THE REALITY OF BAREILAWTISM ee Seas ne eae | Shaykh Ehsan Elahi Zaheer EOORTHODOX PRESS THE THE REALITY OF BAREILAWPISM Their Beliefs and Practices Abridged and adapted from the original workof Shaikh Ehsan Elahi Zaheer THE ORTHODOXPRESS ©Copyright2011 Allrights reservedWorldwide. BritishLibraryCataloguinginpublicationData. Acataloguerecord forthis bookis availablefromtheBritishLibrary. FirstEdition2011 RabiAl-Awwal 1432A.H Table of Contents Introduction Chapter One The founder of Bareilawi’ism 10 His birth 10 His name 10 His health 11 His callousness andharshness 12 Exaggerated claims of his followers 13 Infallibility 15 His familyand occupation 19 Means ofincome 23 Habits and mannets ofdiscourse 24 Style ofspeaking 24 Works andwritings 26 His death 27 Exaggeration 28 Theleaders of Bareilawis : 34 Chapter Two _. Bareilawis Beliefs and Creed 36 The beliefs anddoctrines of Bareilawi’ism 36 Beseeching other thanAllah 38 Seekinghelp from theProphet 38 Seekinghelp from ShaykhAbdul QadirJilani 39 Seekinghelp fromAhmad Zaruq 40 Seekinghelp fromibnAlwan, Muhammad al-Hanafi 41 Seekinghelp fromAbu ‘Imran, the SaImams 42 Refutation on thebasis of the Qur'anicverses 43 The Opposition of theBareilawies 47 The Abilities of Prophets and ‘Awhya 49 Refutation on thebasis of the Qur'anicverses 50 Analysingthe statements of theBareilawis 53 TheProphet (a) as the SustainerandtheBestower 55 ShaykhAbdul QadirJilani, thegiverof life anddeath 57 Thebelief regardingAhmadRazaBareilawi 62 Selections from the Tafsirof Nawwab SiddiqHasan Khan 64 Hearing ofthe Dead (Sama'mau'ta) 66 The claim thattheProphets are alive andhear 68 Deathdidnotoccur to theProphet 68 No differencebetweenthelife anddeath of theProphet 69 The saints too are alive 70 Refutation on thebasis of the Qur'anicverses 71 Refutation by Shaikh al-Alusi and Rashid Rida 73 Belief regarding Knowledge of the Unseen 74 The Knowledge of the Unseenis reserved forAllah 75 The Prophets possess the knowledge of theunseen 77 TheProphet (#42) knows the minutiae andunseenmatters 78 Knowledge of theunseenis reserved forAllahas, stated in the Qur'an and Sunnah 79 TheBareilawis oppose the explicitQuranic text 82 The Saints too knowthe fiveunseen matters 84 The QuranicVerses Refute them 88 The Issue of the Humanity of the Messenger (78g) 92 The Sunnahindicates theHumanityof theMessenger (32) 97 The Opposition to the Qur'an and SunnahbytheBareilawis 98 The Messenger of Allahis light fromAllah 98 TheThrone andtheKursihavebeen createdfrom the light ofthe Prophet (#88) 99 TheAngels too have been created from thelight of theProphet (3g) 101 The Prophet (#2) had no Shadow 101 Allah came downinMedinahinthe formof the Prophet (8) 102 The Prophet (4) is physicallypresentin everyplace (hazir) and see everything (nazir) 103 TheProphet (2) witnessed thecreation ofAdam 103 The Prophet (3) keepswatchover the entire creation 104 The verses ofthe Qur'an Expose their Claims 105 The Events ofthe Life ofthe Prophet (8) Refute them 107 Chapter Three . Bareilawis Teachings 112 _ The teachings of the Bareilawis 112 Plasteringthegraveswithcementandbuildingstructures over them 114 The HanafiJurists and theirviewpointaboutplastering thegraveswith cementandbuildingover them 115 Puttingcovers, turbans andgarments on thegraves 117 Lightinglamps atthe graves 117 The teachings of the HanafiJurists 118 Theirreligious festivals and the death anniversaries 120 . Making Tawafaround the graves 122 Thebirthdayceremonyof the Prophet (3) 123 The teachingof Islam 125 Hiringpeople to recite the Qur'an 131 Visitingthe sacredrelics andgettingblessings from them 133 Gettingblessings from the figures and Images 134 Kissingthe thumbs 141 Writingon the shroud 142 Supplication afterthe funeralprayer 143 The callingofAdbanatthegrave 144 Chapter Fourth Bareilwis and their Taletr of the Muslims (Declaringthemunbelievers) 145 The Bareilawis and Takjir 145 InsultingMuhammad ibnAbd al-Wahhab andAd/a/-Hadith 145 TheWahhabis are notpermittedto enterMasjids 151 Theprayerbehind theWahhabis is entirelyinvalid 151 The marriagewith aWahhabiis forbidden 152 Eatingof the flesh of animals slaughteredbytheWahhabis 153 The studyof theworks of theWahhabis is forbidden 153 Insulting Shaikh al-IslamibnTaymiyyah 155 Takfirof Imam IbnHazm 156 InsultingImam Ibn Qayyim 156 InsultingImam Shawkani 156 Takfirandabuse of the Deobandis 156 The Nadwis are apostates 158 Takfirof Dr. Muhammad Iqbalthepoet 159 Muhammad ‘AliJinnah, the founder of Pakistanwas an unbeliever 159 Muhammad Ziaul-Haq,the formerPresidentof Pakistan, was anunbeliever | 160 Five Chapter The Bareilawis and their fairy tales 161 The story of Madyanb. Ahmad 162 The storyof Muhammad al-Hanafi 162 The power and authority of the saints 162 The disappearance of theThrone fromits place 163 The beasts of preyfearandobeythem 163° The Brazen story 164 The spiritualguide accompanies his apprenticeinthegrave 165 Awicked story 165 The saints possess the knowledge of theunseen 166 The saints arealiveas theprophets are aliveintheirgraves 167. The saints knowaboutthis world even afterdeath 167 Returningto thisworld afterdeath 169 Shiftingof the dead from one grave to another 169 Thepowerof the saints to revive the dead 169 The saints andtheriver 170 Saved from drowning 170 The bare-footed saint 171 The saints stop the punishment ofthe grave 171 The saints admit the companions ofHell to Paradise 172 Walking on water 172 The thief 172 Appendix One Notes on theEvils ofInnovation 175 The Deenis complete 175 The Importance ofSticking to the Sunnah 177 The Sunnah shall become 178 corrupted OnlyAllah has therightto tellus howtoworship Him 179 The Sayings ofthe Companions 181 The Sayings ofthe Second and Third Generation Scholars 182 The Sayings ofthe Later Imams 183 The Arguments of the Misguided 185 Appendix Two Some ofthe Scholars ofthe Bareilawis 189 Some of the Bareilawis early Scholars 189 Some of the Bareilawis present day Scholars 191 . Some ofthe Bareilawis present day Spiritual Leaders 192 INTRODUCTION AllPraisebelongtoAllah,thereisno truegodbutHeAlone.Maythe peace andblessings be uponHis finalProphetMuhammad (gg) after whomthereis no prophet.Andmaythepeaceandblessings beupon his Family, his Companions and upon all thosewho follow theirway and adhere to the Qur'an and Sunnah untilthe LastDay. ThelateShaikhEhsanElahiZaheerexposedmanydeviantsects such as the Qadiyanis, Babis, Baha'is, Batinis and Shia. Allof these hereti- calgroups emerged after the death of the ProphetMuhammad (3g). Somewere politicallymotivated but all soughtto mislead the masses away from the true teachings of this pristine faith. The author has unmaskedthe Bareilawi cult, of Ahmed Raza Khan. Thisworkhasbeenabridgedfromtheoriginal- 'a/+-Baretlawiyya'.While taking great care to pteserve the spirit of the original, it has been adapted to make it easier for the modern English reader to undet- stand. In this respectappendices havebeen addedin orderto demys- tifyimportant concepts such as bidah and castlightupon contempo- tarygroups that followAhmadRaza's cult. The authorhas diligently compiledthistreatise,drawingliberallyfromgenuineBateilawisources. Muchcouldhavebeenwrittenaboutthiscult,butauthorhasfocussed upon the fundamental issues. Over the centuries numerous alien concepts have percolate into Is- lam. Manyof these have been enthusiasticallyadoptbytheBareilawi cult. In essence their doctrine is a mish-mash of superstitions, fairy tales, grave worship, saintworship, distortion of Qur'anicverses and negligence of the authentic Sunnah. Many beliefs and ptactices mir- ror thoseofwell-establishedSuorders,Shiasects,andHinduculture HISTORY ANDITS FOUNDER 9 that are prevalent throughout the world today. The Bareilawis cun- ninglyfeignlegitimacybyascribingthemselvestotheschoolofthought of ImamAbuHanifah. Howeverthis couldnotbe farfromthetruth, Imam Abu Hanifah resolutely championed the Qur'an and Sunnah, andunequivocallycondemned alltypes of shirk and bidah. Worse, they audaciously claim to outstrip all others in their love for theProphetMuhammad oe) Inrealitythis does notbearscrutinyas love necessarilyleads to obedience. Manifestly they fall very shortin adhering to his (4%) commands. Hence theirproclamation of love is no more than an emptyslogan. This culthas doneuntolddamage to Abl al-Sunnah wa'lJammah, dtowning out Islam's crystal clear call to monotheismandkeepingunsuspectingMuslimsenslavedindarkness, superstition and ignorance. Bareilawi apologists have the gall to excommunicate their opponents from the fold of Islam. Ahmed Raza's cult wantonly declared takjir upon theMuslims, often on flimsygrounds. Evenrespected scholars ofIslamwerenotsafefromthetongueandpenofAhmedRaza:men ofthecalibreofIbnHazm,IbnTaymiyyah, IbnQayyim,ash-Shawkani and countless others. Muslim leaders andpoliticians were not spared either. However he reserved his greatest ire for AA/al-Sunnah wa'l- Jamaah, fotdefendingtheorthodoxyof theQur'anandtheSunnahof Allah's Messenger (;¥). Mygratitudeis owedto everyonewho sacrificed theirtime andeffort for this work, in the service of the Deen, especially A.Yahya and A. Sulaymanwho spentmuch time editing, checkingandproof reading. MayAllahacceptitfromallof them andrewardthemall abundantly. I askAllah, theAll-HearingandAll-Seeing, to makeus of thosewho defendHis superlative Names andAttributes anddevoutlyfollowthe path ofHis Blessed and Noble ProphetMuhammad (He), and to de- fendhis (42) Sunnah, his Familyand his Companions.Ameen A.B-Oxford RabiAl-Awwal-1432A.H