Barelwī movement

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The mausoleum of Ahmed Raza Khan, the founder of the Barelwī movement

The Barelwī Movement ( Urdu بَریلوِی Barelvi ) is an Orthodox Sunni Islamic movement in South Asia , which was formed on the Indian subcontinent in the late 19th century under the Pashtun Qādirī scholar and leader Ahmad Riza Khan Barelwi (1856–1921) . Its name comes from the north Indian city of Bareilly , from where it originated. They are strict followers of the Hanefite school of law . Of Pakistan's Sunnis , who make up 75 to 80 percent of the country's population, around 70 percent are Barelwīs. The Barelwīs are also active outside of the South Asian region and run the Medina Mosque in Sheffield.

Teaching

The Barelwi movement calls itself Ahl-e Sunnat wa Jama'at and pursues an orientation of its own life according to the guidelines of the Prophet. The Koran and the hadith literature are therefore important sources . Added to this are the Fatawa collections by Ahmed Raza Khan.

It is based heavily on the content of Sufism (e.g. ontological monism Ibn Arabis ) and forms of belief in popular Islam and is in opposition to the purist and Islamist Deobandi movement , the second influential Muslim group in South Asia. Unlike the Deobandis with their madrasas , it relies more on pirs ( popular saints ) and their dargahs . The opposition to the Deobandis can also be traced back to the different philosophical reasons. The Barelwis follow through the Sufi tradition of the ancient teaching of Muhyī d-Dīn Ibn ʿArabīs of the 'unity of being' ( Wahdat al-wudschūd ). Due to their proximity to the Nakschibendi, the Deobandis tended to teach Ahmad Sirhindīs (1564–1624) of the 'unity of vision' (Wahadat al-schuhūd). The position of Mohammads as mediator and the importance of the sheikhs as further mediating authorities in Sufism is based on the monism of being in Ibn 'Arabs' teaching. The Barelwis are thus, although in opposition to the Deobandis, in the tradition of the South Asian madrasa (especially the Farangi Mahall ), whose curriculum included the ideas of Sufism ( Neoplatonism ) until the early 18th century .

Beliefs regarding Mohammed and practices

She called for a "similar demarcation of the Islamic community from the environment as the Deobandis [...] It aims to strengthen Islam among ordinary people by propagating Sharia law through respected intermediaries such as the sheikhs of the Sufi order. She regards the Prophet Mohammad as a supernatural being. Their popular Pietism , which is not that far removed from Hinduism, rests on its quasi-divinization. Mohammed forms the identity of the group, his insult is an insult to the group. "The Barelwi belief system about the Islamic prophet Mohammed lists the following points:

  • He is nuri baschar : a person ( baschar ), created from God's light ( only ), he does not consist of flesh and blood, but of light. That's why he doesn't cast a shadow himself.
  • It is hazir : in several places at the same time. He alone decides where he appears and in what form (physical or mental). His presence brings blessings ( baraka ). It is especially strong on his grave and on his birthday.
  • He is nazir : witness to everything that happens in the world.
  • He is ilm-e-Ghaib : he has knowledge of the unknown, the hidden and the future.
  • He is muchtaar kul : he has the authority to do what he wants.
  • He is habib : loved by Allah. This love goes so far that Allah created the world for him.

Because of this view of Muhammad as a superhuman being, as the first and last prophet, without whose mediation there is no knowledge of Allah, respect and strict obedience to his instructions is required. Celebrating Mawlid an-Nabi , the birthday of the prophet, building mausoleums and soliciting intercession from saints ( auliya ), prophets and pirs are common practice in the Barelwi movement.

Ahmad Riza had extremely hierarchical ideas with regard to the spiritual spheres: At the top was closeness to God, next to the prophet and lastly the Sufi master.

Direct access to God is not possible for the believer through these authorities, so that this results in Muhammad's mediation of salvation and knowledge. In the Barelwi movement, both the tradition of interpretation and spirituality are conveyed through instances: the external knowledge of the correct interpretation of the Koran and the hadith literature is carried out by authorized teachers (scholars of law schools) and passed on over generations. The same applies to the spirituality conveyed to the believer by Mohammed, through the pirs (spiritual masters in Sufism). Through this chain, the believer has a share in the spiritual guidance of the living Pirs, their predecessors (mausoleums) and thus in their connection to Mohammed himself, the emanation of God.

Political opposition

The Barelwis have been in opposition to the Deobandi since they were founded. Scholars deobands declared the belief of the Barelwis about Mohammed to be inadmissible, that Mohammed had been deified by the Barelwis, which fulfills the requirements of the Shirk . They also declared the request for intercession to be shirk , and the celebration of Maulid an-Nabi was also inadmissible. The Deobandi scholar Ashraf Ali Thanwi referred to these practices and beliefs as shirk , bidʿa and kufr .

In response, he was declared unbelievers in a fatwa by Barelwi leader Ahmed Riza Khan from 1900, together with other Deobandi ulema , because, among other things, they do not feel "love for the prophet", have insulted the prophet and thereby committed kufr should. In the same way, all people who do not declare the Deobandis to be unbelievers ( who speak the takfir ) and look at them in this way are also unbelievers. In the fatwa he is compared to Muhammad ibn Abd al-Wahhab , Ibn Tejmijja and Mirza Ghulam Ahmad . Other opponents of the Barelwis include all the Salafist currents , such as the Wahhabis from Saudi Arabia, the Ahl-e-Hadith in Pakistan, the Jamaat-e-Islami and the Muslim Brotherhood .

literature

  • Usha Sanyal: Devotional Islam and Politics in British India: Ahmed Riza Khan Barelvi and His Movement, 1870–1920. Cambridge University Press / Yoda Press 2010, ISBN 978-81-906668-6-2 .
  • Usha Sanyal: Ahmad Riza Khan Barelwi: in the path of the prophet. (= Makers of the Muslim World ). Oneworld, Oxford 2005, ISBN 1-85168-359-3 .
  • Thomas K. Gugler: Mujāhidīn of Islamic Mission: The Barelwī Tablīghī Jamāʿat Daʿwat-e Islāmī . Ph.D. Islamic Studies, Erfurt 2010. ( Online excerpt ; PDF; 139 kB)

References and footnotes

  1. ↑ cf. Jamal Malik, B. Malik: Islamic History and Civilization, Islamic scholarly culture in North India. Brill Academic Pub, 1997, p. 483. ( Excerpt from Google book search)
  2. ↑ Ahmed Raza Khan is the author of numerous books on many Islamic topics, he translated the Koran into Urdu in 1911 (under the title Kanz al-īmān fī tarjamat al-Qurʾān , d-nb.info )
  3. ↑ a b suedasien.info: Popular Islamism in Pakistan
  4. ^ Usha Sanyal: Devotional Islam and Politics in British India. Ahmad Riza Khan Barelwi and his Movement, 1870–1920. Delhi 1996, pp. 166-168.
  5. ↑ Sunni Barelvi (Sufi Muslims) Struggle with Deobandi-Wahhabi Jihadists in Pakistan - by Arif Jamal ( Memento of the original from January 23, 2013 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.  @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / criticalppp.com
  6. ↑ Malik, Jamal: Islam in South Asia . In: Noth, Albrecht; Paul, Jürgen (Ed.): The Islamic Orient basics of its history . Ergon, Würzburg 1998, ISBN 978-3-932004-56-8 , pp. 505-543 .
  7. ↑ Malik, Jamal: Islamic scholarly culture in northern India. Development history and tendencies using the example of Lucknow . Brill, Leiden 1997, ISBN 978-90-04-10703-8 .
  8. ↑ ansary.de: The Wahhabis
  9. ↑ Ahmed Raza: Noor o Bashar :: Islamic Books, Books Library. (No longer available online.) Faizaneraza.org, archived from the original on February 22, 2012 ; Retrieved September 24, 2012 . Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.faizaneraza.org
  10. ↑ NC Asthana, A. Nirmal: Urban Terrorism: Myths And Realities. in the Google book search Pointer Publishers, 2009, ISBN 978-81-7132-598-6 , p. 67.
  11. ↑ cf. Usha Sanyal: Devotional Islam and Politics in British India. Ahmad Riza Khan Barelwi and his Movement, 1870–1920. Delhi 1996, p. 249.
  12. ↑ cf. Usha Sanyal: Devotional Islam and Politics in British India. Ahmad Riza Khan Barelwi and his Movement, 1870–1920. Delhi 1996, p. 265.
  13. ↑ Usha Sanyal: Ahmad Riza Khan Barelwi. In the path of the Prophet. Oxford 2005, p. 90.
  14. ↑ sufimanzil.org: Arabic Fatwa against Deobandis ( Memento of the original from August 28, 2010 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / sufimanzil.org