Muslims started to be known by them, e.g. Imam Abu al-Hasan Ash'ari and Imam Abu Mansur Maturidi. The two imams of Islamic theology outlined true Sunni creed so comprehensively that they became the hallmark between correct and incorrect creed. Thereafter, Muslims upon the true path adopted the labels Ash'ari and Maturidi.
Notably, Asha'ir is the name of a tribe and Maturid is a place in Samarkand. So being known by a town/city (demonym) has a precedent.
Remember, becoming known by a certain scholar is not intended by the said scholar nor anything pre-planned. This is simply a case of destiny taking its course and the influence of certain scholars becoming so widespread that they become the de facto identifiers of Sunni creed.
Closer to our time, there was a master logician by the name of Fadl al-Haqq Khayrabadi. His influence in the Indian subcontinent was so vast that Sunni Muslims began to be known as Khayrabadis, as opposed to followers of Ismayil Dihlawi, the wahabi.
Moving on, when dozens of tribulations arose simultaneously, around the mid 19th and early 20th centuries, a Sunni polymath by the name of Ahmad Rida Khan, who hailed from the north Indian city or Bareilly, was born in 1856. He quickly became the leader of Sunni scholars in his time and to whom the Sunni world turned for the most perplexing matters. He was a prolific author, whose works numbered around one thousand.
His influence was immense and his work formidable. He quickly became the hallmark of Sunni Islam and the standard of correct creed as opposed to the tribulations of Qadiyan, non-madh'habism, Deoband, rafidis of all shades, sulh kullism and many others.
Just as had happened earlier with Imams Ash'ari, Maturidi and Khayrabadi, soon, Sunni Muslims started to get identified by the demonym of Imam Ahmad Rida Khan, i.e. Baraylawi.
So just as Sunni Muslims had previously been known as Ash'aris, Maturidis, Khayrabadis; they now started to be known as Baraylawis.
Note, none of these are separate sects from Ahl al-Sunnah. They are simply named after the scholars who had the greatest influence in their eras against heresy. So, as a differentiator, their tribes or towns became the identities of Sunni Muslims. They are simply synonyms of Sunni in order to tell apart the guided from the misguided.
Today, the influence of Imam Ahmad Rida Khan, known as #Alahazrat, spreads the depth and breadth of the entire subcontinent, which comprises a third of the Muslim world. Sunni Muslims are known and recognised through him.
That is why, they are known as Baraylawis.
The title Ahl al-Sunnah wa al-Jama'ah itself is one such example.
Thereafter, Islam produced superlative minds that distinguished truth from falsehood and their impact was so great that Muslims started to be known by them, e.g. Imam Abu al-Hasan Ash'ari and Imam Abu Mansur Maturidi. The two imams of Islamic theology outlined true Sunni creed so comprehensively that they became the hallmark between correct and incorrect creed. Thereafter, Muslims upon the true path adopted the labels Ash'ari and Maturidi.
Notably, Asha'ir is the name of a tribe and Maturid is a place in Samarkand. So being known by a town/city (demonym) has a precedent.
Remember, becoming known by a certain scholar is not intended by the said scholar nor anything pre-planned. This is simply a case of destiny taking its course and the influence of certain scholars becoming so widespread that they become the de facto identifiers of Sunni creed.
Closer to our time, there was a master logician by the name of Fadl al-Haqq Khayrabadi. His influence in the Indian subcontinent was so vast that Sunni Muslims began to be known as Khayrabadis, as opposed to followers of Ismayil Dihlawi, the wahabi.
Moving on, when dozens of tribulations arose simultaneously, around the mid 19th and early 20th centuries, a Sunni polymath by the name of Ahmad Rida Khan, who hailed from the north Indian city or Bareilly, was born in 1856. He quickly became the leader of Sunni scholars in his time and to whom the Sunni world turned for the most perplexing matters. He was a prolific author, whose works numbered around one thousand.
His influence was immense and his work formidable. He quickly became the hallmark of Sunni Islam and the standard of correct creed as opposed to the tribulations of Qadiyan, non-madh'habism, Deoband, rafidis of all shades, sulh kullism and many others.
Just as had happened earlier with Imams Ash'ari, Maturidi and Khayrabadi, soon, Sunni Muslims started to get identified by the demonym of Imam Ahmad Rida Khan, i.e. Baraylawi.
So just as Sunni Muslims had previously been known as Ash'aris, Maturidis, Khayrabadis; they now started to be known as Baraylawis.
Note, none of these are separate sects from Ahl al-Sunnah. They are simply named after the scholars who had the greatest influence in their eras against heresy. So, as a differentiator, their tribes or towns became the identities of Sunni Muslims. They are simply synonyms of Sunni in order to tell apart the guided from the misguided.
Today, the influence of Imam Ahmad Rida Khan, known as #Alahazrat, spreads the depth and breadth of the entire subcontinent, which comprises a third of the Muslim world. Sunni Muslims are known and recognised through him.
That is why, they are known as Baraylawis.
'Allamah Ghulām Rasūl Sa'īdī writes in his Tibyān al-Qur'ān:
'It can be said: in terms of religion, we are Muslim. We are Muhammadi in terms of sharīáh, Māturīdī and Hanafī in madh'hab (school of jurisprudence), Qādirī in maslak (path) and mashrab (spirituality) and we are Baraylawi in terms of maktab e fikr (school of thought).'
[Tibyān al-Qur'ān, Surah Fatihah, v.4]
'It can be said: in terms of religion, we are Muslim. We are Muhammadi in terms of sharīáh, Māturīdī and Hanafī in madh'hab (school of jurisprudence), Qādirī in maslak (path) and mashrab (spirituality) and we are Baraylawi in terms of maktab e fikr (school of thought).'
[Tibyān al-Qur'ān, Surah Fatihah, v.4]
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birmingy
You must be new to Sunniport and must have ignored all the other threads on this forum. In truth, this forum addresses almost every issue that's brought to its attention, including this one. Seriously brother grow a thicker skin. We get it you don't agree and you don't like being wrong.
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Hanafi Sunni
sunniport user
May Allah bless Imam Hussnain Yaqoob for who he is. Allah has blessed him with courage to refute salafis and deviants. Aameen
Is this not every barelwi's position?
Ghulam Ali
sunniport user
Nisbat
i agree with the first mufti saab in the clip
in the past, at least until 2000, it was us who identified ourselves as Sunnis and Ahlus Sunnah wal Jama3ah - both in india and elsewhere. i know for a fact even in the heart of UP, proper tanatan Ridawis used to insist on using the title of Sunni or Ahlus Sunnah, as opposed to Barelwis.
the wahabis used to call themselves salafi da3wah. it was only after 911 that the khaleeji wahabis hijacked the title of Ahlus Sunnah, devbandis a few years later than them too
wahabi and deobandi were pejoratives we used.
it's ironic (imho) that they've hijacked our rightful approach by calling themselves Sunnis and we are gradually backing off (not from Sunniyat itself, but using the right labels)
i prefer to use the title of Sunni/Ahlus Sunnah coupled with Maslake Ala Hazrat or Maslake Raza for sectarian or intra Sunni identification (Hanafi Qadri Ridawi), rather than just the short cut of Barelwi, which implies the same thing - because i know the title will not sit well with some other Sunnis too (in our times) due to peer politics, as is evident from the Ridawi, Chishti, Ashrafi, Sabri, Naqshbandi etc salasil peerzada politics. yes, ideally peer politics is anti-tasawwuf and anti-Sunni, but we need to look at and deal with the real world. peer politics between various aastanas is a reality of the present day and in such circumstances using the Barelwi title only causes us to be more isolated and insular, and also fragments the desi and/or broader Sunni community.
i only prefer to use the Barelwi title inside india, if needed circumstantially, to distinguish ourselves from devbandis or wahabis. not even in pakistan
another thing is some brothers insist that because we are desis and Sunnis, we ought to talk the talk and walk the walk and call ourselves what we are - Barelwis. we dare not undo our (supposed) desiness!
firstly - how long is it before those of us born and raised outside the subcontinent, can rid ourselves of the 'desi' or 'subcontinental' label? what's the cutoff timeline? or are our generations to come also destined to be identified as desis/subcontinentals till judgement come?
we have Syeds, Siddiquis, Ansaris, Farooqis, who have Arab ancestry, Baigs who have Turkish ancestry (i think), and so many others who are from central Asia and Afghanistan etc. it was apparently a fair deal when all those "invaders" as the hindus cry, started identifying themselves as ethnically hindustanis after a couple of generations.
other European Muslims like Albanians, Kosovans, Bosnians etc. identify as Turks in the 2nd or 3rd generations if their fathers/grandfathers migrated there. they of course don't deny their ancestry or heritage, but identify as Turks. same with some "Malays" and "Indonesians" whose ancestors actually migrated from Yemen. i know many Syrians who actually have Turkish, Russian, Kurdish etc. heritage but don't identify as such and have assimilated into Syrian Arabic language and culture.
so what's the cutoff time limit before we stop identifying as desi/subcontinental and its associated baggage, or what's the criteria? or is that door shut? do "Deccan" people from Barkas still have a chance of being identified as Yemenis (not just claiming ancestry/heritage) again if they ever move to Yemen or are we bound to call them Hyderabadi? i have relatives in Karachi whose parents were Tamil Muslim migrants to Pak, but they don't know a word of Tamil, and i probably eat more Tamil food than them. do they have the license to call themselves "Urdu-speaking" as they do?
like most people on the forum, i have met a whole lot of people (desis) born and raised in Middle East, Australia, New Zealand, UK, Canada, USA, Germany, Holland, Uganda, Kenya, South Africa, Mauritius, Fiji etc. they range from 3rd generation people still holding on to Urdu shayari, and desi food and clothing, to those who only have Islam (or Islamic names), the ancestry and brown skin and nothing more. even with kafirs, you see sikhs who are settled in the west since 1850s and still hold on to their language, food and traditions, to hindus from Fiji whose language, food, and clothing is an unrecognizable mishmash of a bunch of things desi and nondesi.
it's not about trying to act western white or black; or western or eastern Arab, or a pacific islander. it's about being ourselves.
in the case of many many "subcontinentals" who don't have any or very little connection to Urdu, a necessity to understand the Barelwi-deobandi issue, it's not just futile, but rather counter-productive to use any title other than Sunni or Ahlus Sunnah. outside of the subcontinent, it should be this demographic that should be considered as the default "subcontinental/desi" demographic.
just my 2 cents. i don't have anything against anyone who doesn't agree. Allah knows best.
@AbdalQadir I agree with what you said and what the son of Syed Ahmad Saeed Kazmi said. It's not for us to prove our legitimacy or being Sunni because we never deviated. The 'barelwi' title is only relevant in the context of distinguishing between deos and the wahabis, and that relevance is limited to a very specific context, especially geographically.
Our Aqaid is commensurate with Sunnis across the world, so no need to identify ourselves with anything else apart from being Sunni. If we focus on that, we will be in a better position to dispel the misinformation of our detractors.
Our Aqaid is commensurate with Sunnis across the world, so no need to identify ourselves with anything else apart from being Sunni. If we focus on that, we will be in a better position to dispel the misinformation of our detractors.