we are not running for political office. we do not have business interests - that we fear losing customers. boy, i don't even have thousands of followers to lose on social media! i am free to express my views. i do not have to varnish the truth or self-censor my views or present my views in a manner acceptable to all - so that it doesn't upset people. i am not interested in gathering followers or admirers either - so that i have to strategically conceal my true opinions.
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a man who speaks the truth will have enemies.
conversely, if you have to be friends with everyone, you will have to compromise on speaking the truth.
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Shaykh Asrar expanding out the 'Barelvi' circle and being a representative for them by going on podcasts like these,
apologies for using this example, but this is like tahir jhangvi and his antics added in barelvi account even though he himself rejects the label of 'barelvi'.
so here, sh. asrar expanding
HIMSELF - not the 'barelvi' circle. because he has publicly distanced himself from the label of 'barelvi'. so please don't give us this '
whatever-asrar-does-is-best-since-sliced-bread' line.
he is a spokesman for his own 'thing' - whatever it is. please don't impress the favours of sh.asrar on the barelwi public in every action.
do not take me wrong - i continue to believe that sh. asrar is a
sunni aalim. but i do not agree with his methods and approach and certainly somewhere in the corner of my heart, there is a dull pain of disappointment.
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going on 5 pillars, talking to Muhammad Hijab etc... is providing so much benefit to Barelvis but sadly people don't realise.
as a brother pointed out prior to me, can you list the 'benefits'?
if sh. asrar dilutes his outlook - irrespective of what he believes himself - he will certainly be invited on all platforms. do you think anyone on these platforms in their right mind would ever care to invite someone who minces no words or call himself a 'barelwi'?
certainly not. and sh. asrar removed that tag long ago. he is not a barelwi - by his own admission - and should not bother about what barelwis do. sub'HanAllah, he can go to sit with hijab and other guys and promote them on his facebook as 'brothers' and 'ustaz' and etc - even though hijab appears to be an ignoramus when it comes to islamic knowledge (based on a couple of videos i saw). i saw a picture where sh. asrar is sitting so seriously, and the other two fellows are loitering on a sofa as gamers discussing a football game. a friend commented: "sunnis would sit bolt upright in his presence."
would sh. asrar be as generous with the barelwis? do you think sh. asrar would "set aside differences" and go to sit with mufti zahid to 'discuss' things of common concern?
so dear brother, my best wishes and prayers for shaykh asrar for whatever he is trying to do - i still believe that he is doing things with a good intention - though i do not agree with his modus operandi, nor do i understand what he is trying to do; but i think it may prove detrimental in the long run.
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Which is basically 0 influence since most born barelwis have no real appetite for learning even the basics of the religion.
the main reason we have supported sh.asrar in the past was because he was holding classes and teaching various things - and it was different from common barelvi gatherings of naat and rhetoric laden speeches.
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the wahabis will love you if you don't talk about mawlid and istighatha and other things which have now come to be identifiers of sunnis in this age. wiping on mests is not fard or wajib - but imam azam mentioned it among signs of being a sunni simply because that mas'alah was contradicted by heretics of his age.