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The Ṣufī Disbelief and Misguidance of Tablīghī Imams: Reciting Qurʾān to the Dead at Their Graves and Attributing Divine Powers to Them

Al-ʿAllāmah Ḥammūd al-Tuwayjirī

A look into just two examples of shirk committed by Jamaʿāt Al-Tablīgh concerning their leaders and “Shaykhs”.

Shaykh Ḥammūd al-Tuwayjirī (d. 1413 AH) said:

[Muhammad Aslam al-Pakistānī] said: Zakariyyā al-Kandahlawī [one of the tablīghī leaders] claimed that Shaykh1 ʿAbd al-Qādir [Rayfūrī] [another tablīghgī leader] used to love hearing him recite the Qurʾān, except that he was not able to do so before dying.

Zakariyyā said: ‘So I went to his grave so I could recite for him. This way he could hear me while dead as he was not able to while alive [before passing]. The weather in the district where Shaykh ʿAbd al-Qādir was buried was unbearably hot, but the weather suddenly turned warm; neither cold nor hot for three days by means of the control of Shaykh ʿAbd al-Qādir. So when I had finished the [recitation] of the Qurʾān and left [his grave], [the weather] returned to being hot.’

[Al-ʿAllāmah] Muḥammad Taqī al-Dīn al-Hilālī2 said: ‘These words contain disbelief and misguidance. As for the misguidance: it is the recitation of the Qurʾān beside the grave. As for the disbelief: his claim that ʿAbd al-Qādir was able to control the weather, causing it to be cool for three days.’

I [Shaykh Ḥammūd] say: Such acts of shirk were taken as practice by al-Shaykh Zakariyyā, who they [the tablīghiīn] describe as: ‘the aromatic flower of India,’ ; [the personification of] blessing in our time;’ ‘the most senior scholar of ḥadīth’ ; ’shaykh of ḥadīth’ ; ‘the Shaykh of all the Mashāyikh,’ ; and ‘the head commander of the jamāʿah al-tablīgh.’ [He was] the most knowledgeable of mankind according to them. This was taken as a practice by Abū al-Ḥasan al-Nadawī al-Ṣūfī al-Tablīghī who managed to trick many of those associated with knowledge who thought him to be from among the most senior scholars of our time, who in actuality is from among the most bankrupt of people from the knowledge of tawḥīd and Sunnah. Such acts have also been taken as practice by other than the two aforementioned from among the “shayūkh of the tablīgh” and their seniors to the point where they do not recognise the evil [in such actions]. Thus, do not ask concerning the condition of their naive followers who are lacking in understanding and guidance themselves. The saying of Allāh, the Most High, applies to them:

إِنَّهُمُ اتَّخَذُوا الشَّيَاطِينَ أَوْلِيَاءَ مِن دُونِ اللَّهِ وَيَحْسَبُونَ أَنَّهُم مُّهْتَدُونَ ‎
‘Indeed, they had taken the devils as allies instead of Allah while they thought that they were guided.’
[Al-Aʿrāf, 7:30]

Endnotes: 

1. Translator’s note: The title ‘Shaykh’ used here strictly from the viewpoint of the jamāʿah al-tablīgh. The title of ‘Shaykh’ is one of reverence. When applied to the leaders of jamāʿah al-tablīgh or any other group of innovation, it only denotes this group claiming this title belongs to this individual in that they have taken him as their leader or teacher. Not at all that this person is deserving of said title.
2. Most well-known for his translation of the Qurʾān called ‘The Noble Qurʾān’ which was co-written with Muḥammad Muḥsin Khan (may Allāh have mercy on him).

Source: Al-Qawl al-Balīgh: 70-1
Translated by: Riyāḍ al-Kanadī

Published: January 23, 2023
Edited: January 23, 2023