Question
Recently I observed in a Musjid the following scenario: A thikr practice called Khatme Khaajagaan was in the process of being enacted. A white sheet was laid out with a group of the thikr folk sitting around it. The Moulana who was conducting the thikr operation was screaming at the top of his voice They scream and rock to and fro with their incantation. Is there a basis in the Sunnah for such thikr shows? I remember some decades ago there had been intense controversy between Deobandis and Barelwis regarding similar thikr programmes which the Barelwis were conducting in the Mosques and which the Deobandis were severely criticizing and branding bid'ah. But now it appears that the Deobandis and Barelwis have made some compromise, therefore the Deobandis are also practising almost the same acts which they had formerly branded bid'ah. Could you unravel this compromise mystery?
Answer
Deobandis are never Bid'atis. There are however, products from Deoband who have merged with the Barelwis, emulating them in their acts of bid'ah. When a Deobandi merges with the Barelwis and loses himself in their bid'ah, he ceases being a Deobandi. He becomes one of the Barelwi bid'atis. It is therefore wrong to understand that Deobandis are indulging in Bid'ah. The Maslak (the Deeni Path) of Ahl-e-Deoband is the Sunnah of Rasulullah (sallallahu alayhi wasallam). The practice which you had seen in the Musjid has neither origin nor condonation in the Sunnah. It is a clear act of bid'ah. Some thikr practices of the Auliya which were in reality private remedies for certain spiritual ailments have been elevated to the status of Sunnah and even made Waajib, hence they have now become Bid'ah Sayyiah (Evil Innovation).
- Source
- themajlis.co.za
- Published in
- The Majlis Vol 19 No 06
- PDF page
- 12
Appears under THE BID'AH OF THE DEOBANDIS?.