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Part of a series on
Barelvi movement
Ideology and influences
Ahl al-Sunnah wal-Jama'ah Hanafi fiqh Shafi'i fiqh Maturidi theology Ash'ari theology
Key figures
Ahmed Raza Khan Barelvi Hassan Raza Khan Naeem-ud-Deen Muradabadi Hamid Raza Khan Jamaat Ali Shah Mustafa Raza Khan Qadri Maulana Abdul Hamid Qadri Badayuni Mohammad Abdul Ghafoor Hazarvi Ahmad Saeed Kazmi Amjad Ali Aazmi Ziaul Mustafa Razvi Qadri Akhtar Raza Khan
History/Movement
All India Sunni Conference Majlis-e-Tahaffuz-e-Khatme Nabuwwat
Notable Scholars
Past Shah Turab ul Haq Muhammad Fazlur Rahman Ansari Khwaja Qamar ul Din Sialvi Shah Ahmad Noorani Abdul Sattar Khan Niazi Arshadul Qaudri Syed Shujaat Ali Qadri Shamsul-hasan Shams Barelvi Maulana Ziauddin Madani Muhammad Alauddin Siddiqui Muhammad Shafee Okarvi Muhammad Waqaruddin Qadri Akhtar Raza Khan Khadim Hussain Rizvi Muhammad Arshad Misbahi Yaseen Akhtar Misbahi Present Qamaruzzaman Azmi Ameen Mian Quadri Syed Shujaat Ali Qadri Hamid Saeed Kazmi Muhammad Raza Saqib Mustafai Kanthapuram A. P. Aboobacker Musliyar Ziaul Mustafa Razvi Qadri Sibtain Raza Khan Asjad Raza Khan Ilyas Qadri
Institutions
India Jamiatur Raza Manzar-e-Islam Al Jamiatul Ashrafia Al-Jame-atul-Islamia Jamia Naeemia Moradabad Jamia-tul-Madina Al Madeena Islamic complex Markazu Saquafathi Sunniyya Jamia Nizamia Jamia Amjadia Razvia Madrasa Faizul Uloom Darul Huda Islamic University Jamia Shahbazia Madrasa-e-Aliya, Rampur Pakistan Hizbul Ahnaf Ashraf ul Madaris Jamia Nizamia Ghousia Aleemiyah Institute of Islamic Studies Jamia Naeemia Lahore Mohi-ud-Din Islamic University Mohi-ud-Din Islamic Medical College Dar-ul-Madinah Schools Minhaj University Lahore United Kingdom Al-Mustafa Islamic Cultural Centre Ireland Bangladesh Jamia Ahmadiyya Sunnia Kamil Madrasa Sri Lanka Madrasa Faiz-e-Raza South Africa Imam Ahmed Raza Academy Darul Uloom Pretoria
Notable Channels
Noor TV (UK) Madni Channel
Notable works
Kanzul Iman-Quran translation Tafsir Zia ul Quran Fatawa-e-Razvia Bahar-e-Shariat Husamul Haramain Zujajat al-Masabih Manaqib-al-Jaleela Zia un Nabi
Notable Organisations
Jama'at Raza-e-Mustafa Dawat e Islami Mohiuddin Trust World Islamic Mission Jamiat Ulema-e-Pakistan Jamaat Ahle Sunnat Sunni Tehreek Tanzeem-ul-Madaris Sunni Ittehad Council Sunni Students' Federation Aalmi Tehreek-e-Namoos-e-Risalat Majlis-e-Tahaffuz-e-Khatme Nabuwwat Central Jamaat-e Ahl-e Sunnat Tanzeem ul Madaris Raza Academy Dargah-e-Ala Hazrat All India Sunni Jem-iyyathul Ulama All India Ulema and Mashaikh Board Muslim Charity Tehreek-e-Labbaik Pakistan Idara-e-Shariah
Islam portal
v t e

Barelvi (Template:Lang-ur, /bəreːlviː/) is a term used for a movement of Sunni Islam originating in South Asia. The name derives from the north Indian town of Bareilly where its founder Ahmed Raza Khan (1856–1921) shaped the movement by his writings. Although Barelvi is the commonly used term in the media and academia, the followers of the movement often prefer to be known by the title of Ahle Sunnat wal Jama'at, a reference to their perception as forming an international majority movement. The movement is much influenced by Sufism and the traditional folk Islam practices of the Indian subcontinent, which were a reaction to the reformist attempts of the Deobandi movement.

Etymology

To its followers, the movement is known as Ahle Sunnat wal Jama'at ("People of the traditions and the community"). This terminology is used to lay exclusive claim to be the only legitimate form of Sunni Islam, in opposition to the Deobandi, Ahl al-Hadith, Salafi and Nadwatul Ulama movements.

History

The Barelvi movement was founded by Ahmad Reza Khan who, after two failed attempts at establishing Islamic schools, finally succeeded in 1904 with the Manzar-e-Islam. Though very much linked to Pakistan today, the movement's foundation predated Pakistan's nationhood; the movement was, essentially, founded as a defense of traditional Islam as understood and practiced in India. Defense of these beliefs sometimes brought the Barelvis into conflict with other movements and creeds. Unlike most other Muslim movements in the region, the Barelvis opposed the Indian independence movement due to its leadership under Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi, who was not a Muslim. On the other hand, Khan and his movement, being among the foremost campaigners for Sufism, were largely responsible for pulling Muslims into conflict with Hindus and were primary supporters of the Pakistan Movement. The Barelvis were joined in this by all major Islamic movements in the Indian subcontinent - including Shi'ites, Ismailis and Ahmadiyya - except the Deobandis, the Barelvis main rivals.

Historically, relations between the movement and Britain have been better than those of other Islamic movements with the country. The majority of Pakistani and Kashmiri immigrants to the United Kingdom are still descended from Barelvi-majority villages, and the Barelvi movement in Pakistan has received funding from the country, in part as a reaction to rival movements also receiving funding from abroad. Still, according to Western analysts the foreign funding the Barelvi movement receives from abroad is minor, thus being the likely reason why Barelvi jihadist groups have been unable to get involved in Islamist and sectarian politics. Having been supportive of the creation of the republic of Pakistan, the Barelvi movement has traditionally held a strong following in the country as well.

As a reaction to the anti-Islam film Innocence of Muslims, a conglomerate of forty Barelvi parties called for a boycott of Western goods, while at the same time condemning violence which had taken place in protest against the film.

Presence

The magazine India Today estimates that the vast majority of Muslims in India adhere to the Barelvi movement, and The Heritage Foundation gives a similar assessment for the vast majority of Muslims in Pakistan. Many of these mosques have been usurped by Saudi-funded radical organizations. According to Pakistani journalist Khaled Ahmed, the switchover from Barelvism to Deobandism and the gradual decline of Barelvism in the UK has resulted in the conversion of some mystically-minded Kashmiri expatriates to hardline Muslims, though political analysts in the region have described the idea that Barelvism is more tolerant and moderate than Deobandism as a myth.

Beliefs and practices

Like other Sunni Muslims, Barelvis claim to base their beliefs on the Qur'an and prophetic tradition, and to believe in monotheism and the prophethood of Muhammad. Barelvis follow the Ash'ari and Maturidi schools of Islamic theology, the Hanafi school of jurisprudence, and the Qadiri, Chishti or Suhrawardi Sufi orders.

Beliefs regarding Muhammad

Barelvis have several beliefs regarding Muhammad's nature, which distinguish them from Deobandi, Salafi and Shia groups in South Asia:

• He is noori bashar: a human (bashar) made from God's light (noor).
• He is hazir (present in many places at the same time).
• He is nazir (witnessing all that goes on in the world).
• He has ilm-e-ghaib (knowledge of the unseen/unknown).
• He is mukhtaar kul (having the authority to do whatever he desires as granted to him by God).

Practices

• Public celebration of the Mawlid (Muhammad's birthday).

• Veneration of the dead, including asking auliyā' (Muslim saints) for intercession to God on behalf of the living. This consists of the intervention of an ascending, linked and unbroken chain of holy personages, pirs (Sufi teacher) reaching ultimately to Muhammad, who Barelvis believe intercede on their behalf with God.

• Ziyarat (visiting) the mazar (tombs) of Muhammad, his companions and of pious Muslims, an act the Barelvis claim is supported by Islamic scripture, but which opponents call “shrine-worshipping” and “grave-worshiping” and consider to be a form of idolatry.

• Use of devotional music (qawwali).

• Leaving the beard to grow for men; the movement views a man who trims his beard to less than a fist-length as a sinner, and shaving the beard is considered abominable.

Mosques

• North Manchester Jamia Mosque, UK North Manchester Jamia Mosque, UK
• Largest Jama Masjid in England,Ghamkol Sharif
• The Manchester Central Mosque
• Makkah Masjid, Hyderabad,India
• The Haji Ali Dargah Masjid, Mumbai
• Jama Masjid, Fatehpur Sikri, India
• Na Khoda Masjid, Calcutta, India
• Islamic Center of Calgary, Calgary, Alberta, Canada
• Al-Rashid Mosque Edmonton, Alberta, Canada
• Masjid-an-Noor, St. John's, Newfoundland and Labrador
• Salaheddin Islamic Centre, Scarborough, Ontario, Canada
• Ottawa Mosque Ottawa, Ontario, Canada

Relations with other movements

Having formed as a reaction against the reformist Deobandi movement, relations between the two groups have often been strained. Ahmad Raza Khan, the founder of Barelvism, went as far as to declare not only all Deobandis infidels and apostates, but also any non-Deobandis who doubted the apostasy of Deobandis.

Although conflict has occurred, relations with other Muslim movements in South Asia have not always been hostile. In mid-2012, leaders of both the Barelvi and Ahl al-Hadith movements in Kashmir Valley denied that there was any animosity between the two sects in the region. In more recent times, the Barelvi movement as a whole has begun to mix with Shi'ites more often than before.

Support

The Barelwi movement formed as a defense of the traditional mystic practices of South Asia, which it sought to prove and support. The All India Ulema & Mashaikh Board, representing the movement as a whole, has demanded protection and reconstruction of shrines in Hijaz Mecca and Medina, destroyed in 1803 and 1804 by the Saudis, calls which have been echoed by most practitioners of Sufism in other parts of the Muslim world.

Opposition

The movement's founder Ahmad Raza Khan, along with other Barelwi religious figures, have issued Fatwās of apostasy against the founders of the Deobandi, Shia Islam and the Ahmadiyya Community. The conflict with the Deobandi movement, against which the Barelwi movement formed as a reaction, has been particularly heated and uncivil. Whiel both the Barelvi and Deobandi movements tend to prefer the Hanafi school of Islamic law and accept Sufism, their fundamental beliefs and way in practicing Sufism has kept them at odds. 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. 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.

Although the Nadwatul Ulema council was founded in 1893 to reconcile the Indian Subcontinent's Muslim sectarian differences, the Barelwis eventually withdrew their support of the council and criticized its efforts.

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. The Sunni Ittehad Council (SIC), 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 the Taliban with playing into the hands of the United States to divide Muslims and bring a bad name to Islam.

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.

Sectarian violence

South Asian analysts have claimed that the Barelvi movement is as affected by intolerance and radicalism as other Islamic movements in the region, despite contrary perceptions in intellectual circles. In the 1990s and 2000s, sporadic violence resulted from disputes over control of Pakistani mosques between the Barelvi and Deobandi movements, with the conflict coming to a head in May 2001 when sectarian riots broke out after the assassination of Saleem Qadri, leader of the Barelvi political party Sunni Tehreek. In April 2006 in Karachi, a bomb attack on a Barelvi gathering in celebration of Muhammad's birthday killed at least 57 people, including several central leaders of the Sunni Tehreek.

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. Three years later 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.

On January 4, 2011, former governor of Punjab Salmaan Taseer was assassinated by a member of the Barelvi movement due to his opposition to the blasphemy law in Pakistan. Over five-hundred scholars of the Barelvi movement voiced support for the crime and urged a boycott of Taseer's funeral. Supporters attempted to prevent police from bringing the perpetrator to an anti-terrorism court, blocking the way and cheering on the assassin.

Notable scholars

Early scholars

Present scholars

Notable organizations

In Pakistan, prominent Sunni Barelvi religious and political organizations include:

• Jamiat Ulema-e-Pakistan
• Minhaj-ul-Quran
• Jamaat Ahle Sunnat
• Dawat-e-Islami
• Sunni Tehreek

In the United Kingdom:

• Muslim Charity
• British Muslim Forum
• World Islamic Mission

In India:

• All India Ulema & Mashaikh Board, an apex body of Sunni Muslims
• Raza Academy, Mumbai
• Sunni Dawat-e-Islami, Islamic preaching movement
• Samastha Kerala Jamiyyathul Ulama
• Muslim Students' Organization of India, New Delhi
• Sunni Students Federation, India

South Africa:

• Imam Ahmad Raza Academy, South Africa

Main institutions

See also

• Kanzul Iman, an English/Urdu Quran translation by Ahmad Raza Khan
• Zujajat al-Masabih, hadith collection
• Bahar-e-Shariat, Complete Islamic Jurisprudence of Hanafi School

Notes

1. 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.
2. ^ Understanding Islam: The First Ten Steps - C. T. R. Hewer - Google Books. Books.google.com.my. Retrieved 2012-09-24.
3. ^ Faithful Education: Madrassahs in South Asia - Ali Riaz - Google Books. Books.google.com. 2001-09-11. Retrieved 2012-09-24.
4. ^ The Columbia World Dictionary of Islamism - Olivier Roy, Antoine Sfeir - Google Books. Books.google.com.my. 2007-09-26. Retrieved 2012-09-24.
5. Geaves 2006: 148
6. ^ R. Upadhyay, Barelvis and Deobandhis: “Birds of the Same Feather”. Eurasia Review, courtesy of the South Asia Analysis Group. January 28, 2011.
7. http://en.wikipedia.org/Deobandi#cite_note-10
8. Karamat Bhatty, Religious groups find lucrative sources abroad. The Express Tribune, September 7, 2011.
9. Sushant Sareen, The Jihad Factory: Pakistan's Islamic Revolution in the Making, pg. 282. New Delhi: Har Anand Publications, 2005.
10. Anti-Islam movie: Barelvi parties call for Western boycott. The Express Tribune, October 5, 2012.
11. Sandeep Unnithan and Uday Mahurkar (2008-07-31). "The radical sweep". India Today. Retrieved 2009-09-30.
12. "Pakistan plays Sufi card against jihadis | World War 4 Report". Ww4report.com. Retrieved 2009-09-30.
13. http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=2009/03/26/story_26-3-2009_pg3_1
14. ^ Khaled Ahmed, SECOND OPINION: The extremism of the expatriate — Khaled Ahmed’s TV Review. Daily Times, March 28, 2006.
15. Ahmed Raza. "Noor o Bashar ::Islamic Books, Books Library". Faizaneraza.org. Retrieved 2012-09-24.
16. ^ N. C. Asthana & A.Nirmal. Urban Terrorism : Myths And Realities. Publisher Pointer Publishers, 2009 ISBN 81-7132-598-X, 9788171325986. pg. 67
17. Clinton Bennett. Muslims and modernity: an introduction to the issues and debates. Continuum International Publishing Group, 2005 ISBN 0-8264-5481-X, 9780826454812. pg. 189
18. Muḥammad Yūsūf Ludhiyānvī (1999). Differences in the Ummah and the straight path. Zam Zam Publishers. pp. 35–38. Retrieved 20 April 2011.
19. Sirriyeh 1999: 49
20. Sirriyeh 2004: 111
21. http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/intro/islam-barelvi.htm
22. Martin Parsons (1 January 2006). Unveiling God: Contextualizing Christology for Islamic Culture. William Carey Library. pp. 149–. ISBN 978-0-87808-454-8. Retrieved 20 April 2011.
23. Urban Terrorism: Myths and Realities - N. C. Asthana & A.Nirmal - Google Books. Books.google.com.my. Retrieved 2012-09-24.
24. Urban Terrorism: Myths and Realities - N. C. Asthana & A.Nirmal - Google Books. Books.google.com.my. Retrieved 2012-09-24.
25. "outlookindia.com". M.outlookindia.com. Retrieved 2012-09-24.
26. Curriculum in Today's World: Configuring Knowledge, Identities, Work and ... - Lyn Yates, Madeleine Grumet - Google Books. Books.google.com.my. 2011-02-25. Retrieved 2012-09-24.
27. The Columbia World Dictionary of Islamism - Olivier Roy, Antoine Sfeir - Google Books. Books.google.com.my. 2007-09-26. Retrieved 2012-09-24.
28. Tremors of Violence: Muslim Survivors of Ethnic Strife in Western India - Rowena Robinson - Google Books. Books.google.com.my. Retrieved 2012-09-24.
29. Urban Terrorism: Myths and Realities - N. C. Asthana & A.Nirmal - Google Books. Books.google.com.my. Retrieved 2012-09-24.
30. Indian Defence Review: April - June 2007 - Bharat Verma - Google Books. Books.google.com.my. 2008-02-19. Retrieved 2012-09-24.
31. Arun Shourie, The World of Fatwas or the Sharia in Action, pg. 135. ASA Publications, 1995.
32. Shourie, pg. 646.
33. Sheikh Qayoom, Kashmir’s Barelvi, Ahle Hadith leaders deny sectarian tension. Thaindian, courtesy of Indo-Asian News Service: Saturday, April 28, 2012.
34. 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
35. 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
36. Indian Muslims protest against Talibani terrorism. TwoCircles.net 17 June 2009
37. Pakistan’s Sunnis unite against Talibanisation. Thaindian News. May 9, 2009
38. Clashing interpretations of Islam. Daily Times (Pakistan), May 5, 2009
39. "Serious threat to Pakistan's civil society". The Hindu. Chennai, India. April 18, 2006.
40. Bomb carnage at Karachi prayers, BBC Online, 11 April 2006
41. Special Coverage of Nishtar Park bombing, Jang Group Online
42. "One dead as ST tries to take control of Ahle Hadith mosque" Daily Times (Pakistan), April 11, 2007
43. Sectarian clashes kill seven in Pakistan, Agence France-Presse via Sydney Morning Herald, February 28, 2010
44. "Assassin linked with Dawat-i-Islami". Dawn (newspaper). 4 January 2011.
45. "Demonstrators Prevent Court Appearance of Alleged Pakistani Assassin". Voice of America. 6 January 2011.

References

• Riaz, Ali (2008). Faithful Education: Madrassahs in South Asia. Rutgers University Press.
• 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. (eds.). Sufism in the West. Routledge. pp. 142–157.
• Jones, Kenneth W. (1989). Socio-Religious Reform Movements in British India, Part 3. Vol. 1. Cambridge University Press.
• Malik, Jamal, ed. (2008). Madrasas in South Asia: Teaching terror?. Routledge.
• Sanyal, Usha (2008). "Ahl-i Sunnat Madrasas: the Madrasa Manzar-i Islam, Bareilly, and Jamia Ashrafiyya, Mubarakpur". In Malik, Jamal (ed.). Madrasas in South Asia: Teaching terror?. Routledge. pp. 23–44.
• Sanyal, Usha (2005). Ahmed Riza Khan Barelwi: In the Path of the Prophet. Makers of the Muslim World. Oxford: Oneworld.
• Sirriyeh, Elizabeth (1999). Sufis and Anti-Sufis: The Defense, Rethinking and Rejection of Sufism in the Modern World. Routledge. ISBN 0-7007-1058-2.
• Sirriyeh, Elizabeth (2004). "Sufi Thought and its Reconstruction". In Taji-Farouki, Suha; Nafi, Basheer M. (eds.). Islamic Thought in the Twentieth Century. I.B. Tauris. pp. 104–127. ISBN 1-85043-751-3.

External links

• Ahlesunnat Network Pakistan
• Dawat-e-Islami
• Sunni Dawate Islami Of India
• Sunni.org.uk

• Barelvi
• Islam in India
• Islam in Pakistan
• Islam in Bangladesh
• Islam in the United Kingdom
• Islam in South Africa
• Bareilly