From Sir Syed Ahmed Khan (RA) to Maulana Saad (HA): THE PROBLEM!

In the Name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful.

As-salāmu ‘alaykum wa-rahmatullāhi wa-barakātuh

For expressing views like this, I have been boycotted, harassed, threatened, slandered etc for decades. I have tried to read every critique and listen to every objection BUT from my Sunniforum days until now nothing has convinced me of the error in my understanding.

This is my singular point of disagreement with dear respected Ulama like Mufti Abu Hajira (HA) etc who fail to grasp what I have tried to say and why.

Throughout history, personalities have emerged which have been controversial and Ulama have rightly warned against them. For the sake of simplicity, let’s take the example of Maulana Maududi (RA) as he will be familiar to the Deobandees.

Before Maulana Maududi (RA) there were many, after him there have been many and there will be many more…

The modus operandi of the Ulama has not changed it, they keep quiet until they can no longer keep quiet and then they issue statements and Fatwaas etc. This is a path of diminishing returns, Ulama can no longer compete with the reach of (the) Media and their output is substantially substandard and unprofessional to the output of Modernists and Secularists.

The mind-set of people has changed and they want “everybody to just get along”…

The problem with merely issuing Maulana Maududi (RA) is inefficient and lacks an overall strategy.

When a figure of such nature emerges two things should happen:

1. W-H-Y has he gained popularity amongst the masses? Which trick did the Ulama miss? Why are people attracted to such a personality?
2. What is the most effective way of protecting the Eemaan of the people?

For example, we have hundreds of Darul-ulooms and thousands of Ulama and YET Nauman Ali Khan (NAK) is outrageously more popular and has a much bigger reach compared to most of them put together, W-H-Y? Why did Dr Zakir Naik became a household name? Why is Dr Farhat Hashmi gaining popularity amongst women?

The simplistic answer often given is that people like things which are easier on the Nafs so they are attracted to these sorts of personalities but this is an easy get out clause.

For decades, Tableeghi Jamaat has WRONGLY kept the people ignorant. No minutes are ever circulated, nobody knew what happens in Muhwaras and in fact people are encouraged to be IGNORANT! This is in sharp contrast to the way of Islam which is to inform people about what is going on, who is in charge…Not in detail but on some level.

Maulana Saad (HA) has stepped into a breach of ignorance and exploited it. Now everyone is running around to try to educate the masses about what happened in this Mushwara or that Mushwara. Even when Maulana Saad (HA) saga is resolved If it ever is), the basic issues is NOT being looked and will NOT be resolved.

The second issue is the obvious deterioration of the Tableeghi work. Tableeghi Jamaat work has gown down in quality and it is nothing but a bunch of rituals. Those who have spent time in Jamaat can see the worsening of quality and Maulana Saad (HA) just like Donald Trump is promising change to which masses are reacting to.!

This is the real issue...Nobody does any root cause analysis of the problem.

There is a reason why Mirza Ghulam Ahmed Qadiyani became popular, how many times have you come across analysis of what was happening at that time and what was used to propel an obscure person to relative popularity in colonial India

I have read Mirza Ghulam Ahmed Qadiyani and I can assure you that he was neither intelligent nor impressive in either speech or writing. His influence (after 1900 and later) is purely down to British colonialization.

I honestly fail to see how he could have been any good in any debates and I truly feel that it is propaganda or misrepresentation of the facts.

I am talking about 1890 and before he caught the attention of the British.

There is NOTHING in the entire collection of Mirza Ghulam Ahmed Qadiyani which is impressive at all!

Maulana Ahmed Raza Khan Barelwee (RA) has sufficient grasp of Fiqh (and he is orthodox in a lot of places) and Sir Syed Ahmed Khan (RA) focussed on (Newtonian) Physics so they edge out, Mirza Ghulam Qadiyani had no redeeming qualities whatsoever.

Maulana Abul-Kalam Azad (RA) is the best writer I have ever read.  Maulana Ashraf Ali Thanwi (RA) speaks in a posh, upper class highly educated language which was the way most upper class Indian Muslims spoke at the time (and some still do). Allamah Qasim Nanotwi (RA) was a mountain of knowledge which a common Alim (let alone laymen) simply cannot grasp. Mufti Rasheed Ahmed Gangohi (RA) has a certain style of succinctly summarising a long conversation and making his point plainly known. Nawab Sadiq Hasan Khan (RA) brings volumes of information on a topic but fails to put it all together. Shah Wailullah (RA) and all others who followed him stand out against (Hanafi) Bias and bigotry prevalent in India at the time and closely follow Hadeeth, they all have a similar style.

I say this without being biased as a Muslim but Mirza had nothing! Women from low professions (of India) wrote better and spoke better then Mirza Ghulam Ahmed Qadiyani.