Time and again this question of Hazrat Worship come up in our discussion here and this question has been haunting us from Sunni Forum days.
I suppose we should have a clear view on this question so that we can either solve this issue once and for all or move on to more manageable issues in case the problem is more difficult than our collective strength.
Here I go.
To begin with the phrase is excessively strong. we are responsible only for the actions of our people - the people who take their Deen from Deoband.
Thus we need not talk about the Barelwis here nor the Salafis.
But why talk about Salafis who simply do not have Hazrats? Well let me assure you that if we take the example of Jama-at-e-Islami branch of the Salafi type category of people then it so happens that in spite of their claim and assertion to be reasonable they are completely rigid about. No criticism of Maulana Maududi is the dictum.
But As I said it is not our problem.
Then let us come to our own people. Every single Shaikh has got every one of his disciples firmly under his control and will not make them available for us.
What is more - if you muster those Muslims that are not in the fold of any of the Masha-ikh and end up with some positive result then every single Shaikh will lay claim upon your resources.
That is life.
Of course if you commit a single mistake not a single Shaikh will forgive you. Take the experience of Pir Zulfiqar Ahmed Naqshbandi recently.
Perhaps this is not a good example to cite because some of the reported views of Pir Sahab are not really in consonance with conservative interpretation of Shariah. But let us remember that Mufti Taqi Usmani Sahab's Fatwah does not mention Pir Sahab explicitly.
To come back to our main point - we can not expect any help or co-operation from the Hazrat Sector, the Sufi Sector about the issues, the worldly issues, that the Ummah faces today.
And this is sad because we are not talking about people indulging in worldly attractions - we are talking about the issues that have become very crucial for the future of Ummah. In India we are facing the historical lowest point. Globally too whether we like it or not the situation of Ummah was never worse.
Now I got to take the diversion. So why the global situation for Ummah is the worst today? Because there are only few such critical times in history. The Crusades, Fitnah of the Tatars, Ouster of Muslims from Spain, Colonialism and the present situation.
Crusades we dealt with most effectively. I think that was the most glorious phase of Ummah after Khulafa-e-Rashideen.
Tatars, the Mongols, nearly finished off Islam but hey that was the region from central Asia to the Gulf only. India under the Mamluke dynasty was dealing with the barbarians very effectively and when they finally got an advantage in India they were already Muslims. In Egypt it is clear that Baibers indeed gave them the taste of their own medicine.
Spain certainly was a big loss that included our empire of science and our foot hold in Europe. But then it was again the loss of a region that was big but not vast. Loss of india in 1857 was much bigger loss.
Colonialism too is a mind boggling event for any self respecting Muslim but let us not forget that we had already started throwing away the yolk of colonialism when it has not taken even its first course.
So what makes the current problem the worst in the history of Ummah? well RSS in India still thinks that they have a good chance of neutralizing Islam once and for all. Plus the west is in frenzy and has been doing enormous amount of damage in Afghanistan, Iraq, Syria, Libya and Palestine. Honestly speaking the Ummah never had the task of this monumental proportions in her history.
Digression over.
So here we are. We have before us a worldly task that impinges upon the future of Ummah and the Hazrat Sector is not available to us for any help.
Why do we look up to this sector? Ans : Because this Sector is among few functioning sectors of Ummah. simple. So naturally our hopes will get arisen from them.
The other functional sector is the Madaris and yet another is the Tabligi Jama-at. How much of help we shall get from them? Nothing, cipher, zero, zilch, naught.
But this thread is about Hazrat Worship.and from that Sector we are going to get no help when it comes to the revival of the fortunes of the Ummah.
Here I feel like using the metaphor from John Milton in which he inscribes the motto in the gate of the hell that all those who enter it leave all hopes out side. I shall not use that metaphor for Mr Milton was pathologically Islamophobic and his master piece, master piece for the west, was inspired by his hatred for us. But I can assure you that the Sufi sector will render only that much help to you in your task as I have said above - nil.
I just gave you the bad news.
How bad is that? Not much bad. And that will be surprising. But i would like to stand my ground.
Why is that not so bad? For that I have got a very good argument. The people who are in the folds of the Sufis are not very capable in matters in which we need their help. Period.
So let us focus upon those who are not already committed elsewhere. Tablighi-Jama-at people are out, Madaris people are out, Sufis are out.
And my brothers and sisters it leaves for still the most of the Ummah. Believe me.
In this regard I like Kaleem Siddiqui Sahab's attitude. I told him about a distant cousin of mine who had put enormous amount of efforts in Dawah and who is far superior to Kaleem sahab (though I did not say this to him) at academic level but now he, my distant cousin, is simply immersed in Tabligh and not ready at all to go for Dawah. Kaleem Sahab told me that we should focus upon those people who are not associated with any other organized work. let the people who are busy in other branches of Deen do their work and try to recruit the new people.
So guys can we now turn our attention from Hazrats and Hazrat Worshipppers, if I might use the inaccurate phrase to describe the situation, and focus upon more fertile avenues and create our own support base.
