Since you are a Hanafi that already puts you under "Ahl as-Sunnah Wal Jama'ah". Just stick to this as this is the one that is true. 1. As-Sayyad Shaykh Abd'al-Qadir al-Jilani (Radi Allahu ta'ala anhu) (470AH) says in his famous book Ghuniyya-t at-Talibeen "There are 73 groups as foretold by Sayyadina Rasulullah (Salla Allahu ta'ala 'alayhi wa Sallam). The group which will be saved from the fire of Hell is the Ahl as-Sunnah Wal Jama'ah." 2. Imam Ghazzali (Radi Allahu anhu) (450AH-505AH) in his book Mujarribaate Imam Ghazzali states " The Ahl as-Sunnah Wal Jama'ah is the sucessful group and it is this group which weighs or determines its thoughts and its mind according to the scales of the Noble Quran." 3. Imam Sufyan Souri (Radi Allahu anhu)(95AH-161AH) in his book Al Mizaan al-Qubra states " By Sawad-e-A'zam is meant those who are called the Ahl as-Sunnah Wal Jama'ah." You don't have to label yourself a Deobandi or a Barelwi or a Wahhabi or a Salafi. You only need to find out of all these groups, which group of Ullema should you relate yourself to and take Deen from. Now, comes the question of which group of Ullema actually is under the Ahle sunnah Wal Jamah. Divide the world in 3 major groups: Salafi, Deobandi and Barelwi. It is wajib to do taqleed. One who does not do Taqleed does not come under the Ahle Sunnah Wal Jamah. (This was written by Shah Waliullah I think. Not sure, can sombody confirm who made this statement?) Clearly, Salafis are against Taqleed so that leaves 2 groups of Ullema - Deobandi and Barelwi. (This does not mean all other Ullema are deviant. A lot of Ullema from other places are on Haq as well but here am just referring to 2 of the major schools. Out of these two, see which one sticks more closely to the Sunnah. Which of the two bases all its teachings on authentic hadith and which of the two speaks most against Bidah? Who is more tolerant, who has better akhlaq? Does a specific scholar you see/hear the most, adhere to his madhab? For example, a very well known scholar is out there. A lot of people tend to take Deen from him. He is a hanafi, but does not have a fist length beard as in the hanafi madhab. The Beloved Prophet (Salla Allahu alaihi wa sallam) said: “Follow the way of the largest group of Muslims! For, he who deviates from this group will be thrown into Hell!” [Sunnan Ibn Majah, Hadith # 3950] From the above hadith, try to find out which group is the largest. Do some statistics. Don't look at just at just city/state. Find out which group of Ullema are present in most parts of the world. I just came back from an Ijtema of Tableeghi Jamaat in my city. The talk highlighted some major achievements of Tableegh. The person giving the bayan talked about some of the countries Jamaat are coming to and from. Their majority seems quite obvious among all the other groups/organizations in Islam. While this talk was going on, this hadith came to my mind: