The Barelvi movement, also known as Ahl al-Sunnah wal-Jama'ah (People of the Prophet's Way and the Community) is a

Sunni Sunni Islam is the largest branch of Islam and the largest religious denomination in the world. It holds that Muhammad did not appoint any successor and that his closest companion Abu Bakr () rightfully succeeded him as the caliph of the Mu ...

revivalist movement that generally adheres to the

Hanafi The Hanafi school or Hanafism is the oldest and largest Madhhab, school of Islamic jurisprudence out of the four schools within Sunni Islam. It developed from the teachings of the Faqīh, jurist and theologian Abu Hanifa (), who systemised the ...

and

Shafi'i The Shafi'i school or Shafi'i Madhhab () or Shafi'i is one of the four major schools of fiqh (Islamic jurisprudence), belonging to the Ahl al-Hadith tradition within Sunni Islam. It was founded by the Muslim scholar, jurist, and traditionis ...

schools of jurisprudence, the

Maturidi Maturidism () is a school of theology in Sunni Islam named after Abu Mansur al-Maturidi. It is one of the three creeds of Sunni Islam alongside Ash'arism and Atharism, and prevails in the Hanafi school of jurisprudence. Al-Maturidi codified a ...

and

Ash'ari Ash'arism (; ) is a school of theology in Sunni Islam named after Abu al-Hasan al-Ash'ari, a Shāfiʿī jurist, reformer (''mujaddid''), and scholastic theologian, in the 9th–10th century. It established an orthodox guideline, based on ...

creeds, a variety of

Sufi orders A ''tariqa'' () is a religious order of Sufism, or specifically a concept for the mystical teaching and spiritual practices of such an order with the aim of seeking , which translates as "ultimate truth". A tariqa has a (guide) who plays the r ...

, including the

Qadiri The Qadiriyya () or the Qadiri order () is a Sunni Sufi order (''Tariqa'') founded by Abdul Qadir Gilani (1077–1166, also transliterated ''Jilani''), who was a Hanbali scholar from Gilan, Iran. The order, with its many sub-orders, is wides ...

Chishti The Chishti order () is a Sufi order of Sunni Islam named after the town of Chisht, Afghanistan where it was initiated by Abu Ishaq Shami. The order was brought to Herat and later spread across South Asia by Mu'in al-Din Chishti in the city ...

Naqshbandi Naqshbandi (Persian: نقشبندیه) is a major Sufi order within Sunni Islam, named after its 14th-century founder, Baha' al-Din Naqshband. Practitioners, known as Naqshbandis, trace their spiritual lineage (silsila) directly to the Prophet ...

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 Sunni Islam is the largest branch of Islam and the largest religious denomination in the world. It holds that Muhammad did not appoint any successor and that his closest companion Abu Bakr () rightfully succeeded him as the caliph of the Musli ...

orthodoxy before the rise of

Salafism The Salafi movement or Salafism () is a Islamic fundamentalism, fundamentalist Islamic revival, revival movement within Sunni Islam, originating in the late 19th century and influential in the Islamic world to this day. The name "''Salafiyya''" ...

and the

Deobandi The Deobandi movement or Deobandism is a revivalist movement within Sunni Islam that adheres to the Hanafi school of jurisprudence. It was formed in the late 19th century around the Darul Uloom Madrassa in Deoband, India, from which the nam ...

movement. The Barelvi movement is spread across the globe with millions of followers, thousands of mosques, institutions, and organizations in

India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...

Pakistan Pakistan, officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by population, fifth-most populous country, with a population of over 241.5 million, having the Islam by country# ...

Bangladesh Bangladesh, officially the People's Republic of Bangladesh, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by population, eighth-most populous country in the world and among the List of countries and dependencies by ...

Afghanistan Afghanistan, officially the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan, is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central Asia and South Asia. It is bordered by Pakistan to the Durand Line, east and south, Iran to the Afghanistan–Iran borde ...

Sri Lanka Sri Lanka, officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, also known historically as Ceylon, is an island country in South Asia. It lies in the Indian Ocean, southwest of the Bay of Bengal, separated from the Indian subcontinent, ...

, the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Northwestern Europe, off the coast of European mainland, the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. Its Provinces of South Africa, nine provinces are bounded to the south by of coastline that stretches along the Atlantic O ...

and other parts of Africa, Europe, the Caribbean, and the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

. 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 (hadith) 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

doctrine Doctrine (from , meaning 'teaching, instruction') is a codification (law), codification of beliefs or a body of teacher, teachings or instructions, taught principles or positions, as the essence of teachings in a given branch of knowledge or in a ...

s of

Shah Abdur Rahim Shah Abdur Rahim (; 1644-1719) was an Islamic scholar and a writer who assisted in the compilation of Fatawa-e-Alamgiri, the voluminous code of Islamic law. He was the father of the Muslim philosopher Shah Waliullah Dehlawi. He became a disciple o ...

(1644-1719) founder of

Madrasah-i Rahimiyah The Madrasah-i Rahimiyah is an Islamic seminary located in Delhi, India. It was founded by Shah Abdur Rahim, the father of Shah Waliullah Dehlawi, during the reign of Mughal Emperor Aurangzeb. After the death of Shah Abdur Rahim in 1718 Shah ...

and one of the compiler of

Fatawa-e-Alamgiri Fatawa 'Alamgiri, also called Al-Fatawa al-Hindiyyah (; ), Fatawa-e-Alamgiri or Al-Fatawa al-'Alamkiriyyah (; ), is a 17th-century sharia based compilation on statecraft, general ethics, military strategy, economic policy, justice and punishment, ...

. Shah Abdur Rahim is father of

Shah Waliullah Dehlawi Qutb ud-Din Ahmad ibn ʿAbd-ur-Rahim al-ʿUmari ad-Dehlawi (‎; 1703–1762), commonly known as Shah Waliullah Dehlawi (also Shah Wali Allah), was an Islamic Sunni scholar and Sufi reformer, who contributed to Islamic revival in the Indian s ...

. The movement also drew inspiration from

Shah Abdul Aziz Muhaddith Dehlavi Shah Abdul Aziz Muhaddith Dehlavi (11 October 1746 – 5 June 1824) was an Indian Sunni Muslim Scholar and Sufi Saint. He is known as the Muhaddith and Mujaddid from India. He was a member of the Naqshbandi Sufi order. Their tradition inspired la ...

(1746 –1824) and

Fazl-e-Haq Khairabadi Fazl-e-Haq Khairabadi (1796/1797 – 19 August 1861) was a Hanafi mufti, Kalam scholar, Maturidi theologian, and poet. He was an activist of the Indian independence movement and campaigned against British colonialism. He issued an early religi ...

(1796–1861) founder of the Khairabad School. Fazle Haq Khairabadi Islamic scholar and leader of

1857 rebellion The Indian Rebellion of 1857 was a major uprising in India in 1857–58 against the rule of the British East India Company, which functioned as a sovereign power on behalf of the British Crown. The rebellion began on 10 May 1857 in the form ...

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

sharia Sharia, Sharī'ah, Shari'a, or Shariah () is a body of religious law that forms a part of the Islamic tradition based on Islamic holy books, scriptures of Islam, particularly the Quran, Qur'an and hadith. In Islamic terminology ''sharīʿah'' ...

and , following the four Islamic schools of thought, the usage of and Sufi practices such as veneration of and seeking help from

saints In Christian belief, a saint is a person who is recognized as having an exceptional degree of holiness, likeness, or closeness to God. However, the use of the term ''saint'' depends on the context and denomination. In Anglican, Oriental Orth ...

among other things associated with Sufism. The movement defines itself as an authentic representative of Sunni Islam, (The people who adhere to the Prophetic Tradition and preserve the unity of the community).

Ahmed Raza Khan Barelvi Ahmad Raza Khan Baraylawi (14 June 1856–28 October 1921), known reverentially as A'la Hazrat, (Grand Master), was an Islamic scholar, mufti, polymath, gnostic, poet from (undivided) India, he is considered as the founder of the Barelvi move ...

(1856–1921) 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 Oxford Reference (OR) is a research website launched by Oxford University Press (OUP) in 2012 which provides entries from reference works largely published by OUP, such as dictionaries, encyclopedias, and companions. It was preceded by Oxford ...

, 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 (often, Ahl-e-Sunnat) which has a very strong presence in South Asia. Professor

Usha Sanyal Usha Sanyal is an Indian scholar and historian of Islam specializing in the Barelvi movement. She was a visiting assistant professor of history at Wingate University in North Carolina. Her PhD dissertation analysed the Islamic legal scholar ...

, 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.''Illustrated Dictionary of the Muslim World'', pg. 113.

Marshall Cavendish Marshall Cavendish is a subsidiary company of Times Publishing Group, the printing and publishing subsidiary of Singapore-based conglomerate Fraser and Neave (which in turn currently owned by ThaiBev, a Thai beverage company), and at present i ...

, 2011. ''Globalisation, Religion & Development'', pg. 53. Eds. Farhang Morady and İsmail Şiriner. London: International Journal of Politics and Economics, 2011.Elizabeth Sirriyeh, ''Sufis and Anti-Sufis: The Defense, Rethinking and Rejection of Sufism in the Modern World'', pg. 49. London:

Routledge Routledge ( ) is a British multinational corporation, multinational publisher. It was founded in 1836 by George Routledge, and specialises in providing academic books, academic journals, journals and online resources in the fields of the humanit ...

, 1999. .Rowena Robinson, ''Tremors of Violence: Muslim Survivors of Ethnic Strife in Western India'', pg. 191.

Thousand Oaks Thousand Oaks is the second-largest city in Ventura County, California, located in the northwestern part of Greater Los Angeles. Approximately from the city of Los Angeles and from Downtown Los Angeles, it is named after the many oak trees pr ...

SAGE Publications Sage Publishing, formerly SAGE Publications, is an American independent academic publishing company, founded in 1965 in New York City by Sara Miller McCune and now based in the Newbury Park neighborhood of Thousand Oaks, California. Sage ...

, 2005. 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. Main leaders of Ahle Sunnat movement Imam

Ahmad Raza Khan Ahmad Raza Khan Baraylawi (14 June 1856–28 October 1921), known reverentially as A'la Hazrat, (Grand Master), was an Islamic scholar, mufti, polymath, gnostic, poet from (undivided) India, he is considered as the founder of the Barelvi movem ...

and other scholars never used the term 'Barelvi' to identify themselves or their movement; they saw themselves as

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 (1856–1921). The Barelvis are also called Sunni Sufis.

History

Islamic scholar and teacher of Ahmed Raza Khan Qadri, Maulana

Naqi Ali Khan Naqi Ali Khan (; 1830–1880) was an Indian Islamic scholar and father of Ahmed Raza Khan, Ahmad Raza Khan. Naqi Ali wrote 26 books on Prophetic biography, Seerah and Sunni Hanafi Aqidah and he issued many Fatwas. Family tree Publications * ...

(1830-1880) had refuted the ideas of Sayyid Ahmad Barelwi (d. 1831), who was a founder of

Wahhabism Wahhabism is an exonym for a Salafi revivalist movement within Sunni Islam named after the 18th-century Hanbali scholar Muhammad ibn Abd al-Wahhab. It was initially established in the central Arabian region of Najd and later spread to oth ...

in India. Naqi Ali Khan declared Sayyid Ahmad Rae Barelwi, a '

Wahhabi Wahhabism is an exonym for a Salafi revivalist movement within Sunni Islam named after the 18th-century Hanbali scholar Muhammad ibn Abd al-Wahhab. It was initially established in the central Arabian region of Najd and later spread to other ...

' due to his support for

Muhammad ibn Abd al-Wahhab Muḥammad ibn ʿAbd al-Wahhāb ibn Sulaymān al-Tamīmī (1703–1792) was a Sunni Muslim scholar, theologian, preacher, activist, religious leader, jurist, and reformer, who was from Najd in Arabian Peninsula and is considered as the eponymo ...

's ideology. Similarly, founder of Khairabad school, Allama

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 Ahl-i-Hadith or Ahl-e-Hadith (, ''people of hadith'') is a Salafi reform movement that emerged in North India in the mid-nineteenth century from the teachings of Syed Ahmad Barelvi, Sayyid Ahmad Shahid, Syed Nazeer Husain and Nawab Siddiq Has ...

and

movements Fazle Haq Khairabadi Islamic scholar and leader of

issued ''fatwas'' against Wahhabi Ismail Dehlvi for his doctrine of God's alleged ability to lie (Imkan-i-Kizb) 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

(1856-1921), who spent his lifetime writing fatwas (judicial opinion) and later established Islamic schools in 1904 with the

Manzar-e-Islam Manzar-e-Islam, also known as Jamia Razvia Manzar-e-Islam, is an Islamic seminary in India. It was founded in 1904 in Bareilly, India by Ahmed Raza Khan Barelvi. It celebrated its hundredth anniversary in 2004 this occasion was marked by a ser ...

in the

Bareilly Bareilly () is a city in Bareilly district in the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh. It is among the largest metropolises in Western Uttar Pradesh and is the centre of the Bareilly division as well as the historical region of Rohilkhand. The city ...

and other madrasas in

Pilibhit Pilibhit () is a city and a municipal board in Pilibhit district in the northern Indian state of Uttar Pradesh. Pilibhit is the north-easternmost district of Bareilly division, situated in the Rohilkhand region of the sub- Himalayan Plateau ...

and

Lahore Lahore ( ; ; ) is the capital and largest city of the Administrative units of Pakistan, Pakistani province of Punjab, Pakistan, Punjab. It is the List of cities in Pakistan by population, second-largest city in Pakistan, after Karachi, and ...

cities.: "...were advanced by Imam Ahmad Reza Khan of Bareilly in 1906 as the original form of Islam and as the alternative to the austere path of the Deobandis." 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 Arya Samaj () is a monotheistic Indian Hindu reform movement that promotes values and practices based on the belief in the infallible authority of the Vedas. Dayananda Saraswati founded the samaj in the 1870s. Arya Samaj was the first Hindu ...

, through its founder Swami

Dayanand Saraswati Dayanand Saraswati () born Mool Shankar Tiwari (12 February 1824 – 30 October 1883), was a Hindu philosopher, social leader and founder of the Arya Samaj, a reform movement of Hinduism. His book '' Satyarth Prakash'' has remained one of th ...

Dayanand and the Shuddhi Movement
''Indian Political Tradition'', by D.K Mohanty. Published by Anmol Publications PVT. LTD. . ''Page 116''. initiated converting Muslims back in to Hinduism specially in

North India North India is a geographical region, loosely defined as a cultural region comprising the northern part of India (or historically, the Indian subcontinent) wherein Indo-Aryans (speaking Indo-Aryan languages) form the prominent majority populati ...

, 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 untouchable assertion
''The Politics of the Urban Poor in Early Twentieth-century India'', by Nandini Gooptu. Published by Cambridge University Press, 2001. . ''Page 157''. 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 Mustafa Raza Khan Qadri (1892–1981), was an Indian Sunni Muslim scholar and author, and leader of the Sunni Barelvi movement following the death of its founder, his father Ahmed Raza Khan. He was known as ''Mufti-Azam-i-Hind'' to his follo ...

and Hamid Raza Khan along with a team of Ahle Sunnat scholars through

Jama'at Raza-e-Mustafa Jamat Raza-e-Mustafa (, ) also known as JRM, is a historical organisation of Indian Sunni Barelvi Muslims associated with Sufism. It was founded by scholar and 19th-century Mujadid Ahmed Raza Khan Barelvi on 17 December 1920 in Bareilly, India ...

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 Shuddhi or Suddhi () may refer to: *Shuddhi (Hinduism), type of conversion to Hinduism or Sikhism *Purity in Buddhism Purity (Pali: ''Vissudhi'') is an important concept within much of Theravada and Mahayana Buddhism, although the implications ...

movement. In 1917, Islamic scholar Mufti

Naeem-ud-Deen Muradabadi Syed Naeem-ud-Deen Muradabadi (1887–1948), also known as ''Sadr ul-Afazil'', was an Indian jurist, scholar, mufti, Quranic exegete, and educator. He was a scholar of philosophy, geometry, logic and hadith and leader of All India Sunni Conferen ...

organized the historical Jama'at Raza-e-Mustafa conference at

Jamia Naeemia Moradabad Jamia Naeemia Moradabad (, ) is an Islamic seminary in India. It is located in Moradabad in the northern state of Uttar Pradesh. The seminary is a major center of the Barelvi movement in India and has been the target of violence by the rival D ...

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 Mirza Aziz-ud-Din Muhammad (June 6, 1699 – November 29, 1759), better known by his regnal name Alamgir II, was the fifteenth Mughal Empire, Mughal emperor from 1754 to 1759. He was the son of Jahandar Shah. Born Mirza Aziz-ud-Din, the secon ...

and built by Abdullah Khan. The construction was completed in 1753. It was located in

Naulakha Bazaar Naulakha Bazaar (Punjabi language, Punjabi, ) is bazaar located in Lahore, Punjab (Pakistan), Punjab, Pakistan. History The bazaar was established in 1633 and is located in Lahore Fort near Naulakha Pavilion. The Shaheed Ganj Mosque is located i ...

area of Lahore, Punjab, Pakistan. In 1762, the Bhangi misl Sikh army conquered Lahore and occupied the mosque. The

Muslim Muslims () are people who adhere to Islam, a Monotheism, monotheistic religion belonging to the Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic tradition. They consider the Quran, the foundational religious text of Islam, to be the verbatim word of the God ...

s were not allowed to enter and pray, although Sikhs were given the right to pray. The

Sikh Sikhs (singular Sikh: or ; , ) are an ethnoreligious group who adhere to Sikhism, a religion that originated in the late 15th century in the Punjab region of the Indian subcontinent, based on the revelation of Guru Nanak. The term ''Si ...

s built a

gurdwara A gurdwara or gurudwara () is a place of assembly and place of worship, worship in Sikhism, but its normal meaning is "place of guru" or "home of guru". Sikhism, Sikhs also refer to gurdwaras as ''Gurdwara Sahib''. People from all faiths and rel ...

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 The Badshahi Mosque (; ) is a Mughal Empire, Mughal-era congregational mosque, imperial mosque located in Lahore, Punjab, Pakistan. It was constructed between 1671 and 1673 during the rule of Aurangzeb, opposite of the Lahore Fort on the north ...

, 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 Indian nationalism is an instance of civic nationalism. It is inclusive of all of the people of India, Composite nationalism (India), despite their Demographics of India, diverse ethnic, linguistic and religious backgrounds. Indian national ...

, changing geo-political situation of India. Islamic scholars and popular leaders Jamaat Ali Shah,

Amjad Ali Aazmi Amjad Ali Aazmi (Urdu: أمجد على أعظمى), reverentially known as ''Sadr al-Sharia'' (Urdu: صدر الشريعه, Chief of the Sharia, Islamic Law) and ''Badr al-Tariqa'' (Urdu: بدر الطريقه, Shining Moon of the Tariqa, Sufi o ...

Abdul Hamid Qadri Badayuni Abd al-Ḥāmid al-Qādirī al-Badāyūnī (; November 11, 1898 – July 20, 1970), also known as ''Mujahid-e-Millat'', was a Pakistani Islamic scholar, Sufi, poet, and leader from Pakistan. He was the founder of the Islamic college Jamia-Tali ...

Mohammad Abdul Ghafoor Hazarvi Akhundzada Mohammad Abdul Ghafoor Hazarvi () (1 January 1909 – 9 October 1970) was a Muslim theology, Muslim theologian, jurist, and scholar of ahadith in Pakistan (''South Asia'').Zebiri, Kate. Review of ''Maududi and the making of Isl ...

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 Budaun (romanised: Badāʾūn or Badāyūn, ) is a medieval city and headquarters of Budaun district, in the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh. It is located about a mile east of the Sot river, and 27 km north of the Ganges, in the Rohilkhand ...

U.P in October 1935 under the Presidency of Jamaat Ali Shah. It discussed Shaheed Ganj Mosque Movement. and openly opposed

Ibn Saud Abdulaziz bin Abdul Rahman Al Saud (; 15 January 1875Ibn Saud's birth year has been a source of debate. It is generally accepted as 1876, although a few sources give it as 1880. According to British author Robert Lacey's book ''The Kingdom'', ...

'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 Varanasi (, also Benares, Banaras ) or Kashi, is a city on the Ganges river in northern India that has a central place in the traditions of pilgrimage, death, and mourning in the Hindu world.* * * * The city has a syncretic tradition of ...

discussed the disturbed condition of the country and possible solution for the Muslims in the wake of demand for

. *All India Muslim League Several Sufi Barelvi scholars supported the

All-India Muslim League The All-India Muslim League (AIML) was a political party founded in 1906 in Dhaka, British India with the goal of securing Muslims, Muslim interests in South Asia. Although initially espousing a united India with interfaith unity, the Muslim L ...

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:

Beliefs

Like other Sunni Muslims, they base their beliefs on the

Quran The Quran, also Romanization, romanized Qur'an or Koran, is the central religious text of Islam, believed by Muslims to be a Waḥy, revelation directly from God in Islam, God (''Allah, Allāh''). It is organized in 114 chapters (, ) which ...

and

Sunnah is the body of traditions and practices of the Islamic prophet Muhammad that constitute a model for Muslims to follow. The sunnah is what all the Muslims of Muhammad's time supposedly saw, followed, and passed on to the next generations. Diff ...

and believe in

monotheism Monotheism is the belief that one God is the only, or at least the dominant deity.F. L. Cross, Cross, F.L.; Livingstone, E.A., eds. (1974). "Monotheism". The Oxford Dictionary of the Christian Church (2 ed.). Oxford: Oxford University Press. A ...

and the prophethood of Muhammad. Although Barelvis may follow any one of the

Ashari Ash'arism (; ) is a school of theology in Sunni Islam named after Abu al-Hasan al-Ash'ari, a Shāfiʿī jurist, reformer (''mujaddid''), and scholastic theologian, in the 9th–10th century. It established an orthodox guideline, based on ...

and

schools of

Islamic theology Schools of Islamic theology are various Islamic schools and branches in different schools of thought regarding creed. The main schools of Islamic theology include the extant Mu'tazili, Ash'ari, Maturidi, and Athari schools; the extinct ones ...

and one of the

Maliki The Maliki school or Malikism is one of the four major madhhab, schools of Islamic jurisprudence within Sunni Islam. It was founded by Malik ibn Anas () in the 8th century. In contrast to the Ahl al-Hadith and Ahl al-Ra'y schools of thought, the ...

and

Hanbali The Hanbali school or Hanbalism is one of the four major schools of Islamic jurisprudence, belonging to the Ahl al-Hadith tradition within Sunni Islam. It is named after and based on the teachings of the 9th-century scholar, jurist and tradit ...

madhhab A ''madhhab'' (, , pl. , ) refers to any school of thought within fiqh, Islamic jurisprudence. The major Sunni Islam, Sunni ''madhhab'' are Hanafi school, Hanafi, Maliki school, Maliki, Shafi'i school, Shafi'i and Hanbali school, Hanbali. They ...

s of

fiqh ''Fiqh'' (; ) is the term for Islamic jurisprudence.Fiqh
Encyclopædia Britannica ''Fiqh'' is of ...

in addition to optionally choosing from one of the Sunni

Sufi Sufism ( or ) is a mysticism, mystic body of religious practice found within Islam which is characterized by a focus on Islamic Tazkiyah, purification, spirituality, ritualism, and Asceticism#Islam, asceticism. Practitioners of Sufism are r ...

orders or

tariqa A ''tariqa'' () is a religious order of Sufism, or specifically a concept for the mystical teaching and spiritual practices of such an order with the aim of seeking , which translates as "ultimate truth". A tariqa has a (guide) who plays the ...

s, most Barelvis in South Asia follow the Maturidi school of Islamic theology, the Hanafi madhhab of fiqh and the

Sufi orders. Barelvis in Southern parts of India such as

Kerala Kerala ( , ) is a States and union territories of India, state on the Malabar Coast of India. It was formed on 1 November 1956, following the passage of the States Reorganisation Act, by combining Malayalam-speaking regions of the erstwhile ...

Karnataka Karnataka ( ) is a States and union territories of India, state in the southwestern region of India. It was Unification of Karnataka, formed as Mysore State on 1 November 1956, with the passage of the States Reorganisation Act, 1956, States Re ...

and

Tamil Nadu Tamil Nadu (; , TN) is the southernmost States and union territories of India, state of India. The List of states and union territories of India by area, tenth largest Indian state by area and the List of states and union territories of Indi ...

follow Shafi'i

maddhab A ''madhhab'' (, , pl. , ) refers to any school of thought within Islamic jurisprudence. The major Sunni ''madhhab'' are Hanafi, Maliki, Shafi'i and Hanbali. They emerged in the ninth and tenth centuries CE and by the twelfth century almost all ...

of fiqh and Ashari school of

Islamic Theology Schools of Islamic theology are various Islamic schools and branches in different schools of thought regarding creed. The main schools of Islamic theology include the extant Mu'tazili, Ash'ari, Maturidi, and Athari schools; the extinct ones ...

. Barelvis have mostly the same beliefs and structure of Sunni Sufis around the world as they celebrate

Mawlid The Mawlid () is an annual festival commemorating the birthday of the Islamic prophet Muhammad on the traditional date of 12 Rabi' al-Awwal, the third month of the Islamic calendar. A day central to the traditions of some Sunnis, Mawlid is al ...

, belief in Taqleed, belief in

Sufi saints Sufi saints or wali (, plural ʾawliyāʾ أولياء) played an instrumental and foregrounding role in spreading Islam throughout the world. In the traditional Islamic view, a saint is portrayed as someone "marked by pecialdivine favor ... ...

and follow

Positions

The movement is defined by a set of theological positions that revolve around the persona of Muhammad and his special, if not exceptional, relationship and status with

God In monotheistic belief systems, God is usually viewed as the supreme being, creator, and principal object of faith. In polytheistic belief systems, a god is "a spirit or being believed to have created, or for controlling some part of the un ...

. Several beliefs and practices differentiate the movement from others (particularly

Deobandis The Deobandi movement or Deobandism is a revivalist movement within Sunni Islam that adheres to the Hanafi school of jurisprudence. It was formed in the late 19th century around the Darul Uloom Madrassa in Deoband, India, from which the name ...

and

Wahhabis Wahhabism is an exonym for a Salafi revivalist movement within Sunni Islam named after the 18th-century Hanbali scholar Muhammad ibn Abd al-Wahhab. It was initially established in the central Arabian region of Najd and later spread to other ...

including beliefs in the intercession of Muhammad, the knowledge of Muhammad, the "Nur Muhammadiyya" (Light of Muhammad), and whether Muhammad witnesses the actions of people.

Intercession of Muhammad

All jurists comprising

and

unanimously agree the on the permissibly of ''

tawassul Tawassul, is an Arabic word originated from 'wasilat'. The ''wasilah'' is a means by which a person, goal or objective is approached, attained or achieved. In another version of the meaning of tawassul in another text: Tawassul is an Arabic word t ...

'' whether during the lifetime of Muhammad or after it. ''

Tawassul Tawassul, is an Arabic word originated from 'wasilat'. The ''wasilah'' is a means by which a person, goal or objective is approached, attained or achieved. In another version of the meaning of tawassul in another text: Tawassul is an Arabic word t ...

'' is a fundamental belief of all traditional Sunni movements. The belief is that Muhammad helps in this life and in the afterlife. According to this doctrine, God helps the living through Muhammad. Sunni Muslims of the Barelvi movement believe that any ability that Muhammad has to help others is from God. The help received from Muhammad is therefore considered God's help. Proponents of this belief look to the Quran for proof that God prefers to help through Muhammad. One of the titles of the Prophet is "shaafi," or "one who performs intercession." Other spiritual leaders who will act as intermediaries will be prophets, martyrs, ''huffaz'' of the Quran, angels, or other pious people whom God deems fit. Jesus's intercession for believers on the

Day of Judgment The Last Judgment is a concept found across the Abrahamic religions and the '' Frashokereti'' of Zoroastrianism. Christianity considers the Second Coming of Jesus Christ to entail the final judgment by God of all people who have ever lived, res ...

is mentioned in the Quran (5:16-18), as well. They also believe that, on the Day of Judgement, Muhammad will intercede on behalf of his followers, and God will forgive them their sins and allow them to enter ''

Jannah In Islam, Jannah (, ''jannāt'', ) is the final and permanent abode of the righteous. According to one count, the word appears 147 times in the Qur'an. Belief in the afterlife is one of the Iman (Islam)#The Six Articles of Faith, six article ...

'' ("paradise"). The belief that Muhammad provides support to believers is a common theme within classical Sunni literature. The Quran says, ''O you who believe! Fear Allah and seek a wasila to him (5:35).'' Further, the Quran says, ''We sent not the Messenger, but to be obeyed, in accordance with the will of Allah. If they had only, when they were unjust to themselves, come to the Messenger and asked Allah's forgiveness, and the Messenger had (also) asked forgiveness for them, they would have found Allah indeed Oft-returning, Most Merciful. (Al-Qur'an, Surah an-Nisa, 4:64)'' The belief that Muhammad intercedes is found in various Hadith, as well. ''A Bedouin of the desert visited the Prophet's tomb and greeted the Prophet, addressing him directly as if he were alive. "Peace upon you, Messenger of God!" Then he said, "I heard the word of God 'If, when they had wronged themselves . . .,' I came to you seeking pardon for my mistakes, longing for your intercession with our Lord!" The Bedouin then recited a poem in praise of the Prophet and departed. The person who witnessed the story says that he fell asleep, and in a dream he saw the Prophet saying to him, "O 'Utbi, rejoin our brother the Bedouin and announce ohim the good news that God has pardoned him!"'' Syrian Islamic scholars Salih al-Nu'man, Abu Sulayman Suhayl al-Zabibi, and Mustafa ibn Ahmad al-Hasan al-Shatti al-Hanbali al-Athari al-Dimashqi have similarly released ''

fatwa A fatwa (; ; ; ) is a legal ruling on a point of Islamic law (sharia) given by a qualified Islamic jurist ('' faqih'') in response to a question posed by a private individual, judge or government. A jurist issuing fatwas is called a ''mufti'', ...

s'' in support of the belief.

Al-Suyuti Jalal al-Din al-Suyuti (; 1445–1505), or al-Suyuti, was an Egyptians, Egyptian Sunni Muslims, Muslim polymath of Persians, Persian descent. Considered the mujtahid and mujaddid of the Islamic 10th century, he was a leading Hadith studies, muh ...

, in his book ''History of the Caliphs'', also reports Caliph Umar’s prayer for rain after the death of Muhammad, and specifies that on that occasion, Umar was wearing his mantle (''al-burda'')a detail confirming his ''tawassul'' through Muhammad.

Sahih al-Bukhari () is the first hadith collection of the Six Books of Sunni Islam. Compiled by Islamic scholar al-Bukhari () in the format, the work is valued by Sunni Muslims, alongside , as the most authentic after the Qur'an. Al-Bukhari organized the bo ...

narrates a similar situation as: A Hadith states that on that day people will be running to and fro looking for an intercessor, until they come to Muhammad, who will answer, "I am for intercession". The Lord will then ask him to "...intercede, for your intercession will be heard" (Bukhari). Sunni Muslims of this movement also commonly say ''Ya Rasul Allah'' ('O Messenger of Allah'), addressing Muhammad in the present tense with the belief that he is able to listen. They believe that Muhammad is a Rahmah (mercy) to all creation as mentioned in the Quran . Muhammad therefore is a means by which God expresses his attribute, Ar-Rahman, to creation.

Light of Muhammad (Nur Muhammadiyya)

A central doctrine of this movement is that Muhammad is both human and (Noor) light. Muhammad's physical birth was preceded by his existence as a light which predates creation. The primordial reality of Muhammad existed before creation, and God created for the sake of Muhammad. Adherents of this doctrine believe that the word ''Nur'' (light) in the Quran refers to Muhammad.

Sahl al-Tustari Sahl al-Tustarī () or Sahl Shushtarī () according to Persian custom, born Abū Muḥammad Sahl ibn ʿAbd Allāh (c.818 CE (203 AH) – c.896 CE (283 AH)), was a Persian Sunni Muslim scholar and early classical Sufi mystic.Co-publisher: Edi ...

, the ninth-century Sunni Quran commentator, describes the creation of Muhammad's primordial light in his

tafsir Tafsir ( ; ) refers to an exegesis, or commentary, of the Quran. An author of a ''tafsir'' is a ' (; plural: ). A Quranic ''tafsir'' attempts to provide elucidation, explanation, interpretation, context or commentary for clear understanding ...

Mansur Al-Hallaj Mansour al-Hallaj () or Mansour Hallaj () ( 26 March 922) ( Hijri 309 AH) was a Persian HanbaliChristopher Melchert, "The Ḥanābila and the Early Sufis," ''Arabica'', T. 48, Fasc. 3 (2001), p. 352 mystic, poet, and teacher of Sufism. He ...

(al-Tustari's student) affirms this doctrine in his book, ''Ta Sin Al-Siraj'': According to ''Stūdīyā Islāmīkā'', all Sufi orders are united in the belief in the light of Muhammad.

Muhammad as witness

Another central doctrine of this movement is that Muhammad is a viewer and witness (حاضر و ناظر, Ḥāḍir-o nāẓir) actions of people. The doctrine appears in works predating the movement, such as Sayyid Uthman Bukhari's (d. ca. 1687) ''Jawahir al-Quliya'' (''Jewels of the Friends of God''), describing how Sufis may experience the presence of Muhammad. Proponents of this doctrine assert that the term ''Shahid'' (witness) in the Quran (, ) refers to this ability of Muhammad, and cite

hadith Hadith is the Arabic word for a 'report' or an 'account f an event and refers to the Islamic oral tradition of anecdotes containing the purported words, actions, and the silent approvals of the Islamic prophet Muhammad or his immediate circle ...

s to support it. This concept was interpreted by

Shah Abdul Aziz Shah Abdul Aziz Muhaddith Dehlavi (11 October 1746 – 5 June 1824) was an Indian Sunni Muslim Scholar and Sufi Saint. He is known as the Muhaddith and Mujaddid from India. He was a member of the Naqshbandi Sufi order. Their tradition inspired ...

in Tafsir Azizi in these words: "The Prophet is observing everybody, knows their good and bad deeds, and knows the strength of faith (Imaan) of every individual Muslim and what has hindered his spiritual progress." Hafiz

Ibn Kathir Abu al-Fida Isma'il ibn Umar ibn Kathir al-Dimashqi (; ), known simply as Ibn Kathir, was an Arab Islamic Exegesis, exegete, historian and scholar. An expert on (Quranic exegesis), (history) and (Islamic jurisprudence), he is considered a lea ...

says: "You are witness of the oneness of Allah Almighty and that there is no God except Allah. You will bear evidence about the actions and deed of whole mankind on the day of judgment. (Tafseer Ibne Katheer, Vol. 3, Page 497).

Muhammad's Knowledge of the Unseen (Ilm-e-Ghaib)

A fundamental Sunni Barelvi belief is that Muhammad has knowledge of the unseen, which is granted him by Allah (''ata'e'') and is not equal to God's knowledge. This relates to the concept of ''Ummi'' as mentioned in the Quran (). This movement does not interpret this word as "unlettered" or "illiterate", but "untaught". Muhammad learns not from humankind, but from Allah; his knowledge is universal, encompassing the seen and unseen realms. This belief predates this movement, and is found in Sunni books such as

Rumi Jalāl al-Dīn Muḥammad Rūmī (), or simply Rumi (30 September 1207 – 17 December 1273), was a 13th-century poet, Hanafi '' faqih'' (jurist), Maturidi theologian (''mutakallim''), and Sufi mystic born during the Khwarazmian Empire ...

's ''

Fihi Ma Fihi The ''Fihi Ma Fihi'' or ''Fīhi Mā Fīhi'' (), ) is a Persian prose work of 13th century Sufi mystic and Iranian poet Jalāl al-Dīn Muḥammad Rūmī. The book has 72 short discourses. Description The title and origin of the book Accordi ...

'': Allah has sent down to you the Book and Wisdom and has taught to you what you did not know, and great is the grace of Allah upon you" ura an-Nisa, verse 113 Imam Jalal udin

writes: (Taught to you what you did not know) means that Allah Most High has told the Prophet (may Allah bless him and grant him peace) of Ahkam and Unseen.Knowledge of Unseen (In the light of Quran and Sunnah)https://www.ahlus-sunna.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=54&Itemid=119 Qur'an states: This is of the tidings of the Unseen which We inspire in thee (Muhammad). Thou thyself knewest it not, nor did thy folk (know it) before this. Then have patience. Lo! the sequel is for those who ward off (evil). urah Hud (11), verse 49 Qur'an states: Nor will He disclose to you the secrets of the Unseen. "But He chooses of His Apostles or the purpose ura Aali-Imran, verse 179

Practices

International Mawlid Conference at Minar-e-Pakistan Lahore by Minhaj-ul-Quran1

*Public celebration of

Muhammad's birthday The Mawlid () is an annual festival commemorating the birthday of the Islamic prophet Muhammad on the traditional date of 12 Rabi' al-Awwal, the third month of the Islamic calendar. A day central to the traditions of some Sunnis, Mawlid is also ...

, a practice of Sunni majority world wide *

-(Veneration of pious). This consists of the intervention of an ascending, linked and unbroken chain of holy persons claimed to reach ultimately to Muhammad who Barelvis believe intercede on their behalf with God. The Qur'an states: This verse raised the question as to whether or not Muhammad's mediation was still possible after his death. A number of Islamic scholars including

Al-Nawawi Yahya ibn Sharaf al-Nawawi (;‎ (631A.H-676A.H) (October 1230–21 December 1277) was a Sunni Shafi'ite jurist and hadith scholar. Ludwig W. Adamec (2009), ''Historical Dictionary of Islam'', pp.238-239. Scarecrow Press. . Al-Nawawi died at ...

and Ibn al-Athir in his exegesis said: "A Bedouin of the desert visited the Prophet’s tomb and greeted the Prophet, addressing him directly as if he were alive. "Peace upon you, Messenger of God!" Then he said, "I heard the word of God ‘If, when they had wronged themselves . . .,’ I came to you seeking pardon for my mistakes, longing for your intercession with our Lord!" The Bedouin then recited a poem in praise of Muhammad and departed. The person who witnessed the story says that he fell asleep, and in a dream he saw Muhammad saying to him, “O ‘Utbi, rejoin our brother the Bedouin and announce ohim the good news that God has pardoned him!”'' All jurists comprising

Ja'fari The Jaʿfarī school, also known as the Jafarite school, Jaʿfarī fiqh () or Ja'fari jurisprudence, is a prominent school of jurisprudence (''fiqh'') within Twelver and Ismaili (including Nizari) Shia Islam, named after the sixth Imam, Ja'far ...

and

are unanimous on the permissibility of tawassul whether during the lifetime of Muhammad or after his death. Syrian Islamic scholars Salih al-Nu`man, Abu Sulayman Suhayl al-Zabibi, and Mustafa ibn Ahmad al-Hasan al-Shatti al-Hanbali al-Athari al-Dimashqi have similarly released

Fatwa A fatwa (; ; ; ) is a legal ruling on a point of Islamic law (sharia) given by a qualified Islamic jurist ('' faqih'') in response to a question posed by a private individual, judge or government. A jurist issuing fatwas is called a ''mufti'', ...

s in support of the practice. Caliph Umar's prayer for rain after the death of Muhammad and specifies that on that occasion ‘Umar was wearing his mantle (al-burda), a detail confirming his ''tawassul'' through Muhammad at that occasion, as reported by

in his book ''History of the Caliphs''.

narrates similar situation as: Mrs Aisha room

* Visiting the

tombs A tomb ( ''tumbos'') or sepulchre () is a repository for the remains of the dead. It is generally any structurally enclosed interment space or burial chamber, of varying sizes. Placing a corpse into a tomb can be called ''immurement'', althou ...

of Muhammad, his companions and pious Muslims, an act they believe is supported by the Quran,

and the acts of the companions. More than any other tomb in the Islamic world, the shrine of Muhammad is considered a source of blessings for the visitor. A

of the Islamic prophet

Muhammad Muhammad (8 June 632 CE) was an Arab religious and political leader and the founder of Islam. Muhammad in Islam, According to Islam, he was a prophet who was divinely inspired to preach and confirm the tawhid, monotheistic teachings of A ...

states that, ''"He who visits my grave will be entitled to my intercession"'' and in a different version ''"I will intercede for those who have visited me or my tomb."'' Visiting Muhammad's tomb after the pilgrimage is considered by the majority of

legal scholars to be recommended. The early scholars of the

salaf Salaf (, "ancestors" or "predecessors"), also often referred to with the honorific expression of al-salaf al-ṣāliḥ (, "the pious predecessors"), are often taken to be the first three generations of Muslims. This comprises companions of the ...

Ahmad Ibn Hanbal Ahmad ibn Hanbal (; (164-241 AH; 780 – 855 CE) was an Arab Muslim scholar, jurist, theologian, traditionist, ascetic and eponym of the Hanbali school of Islamic jurisprudence—one of the four major orthodox legal schools of Sunni Islam. T ...

(d. 241 AH), Ishaq Ibn Rahwayh (d. 238 SH),

Abd Allah ibn al-Mubarak Abū ʿAbd al-Raḥmān Abd Allah ibn al-Mubarak (; –797) was an 8th-century traditionalist Sunni Muslim scholar and Hanafi jurist. Known by the title ''Amir al-Mu'minin fi al-Hadith'', he is considered a pious Muslim known for his memory and ...

(d. 189 AH) and

Imam Shafi'i Al-Shafi'i (; ;767–820 CE) was a Muslim scholar, jurist, muhaddith, traditionist, theologian, ascetic, and eponym of the Shafi'i school of Sunni Islamic jurisprudence. He is known to be the first to write a book upon the principles of Isl ...

(d. 204 AH) all permitted the practice of ''Ziyarah'' to Muhammad's tomb. According to the

scholar

Al-Hasan ibn 'Ali al-Barbahari Hassan or Hasan ( ) is an Arabic masculine given name in the Muslim world. As a surname, Hassan may be Arabic, Irish, Scottish, or Jewish (Sephardic Jews, Sephardic and Mizrahi Jews, Mizrahic) (see Hassan (surname), Hassan as a surname). Ety ...

(d. 275 AH), it is also obligatory to send salutations (salam) upon

Abu Bakr al-Siddiq Abd Allah ibn Abi Quhafa (23 August 634), better known by his '' kunya'' Abu Bakr, was a senior companion, the closest friend, and father-in-law of Muhammad. He served as the first caliph of the Rashidun Caliphate, ruling from 632 until his d ...

and ‘Umar ibn al-Khattab after having sent salutations upon Muhammad. The ''hadith'' scholar

Qadi Ayyad Abū al-Faḍl ʿIyāḍ ibn Mūsā ibn ʿIyāḍ ibn ʿAmr ibn Mūsā ibn ʿIyāḍ ibn Muḥammad ibn ʿAbd Allāh ibn Mūsā ibn ʿIyāḍ al-Yaḥṣubī al-Sabtī (Camilo Gómez-Rivas, Islamic Legal Thought: A Compendium of Muslim Jurists, ...

(d. 544 AH) stated that visiting Muhammad was ''"a sunna of the Muslims on which there was consensus, and a good and desirable deed."''

Ibn Hajar al-Asqalani Ibn Ḥajar al-ʿAsqalānī (; 18 February 1372 – 2 February 1449), or simply ibn Ḥajar, was a classic Islamic scholar "whose life work constitutes the final summation of the science of hadith." He authored some 150 works on hadith, history, ...

(d. 852 AH) explicitly stated that travelling to visit the tomb of Muhammad was ''"one of the best of actions and the noblest of pious deeds with which one draws near to God, and its legitimacy is a matter of consensus."'' Similarly,

Ibn Qudamah Ibn Qudama (January/February 11477 July 1223) was an ulama, Islamic scholar and aqidah, theologian of the Hanbali, Hanbali school of Sunni Islam. Born in the Palestine (region), Palestine region, Ibn Qudama authored many important treatises on fi ...

(d. 620 AH) considered ''Ziyarat'' of Muhammad to be recommended and also seeking intercession directly from Muhammad at his grave. Other historic scholars who recommended ''Ziyarah'' include

Imam al-Ghazali Al-Ghazali ( – 19 December 1111), archaically Latinization of names, Latinized as Algazelus, was a Shafi'i Sunni Muslim scholar and polymath. He is known as one of the most prominent and influential Faqih, jurisconsults, Principles of Islami ...

(d. 505 AH),

Imam Nawawi Yahya ibn Sharaf al-Nawawi (;‎ (631A.H-676A.H) (October 1230–21 December 1277) was a Sunni Shafi'ite jurist and hadith scholar.Ludwig W. Adamec (2009), ''Historical Dictionary of Islam'', pp.238-239. Scarecrow Press. . Al-Nawawi died at th ...

(d. 676 AH) and

Muhammad al-Munawi Muhammad 'Abd al-Ra'uf al-Munāwi (also Al-Manāwi) (), was a renowned Egyptian Islamic scholar of the Ottoman period. He was a prominent Shafi'i jurist, hadith specialist, historian, and mystic. He is considered one of the most greatest Sunni ...

(d. 1031 AH). The tombs of other Muslim religious figures are also respected. The son of

Ahmad ibn Hanbal Ahmad ibn Hanbal (; (164-241 AH; 780 – 855 CE) was an Arab Muslim scholar, jurist, theologian, traditionist, ascetic and eponym of the Hanbali school of Islamic jurisprudence—one of the four major orthodox legal schools of Sunni Islam. T ...

named Abdullah, one of the primary jurists of Sunnism, reportedly stated that he would prefer to be buried near the shrine of a saintly person than his own father. *Group

dhikr (; ; ) is a form of Islamic worship in which phrases or prayers are repeatedly recited for the purpose of remembering God. It plays a central role in Sufism, and each Sufi order typically adopts a specific ''dhikr'', accompanied by specific ...

: synchronized movements of the body while chanting the

names of God There are various names of God, many of which enumerate the various Quality (philosophy), qualities of a Supreme Being. The English word ''God (word), god'' (and its equivalent in other languages) is used by multiple religions as a noun to ref ...

. Some groups, notably those in the Sufi

Chishti Order The Chishti order () is a Sufi Tariqa, order of Sunni Islam named after the town of Chishti Sharif District, Chisht, Afghanistan where it was initiated by Abu Ishaq Shami. The order was brought to Herat and later spread across South Asia by Mu ...

, sing

Qawwali Qawwali is a form of Sufi Islamic devotional singing originating in the Indian subcontinent. Originally performed at Sufi shrines throughout the Indian subcontinent, it is famous throughout Pakistan, India, Bangladesh and Afghanistan and has ...

; others do not use musical instruments. *Letting the beard grow. The four schools of fiqh generally (with the exception of the Shafi and Hanbali school of fiqh) consider it unlawful to trim a beard less than a fistful length.

Sufi tradition

Sufism is a fundamental aspect of this movement. Imam

Ahmad Raza Khan Barelvi Ahmad Raza Khan Baraylawi (14 June 1856–28 October 1921), known reverentially as A'la Hazrat, (Grand Master), was an Islamic scholar, mufti, polymath, gnostic, poet from (undivided) India, he is considered as the founder of the Barelvi move ...

was part of the

Qadri Qaderi (also transcribed variously as Qadri, Qadiri, Qadry, Kadri, or Quadri) is an Arabic/Islamic surname. It is associated with the Sufi saint Abdul Qadir Gilani or the Qadiriyya order founded by him. People with the name include: Qaderi * Hab ...

and pledged ''

bay'ah ''Bayʿah'' (, "Pledge of allegiance"), in Islamic terminology, is an oath of allegiance to a leader. It is known to have been practiced by the Islamic prophet Muhammad. In Bedouin culture it was a procedure for choosing the leader of the trib ...

'' (allegiance) to Sayyid Shah Al ur-Rasul Marehrawi. Ahmad Raza Khan Barelvi instructed his followers in Sufi beliefs and practices. Traditional Sufi practices, such as devotion to Muhammad and the veneration of ''

wali The term ''wali'' is most commonly used by Muslims to refer to a saint, or literally a "friend of God".John Renard, ''Friends of God: Islamic Images of Piety, Commitment, and Servanthood'' (Berkeley: University of California Press, 2008); John ...

s'', remain an integral part of the movement (which defended the Sufi status quo in South Asia. They were at the forefront of defending Sufi doctrines, such as the celebration of the birth of Muhammad and

. The wider Ahle Sunnat Wal jamaat Barelvi movement was sustained and connected through thousands of Sufi

Urs Urs (from ''‘Urs'') or Urus (literal meaning wedding), is the death anniversary of a Sufi saint, usually held at the saint's dargah (shrine or tomb). In most Sufi orders such as Naqshbandiyyah, Suhrawardiyya, Chishtiyya, Qadiriyya, etc. ...

festivals at Dargahs/shrines in south Asia, as well as in the Britain and elsewhere.

Qadri and many Sunni scholars countered Deobandi, Ahl-i Hadith and Wahabi hardliners which resulted in the institutionalization of diverse Sufi movements in many countries of the world.

Presence

Barelvi demographics are more than 200 million around the world. The Barelvi movement is spread across the globe with millions of followers, thousands of mosques, institutions and organizations in South Asia, parts of Africa and Europe, the United Kingdom and the United States.

India

Obaidullah Khan Azmi in hotel west inn delhi

India Today ''India Today'' is a weekly Indian English-language news magazine published by Living Media, Living Media India Limited. It is the most widely circulated magazine in India, with a readership of close to 8 million. In 2014, ''India Today'' laun ...

'' estimated that over two-thirds of Muslims in India adhere to the Sufi-oriented Ahle Sunnat (Barelvi) movement.

Bareilly Sharif Dargah Bareilly Sharif Dargah is a Dargah (shrine) or mausoleum of Ahmed Raza Khan Barelvi, a 19th-century islamic scholar who founded the Barelvi movement. It is located in Bareilly district in the state of Uttar Pradesh, India. The Dome of the Dar ...

Markaz-e-Ahle Sunnah at Dargah Ala Hazrat is one of the main centers of Ahle Sunnat Wal Jamaat movement in south Asia. Millions of people turned to seek guidance in Islamic matters towards this center of Islamic learning. Bareilly city has been the heart-throb of Sunni Muslims since 1870 when revered Islamic Scholar Ala Hazrat Imam Ahmed Raza Khan established Fatwa committee under the guidance of his father

. Later, his son Maulana Hamid Raza Khan and Mufti Azam-e-Hind

Mustafa Raza Khan Mustafa Raza Khan Qadri (1892–1981), was an Indian Sunni Muslim scholar and author, and leader of the Sunni Barelvi movement following the death of its founder, his father Ahmed Raza Khan. He was known as ''Mufti-Azam-i-Hind'' to his follo ...

continued Fatwa work.

Stand against the forced sterilization actions of the government

In the mid-70s, during

The Emergency (India) The Emergency in India was a 21-month period from 1975 to 1977 when Prime Minister Indira Gandhi declared a state of emergency across the country by citing internal and external threats to the country. Officially issued by President Fakhru ...

, on the advice of

Sanjay Gandhi Sanjay Gandhi (14 December 1946 – 23 June 1980) was an Indian politician. He was a member of the Lok Sabha and was the younger son of Indira Gandhi and Feroze Gandhi. During his lifetime, he was widely expected to succeed his mother as head ...

, son of Prime Minister

Indira Gandhi Indira Priyadarshini Gandhi (Given name, ''née'' Nehru; 19 November 1917 – 31 October 1984) was an Indian politician and stateswoman who served as the Prime Minister of India, prime minister of India from 1966 to 1977 and again from 1980 un ...

, the Indian government tried to force men to undergo vasectomies (Nasbandi). Huge but unconfirmed numbers of young men were forcibly sterilized. Government officials, and even school teachers, were ordered to induce a predetermined number of males to endure vasectomies or Nasbandi, as they were called. Indian Muslims were finding it difficult to oppose this harsh government action because at the time, it was the emergency and the powers were totally in the hands of Prime Minister Mufti-e-Azam Mustafa Raza Khan. At that time, he acted without pressure and passed a verdict in which he banned vasectomies, declaring them un-Islamic. He published his judicial verdict and circulated it all over India, giving Muslims a sigh of relief but triggering tension between Muslims and the Indian government. The government unsuccessfully tried to get the Fatwa withdrawn and within two years, Indira Gandhi lost the

Parliamentary elections A general election is an electoral process to choose most or all members of a governing body at the same time. They are distinct from by-elections, which fill individual seats that have become vacant between general elections. General elections ...

Shah Bano Case Movement

Indian Supreme Court in case of Mohd. Ahmed Khan v. Shah Bano Begum delivered a judgment favouring maintenance given to an aggrieved divorced Muslim woman. Maulana

Obaidullah Khan Azmi Obaidullah Khan Azmi is an Indian Politician and Islamic scholar belonging to the sunni movement of Islam. He joined Janata Dal (Secular) on 13 March 2023.

, Allama Yaseen Akhtar Misbahi and some other Sunni leaders started movement against the judgment. In 1985, Misbahi was elected as the vice president of the

All India Muslim Personal Law Board All India Muslim Personal Law Board (AIMPLB) is a non-governmental organisation (NGO) in India that represents the interests of Muslims in matters of personal law. It was formed in 1973 with the objective of protecting and promoting the appli ...

, where he advocated for the protection of Shariat. They led various mass protests in various parts of the country specially in Mumbai. Speeches of

Obaidullah Khan Azmi Obaidullah Khan Azmi is an Indian Politician and Islamic scholar belonging to the sunni movement of Islam. He joined Janata Dal (Secular) on 13 March 2023.

were widely circulated and he had become a most sought after speaker for anti-Shah Bano case meetings in

Mumbai Mumbai ( ; ), also known as Bombay ( ; its official name until 1995), is the capital city of the Indian state of Maharashtra. Mumbai is the financial capital and the most populous city proper of India with an estimated population of 12 ...

Mumbai police The Greater Mumbai Police (Marathi language, Marathi: बृहन्मुंबई पोलीस, IAST: ''Brihanmumbaī Pulīs'', formerly ''Bombay City Police'') is the Police, police department of the city of Mumbai, Maharashtra. It is a cit ...

filed case against the Maulana and expelled him from Mumbai declaring his speeches inflammatory. Then, the government under pressure enacted a law with given the right to maintenance for the period of ''

iddat In Islam, ’''iddah'' or ''iddat'' (; "period of waiting") is the period a woman must observe after the death of her husband or after a divorce, during which she may not marry another man. One of its main purposes is to remove any doubt as to ...

'' after the divorce, and shifting the onus of maintaining her to her relatives or the

Waqf A (; , plural ), also called a (, plural or ), or ''mortmain'' property, is an Alienation (property law), inalienable charitable financial endowment, endowment under Sharia, Islamic law. It typically involves donating a building, plot ...

Board.

Scholars, Organizations and Institutions

At present chief of dargah Ala Hazrat Subhan Raza Khan, chief Qazi

Asjad Raza Khan Asjad Raza Khan (born 16 October 1970), He is also known as Ameer-e-Ahle Sunnat, and Huzoor Qaid-e-Millat, is an Indian Islamic scholar who belongs to the Barelvi movement and a descendant of Ahmed Raza Khan Barelvi and son and successor of Akh ...

Ziaul Mustafa Razvi Qadri Zia-al Mustafa Aazmi (; ) known reverentially as Muhaddis-e-Kabeer is an Indian Islamic scholar, teacher, orator, debater, Muhaddith and Faqih and is currently serving as Naa’ib Qaazi ul Quz’zat fil Hind (Deputy Islamic Chief Justice of Ind ...

, Muhammad Madni Ashraf Ashrafi Al-Jilani, Syed Ameen Mian Qaudri of Barkatiya Sufi chain, Shaikh Aboobacker Ahmad of All India Sunni Jamiatul Ulma,

Sayyid Ibraheem Khaleel Al Bukhari Sayyid Ibraheem Khaleel Al Bukhari (Malayalam: സയ്യിദ് ഇബ്റാഹീം ഖലീല്‍ അല്‍ ബുഖാരി) (Arabic: السيد ابراهيم الخليل البخاري) is founder and chairman of Ma'din ...

, Abdul Rashid Dawoodi and Mufti Mukarram Ahmad of Royal Mosque Fatehpuri Masjid Delhi are some of the influential Sunni leaders of India. Bareilly based All India

Raza Academy Raza Academy is a Sunni Muslim Islamist group based in Maharashtra, India. It was formed in 1978 by Muhammad Saeed Noori as a small publishing house, and later became known for protests for the rights of Muslims. The group publishes books of ...

, Mumbai and Kerala based

All India Sunni Jamiyyathul Ulama All India Sunni Jamiyyathul Ulama, or All India Muslim Scholars Association, is an organisation of Islamic scholars in India. Kanthapuram A. P. Aboobacker Musliyar currently serves as the general secretary of All India Sunni Jamiyyathul Ulama. ...

are influential bodies.

Idara-e-Shariah Idara-e-Shariah, () (), is a socio-religious organization of Indian Muslims associated with the Ahle Sunnat wal Jamaat (Barelvi) movement. Its headquarter is situated in Sultanganj, Patna, Bihar. It was established in 1968 to deal with problems ...

(Shara'ai Council) is highest body in Bihar, Jharkhand and Orrissa.

All India Ulema and Mashaikh Board The All India Ulama & Mashaikh Board (abbreviated as AIUMB) is an Islamic Non-governmental Organisation and a representative body consisting the Sajjadanasheens of Dargahs, Imams of Mosques, the Teacher and Muftis working in the Madrasa belon ...

and

All India Tanzeem Ulama-e-Islam All India Tanzeem Ulama-e-Islam (AITUI), also known as Tanzeem Ulama-e-Islam is an organisation of Barelvi movement, Barelvi Sunni Islam, Sunni Muslims. In 2019, an article in the Times of India via the Times News Network feed claimed AITUI wa ...

also works among Sunnis. The

Grand Mufti of India The Grand Mufti of India is the most senior and influential religious authority of the Sunni Muslim Community of India. The incumbent is Sheikh Abubakr Ahmad, general secretary of All India Sunni Jamiyyathul Ulama, who was conferred the titl ...

is the senior and influential religious authority of the Islamic Community of India. The incumbent is Shafi Sunni scholar

Sheikh Abubakr Ahmad Kanthapuram A. P. Aboobacker Musliyar, officially known as Sheikh Abubakr Ahmad (born 22 March 1931), is the tenth and current Grand Mufti of India. and General Secretary of the All India Sunni Jamiyyathul Ulama (the Indian Muslim Scholars As ...

, general secretary of

, who was conferred the title in February 2019 at the Ghareeb Nawaz Peace Conference held at

Ramlila Maidan Ramlila Maidan is a large ground located in New Delhi, India, traditionally used for staging the annual Ramlila. It is used for religious festivals, major political rallies and meetings, and entertainment events. It is located near New Delhi R ...

, New Delhi, organised by the

. For Islamic missionary activities,

Sunni Dawate Islami Sunni Dawate Islami is an Indian Non-governmental and socio-religious organisation which works for sunni muslims of India founded by Muhammad Shakir Ali Noori in 1990. It is headquartered at Mumbai, Maharashtra and other offices abroad. They o ...

(SDI) is an important Islamic preaching movement in India. It is working in at least 20 countries around the world. Muhammad Shakir Ali Noori founded the movement in

. It has a large network of (Dawah workers) preachers in India and in other countries. Sunni Dawat-e-Islami has established many modern and religious educational institutions around India and some in other parts of the world. It holds an annual conference

International Sunni Ijtema International is an adjective (also used as a noun) meaning "between nations". International may also refer to: Music Albums * International (Kevin Michael album), ''International'' (Kevin Michael album), 2011 * International (New Order album), ' ...

in Mumbai, which is said to be attended by between 150,000 and 300,000 people; the first day (Friday) is reserved for women. Followers of Sunni Dawate Islami wear white turbans. In 2008, SDI had a European headquarters at Noor Hall in Preston, England, and centres in some other English towns, including:

Blackburn Blackburn () is an industrial town and the administrative centre of the Blackburn with Darwen borough in Lancashire, England. The town is north of the West Pennine Moors on the southern edge of the River Ribble, Ribble Valley, east of Preston ...

Bolton Bolton ( , locally ) is a town in Greater Manchester in England. In the foothills of the West Pennine Moors, Bolton is between Manchester, Blackburn, Wigan, Bury, Greater Manchester, Bury and Salford. It is surrounded by several towns and vill ...

Leicester Leicester ( ) is a city status in the United Kingdom, city, Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority area, and the county town of Leicestershire in the East Midlands of England. It is the largest city in the East Midlands with a popula ...

and

Manchester Manchester () is a city and the metropolitan borough of Greater Manchester, England. It had an estimated population of in . Greater Manchester is the third-most populous metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, with a population of 2.92&nbs ...

. SDI also had a North American headquarters in

Chicago Chicago is the List of municipalities in Illinois, most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois and in the Midwestern United States. With a population of 2,746,388, as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of Unite ...

. By 2008, SDI had founded 12

madrasa Madrasa (, also , ; Arabic: مدرسة , ), sometimes Romanization of Arabic, romanized as madrasah or madrassa, is the Arabic word for any Educational institution, type of educational institution, secular or religious (of any religion), whet ...

s in India. In 2020, SDI says that in India it manages 50 madrasas and 15 schools that teach in English. SDI says it has an educational centre in Bolton (England), and an educational centre in

Mauritius Mauritius, officially the Republic of Mauritius, is an island country in the Indian Ocean, about off the southeastern coast of East Africa, east of Madagascar. It includes the main island (also called Mauritius), as well as Rodrigues, Ag ...

Network of madrasas

Al Jamiatul Ashrafia Al Jamiatul Ashrafia (, ) is a Sunni Madrasa in India. It is located in Mubarakpur in a Northern State of India, Uttar Pradesh. History It started off as a madrasa called ''Misbah al-Ulum'' in 1898 in the town of Mubarakpur of what was then ...

, Azamgarh,

Jamia Amjadia Rizvia Jamia Amjadia Rizvia is an Islamic seminary (Madrasa) of the Sunni denomination situated in Ghosi city in Indian state of Uttar Pradesh. It was established by Ziaul Mustafa Razvi Qadri a north Indian Hadith studies#Muhaddith: scholar of hadith, ...

, Ghosi

Al-Jame-atul-Islamia Al-Jame-atul Islamia is an Islamic seminary of Sunni-Barelvi Muslims in India. It is located in Raunahi, Ayodhya District, near Lucknow, in the north Indian state of Uttar Pradesh in India. History Al-Jame-atul-Islamia was founded in 1964 by ...

, Mau,

Markazu Saquafathi Sunniyya Markazu Saquafathi Sunniyya, also known as Markaz is a nonprofit organization in India, which administers educational and charitable institutions throughout the country. Its head office is located in Kozhikode (city), Kozhikode city. It was est ...

Ma'din Ma'din Academy registered as Ma'dinu Ssaquafathil Islamiyya under Societies Registration Act of 1860. No: 1004/99, established in 1997, is an institution which runs 45 educational institutions and charity with 25,000 students. Its headquarters ...

, Jamia Saadiya Kerala and

Jamia Nizamia Jamia Nizamia more properly, Jami'ah Nizamiyyah, is one of the oldest Islamic seminaries of higher learning for Muslims located in Hyderabad, India. History It was founded by Anwarullah Farooqui, honorifically known as Fadilat Jung (the t ...

, Hyderabad are some of the movement's most notable institutions.

or Jamia Markaz operates more than 50 institutions and it also operates many sub-centers across the world.

is considered the main institution of learning in northern India and it is attended by thousands of students who come from different parts of the country.

Pakistan

Sufism has strong links to South Asia dating back to the eighth and ninth centuries and preaches religious tolerance, encourages spiritual over ritualistic practicing of Islam, and encourages diversity. The Ahle Sunnat Barelvi movement has originated from South Asian Sufism itself. The religious and political leaders of this movement were followers of Sufism and lead the masses in to revivalist Sunni movement. ''

Time Time is the continuous progression of existence that occurs in an apparently irreversible process, irreversible succession from the past, through the present, and into the future. It is a component quantity of various measurements used to sequ ...

'' and ''

The Washington Post ''The Washington Post'', locally known as ''The'' ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'' or ''WP'', is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C., the national capital. It is the most widely circulated newspaper in the Washington m ...

'' gave assessments that vast majority of Muslims in Pakistan follow Ahle Sunnat Barelvi movement.Karin Brulliard
In Pakistan, even anti-violence Islamic sect lauds assassination of liberal governor
. The Washington Post, Saturday, 29 January 2011; 9:55 PM. Political scientist Rohan Bedi estimated that 60% of Pakistani Muslims follow this movement. The movement form a majority in the most populous state

Punjab Punjab (; ; also romanised as Panjāb or Panj-Āb) is a geopolitical, cultural, and historical region in South Asia. It is located in the northwestern part of the Indian subcontinent, comprising areas of modern-day eastern Pakistan and no ...

Sindh Sindh ( ; ; , ; abbr. SD, historically romanized as Sind (caliphal province), Sind or Scinde) is a Administrative units of Pakistan, province of Pakistan. Located in the Geography of Pakistan, southeastern region of the country, Sindh is t ...

and

Azad Kashmir Azad Jammu and Kashmir (), abbreviated as AJK and colloquially referred to as simply Azad Kashmir ( ), is a region administered by Pakistan as a nominally self-governing entitySee: * * * and constituting the western portion of the larger ...

regions of Pakistan. In the aftermath of the 1948 Partition, they formed an association to represent the movement in Pakistan, called

Jamiat Ulema-e-Pakistan Jamiat Ulema-e-Pakistan (JUP) () is an Islamist political party in Pakistan. It was founded in 1948 by leaders of All India Sunni Conference. The JUP exercised considerable political influence in Pakistani politics during the 1970s to 2003. Its st ...

(JUP). The ulema have advocated application of

sharia law Sharia, Sharī'ah, Shari'a, or Shariah () is a body of religious law that forms a part of the Islamic tradition based on scriptures of Islam, particularly the Qur'an and hadith. In Islamic terminology ''sharīʿah'' refers to immutable, inta ...

across the country. They are largest Muslim sect in Pakistan and have several organizations and parties which are Dawat e Islami International, Tanzeem ul Madaris Ahle Sunnat,

Sunni Tehreek Pakistan Sunni Tehreek or simply Sunni Tehreek is a Pakistani Barlevi organization. The organization was founded by Muhammad Saleem Qadri in 1990 in order to prevent Barelevi mosques from being seized by Deobandi and Wahabi organizations. It ...

(ST),

Jamaat Ahle Sunnat Jamaat Ahle Sunnat (), also known as Ahle Sunnat Wal Jamaat, is a Muslim religious organization in Pakistan that represents the Barelvi movement. It is supported by Mashaikh including all spiritual centers. As a Sunni organisation it has adopt ...

Pakistan Awami Tehreek The Pakistan Awami Tehreek commonly known as PAT () (''Pakistan People's Movement'') is a political party in Pakistan, founded by Muhammad Tahir-ul-Qadri, took part in general elections in 1990 and 2002. Manifesto Pakistan Awami Tehreek pres ...

(PAT),

Sunni Ittehad Council The Sunni Ittehad Council (''Ittehad'' in Urdu for "unity", from ''al-Ittihad'' in Arabic meaning "united" or "jointly") is a political alliance of Islamic political and Barelvi religious parties in Pakistan which represents followers of the sch ...

, Tehreek Labaik Ya Rasool Allah (TLYR) and

Majlis-e-Tahaffuz-e-Khatme Nabuwwat -e-Tahaffuz-e-Khatme Nabuwwat () is the programmatic name of a Pakistani Barelvi organization and Islamic religious movement in Pakistan aiming to protect the belief in the finality of prophethood of Muhammad based on Quran and Sunnah concep ...

are some of the leading organisations of Pakistani Sunni Muslims. Jamia Nizamia Ghousia, Jamia Naeemia Lahore and Dar-ul-Madinah Schools are some of the leading seminaries of this movement.

Finality of Prophethood movement

In 1950, scholars of Ahle Sunnat Barelvi movement initiated a sub-movement named, '

' the history of which can be traced back to the 1880s when

Mirza Ghulam Ahmad Mirza Ghulam Ahmad (13 February 1835 – 26 May 1908) was an Indian religious leader and the founder of the Ahmadiyya movement in Islam. He claimed to have been divinely appointed as the promised Messiah and '' Mahdī'', in fulfillment of th ...

Qadian Qadian (; ) is a town and a municipal council in Gurdaspur district, north-east of Amritsar, situated north-east of Batala city in the state of Punjab, India. Qadian is the birthplace of Mirza Ghulam Ahmad, the founder of the Ahmadiyya movem ...

proclaimed himself to be a prophet in Islam. This proclamation of Mirza Ghulam Ahmad was against the tenets of Islam and created a schism in the Muslim community. Therefore, with the aim to protect the belief in the finality of prophethood of

based on their concept of

Khatam an-Nabiyyin Seal of the Prophets (; or ) is a title used in the Qur'an and by Muslims to designate the Islamic prophet Muhammad as the last of the prophets sent by God. The title is applied to Muhammad in verse 33:40 of the Qur'an, with the popular Yu ...

. The movement launched countrywide campaigns and protests to declare Ahmadis as non-Muslims.

Zafar Ali Khan Zafar Ali Khan (1873 – 27 November 1956) was a Pakistani writer, poet, translator and a journalist who played an important role in the Pakistan Movement against the British rule. He was one of the Majlis-e-Ahrar-e-Islam's founding memb ...

Khwaja Qamar ul Din Sialvi Khawaja Muhammad Qamar Ud Din Sialvi (1906–1981), was a Pakistani Islamic scholar, religious leader and politician. He was a Waliullah (Sufi saint) of the Chishti Sufi order; his Sufi convent (zawyah) is located in the village of Sial Sha ...

, Syed Faiz-ul Hassan Shah,

Ahmad Saeed Kazmi Syed Ahmad Saeed Kazmi (13 March 1913 – 4 June 1986, ) was a Pakistani Islamic scholar and Sufi who belonged to the Barelvi movement of Sunni Islam. He migrated to Multan in 1935 from Amroha. He is known for his contribution to the P ...

Abdul Sattar Khan Niazi Abdus Sattar Khan Niazi (مولاناعبدالستارخان نیازی) (1 October 1915 – 2 May 2001) was a Pakistani religious and political leader and a Pakistan Movement activist. Early life He was born on 1 October 1915 at Isakhel ...

, Pir of Manki Sharif

Amin ul-Hasanat Amin ul-Hasanat (1 February 1922 – 5 January 1960), better known as the Pir of Manki Sharif, was the son of Pir Abdul Rauf and an Islamic religious leader in the North-West Frontier Province (NWFP) of British India (now Pakistan). After ...

Muhammad Karam Shah al-Azhari Muhammad Karam Shah al-Azhari (1 July 1918 – 7 April 1998) was an Islamic scholar of Hanafi jurisprudence, Sufi, and Muslim leader. He is known for his work Tafsir Zia ul Quran, ''Tafsir Zia ul Quran fi Tafsir ul Quran'', (Transl. The lig ...

, Sardar Ahmad Qadri and Muhammad Hussain Naeemi were the leaders of the movement. Scholars of various schools of thought under the leadership of Shah Ahmad Noorani Siddiqui, who was president of

initiated a successful campaign against the

Ahmadis Ahmadiyya, officially the Ahmadiyya Muslim Jama'at (AMJ), is an Islamic messianic movement originating in British India in the late 19th century. It was founded by Mirza Ghulam Ahmad (1835–1908), who said he had been divinely appointed a ...

and compelled the National Assembly to declare Ahmadis as non-Muslims. And such a clause was inserted in the 1973

Constitution of Pakistan The Constitution of Pakistan ( ; ISO 15919, ISO: '' Āīn-ē-Pākistān''), also known as the 1973 Constitution, is the supreme law of Pakistan. The document guides Pakistan's law, political culture, and system. It sets out the state's outlin ...

Second Amendment to the Constitution of Pakistan The Second Amendment to the Constitution of Pakistan () became a part of the Constitution of Pakistan on 7 September 1974 under the Government of Prime Minister Zulfikar Ali Bhutto. It declared that Ahmadis (whom the amendment calls Qadianis) ...

. After meeting the first agenda, Khatme-Nabuwat started the next phase of their campaign – to bar Ahmadis from using the title of Muslim. The then president General

Muhammad Zia-ul-Haq Muhammad Zia-ul-Haq (12 August 192417 August 1988) was a Pakistani military officer and statesman who served as the sixth president of Pakistan from 1978 until Death of Muhammad Zia-ul-Haq, his death in an airplane crash in 1988. He also se ...

passed an ordinance in 1984 amending the Pakistan Penal Code (PPC) commonly known as

Ordinance XX Ordinance XX () is a legal ordinance of the Government of Pakistan that was promulgated under the regime of General Muhammad Zia-ul-Haq on 26 April 1984 and is meant to prohibit the practice of Islam and the usage of Islamic terms and titles for ...

. Sunni leaders Shaikh ul Quran Allama Ghulam Ali Okarvi, Muhammad Shafee Okarvi,

Syed Shujaat Ali Qadri Syed Shuja’at Ali Qadri (Urdu: ) (January 1941 – 27 January 1993) was the first Grand Mufti of Pakistan, Judge of Federal Shariat Court,Federal Shariat Court Annual Report 2003, p56 a member of the Pakistani Council of Islamic Ideolo ...

, Iftikharul Hasan Shah and Khalid Hasan Shah were the main leaders of this sub-movement.

Madarsa Network in Pakistan

Tanzeem-ul-Madaris Ahl-e-Sunnat ASJ education board is the central organisation to register Ahle Sunnat Barelvi Madarsas. The board follows Sunni Barelvi ideology and is opponent of the Wahabi doctrine. As per Islam online, around 10,000 madrassas are managed by Tanzeem-ul-Madaris Pakistan. Tahzibul Akhbar in its report on the educational services of Religious institutions has estimated that Tanzeem has 3000 institutions in Khyber Pakhtunwa and 1000 in the area of Hazara. Muhammad Ramzan, in his report on Madarsas has stated that Tanzeem has most has maximum 5584 Madarsas in Punjab state in comparison to others. 'In Lahore 336, Sheikhupura 336, Gujranwala 633, Rawalpindi 387, Faisalabad 675, Sargodha 461, Multan 944, Sahiwal 458, D.G.Khan 605, Bahawalpur 749 madarsa are affiliated with the Tanzeem'. According to Rizwan, 'the Madarsas of Tanzeem are rarely involved in militancy which is maximum in Deobandis. In population, Barelvis or traditional Sunnis outnumber all other sects combined. They are about 53.4% of total population of the province'.

Stand on blasphemy laws

This is the photo of Mufti Muhammad Akmal Madani Qadri

The movement has opposed any change in the Pakistani blasphemy laws. They have always uphold the blasphemy as highest crime and endorsed the strict punishment for blasphemers. Punjab governor

Salman Taseer Salman Taseer (; 4 January 2011) was a Pakistani businessman and politician, who served as the 34th Governor of Punjab from 2008 until his assassination in 2011. A member of the Pakistan Peoples Party since the 1980s, he was elected to the ...

was assassinated on 4 January 2011 by

Mumtaz Qadri Malik Mumtaz Hussain Qadri (1985 – 29 February 2016), better known as Mumtaz Qadri (, ), was a Pakistani Elite Police commando who is known for murdering Salmaan Taseer, Governor of Punjab, Pakistan, Governor of Punjab. Qadri was a commando ...

, a member of the Barelvi group

Dawat-e-Islami Dawat-e-Islami () is a Sunni Islamic organization based in Pakistan. It has several Islamic educational institutions around the world. In addition to local charity efforts, Dawat-e-Islami offers online courses in Islamic studies and runs a te ...

, due to Taseer's opposition to Pakistan's

blasphemy laws A blasphemy law is a law prohibiting blasphemy, which is the act of insulting or showing contempt or lack of Reverence (attitude), reverence to a deity, or sacred objects, or toward something considered sacred or inviolable. According to Pew Re ...

.Omar Waraich
Why Pakistan's Taliban Target the Muslim Majority
''

'', Thursday, 7 April 2011. Over five hundred scholars supported Qadri and a boycott of Taseer's funeral.R. Upadhyay
Barelvis and Deobandhis: "Birds of the Same Feather"
.

The Jamestown Foundation The Jamestown Foundation is a Washington, D.C.–based non-partisan defense policy think tank. Founded in 1984 as a platform to support Soviet defectors, its stated mission is to inform and educate policy makers about events and trends, which i ...

Sufi Militants Struggle with Deobandi Jihadists in Pakistan
, 24 February 2011.

United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees The Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) is a United Nations agency mandated to aid and protect refugees, forcibly displaced communities, and stateless people, and to assist in their voluntary repatriation, l ...

: Terrorism Monitor Volume: 9 Issue: 8. Retrieved 11 March 2013.Pervez Hoodbhoy
A long, sad year after Salman Taseer's killing
.

The Hindu ''The Hindu'' is an Indian English-language daily newspaper owned by The Hindu Group, headquartered in Chennai, Tamil Nadu. It was founded as a weekly publication in 1878 by the Triplicane Six, becoming a daily in 1889. It is one of the India ...

, 4 January 2012.

Persecution

They have been targeted and killed by radical Deobandi groups in Pakistan such as the TTP, SSP, LeJ, etc. Suicide attacks, vandalism and destruction of sites considered holy to those in the Sunni Barelvi movement have been perpetrated by Deobandi extremist groups. This includes attacks, destruction and vandalism of Sufi

Data Darbar Data Darbar () is an Islamic shrine located in Lahore, Punjab, Pakistan. It is the largest Sufi shrine in South Asia. It was built to house the remains of al-Hujwiri, commonly known as ''Data Ganj Baksh'' or more colloquially as ''Data Sahab'', ...

in Lahore, Abdullah Shah Ghazi's tomb in Karachi, Khal Magasi in Balochistan, and Rahman Baba's tomb in Peshawar. The murder of various Barelvi leaders have also been committed by Deobandi terrorists. The clerics claim that there is a bias against them by various

Pakistani Pakistanis (, ) are the citizens and nationals of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan. Pakistan is the fifth-most populous country, with a population of over 241.5 million, having the second-largest Muslim population as of 2023. As much as ...

establishments such as the DHA, who tend to appoint

Imams Imam (; , '; : , ') is an Islamic leadership position. For Sunni Muslims, Imam is most commonly used as the title of a prayer leader of a mosque. In this context, imams may lead Islamic prayers, serve as community leaders, and provide relig ...

for mosques in their housing complexes rather than Barelvi ones. Historical landmarks such as

Badshahi Masjid The Badshahi Mosque (; ) is a Mughal-era imperial mosque located in Lahore, Punjab, Pakistan. It was constructed between 1671 and 1673 during the rule of Aurangzeb, opposite of the Lahore Fort on the northern outskirts of the historic Wall ...

also have Deobandi Imams, which is a fact that has been used as evidence by Barelvi clerics for bias against Barelvis in Pakistan. The ''Milade Mustafa Welfare Society'' has asserted that the Religious Affairs Department of DHA interferes with Human Resources to ensure that Deobandi Imams are selected for mosques in their housing complex. During the 1990s and 2000s, sporadic violence resulted from disputes between Barelvis and Deobandis over control of Pakistani mosques. The conflict came to a head in May 2001, when sectarian riots broke out after the assassination of

leader Saleem Qadri. In April 2006 in

Karachi Karachi is the capital city of the Administrative units of Pakistan, province of Sindh, Pakistan. It is the List of cities in Pakistan by population, largest city in Pakistan and 12th List of largest cities, largest in the world, with a popul ...

, a bomb attack on a Barelvi gathering celebrating Muhammad's birthday killed 57 people, including several Sunni Tehreek leaders. Militants believed to be affiliated with the Taliban and

Sipah-e-Sahaba The Sipah-e-Sahaba (SS), also known as the Millat-e-Islamiyya (MI), was a banned Sunni Islamist Deobandi organisation in Pakistan. Founded by Pakistani cleric Haq Nawaz Jhangvi in 1989 after breaking away from Sunni Deobandi party Jamiat Ulem ...

attacked Barelvis celebrating ''

'' in

Faisalabad Faisalabad, formerly known as Lyallpur, is the List of cities in Punjab, Pakistan by population, second-largest city and primary List of cities in Punjab, Pakistan by population, industrial center of the Pakistani province of Punjab, Pakistan ...

and

Dera Ismail Khan Dera Ismail Khan (; Urdu and , ), abbreviated as D.I. Khan, is a city and capital of Dera Ismail Khan District, located in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan. It is the 10th largest city of Pakistan and third or fourth largest in the province of Khy ...

on 27 February 2010, sparking tensions between the groups. In 2021, the

Pakistani government The Government of Pakistan () (abbreviated as GoP), constitutionally known as the Federal Government, commonly known as the Centre, is the national authority of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, a federal republic located in South Asia ...

officially banned the

Tehreek-e-Labbaik Pakistan Tehreek-e-Labbaik Pakistan (; TLP), also known as Tehreek Labbaik Ya Rasool Allah is a far-right Islamist populist political party in Pakistan. The party was founded by Khadim Hussain Rizvi in August 2015, who also became it’s first A ...

and is severely cracking down on Sunni Muslim political voices of the Barelvi movement. Deobandi political parties like

Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam (F) Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam Pakistan also known the Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam or simply as Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam (F) (; ; JUI (F)) is an Islamic fundamentalist political party in Pakistan. Established as the ''Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam'' in 1945, it is th ...

, however, are still freely operating and even supported by elements within the Pakistani government.

Bangladesh

Barelvis form a sizeable portion of the

communities in Bangladesh. It identifies under the banner of Ahl-e-Sunnat Wal Jama'at (ASWJ) along with other

groups which have strong bases in Dhaka, Chittagong and Sylhet such as the

Maizbhandaria The Maizbhandari (), or sometimes Maijbhandari (), order or '' tariqa'' of Sufism within Sunni Islam was founded in the late 19th century by the Bengali Sufi saint Ahmad Ullah Maizbhandari from Chittagong. It is the only Sufi order to have or ...

, and this serves as a central organization for the Barelvi ulema in Bangladesh. A majority of Bangladeshi Muslims perceive Sufis as a source of spiritual wisdom and guidance and their

Khanqah A Sufi lodge is a building designed specifically for gatherings of a Sufi brotherhood or ''tariqa'' and is a place for spiritual practice and religious education. They include structures also known as ''khānaqāh'', ''zāwiya'', ''ribāṭ'' ...

s and

Dargah A Sufi shrine or dargah ( ''dargâh'' or ''dargah'', Turkish: ''dergâh'', Hindustani: ''dargāh'' दरगाह درگاہ, ''dôrgah'') is a shrine or tomb built over the grave of a revered religious figure, often a Sufi saint or dervi ...

s as nerve centers of Muslim society and large number of Bangladeshi Muslims identify themselves with a Sufi order, almost half of whom adhere to the

order that became popular during the

Mughal Mughal or Moghul may refer to: Related to the Mughal Empire * Mughal Empire of South Asia between the 16th and 19th centuries * Mughal dynasty * Mughal emperors * Mughal people, a social group of Central and South Asia * Mughal architecture * Mug ...

times, although the earliest Sufis in

Bengal Bengal ( ) is a Historical geography, historical geographical, ethnolinguistic and cultural term referring to a region in the Eastern South Asia, eastern part of the Indian subcontinent at the apex of the Bay of Bengal. The region of Benga ...

, such as

Shah Jalal Shāh Jalāl Mujarrad Kunyāʾī (), popularly known as Shah Jalal (), was a celebrated Sufi Saint, conqueror and historical figure of Bengal. His name is often associated with the Muslim conquest of Sylhet and the Spread of Islam into the ...

, belonged to the

Suhrawardiyya The Suhrawardi order (, ) is a tariqa, Sufi order founded by Abu al-Najib Suhrawardi, Abu ’l-Nad̲j̲īb Suhrawardī (died 1168). Lacking a centralised structure, it eventually divided into various branches. The order was especially prominent i ...

order, whose global center is still

Maner Sharif Maner, also known as Maner Sharif, is a historic town and a block in Patna district of Bihar, India. Situated approximately 24 km west of Patna on NH-922, it is renowned for its Mughal-era dargahs and as an important Sufi pilgrimage center. ...

in Bihar. During the

Sultanate period Sultan (; ', ) is a position with several historical meanings. Originally, it was an Arabic abstract noun meaning "strength", "authority", "rulership", derived from the verbal noun ', meaning "authority" or "power". Later, it came to be used ...

, Sufis emerged and formed

khanqah A Sufi lodge is a building designed specifically for gatherings of a Sufi brotherhood or ''tariqa'' and is a place for spiritual practice and religious education. They include structures also known as ''khānaqāh'', ''zāwiya'', ''ribāṭ'' ...

s and

dargah A Sufi shrine or dargah ( ''dargâh'' or ''dargah'', Turkish: ''dergâh'', Hindustani: ''dargāh'' दरगाह درگاہ, ''dôrgah'') is a shrine or tomb built over the grave of a revered religious figure, often a Sufi saint or dervi ...

s that served as the nerve center of local communities. World Sunni Movement led by Syed Mohammad Saifur Rahman is one of the main organisation of the movement which opposes Wahabi ideologies. Beside Bangladesh, WSM is active in various European and Gulf countries.

Bangladesh Islami Front The Bangladesh Islami Front () is an :Islamic political parties, Islamist political party in Bangladesh. In the 2001 Bangladeshi general election, 2001 parliamentary election, the party fielded 16 candidates. Together, they gathered 29,002 votes ...

and its students wing

Bangladesh Islami Chattra Sena Bangladesh Islami Chattra Sena (), is a Far-right politics, far-right student political organization in Bangladesh. It is the student wing of Bangladesh Islami Front. The organization follows the Barelvi, Barlevi Movement and the Hanafi school, ...

have worked to protect the faith and belief of Sunni Sufis in the country and took stands against Deobandi

Hefazat-e-Islam Bangladesh Hefazat-e-Islam Bangladesh () is a Deobandi Islamist advocacy group consisting mostly of religious teachers (''Ulama'') and students in Bangladesh. The group is mainly based on qawmi madrasas in Bangladesh. In 2013, they submitted a 13-point ch ...

and

Khelafat Majlish Khelafat Majlis () is a far-right Islamist political party in Bangladesh. The party was founded in Dhaka, the capital of Bangladesh in 1989 by Azizul Haque along with Ahmad Abdul Qadir and former leaders of the National Awami Party and Tamaddun ...

. Jamia Ahmadiyya Sunnia Kamil Madrasa is a notable institution following ideology of Ahle Sunnat wal Jamaat or Maslak-e-Aala Hazrat.

United Kingdom

According to Irfan Al Alawi, 'The Sufism influenced Ahle Sunnat Barelvi in United Kingdom immigrated to Britain earlier than the Deobandis, established the main mosques in Britain. They integrated into UK society and are considered law abiding.' moderate majority, peaceful and pious. In 2011, the Ahle Sunnat Barelvi movement had most of the British mosques. The majority of people in the United Kingdom of Pakistani and

Kashmir Kashmir ( or ) is the Northwestern Indian subcontinent, northernmost geographical region of the Indian subcontinent. Until the mid-19th century, the term ''Kashmir'' denoted only the Kashmir Valley between the Great Himalayas and the Pir P ...

origin are descended from immigrants from Sunni Barelvi-majority areas. In Manchester, by 2014, Ahle Sunnat Barelvi was the largest denomination in terms of the number of mosques and population. The majority of Birmingham Muslims are adherent to the Ahle Sunnat barelvi movement. The movement in Pakistan has received funding from their counterparts in the UK, in part as a reaction to rival movements in Pakistan also receiving funding from abroad. According to an editorial in the English-language Pakistani newspaper ''

The Daily Times ''Daily Times'' may refer to the following national newspapers: * Daily Times (Nigeria), ''Daily Times'' (Nigeria), newspaper published in Nigeria * Daily Times (Pakistan), ''Daily Times'' (Pakistan), newspaper published in Pakistan ''The Daily Tim ...

'', many of these mosques have been however usurped by Saudi-funded radical organizations. The Ahle Sunnat Barelvi movement formed

British Muslim Forum The British Muslim Forum is a non-governmental Islamic organization of Barelvi movement of Sunni Muslims which represents 500 Mosques across the United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known a ...

(BMF) and the

Sufi Muslim Council The Sufi Muslim Council (SMC) was a non-profit, non-governmental religious organization dedicated to working for the cause of Islam, launched on 19 July 2006. The group claims to represent United Kingdom, British Sufi Barelvi Muslims. Sufism is ...

(SMC) in 2005 and 2006, respectively to represent themselves at the national level. In 2017, the movement had around 538 mosques in the United Kingdom along with their fellow Sufi organisations which are second largest in terms of number. Pir Maroof Shah Qadri has built a number of mosques in Bradford. Allama Arshadul Qaudri along with Peer Maroof Qadri established

World Islamic Mission World Islamic Mission (WIM) is an international Muslim organisation of Sufi-inspired Barelvi Sunni Muslims.Breivik's sanity, date=April 28, 2012, publisher=Fox News, agency= AP, access-date=April 29, 2012 It was established in the United Kingdo ...

(WIM) in 1973 at Makkah and became the leader of WIM in England. He worked in the United Kingdom to strengthen the movement of Ahle Sunna wal Jam'aat. Qadri through this movement shaped spirituality based Islam in Europe. Sufi Abdullah a Sunni Sufi scholar, also established a strong Ahle Sunnat foundation in the Bradford. Allama

Qamaruzzaman Azmi Qamaruzzaman Azmi (born 23 March 1946), also known as Allama Azmi, is an Indian Islamic scholar, philosopher and speaker. He is president of the World Islamic Mission. From 2011 to 2021, he was listed in The 500 Most Influential Muslims in th ...

who is present General Secretary of

worked for five decades in several parts of Europe and U.K to establish several mosques and institutions with his support and supervision. In Bradford, Azmi help established Islamic Missionary College (IMC) Bradford. In Manchester he established, North Manchester Jamia Mosque and in Birmingham, Ghamkol Shariff Masjid. His continuous Dawah work helped Southerland Mosque become of Sunni Barelvi. International Sunni organization

has at least 38 Centers in the United Kingdom. Muhammad Imdad Hussain Pirzada, a leading scholar of Islam and commentator of Quran, has established Darul Uloom

Jamia Al-Karam Jamia Al-Karam, () is a leading Islamic institution Islamic Studies College located in Eaton in 30-acre premises. The Darul Uloom is managed by Muhammad Imdad Hussain Pirzada. History In 1995, Jamia Al-Karam relocated to its current site i ...

in 1985, an Islamic institute which has produced over 400 British Islamic scholars. He is also president of Muslim Charity and

South Africa

The Ahle Sunnat movement has presence in various cities and town of South Africa where they have build network of Madarsas and Mosques. In South Africa debate with Tablighi Jama'at was called as Sunni-Tablighi controversy. The movement is represented by Sunni Jamiatul Ulema (SJU) which was founded in 1979. It was established to address the various social, welfare, educational and spiritual needs of the community and to preserve and to promote the teachings of the Ahle Sunnah wal Jamaah. The Imam Ahmed Raza Academy is a seminary and non-governmental organisation and a publishing house based in Durban, South Africa. It was established on 5 July 1986 by Sheikh Abdul Hadi Al-Qaadiri Barakaati, a graduate of Darul Uloom

, Bareilly Shareef, India.The "Chatsie Muslim": A Socio-historical Analysis of Muslims of Indentured Origin Sultan Khan, First Published 5 September 2019 https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/0976343020120215?journalCode=oana https://doi.org/10.1177/0976343020120215 The objective is to propagate Islam in South Africa. Darul Uloom Aleemiyah Razvia was established in 1983 and on 12 January '1990, Mufti Muhammad Akbar Hazarvi established Darul Uloom Pretoria. Darul Uloom Qadaria Ghareeb Nawaz (New Castle) is one of the leading Madarsa of the mission which was founded in 1997 at uMnambithi (formerly Ladysmith) by Maulana Syed Muhammad Aleemuddin. Jamia Imam Ahmed Raza Ahsanul Barkaat was established in 2007. All these institutions have focused more on defending Sufi beliefs from Deobandis. Debates and Munazaras are common features of these institutions In Durban, the movement run

Durban Durban ( ; , from meaning "bay, lagoon") is the third-most populous city in South Africa, after Johannesburg and Cape Town, and the largest city in the Provinces of South Africa, province of KwaZulu-Natal. Situated on the east coast of South ...

's largest mosque, the

Juma Mosque Juma Mosque may refer to mosques in the following countries: In Azerbaijan * Agdam Mosque, also known as ''Juma Mosque'', in Aghdam * Juma Mosque (Baku) * Juma Mosque (Balaken) * Juma Mosque, Ganja * Juma Mosque, Nakhchivan * Juma Mosque, Ordubad * ...

which is also known as Grey Street mosque. The Sunni community celebrates Mawlid un Nabi and observes anniversaries of Sufis in association with various Sufi orders. In Mauritius, the movement forms majority population.

Muhammad Abdul Aleem Siddiqi Muhammad Abdul Aleem Siddiqi Al-Qaderi Meeruti (3 April 1892 – 22 August 1954) also known as ''Muballigh-e-Islam'' was an Islamic scholar, spiritual master, author and preacher from Pakistan who belonged to the Barelvi movement of Sunni Islam ...

established the movement in Mauritius.

(WIM), Halqa-e-Qadria Ishaat-e-Islam and Sunni Razvi Society founded by

Muhammad Ibrahim Siddiqui Muhammad Ibrahim Khushtar Razvi Siddiqui (8 March 1930 – 9 June 2002) was an Indian sufi saint and Islamic scholar belonging to the Barelvi movement of Sunni Islam. He was particularly influential in Mauritius, where he founded the Sunni Raz ...

in 1967 and Jummah Mosque (Mauritius) (1852) at Port Louis are some of the notable centers of the movement.

Europe, United States and Canada

In United States and Canada, the movement has found a strong following among Muslims of South Asian and in some cities it has significant presence. Two notable madrasas are Al-Noor Masjid in Houston, Texas and Dar al-Ulum Azizia, in Dallas. Allama Shah Ahmad Noorani Siddiqi,

Arshadul Qaudri Arshadul Qadri (5 March 1925 – 29 April 2002) was a Sunni Islamic scholar, author and missionary activist in India associated with the Barelvi movement who established several educational institutions and organizations in India. Early life ...

, Maulana Shahid Raza OBE and Allama

did the missionary work under the banner of

(WIM) in various parts of Europe including Netherland and in Norway. In Netherland, the Surinamese community has 25 mosques which are affiliated to the World Islamic Mission and have a Hanafi Barelvi orientation. Prominent centers of the mission in Netherland are Jamia Taibah Mosque Amsterdam, Netherlands, Jamia Anwaar-e-Qoeba Masjid, Utrecht, Madinatul Islam College, The Haugue, Masjid Anwar-e-Madina, Eindhoven, Masjid Gulzar-e-Madina, Zwolle, Masjid Al firdaus, Lelystad, Al Madina Masjid, Den Haag, Netherlands.

(WIM) established Central Jamaat-e Ahl-e Sunnat mosque, a congregation and mosque of the Pakistani community in

Oslo Oslo ( or ; ) is the capital and most populous city of Norway. It constitutes both a county and a municipality. The municipality of Oslo had a population of in 2022, while the city's greater urban area had a population of 1,064,235 in 2022 ...

Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and the archipelago of Svalbard also form part of the Kingdom of ...

with 6,000 members, making it the largest mosque in the Norway. Within

Sunni Islam Sunni Islam is the largest Islamic schools and branches, branch of Islam and the largest religious denomination in the world. It holds that Muhammad did not appoint any Succession to Muhammad, successor and that his closest companion Abu Bakr ...

, the mosque is affiliated with

Sufism Sufism ( or ) is a mysticism, mystic body of religious practice found within Islam which is characterized by a focus on Islamic Tazkiyah, purification, spirituality, ritualism, and Asceticism#Islam, asceticism. Practitioners of Sufism are r ...

and the

Barelvi The Barelvi movement, also known as Ahl al-Sunnah wal-Jama'ah (People of the Prophet's Way and the Community) is a Sunni revivalist movement that generally adheres to the Hanafi school, Hanafi and Shafi'i school, Shafi'i schools of jurisprudenc ...

movement. In Norway, the WIM established another large mosque named, Jam-e-Mosque in Oslo, Norway in 1980. The mosque in Åkebergveien is the headquarters of World Islamic Mission, one of the biggest Muslim congregations in Norway. It is second largest mosque in Norway. Central Jam-e-Mosque was the first purpose-built mosque in Norway. The Sunni missionary organization

(D.I) established twelve centers in

Greece Greece, officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. Located on the southern tip of the Balkan peninsula, it shares land borders with Albania to the northwest, North Macedonia and Bulgaria to the north, and Turkey to th ...

and seven in Spain which are being used as mosque and madrasas. In

Athens Athens ( ) is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Greece, largest city of Greece. A significant coastal urban area in the Mediterranean, Athens is also the capital of the Attica (region), Attica region and is the southe ...

, D.I has established four centers.

Sri Lanka

Muslims generally follow Sufi traditions in Sri Lanka. The Al-Fassi family, Fassiya ash Shazuliya tariqa, which has its headquarters in Ummu Zavaya in M.J.M. Laffir mawatha, Colombo, supported by the Al-Fassi family in the 1870s, is the most prevalent Sufi order among the Sri Lankan Muslims followed by Aroosiyathul qadiriya. In the pre-independence period the two largest Sri Lankan Sufi orders were associated with rival Muslim gem-trading families and ethnic associations in the west coast region, the Qadiriya order allied with N.D.H. Abdul Gaffoor and the All Ceylon Muslim League, and the Shazu-liya order supporting M. Macan Markar and the All Ceylon Moors Association (Wagner 1990, 8385).Multi-religiosity in Contemporary Sri Lanka Innovation, Shared Spaces, Contestation, Edited byMark P. Whitaker, Darini Rajasingham-Senanayake and Pathmanesan Sanmugeswaran https://www.academia.edu/83875553/Sufis_in_Sri_Lanka_A_Fieldwork_Story Sri Lankan Moors also share with their co-religionists across South Asia a devotion to Sufi saints (avuliyā) and an engagement with local chapters of Sufi orders (tāriqā). Two most widely popular Sufi saints are Abd’al Qādir Jīlanī (d.1166 C.E., buried in Baghdad) and Hazrat Shahul Hamid (d. 1579 C.E., buried in Nagoor agore on the Tamil nadu coast near Nagapattinam). Sunni scholar

built Hanafi Masjid in Colombo for Sri Lankan Muslims. Sri Lankan Sufi Sunnis identify with organizations such as Hubbul Awliya (Love of the Saint) and Muslims across the island who loosely identify themselves as Ahlus Sunnah wa Jamaat (traditional Muslims) which that connotes the more saint-friendly Barelvi movement (versus the Deobandi)identity in North India. The annual festival cycle at the Badriya Mosque still commemorates familiar saints such as Abdul Qadir Jilani, Ahmed Rifai, and Shahul Hamid of Nagoor, as well as the popular Tangal from Androth, Abdul Rashid. Dawatagaha Juma Masjid, Masjid Al Maqbool, Kupiyawatte Jumuah Masjid and Mardana Jumuah Masjid are notable mosques in Colombo. While Masjid Al Badriyeen, Nawala, Talayan Bawa Masjid Ratmalana are some other notable mosques outside Colombo. Missionary organisation Dawat-e-Islami is also actively working in various parts of the Sri Lanka.

Relations with other Muslim movements

The Ahle Sunnat Barelvi movement's relations with Sunni Sufi scholars from various countries have been cordial. The only movements which the Ahle Sunnat Barelvi movement has no relations with are Wahabis/Deobandis. Wahabis/Deobandis were declared to be the enemies of Ahle Sunnah Wal Jama'ah during the

2016 international conference on Sunni Islam in Grozny The 2016 conference on Sunni Islam in Grozny or shortly Chechnya Conference was convened to define the term " Ahl al-Sunnah wa al-Jama'ah", i.e. who are "the people of Sunnah and majority Muslim community", and oppose Takfiri groups. The conf ...

2016 international conference on Sunni Islam in Grozny

The scholars who followed Ahle Sunnat wal Jamaat from India and Pakistan namely

, Shaikh Anwar Ahmad al- Baghdadi and Mufti Muḥammad

Muneeb-ur-Rehman Muneeb-ur-Rehman (born 8 February 1945) is a Pakistani mufti and former chairman of Ruet-e-Hilal Committee. He is a professor at Jinnah University for Women. Life and education Muneeb-ur-Rehman was born on 8 February 1945 in a Pashtuns, Pash ...

, Grand Mufti of Pakistan, participated in International Conference on Sunni Islam in Chechen Republic at Grozny in 2016. The conference was convened to define the term "Ahl al-Sunnah wa al-Jama'ah", i.e. who are "the people of Sunnah and majority Muslim community", and to oppose Salafi/Wahabi groups and their ideology. It was attended by 200 notable Muslim scholars from 30 countries which includes

Ahmed el-Tayeb Ahmed Mohamed Ahmed El-Tayeb (; born 6 January 1946) is an Egyptian Islamic scholar and the current Grand Imam of al-Azhar, al-Azhar al-Sharif and former president of al-Azhar University. He was appointed by the Egyptian President, Hosni Muba ...

(Grand Imam of Al-Azhar),

Shawki Allam Shawki Ibrahim Abdel-Karim Allam () is the 19th Grand Mufti of Egypt through Dar al-Ifta al-Misriyyah, succeeding Ali Gomaa. He is succeeded by Nazeer Ayyad on the 11th of August 2024, following a presidential decree. Biography Allam was born in ...

(Grand Mufti of Egypt),

Ali Gomaa Ali Gomaa (, Egyptian Arabic: ; born 3 March 1952) is an Egyptian Islamic scholar, jurist, and public figure who has taken a number of controversial political stances. He specializes in Islamic Legal Theory. He follows the Shafi`i school of Isl ...

(former Grand Mufti of Egypt), Habib

Ali al-Jifri Habib Ali Zain al-Abidin al-Jifri (; born 16 April 1971) is a Yemeni Sunni Islamic scholar and spiritual educator based in Cairo, Egypt. He is the founder of Tabah Foundation (), a research institute based in Abu Dhabi, UAE. Early life Ali Zain ...

among others. It identified Salafism/Wahhabism as a dangerous and misguided sect, along with the extremist groups, such as

ISIS Isis was a major goddess in ancient Egyptian religion whose worship spread throughout the Greco-Roman world. Isis was first mentioned in the Old Kingdom () as one of the main characters of the Osiris myth, in which she resurrects her sla ...

Hizb ut-Tahrir Hizb ut-Tahrir (HT; ) is an international pan-Islamist and Islamic fundamentalist political organization whose stated aim is the re-establishment of the Islamic caliphate to unite the Muslim community (called ''ummah'') and implement sharia glo ...

, the

Muslim Brotherhood The Society of the Muslim Brothers ('' ''), better known as the Muslim Brotherhood ( ', is a transnational Sunni Islamist organization founded in Egypt by Islamic scholar, Imam and schoolteacher Hassan al-Banna in 1928. Al-Banna's teachings s ...

and others. The conference definition stated:

"
Ahl al-Sunnah wa al-Jama'ah Sunni Islam is the largest branch of Islam and the largest religious denomination in the world. It holds that Muhammad did not appoint any successor and that his closest companion Abu Bakr () rightfully succeeded him as the caliph of the Musli ...
are the
Ash'arite Ash'arism (; ) is a school of theology in Sunni Islam named after Abu al-Hasan al-Ash'ari, a Shāfiʿī jurist, reformer (''mujaddid''), and scholastic theologian, in the 9th–10th century. It established an orthodox guideline, based on ...
s and
Maturidis Maturidism () is a school of theology in Sunni Islam named after Abu Mansur al-Maturidi. It is one of the three creeds of Sunni Islam alongside Ash'arism and Atharism, and prevails in the Hanafi school of jurisprudence. Al-Maturidi codified ...
(adherents of the theological systems of Imam
Abu Mansur al-Maturidi Imam Abu Mansur al-Maturidi (; 853–944) was a Hanafi jurist and theologian who is the eponym of the Maturidi school of kalam in Sunnism. He got his from Māturīd, a district in Samarkand. His works include , a classic exegesis of the Qur'a ...
and Imam
Abu al-Hasan al-Ash'ari Abu al-Hasan al-Ash'ari (; 874–936 CE) was an Arab Muslim theologian known for being the eponymous founder of the Ash'ari school of kalam in Sunnism. Al-Ash'ari was notable for taking an intermediary position between the two diametrically ...
). In matters of belief, they are followers of any of the four schools of thought (
Hanafi The Hanafi school or Hanafism is the oldest and largest Madhhab, school of Islamic jurisprudence out of the four schools within Sunni Islam. It developed from the teachings of the Faqīh, jurist and theologian Abu Hanifa (), who systemised the ...
,
Maliki The Maliki school or Malikism is one of the four major madhhab, schools of Islamic jurisprudence within Sunni Islam. It was founded by Malik ibn Anas () in the 8th century. In contrast to the Ahl al-Hadith and Ahl al-Ra'y schools of thought, the ...
,
Shafi'i The Shafi'i school or Shafi'i Madhhab () or Shafi'i is one of the four major schools of fiqh (Islamic jurisprudence), belonging to the Ahl al-Hadith tradition within Sunni Islam. It was founded by the Muslim scholar, jurist, and traditionis ...
or
Hanbali The Hanbali school or Hanbalism is one of the four major schools of Islamic jurisprudence, belonging to the Ahl al-Hadith tradition within Sunni Islam. It is named after and based on the teachings of the 9th-century scholar, jurist and tradit ...
) and are also the followers of the
Sufism Sufism ( or ) is a mysticism, mystic body of religious practice found within Islam which is characterized by a focus on Islamic Tazkiyah, purification, spirituality, ritualism, and Asceticism#Islam, asceticism. Practitioners of Sufism are r ...
of Imam Junaid al-Baghdadi in doctrines, manners and piritualpurification."

This definition was in accordance with the ideology of Ahle Sunnat Barelvi movement. The relations with

and

Wahabism Wahhabism is an exonym for a Salafi revivalist movement within Sunni Islam named after the 18th-century Hanbali scholar Muhammad ibn Abd al-Wahhab. It was initially established in the central Arabian region of Najd and later spread to other p ...

have been strained; Scholars of Ahle Sunnat declared Deoband's founders and Ahl-e-Hadith scholars as "Gustakh-e-Rasool" (the one who blasphemes against the prophet) and

infidels An infidel (literally "unfaithful") is a person who is accused of disbelief in the central tenets of one's own religion, such as members of another religion, or irreligion, irreligious people. Infidel is an Ecclesiology, ecclesiastical term in Ch ...

and

apostates Apostasy (; ) is the formal disaffiliation from, abandonment of, or renunciation of a religion by a person. It can also be defined within the broader context of embracing an opinion that is contrary to one's previous religious beliefs. One who ...

due to their certain writings found to be against Muhammad.

Opposition to terrorism

Anti Terror Sunni Conference by All India Tanzeem Ulema-e-Islam at New Delhi in 2016

They opposes South Asian Deobandi

Taliban , leader1_title = Supreme Leader of Afghanistan, Supreme leaders , leader1_name = {{indented plainlist, * Mullah Omar{{Natural Causes{{nbsp(1994–2013) * Akhtar Mansour{{Assassinated (2015–2016) * Hibatullah Akhundzada (2016–present) ...

movements, organizing rallies and protests in India and Pakistan and condemning what they view as unjustified

sectarian violence Sectarian violence or sectarian strife is a form of communal violence which is inspired by sectarianism, that is, discrimination, hatred or prejudice between different sects of a particular mode of an ideology or different sects of a religion wi ...

. The

(SIC), an alliance of eight Sunni organizations, launched the Save Pakistan Movement to slow Talibanisation. Calling the Taliban a product of global anti-Islamic conspiracies, SIC leaders accused the Taliban of playing into the hands of the United States to divide Muslims and degrade Islam. Supporting this movement, Pakistani

Minister of Foreign Affairs In many countries, the ministry of foreign affairs (abbreviated as MFA or MOFA) is the highest government department exclusively or primarily responsible for the state's foreign policy and foreign relations, relations, diplomacy, bilateralism, ...

Shah Mehmood Qureshi Makhdoom Shah Mahmood Hussain Qureshi (; born 22 June 1956) is a Pakistani politician who served as the minister of Foreign Affairs from 2018 to 2022. He previously held the post from 2008 to 2011. He had been a Parliament of Pakistan from Augu ...

said: "The

has decided to activate itself against Talibanisation in the country. A national consensus against terrorism is emerging across the country." In 2009, Islamic scholar Sarfraz Ahmed Naeemi issued a

denouncing suicide bombings and criticized Taliban leader

Sufi Muhammad Sufi Muhammad bin Alhazrat Hassan (Urdu: ; born 1933 – 11 July 2019) was a Pakistani Sunni Salafi cleric and militant, and the founder of Tehreek-e-Nafaz-e-Shariat-e-Mohammadi (TNSM), a militant group (declared a terrorist outfit and banned in ...

by saying that he "should wear bangles if he is hiding like a woman". Naeemi added, "Those who commit suicide attacks for attaining paradise will go to hell, as they kill many innocent people", and was later killed by a suicide bomber. In India, the Sunni Barelvi community has issued of a

against terrorism, with concerns expressed over activities of

Wahabis Wahhabism is an exonym for a Salafi revivalist movement within Sunni Islam named after the 18th-century Hanbali scholar Muhammad ibn Abd al-Wahhab. It was initially established in the central Arabian region of Najd and later spread to other p ...

in New Delhi at All India Sunni Conference in Feb 2016.

Notable scholars

(1898–1970) *

(1913–1986) *

(1856–1921) – an

Islamic revivalist Islamic revival ('' '', lit., "regeneration, renewal"; also ', "Islamic awakening") refers to a revival of the Islamic religion, usually centered around enforcing sharia. A leader of a revival is known in Islam as a ''mujaddid''. Within the Isl ...

who was founder of the Barelvi movement * Sibtain Raza Khan (died 2015) * Kaif Raza Khan - Islamic scholar *

Akhtar Raza Khan Akhtar Raza Khan (born Muhammad Ismail Raza; 23 November 1943 – 20 July 2018), also known as Tajush Shari'ah, and Azhari Miyan, was an Indian Islamic scholar. A mufti of the Barelvis, he was the great-grandson of Ahmed Raza Khan Barelvi who w ...

(1941–2018) – former grand mufti and chief islamic justice of India * Ameen Mian Qaudri (born 1955) *

(1882–1948) *

(1925–2002) *

(born 1970) – said to be Qadi Al-Qudaat (chief Islamic justice) of India. * Ghulam Ali Okarvi (1919–2000) *

Hamid Raza Khan Hamid Raza Khan Qadri was an Islamic scholar and mystic of the Barelvi movement. Qadri was born in 1875 (Rabi' al-awwal 1292 Hijri), in Bareilly, India. His name at the time of his '' aqeeqah'' was Muhammad, as it was family tradition. Linea ...

(1875–1943) *

Hamid Saeed Kazmi Syed Hamid Saeed Kazmi (; born 3 October 1957) is a Pakistani politician who served as the 28th Federal Minister for Religious Affairs of Pakistan from 2008 to 2010 as part of the Pakistan People's Party government. He hails from Multan. Fami ...

(born 1957) *

Ilyas Qadri Muhammad Ilyas Attar Qadri (born 1950) is a Pakistani Islamic scholar who is the leader of Dawat-e-Islami since its foundation. He belongs to the Qadri–Razavi order of Sufism. A Kutchi Memon, Qadri was born in Karachi and studied under Zi ...

(born 1950) – main leader of

. * Jamaat Ali Shah (1834–1951) – President of All India Sunni Conference * Kanthapuram A.P. Aboobacker Musliyar (born 1931) – said to be

* Kaukab Noorani Okarvi (born 1957) *

Khadim Hussain Rizvi Khadim Hussain Rizvi (; 22 May 1966 – 19 November 2020) was a Pakistani Islamic scholar and the founder and Amir of Tehreek-e-Labbaik Pakistan, a religiopolitical organization founded in 2015, known to protest against any change to Pakistan' ...

(1966–2020) * Maulana Sardar Ahmad (1903–1962) *

(1909–1970) —

* Muhammad Arshad Misbahi (born 1968) * Muhammad Fazal Karim (1954–2013) * Muhammad Fazlur Rahman Ansari (1914–1974) *

(1918–98) – author of '' Tafsir Zia ul Quran'' (1995) and ''Zia un Nabi'' * Muhammad Muneeb ur Rehman (born 1945) *

Muhammad Muslehuddin Siddiqui Muhammad Muslehuddin Siddiqui (27 December 1918 – 23 March 1983) (Urdu محمد مصلح الدین صدیقى), was a preacher born in Nanded on India's Deccan Plateau. He belonged to the Barelvi movement of Sunni Islam and a mureed of Amja ...

(1918–1983) * Muhammad Raza Saqib Mustafai (born 1972) * Muhammad Shafee Okarvi (1930–1984) — founder of

Muhammad Waqaruddin Qadri Muhammad Waqaruddin Qadri (1 January 1915 – 9 September 1993) also known as ''Waqar-e-Millat'' was an Islamic scholar associated with the Sunni Barelvi movement of south Asia. His fatawa (rulings) are compiled in three volume of the book titl ...

(1915–1993) – former Mufti-e-Azam Pakistan *

(1892–1981) *

(1887–1948) *

Naseeruddin Naseer Gilani Syed Ghulam Naseeruddin Naseer Gilani (14 November 1949 – 13 February 2009) () was a Pakistani Islamic scholar, poet, and spiritual leader who served as the custodian (Sajjāda Nāshīn) of the Golra Sharif shrine in Islamabad. A descendant of ...

(1949–2009) *

(born 1946) * Sarfraz Ahmed Naeemi (1948–2009) * Shah Ahmad Noorani (1926–2003) — founder of

in 1972 * Shakir Ali Noori (born 1960) * Shamsul-hasan Shams Barelvi (1917–1997) *

Shihabuddeen Ahmed Koya Shaliyathi Shihabuddeen Ahmed Koya Shaliyathi (Arabic:شهاب الدين احمد كويا شاليات, Malayalam:ശിഹാബുദ്ദീന് അഹ്മദ് കോയ ശാലിയാത്തി), who played vital roles in the reformati ...

(1885–1954) * Syed Faiz-ul Hassan Shah (1911–1984) – President of Jamiat-e-Ulema, Pakistan * Syed Mohammed Madni Ashraf (born 1938) * Syed Mohammed Mukhtar Ashraf (died 1996) *

(1941–1993) – judge

Federal Shariat Court The Federal Shariat Court (FSC) is a constitutional islamic religious court of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, which has the power to examine and determine whether the laws of the country comply with Sharia law. The court was established in ...

, Pakistan * Yaseen Akhtar Misbahi – director, Darul Qalam, New Delhi *

(born 1935) – Muhaddis al-Kabeer, present Deputy Chief Islamic Justice of India (Deputy Grand Mufti of India)

Notable organizations

Pakistan

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

– The Assembly to Protect the End of Prophethood *

* Tehreek-e-Labaik

In India

* Karwan-I-Islami *

Muslim Jamaat Kerala Muslim Jamaath is a Kerala based Islamic organization In India, under the supervision of the All India Sunni Jamiyyathul Ulama. This body acts as an apex body of various other organization and institutions which were following the ideologi ...

In the United Kingdom

* TheSunniWay

In Bangladesh

* World Sunni Movement *

In South Africa

* Sunni Razvi Society * Imam Mustafa Raza Research Centre,

, South Africa

Main institutions

India

, Uttar Pradesh, India *

, Raunahi *

Jamia Al Barkaat Aligarh Jamia Al-Barkaat is an Indian Islamic seminary of Barelvi movement of Sunni Muslims in Aligarh district of Uttar Pradesh. It was established under the Al-Barkaat Educational Society run by Khanquah-e-Barkaatiya by Syed Ameen Mian Quadri in the ...

Aligarh Aligarh (; formerly known as Koil) is a city in the state of Uttar Pradesh in India. It is the administrative headquarters of Aligarh district and lies northwest of state capital Lucknow and approximately southeast of the capital, New Delhi. ...

, Ghosi *Jamiatur Raza, Bareilly *

, Bareilly *Markazu Saqafathi Sunniyya *

, Hyderabad

Pakistan

*Aleemiyah Institute of Islamic Studies *Hizbul Ahnaf *

Karachi *Ashraf ul Madaris, G.T Road, Okara, Pakistan, Okara, Punjab, Pakistan * Jamia Naeemia Lahore * Jamia Nizamia Ghousia Wazirabad *Jamia-tul-Madina

Bangladesh

* Jamia Ahmadiyya Sunnia Kamil Madrasa

Mauritius

* Sunni Razvi Society

United Kingdom

Republic of Ireland

*Al-Mustafa Islamic Cultural Centre Ireland

Singapore

* Jamiyah Singapore

South Africa

* Darul Uloom Pretoria * Imam Ahmed Raza Academy

Sri Lanka

* Madrasa Faiz-e-Raza, Anjuman Faiz-e-Raza

Notes

References

* * * * * * * * * {{Ahmed Raza Khan Barelvi Barelvi, Sunni Islamic movements Bareilly 1904 establishments in India Ahmed Raza Khan Barelvi Sunni Islamic branches Hanafis Maturidis

Terminology

History

Propagation against the Shuddhi (Arya Samaj conversion) Movement

Shaheed Ganj Mosque Movement

All India Sunni Conference

Beliefs

Positions

Intercession of Muhammad

Light of Muhammad (Nur Muhammadiyya)

Muhammad as witness

Muhammad's Knowledge of the Unseen (Ilm-e-Ghaib)

Practices

Sufi tradition

Presence

India

Bareilly Sharif Dargah Bareilly Sharif Dargah is a Dargah (shrine) or mausoleum of Ahmed Raza Khan Barelvi, a 19th-century islamic scholar who founded the Barelvi movement. It is located in Bareilly district in the state of Uttar Pradesh, India. The Dome of the Dar ...

Stand against the forced sterilization actions of the government

Shah Bano Case Movement

Scholars, Organizations and Institutions

Network of madrasas

Pakistan

Finality of Prophethood movement

Madarsa Network in Pakistan

Stand on blasphemy laws

Persecution

Bangladesh

United Kingdom

South Africa

Europe, United States and Canada

Sri Lanka

Relations with other Muslim movements

2016 international conference on Sunni Islam in Grozny

Opposition to terrorism

Notable scholars

Notable organizations

Pakistan

In India

In the United Kingdom

In Bangladesh

In South Africa

Main institutions

India

Pakistan

Bangladesh

Mauritius

United Kingdom

Republic of Ireland

Singapore

South Africa

Sri Lanka

See also

Notes

References