Belief System Of The Barelwi Sect
QUESTION:
Please elaborate on the following post by a Barelwi:
1. Saints sharing the Attributes of Allah Ta’ala?
Zakariyyah writes, “Allah, the truth who is an encompassment of every grandeur and goodness then in reality there is none other than His ¬grandeur.” (Tableegi Nisaab pg.300)
Rasheed Ahmad Gangohee said, “Sayyid Sahib had the attributes of the almighty incarnated in him.” (Arwah ath-Thalatha pg.185)
Ashraf Ali Thanwi writes, “The one who is complete has a position called Abul-Waqt and when he wishes to have Allah’s attributes to be incarnated in him, he can do so. It is not strange that Shaah Sahib may have had attribute of Al-Jabbar incarnated in him at that time and from his position of Mazhariyyat he may have resolved it by this attention.” (Arwah ath-Thalatha pg.68)
2. Istighatha
Is the following evidence for forbidden Istighatha?
Ahsan Jilaani writes, “We do not deny or reject seeking help from the souls of the Auliyaa, hence, if a believer ¬inflicted with troubles seeks help from good souls then what verse of the Quraan or Hadeeth refutes this.” (Haashiyah Suwaaneh Qaasimee 1/332)
The deobandee author Zalzalah Dar Zalzalah writes, “The scholars of Deoband never say that no one other than Allah can have knowledge of the unseen and similarly they also do not believe and accept that a man during his life or even after his death has no power to help.” (Zalzalah Dar Zalzalah pg.101)
3. Other than Allah Ta’ala can remove calamities?
The Deobandee author of Inkishaaf writes whilst quoting a book on Soofee terminology, “It is these people who are the inheritors of the Prophets and they are the ones who remove the calamities of the creation.” (Inkishaaf pg.250)
4. Did Molana Ashraf Ali Thanwi affirm Hadhir and Nadhir?
Molana Ashraf Ali Thanwi wrote, “The following actions are established from the Prophet Salallahu Alaihi Wasallam in the state of Barzakh. Looking and being made aware of the actions of the Ummah, praying and eating according to the state he is in.” (Nashr ut-Tayyib pg.142)
5. The Prophet Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam created from the Noor of Allah Ta’ala in essence?
Molana Ashraf Ali Thanwi brings the following narration of Jaabir Radiallahu Anhu concerning the creation of the Messenger of Allah Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam, “Oh Jaabir, before Allah created anything, He created your Prophet’s Noor from His own Noor and not in terms of meaning but His essence itself. He created him with the blessings of His Noor and then that Divine Noor roamed wherever Allah Ta’ala wished. At that time there was no Lauh, Pen, Paradise, Hell, Angels, Heaven, Earth, Sun, Moon, Jinn nor mankind. Then when Allah Ta’ala wished to create His creation and He divided that Noor into 4 parts. With one part He created the Pen, the Lauh with the second part, the Throne with the third part. This Hadith therefore proves the Noor of Muhammad Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam was the first thing that was created. Similarly Hadrat Ali Radiallahu Anhu narrates the Prophet Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam said, “14,000 years before the creation I (the Messenger of Allah) was a Noor with Allah.” (Nashr at-Tayyib pg.5-6)
6. Allah Ta’ala and His Messenger Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam receive equal worship?
Haajee Imdaadullah Muhaajar Makki writes, “As the Messenger of Allah Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam is the truth you can call the worshipping slave of Allah Ta’alavthe ¬worshipping slave of the Messenger Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam.” (Shamaa’im Imdaadiyyah 2/71)
ANSWER:
From the outset, one should understand that an author’s belief is judged from his full passage, his stated creed, and his other writings, and not just from one line taken out of context. A line that merely quotes a Sufi definition or a narration is not necessarily his own creed. Technical terms (Mazhariyyat, Fana, Abd) must be read according to their technical meanings.
We have found this post to be very misleading and out of context. If we look at the query regarding Istighatha and the quote from Sawaneh Qasimi, in the same passage the author states:
The position of the Deobandis on this matter is the same as that of Ahl al-Sunnah wal-Jama’ah.
All help reaches people through means, such as sunlight, milk, or medicine, and Allah alone is the true source.
Shirk is to treat the means as the real giver.
Worshipping the saints, their graves, or their relics is Shirk.
The poster quoted only the first sentence and left out this explanation. That is exactly what defines the author’s position, and omitting it misrepresents him. The passage does affirm help through the souls of the righteous as a means and by Allah Ta’ala’s will. So the quote is correct, but the accusation of forbidden Istighatha doesn’t follow from it. Whether that framing is correct is a legitimate matter of scholarly difference, and it is not shirk, since the author explicitly rejects worship of saints and attributing independent power to them.
Regarding the other points, we have not been able to verify the exact wording of the remaining quotes against the original books, so we leave them to be checked in the same way. In general, points 1, 3, and 6 use Sufi terminology. The usual scholarly reading is metaphorical, as in a mirror reflecting the sun, and not a claim that a saint shares in Allah Ta’ala’s Divinity. Point 3 may also be a quotation of a definition, not the author’s own claim.
Point 4 speaks of Nabi ﷺ being informed of his Ummah’s deeds in Barzakh, which has a basis in narrations about deeds and Salawaat being presented to him. This is different from claiming that he is present and watching everywhere (Hadir-Nazir).
Point 5 is the narration of Hadrat Jabir رضى الله عنه about the first creation. When matched with the original source, we find that the translation provided by the poster does not match the original text. Furthermore, citing a narration is not the same as endorsing every interpretation of it.
ALLAH TA’ALA ALONE IN HIS INFINITE KNOWLEDGE KNOWS BEST!
ANSWERED BY:
Mufti Muhammad Bhayla
Date: 09 Jumaadal-Ulaa 1448 / 20 October 2026
CHECKED AND APPROVED BY:
Mufti Yacoob Vally Saheb