That was a question going through my mind a few years back…
I was born and bred in a Barelvi type of household (though we never considered ourselves Barelvis), which included Mannats, Niaz, going to Peers and Fakeers…
Having had one ‘Auliya’ born into the family in India, called Kaka Sahib didn’t help much either…My Mamu being a devout ‘Hanafi-of-the-Niaz-o-Mannat’ sect, would take out the clothes, Pagri and slippers of Kaka Sahib (Which are considered family heirlooms) and after having given those things ‘Dhooni’ from an Agarbatti, the things would be passed down to each family member to be kissed, put on the head and touched by the eyes, all in an effort to gain some spirituality and religious forgiveness…
This ‘Hanafi-of-the-Niaz-o-Mannat’ sect was great for me…Our family didn’t go to such extremes as kissing or bowing to graves but did maintain the highly preferable act of asking for ‘intervention’ from these great and pious people for Duas, which they would present to Allah :swt: on our behalf…
It was great in the sense that, who cared if one didn’t pray…Just put a Chadar on falana falana Sahib’s grave and it would be okay…If your prayers weren’t being answered, just step over to the nearest Mazaar and ask the ‘Sahib-e-Buzurg’ to carry your Dua to Allah :swt:…If all else fails, have a Biryani Daigh cooked and distributed to the poor and just for good measure, add Qawali to it for some zesty entertainment plus worship and your prayers were as good as answered…
I enjoyed ‘Barelvism’ a lot…There were just so many guarantees that you could not go wrong…In fact, in ‘Barelvism’ I had more promises for my blissful life and afterlife that even the Holy Prophet :saw: couldn’t promise himself and his companions…Black magic? Contact a Peer…No job? Contact a Peer…Pain in your back? Contact a Peer…Not to mention the Bahishti Darwaza, somewhere in Raiwand, which some Peer promised that whoever passed through, would be guaranteed Jannat…If only our Prophet :saw: had such a door, now that would totally rock…
I liked Barelvism…Everything was easy and you hardly had to anything yourself as long as there were these ‘Buzurgs’ around for you to ask and do stuff for you…It was great until…
I ran into the Quraneens…Now, this is something I could used to…Quraneens are those people that believe that the Ahadith are nothing more than made up myths from people who came after the Prophet (saw)…
This is the easiest and most laid back ‘form’ of Islam known to Muslims…They just believe in one thing, and that is Tawheed, or the oneness of Allah :swt:…
According to the Quraneens (or Pervaizees in some circles), the way we perform the Salat is dubious, so it can be considered redundant, just believe in the Tawheed…The method of the Hajj is dubious, so it can be considered redundant, meaning doesn’t matter if you perform it or not, so it can be considered redundant…The methodology of Zakat is dubious, so it can be considered redundant…In fact, all the ‘actions’ of Islam which the Holy Prophet supposedly prescribed are dubious and hence considered redundant…Just believe in the Tawheed…Do nothing Just believe…
And I didn’t even consider Shiaism, as the image of the Holy Prophet :saw: and his companions, may peace be upon them, crying and wailing over the bodies of Islam’s martyrs never appealed to me…Crying over martyrs while the Quran forbids it while calling the martyrs ‘smiling’ and ‘sitting in Allah’s favour’, never appealed to me…
Not to mention, any sect having more hatred and cursing and abusing centuries old dead people rather than having hatred for the Shaitaan or Kuffar, was kind of, to me at least, a contradiction and confusion in terms…So I looked into it, and immediately withdrew…I cannot hold hatred in my heart for anyone, especially dead people…
Then I came across Wahabbism, if that’s what you wanna call it…Made famous by the western media as a scapegoat to slaughter, picked upon by the ignorant mod-Muslims because the western media said it’s b-a-a-a-d and the devil in disguise to the ignorant who have only heard the word but can’t even spell it…It’s bad so it must be bad…Death to Wahabbism…Who cares what it means…CNN, Fox and Fareed Zakaria consider it bad, so it must be vanquished…
Like those ‘experts’ on CNN who have been to every Madrassah and every Masjid in the world and know precisely what goes on in them, the term Wahabbism has become the new monster to subdue…
But I understood it…Wahabbism or ‘Salafism’, is the struggle, both inner and outer, to achieve the most pristine and fault free method to walk upon the true path of Islam…It is the path which the Kuffar hates for Wahabbism ends confusion and replaces it with pure unadulterated knowledge, which the Quran, numerous times has stated in the form of Obey Allah and His Messenger…
Obey Allah (swt) through His message the Quran, and obey the Messenger (saw) through his Sunnah and Ahadith…
There are other ‘forms’ of Islam out there, but they are so deviated in their teachings, that most of what they do is pure innovation…And some like the Ba’hais (marry amongst their own siblings) and Ahmedism (who believe in a prophet after last Prophet (Nauzubillah)) aren’t even something which a sane Muslim will consider…
Then there is the Al-Fatiha group, a gay-lesbian group which say ‘We are Muslims’ but are ignorant to what happened to the people of Lut (as)…Many Muslims say ‘Oh, it is their freedom of expression, that doesn’t make them less Muslims’…These Muslims are the same ones that say ‘Suicide bombing is Haraam and those that do it are not Muslims and defile Islam’…Someone tell these idiots that if killing of innocents is Haraam and those that do it are not Muslims, what does Quran say about Homosexuality and those that practice it? Here, they will falter and become the greatest scholars of Islam and say 'It is between them and Allah (swt)…Precisely…“Innama Aamal-o-Bin Niyaat”
The true and only way is that which is laid down by the Quran and sealed by the Sunnah and Ahadith of the Holy Prophet :saw:, and everything outside and after that is all garbage and Bida’a and Bida’a is out of Islam and of the fire…
well gifted with knowledge…It would be great if you can post some relevant stuff and importance about Taqleed for my and others’ benefit…Thanks…
have shown. However, a division or a “label” can come in our way, because every sect thinks of his itself as the best and perfect. Therefore, a feeling of mistrust arises, leading to a dead end, in which nobody is prepared to listen to the other. So, it is better to call ourselves just Muslim. By our actions, we may by the will of Allah be able to bring people to the true deen.