Barelvi movement


The Barelvi movement, also known as Ahl al-Sunnah wal-Jama'ah is a Sunni revivalist movement that generally adheres to the Hanafi and Shafi'i schools of jurisprudence, the Maturidi and Ash'ari creeds, a variety of Sufi orders, including the Qadiri, Chishti, Naqshbandi and Suhrawardi orders, as well as many other orders of Sufism, and has hundreds of millions of followers across the world. They consider themselves to be the continuation of Sunni Islamic orthodoxy before the rise of Salafism and the Deobandi movement.
The Barelvi movement is spread across the globe with millions of followers, thousands of mosques, institutions, and organizations in India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Afghanistan, Sri Lanka, the United Kingdom, South Africa and other parts of Africa, Europe, the Caribbean, and the United States.
As of 2000, the movement had around 200 million followers globally but mainly located in Pakistan and India.
The movement claims to revive the Sunnah as embodied in the Qur'an, literature of traditions and the way of the scholars, as the people had lapsed from the Prophetic traditions. Consequently, scholars took the duty of reminding Muslims go back to the 'ideal' way of Islam. The movement drew inspiration from the Sunni doctrines of Shah Abdur Rahim founder of Madrasah-i Rahimiyah and one of the compiler of Fatawa-e-Alamgiri. Shah Abdur Rahim is father of Shah Waliullah Dehlawi. The movement also drew inspiration from Shah Abdul Aziz Muhaddith Dehlavi and Fazl-e-Haq Khairabadi founder of the Khairabad School.
Fazle Haq Khairabadi Islamic scholar and leader of 1857 rebellion issued fatwas against Wahhabi Ismail Dehlvi for his doctrine of God's alleged ability to lie from Delhi in 1825. Ismail is considered as an intellectual ancestor of Deobandis.
The movement emphasizes personal devotion and adherence to Sīrah of the Islamic prophet Muhammad, sharia and, following the four Islamic schools of thought, the usage of and Sufi practices such as veneration of and seeking help from saints among other things associated with Sufism. The movement defines itself as an authentic representative of Sunni Islam, .
Ahmed Raza Khan Barelvi who was a Sunni Sufi scholar and reformer in north India wrote extensively, including the, in defense of the status of Muhammad in Islam and popular Sufi practices, and became the leader of the Barelvi movement.

Terminology

The Barelvi movement is also known as the. According to Oxford Reference, or Barelvi is movement developed on the basis of writings of Mawlana Ahmed Raza Khan Barelwi. The Database of Religious History refers the movement as the Ahl-e-Sunnat wa Jamaat which has a very strong presence in South Asia.
Professor Usha Sanyal, an expert on 'Ahl-i Sunnat Movement', referred the movement as Ahl-i Sunnat. She wrote that the movement refer to themselves as 'Sunnis' in their literature and prefer to be known by the title of Ahle Sunnat wa Jama'at a reference to the perception of them, as forming an international majority amongst Sunnis, although Barelvi is the term used by section of media to refer to this specific movement arising from Sunni Islam.
Main leaders of Ahle Sunnat movement Imam Ahmad Raza Khan and other scholars never used the term 'Barelvi' to identify themselves or their movement; they saw themselves as Sunni Muslims defending traditional Sunni beliefs from deviations. Only later was the term 'Barelvi' used by the section of media and by opposition groups on the basis of the hometown Bareilly, of its main leader Imam Ahmed Raza Khan Qadri. The Barelvis are also called Sunni Sufis.

History

Islamic scholar and teacher of Ahmed Raza Khan Qadri, Maulana Naqi Ali Khan had refuted the ideas of Sayyid Ahmad Barelwi, who was a founder of Wahhabism in India.
Naqi Ali Khan declared Sayyid Ahmad Rae Barelwi, a 'Wahhabi' due to his support for Muhammad ibn Abd al-Wahhab's ideology.
Similarly, founder of Khairabad school, Allama Fazl-e-Haq Khairabadi in 1825 in his book 'Tahqîqul-Fatâwâ' and
Allama Fazle-Rasûl Badayûnî in his book 'Saiful-Jabbâr' issued Fatwas against the founders of Ahl-i Hadith and Deobandi movements Fazle Haq Khairabadi Islamic scholar and leader of 1857 rebellion issued fatwas against Wahhabi Ismail Dehlvi for his doctrine of God's alleged ability to lie from Delhi in 1825. Ismail is considered as an intellectual ancestor of Deobandis. This refutation of traditional scholars against newly emerging Wahabi sect influenced Sunni scholars such as Ahmed Raza Khan Qadri and paved the way for more organised movement which later came to be known as Ahle-Sunnat movement in South Asia. The movement formed as a defense of the traditional mystic practices of South Asia, which it sought to prove and support.
The Ahl-i Sunnat or Sunni Barelwi movement began in the 1880s under the leadership of Ahmad Raza Khan, who spent his lifetime writing fatwas and later established Islamic schools in 1904 with the Manzar-e-Islam in the Bareilly and other madrasas in Pilibhit and Lahore cities. The Barelvi movement formed as a defense of the traditional mystic practices of South Asia, which it sought to prove and support.
The movement views themselves as Sunni or Ahle Sunnat wal Jamaat and according to it main leaders of the movement including Imam Ahmad Riza Khan, did not invent new sect but defended traditional Sunni Islam. According to Ahle Sunnat scholars, Deobandis have created a new sect.
The Sunni madrasas of this movement have rarely, if ever, been involved in extremist politics and militancy.

Propagation against the Shuddhi (Arya Samaj conversion) Movement

Hindu Arya Samaj, through its founder Swami Dayanand Saraswati initiated converting Muslims back in to Hinduism specially in North India, and Punjab in early 1900s.
They became active in Bharatpur State and they also preached to the neo-Muslim Malkanas, in Etawah, Kanpur, Shahajahnpur, Hardoi, Meerut and Mainpuri in the western United Provinces, exhorting them to return to what they believed was their 'ancestral religion'. As a result, the movement became controversial and it also antagonized the Muslims populace
To counter this movement Indian Muslims started Islamic Dawa work among the Muslim population and challenged the Arya Samaj leaders for debates. Mufti Naeemuddin Moradabadi, Mustafa Raza Khan Qadri and Hamid Raza Khan along with a team of Ahle Sunnat scholars through Jama'at Raza-e-Mustafa worked in north Indian towns and villages against the Shuddhi movement.
The Jama'at Raza-e-Mustafa prevented around four hundred thousand conversions to Hinduism in eastern U.P and Rajasthan during its activities under anti-Shuddhi movement.
In 1917, Islamic scholar Mufti Naeem-ud-Deen Muradabadi organized the historical Jama'at Raza-e-Mustafa conference at Jamia Naeemia Moradabad U.P, with a mission to curb, and if possible reverse, the tide of re-conversions threatening the Muslim community in the wake of the Shuddhi movement.

Shaheed Ganj Mosque Movement

Shaheed Ganj Mosque was commissioned in 1722 during the reign of Mughal Emperor Alamgir II and built by Abdullah Khan. The construction was completed in 1753. It was located in Naulakha Bazaar area of Lahore, Punjab, Pakistan. In 1762, the Bhangi misl Sikh army conquered Lahore and occupied the mosque. The Muslims were not allowed to enter and pray, although Sikhs were given the right to pray. The Sikhs built a gurdwara in the courtyard while the Mosque building was used as a residence for the Sikh priest.
On 17 April 1850, a case was in Punjab High Court. Several suits were filed between 1853 and 1883 to recover the Shaheed Ganj Mosque, but courts maintained the status quo. On 29 June 1935, the Sikhs announced that they would demolish the Shaheed Ganj Mosque. Several thousand Muslims assembled in front of the mosque to protect it. But, on the night of 7 July 1935 the Sikhs demolished the mosque, leading to riots and disorder in Lahore.
Ahle Sunnat scholar and Sufi Peer Jamaat Ali Shah of Sialkot, Pakistan, led the Shaheed Ganj Mosque movement.
Muslims held a public meeting on 19–20 July 1935 at the Badshahi mosque, and marched directly on the Shaheedganj mosque. Police opened fire on the crowd to kill more than a dozen.
Peer Jamaat Ali Shah presided over the first session of the Conference to organize protests against the demolition. He was appointed the Chief of the protests. "Shaheedganj Day" was observed on 20 September 1935 under his leadership. His appointment as leader of this movement garnered support from other Sunni scholars. Fazal Shah of Jalalpur and Ghulam Mohiuddin of Golra Sharif, Zainulabedin Shah of the Gilani family from Multan and Anjuman Hizb-ul-Ahnaf from Lahore offered support to Shah's leadership. This consensus created a religious and political base which reduced urban-rural differences. The struggle continued for several years.

All India Sunni Conference

Ahle Sunnat established in 1925 a body of Islamic scholars and Sufis named All India Sunni Conference, in the wake of Congress led secular Indian nationalism, changing geo-political situation of India. Islamic scholars and popular leaders Jamaat Ali Shah, Naeem-ud-Deen Muradabadi, Mustafa Raza Khan Qadri, Amjad Ali Aazmi, Abdul Hamid Qadri Badayuni, Mohammad Abdul Ghafoor Hazarvi and Pir Syed Faiz-ul Hassan Shah were the main leaders.
In 1925, its first Conference was attended by three hundred Ulema and Mashaikh. AISC focus was on Unity, brotherhood, preaching and protection of Islamic faith with a stress on need for acquiring modern education for Muslims.
The Second Conference was held in Badaun U.P in October 1935 under the Presidency of Jamaat Ali Shah. It discussed Shaheed Ganj Mosque Movement. and openly opposed Ibn Saud's policies in Arabia, the Conference demanded to respect the Holy and sacred places of the Muslims. The third Conference held on 27–30 April 1946 at Benaras discussed the disturbed condition of the country and possible solution for the Muslims in the wake of demand for Pakistan.
Several Sufi Barelvi scholars supported the All-India Muslim League and Pakistan's demand claiming that Congress aimed at establishing Hindu state and arguing, that Muslims need to have their own country. Few Barelvi scholars opposed the partition of India and the League's demand to be seen as the only representative of Indian Muslims.
Main roles played by Ahle Sunnat movement scholars and leaders: