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It is the delusional belief of Ahmad Rida Khan’s Barelwi followers that these extreme innovated ideas represent the carried understanding of the Ummah from its inception!
Shihāb al-Dīn Abu ‘l-Thanā’ Sayyid Maḥmūd ibn ‘Abdillāh al-Ālūsī al-Baghdādī (1802-1854 CE) was born into a renowned family in Baghdad, Iraq. He learnt from eminent scholars, including Shaykh Khālid Naqshbandī (1779-1827 CE), and became proficient in the Islamic sciences. Initially following the Shāfi‘ī madhhab, he later adopted the Ḥanafī madhhab. From 1833 to 1847, he served as the official Ḥanafī mufti of Baghdad, earning recognition as the most knowledgeable scholar in the region. The Ottoman wazir ‘Ali Riza Pasha held him in high regard. He possessed amazing oratory skills.
Over a span of 15 years, from 1836 to 1851, he authored his renowned Tafsīr titled Rūḥ al-Ma‘ānī. After completing the work, he embarked on a journey to Turkey, where he stayed for nearly two years. He presented his Tafsīr to Sulṭān ‘Abd al-Majīd Khān, who expressed his approval. During his time in Turkey, he also engaged in discussions and exchanged ijāzahs with Shaykh al-Islām Sayyid ‘Ārif Ḥikmat Bek Afandi (1786-1859 CE).
Sayyid Maḥmūd Ālūsī was known for his eloquence, quick wit, and excellent penmanship. Some of his fatwās were published, and he authored several books on diverse subjects, including his travel experiences, advice to his children and a biography of Shaykh al-Islām ‘Ārif Ḥikmat Bek.
The 2010 edition of Rūḥ al-Ma‘ānī published by Mu’assasat al-Risālah relied primarily on a manuscript preserved in Turkey. This manuscript was copied by several scribes from the author’s personal copy while he was writing it, and it was also reviewed and read out to him. The team of editors working on the edition stated that the manuscripts they relied on, particularly the primary one, are identical to the widely available prints of the Tafsīr. Therefore, the claim made by Aḥmad Khayrī in one of his footnotes in Maqālāt al-Kawtharī, stating that al-Ālūsī’s son was unreliable in printing his father’s Tafsīr, lacks evidence and does not hold true. (Rūḥ al-Ma‘ānī, Mu’assasat al-Risālah, 1:70)
In various parts of Rūḥ al-Ma‘ānī, Sayyid Maḥmūd Ālūsī refuted the practice of istighāthah (seeking help) from deceased saints. Presented here are some selected passages on this topic from the Mu’assasat al-Risālah edition.
Al-Ālūsī writes under the verse: “Oh you who have īmān, have taqwā of Allāh and seek the means to Him…” (Qur’ān, 5:35):
People have increased in calling on other than Allah (Exalted is He), from the saints, the living of them and the dead, and other than them, like: ‘O my master so-and-so, give me relief.’ This is not from the permissible [form of] tawassul at all. What is suited to the condition of a believer is to avoid saying this and avoid roaming around its boundary. Some ‘ulamā’ have considered it shirk. If it is not shirk, then it is close to it.
I have not seen anyone who utters this but he believes that the one called, whether an absent living person or a dead person hidden away, knows the unseen or hears the call and is able, intrinsically or extrinsically, to bring benefit and repel harm; otherwise he would not call him or open his mouth! In this is a great trial from your Lord! It is obligatory to stay away from this and not seek [help] but from Allāh (Exalted is He), the Strong, the Independent, the Doer of what He wills.
Al-Ṭabarānī narrated in his Mu‘jam that a hypocrite was abusing the Muslims and al-Ṣiddīq said: ‘Let’s go and seek help from Allāh’s Messenger against this hypocrite’, so when they came to him he said: ‘I am not sought for help, Allāh (Exalted is He) alone is sought for help.’ One who understands the wisdom in this will not doubt that istighāthah from the occupants of graves – who are either felicitous, occupied by blessings and freely moving in gardens to pay attention to what is in this word, or are wretched, distracted by punishment and entrapment in fire from answering their callers and listening to people of their assembly – is something that must be avoided and is unsuited for possessors of sound minds to be engaged in.
Let it not delude you that the one seeking help from creation at times has his need fulfilled and his objective accomplished, for that is a trial and a tribulation from Him (Great and Glorious is He). At times the devil takes the form to the one asking help of the one he asked help from, so he believes it to be a miracle of the one he asked help from. Far, very far! Indeed, it is only the devil misguiding him and turning him astray. Some ignoramuses say this is part of the growth of the soul of the one asked for help or an angel appearing in his form as his miracle. Evil is their judgement! Although the soul’s growth and an angel’s appearance are possible, it won’t be in such a situation and when committing such a crime. We ask Allāh (Exalted is He) with His names to protect us from this. We take as an intermediary His grace to [ask Him to] make us and you walk on the best of paths. (Rūḥ al-Ma‘ānī, 7:181-2)
He wrote under the verse: “When the ships run with them with a fair breeze, and they rejoice in it, there comes upon them a strong wind, and waves come on them from every side, and they think they are encompassed, they call upon Allāh, making their dīn sincerely His” (Qur’ān, 10:22):
You are aware that when people today are faced with a severe matter and great affair on land or sea they call those who neither harm nor benefit [them], nor hear nor see [them]. Some call on Khaḍir and Ilyās while others shout out to Abu ‘l-Khumays and al-‘Abbās. Some ask help from one of the imāms while others implore one of the spiritual masters of the ummah. You don’t see any of them singling out his Master when imploring and supplicating. It hardly crosses his mind that he would be saved from these horrors if he called on Allāh (Exalted is He) alone. I ask you by Allāh (Exalted is He), which of the two groups is on the right path, from this angle? Which caller’s word is more upright?
The complaint is put to Allāh (Exalted is He) of a time in which the wind of ignorance has taken it by storm, and the waves of deviance are hitting against each other, and the ark of Sharī‘ah has been damaged, and istighāthah from other than Allāh (Exalted is He) has been taken as a means to salvation! It has become difficult for the knowers [of Allāh] to command the good. Various obstacles have become a barrier against forbidding the evil. (Rūḥ al-Ma‘ānī, 10:92)
He wrote under the verse: “When Allāh alone is mentioned, the hearts of those who do not believe in the next life shrink back shuddering, but when others apart from Him are mentioned, they suddenly rejoice” (Qur’ān, 39:45):
We have seen many people with a similar description to how Allāh (Exalted is He) described the idolaters. They become energised at the mention of dead people, seeking help from them and requesting from them. They get excited by listening to fake stories about them that agree with their desires and their convictions about them. They hold in reverence those that relate these to them. They feel uneasy about the mention of Allāh (Exalted is He) alone and the attribution of autonomous control to Him (Mighty and Majestic is He) and citing things that show His glory and greatness. They are completely put off by those that do this and characterise them negatively.
One day [I saw] a man seeking help in hardship from a dead person and calling out to him: ‘Oh so-and-so, grant me relief’. So, I said: ‘Say: Oh Allāh, because Allāh (Transcendent is He) said: When My slaves ask you about Me, [tell them that] I am indeed near, I answer the call of the caller when he calls Me.’ He became enraged [at this]. It reached me that he said: ‘So-and-so is a rejector of the saints.’ I heard from one of them [i.e. those who seek help from deceased saints] that he said: ‘The saint answers quicker than Allāh (Mighty and Majestic is He).’ This is at the height of disbelief. We ask Allāh to protect us from misguidance and deviation. (Rūḥ al-Ma‘ānī, 23:451)
He wrote under the verse: “The arrangers of an affair” (Qur’ān, 79:5):
Interpreting it as referring to the virtuous souls that have departed [their bodies] entails creating a false impression that what many feeble-minded people claim is accurate, namely that the saints act with control after their demise by for example curing the sick and saving the drowning person and helping against enemies, and other such things that occurs in [this] realm of generation and corruption, in the sense that Allāh (Exalted is He) has delegated these to them. Some of them specify this to five saints. The entirety [of this] is ignorance, although the second is greater ignorance.
Yes, there shouldn’t be any hesitancy that Allāh (Exalted is He) may at times honour any saint He pleases after his demise just as He honours him with whatever He pleases before his demise. So, Allāh cures the sick and rescues the drowning person and assists against enemies and brings down rain etc. in honour [i.e. as a miracle] of the saint. Allāh may even manifest a form resembling the saint, which fulfills the supplications made to Allāh through the intermediary of the saint’s honor, which entails no sin. At times the supplication may occur in an impermissible form in Sharī‘ah [e.g. istighāthah], and Allāh manifests something similar as a miracle to make the supplicant distant from Him (istidrāj). (Rūḥ al-Ma‘ānī 28:254)
Ahmad Rida Khan Barelwi taught a particular ritual for fulfilling one’s needs called “Salat al-Ghawthiyya” or “Salat al-Asrar”.* This ritual involves performing a two-rak‘ah optional prayer in a specific manner, followed by specific actions. Ahmad Rida Khan elaborates on a part of the ritual as follows:
“Then he should focus with his heart towards Madinah Tayyibah and say eleven times: ‘Oh RasulAllah, Oh NabiAllah, grant me relief, assist me, in fulfilling my need, Oh fulfiller of needs.’” (Fatawa Ridawiyyah, 7:643)
Ahmad Rida Khan believed the Prophet ﷺ is omnipotent (i.e. able to do anything he wishes in creation) and hears people from all over the world. He believed the Prophet ﷺ can literally and physically aid someone in distress. Elsewhere, he proclaimed: “The Prophet ﷺ can fulfil every type of need. All wants of this life and the next are within the Prophet’s ﷺ powers.”
The ritual also includes taking several steps in the direction of the grave of Shaykh ‘Abd al-Qadir al-Jilani (471-561 AH). Ahmad Rida Khan says:
“While taking the steps, one should be in a state of awe, humbleness, respect and tranquillity, and I prefer he imagines being present in Baghdad with (Shaykh ‘Abd al-Qadir al-Jilani‘s) resting place in front of him…The slave becomes enthused and proceeds with steps of joy saying with every step: ‘Oh Ghawth al-Thaqalayn, Oh Karim al-Tarafayn, grant me relief and assist me in fulfilling my need, Oh fulfiller of needs.’” (Fatawa Ridawiyyah, 7:646-7)
Ahmad Rida Khan even described a particular night, while he was in Delhi having travelled there in 1302 H/1885 CE to visit a particular grave, when he practised this ritual, “focused on it with all sides of his heart” (muqbil ‘alayha bi sharashir qalbi). (Fatawa Ridawiyyah, 7:654) Showing how seriously he takes the proper performance of the ritual, he complains of “some common people” who don’t lift their feet when taking the steps, saying: “We’ve been ordered to take steps, so moving away from that without need is the essence of error” (Fatawa Ridawiyyah, 7:644-5), and explains what he believes to be the significance of taking eleven steps specifically. (Fatawa Ridawiyyah, 7:654-8)
Barelwīs, like Shahid Ali, Abu Hasan and Aqdas Barelwī, have been sharing a common Barelwī refrain: In their efforts to affirm the Prophet ﷺ as having total power, complete vision, encompassing hearing and exhaustive knowledge of creation, they are elevating the status of the Prophet ﷺ; on the other hand (by producing clear and incontrovertible evidence against these doctrines – see here, here, here), Deobandīs are lessening Prophetic status. Hence – the argument goes – Muslims (who hold to the honour of the Prophet ﷺ) should tend towards Barelwī prophetology, not Deobandī (Sunnī) prophetology.
It bears mentioning to begin with that this is not an argument. It is an appeal to emotion (i.e. trying to manipulate the interlocuter’s emotions to win an argument, in the absence of factual evidence). Barelwīs produce inadmissible “evidence” (things that do not count as evidence – e.g. statements of late scholars, ambiguous incidents) or distort evidence (verses of Qur’ān/Ḥadīth/Āthār) to argue for their false, innovated doctrines. On the other hand, Deobandīs (Sunnīs) use actual evidence – the correct meanings of verses of Qur’ān/Ḥadīth/ Āthār, coupled with statements of early & authoritative scholars. Hence, the two views are not on an equal footing.
[Take, for example, the position that disbelievers are not destined for eternal torment in the next life or that Fir‘awn is destined for Paradise. A proponent of such innovated views could say: we favour divine mercy, while the opposition (i.e. Ahl al-Sunnah) do not. But this is an invalid (emotional) argument, as the two views are not on an equal footing: one is completely without sound basis, and the other is an established truth.]
This is a straightforward, academic (taḥqīqī) response to the Barelwī appeal to emotion (“argument”). But, it also bears considering: Is the Barelwī point even valid to begin with? Does Barelwī (& Shī‘ī) prophetology elevate the Prophet ﷺ while Deobandī (Sunnī) prophetology diminish it? With a little scrutiny, it will be revealed that it is indeed Barelwī prophetology that lessens the status of the Prophet ﷺ and Sunnī prophetology that elevates it. (This is an argumentative (ilzāmī) response to this Barelwī contention.)
Ibn Ḥajar al-Haytamī (d. 974 H) was a prominent Shāfi‘ī jurist. Barelwīs have been latching onto some of his statements in order to try and support their deviant beliefs.
Ibn Ḥajar al-Haytamī & the Belief in the Prophet ﷺ Hearing From Afar
“From the greatest of benefits of Ziyārah is that his ﷺ visitor, when sending ṣalāt and salām on him near his grave, he hears it literally and replies to him without an intermediary. This is sufficient for you. This is different from someone that sends ṣalāt and salām on him from afar, because that does not reach him, nor does he hear it, except via an intermediary. The evidence for this is many ḥadīths that I cited in my aforementioned book.”
Posted by Abdullah 
Barelwis: A Critical Review 