[Zpxbawtz]

everyday i hear something bad about one group or another - From Barelwis i hear avoid Deobandis - From Deobandis i hear avoid Barelwis - From sunni i hear avoid Salafis - from Salafis i hear avoid Sunnis - i am advised to avoid Wahhabis - sufis - tahir qadri - shias - who is right then ??

which sect should we follow ? everyday we hear some bad thing about Deobandi , Barelwi , Shia , Wahhabi , Salafi , tahir qadri , Sufi - whom should we follow then ? :S

if daily we keep hearing bad things about one group or another -- which one is going to Paradise which one is saved group :S

[QiuCIOdO]

everyday i hear something bad about one group or another - From Barelwis i hear avoid Deobandis - From Deobandis i hear avoid Barelwis - From sunni i hear avoid Salafis - from Salafis i hear avoid Sunnis - i am advised to avoid Wahhabis - sufis - tahir qadri - shias - who is right then ??

which sect should we follow ? everyday we hear some bad thing about Deobandi , Barelwi , Shia , Wahhabi , Salafi , tahir qadri , Sufi - whom should we follow then ? :S

if daily we keep hearing bad things about one group or another -- which one is going to Paradise which one is saved group :S

I was told to listen to those whom Allah has given authority of truth - the Quran, the sayings of the prophet Muhammad PBUH,( in the light of how the salaf understood it), and the ijma' of the TRUE (and this is vital) scholars ("the people of dhikr"). That's what I've been taught.
So now find out about each one through these sources ONLY. Shias. sufis, barelwis etc. are not upon the deen according to the ijma' of the scholars. Alhamdullilah Allah preserves the deen through the scholars even to this day, so pay heed to those in authority. You find that these scholars actually don't call to any sect, which is in accordance to the quran.

[Rjvpicux]

I am muslim, I follow the sunnah and hanafi fiqh. I dont differentiate myself thereafter. Are we meant to?

[LoohornePharp]

Follow the ulama who have the best akhlaaq and who do not ransom the sunnah for publicity/vanity/appealing to non-Muslim sentiments/whatever reason.

[Madjostok]

Shias. sufis, barelwis etc. are not upon the deen according to the ijma' of the scholars.

ijmaa of what scholars exactly

[QiuCIOdO]

ijmaa of what scholars exactly

Look up the statements of shaykh bin baz, shaykh fawzan, shaykh ibn uthaymin, shaykh salih al munajjid, shaykh ibn taymiyaa, shaykh ibn qayiim etc.Also non-saudi scholars like Israr Ahmad. May Allah have mercy on all of them.
You can find most of their statements at alifta.net. May Allah guide all of us.

[LoohornePharp]

Look up the statements of shaykh bin baz, shaykh fawzan, shaykh ibn uthaymin, shaykh salih al munajjid, shaykh ibn taymiyaa, shaykh ibn qayiim etc.Also non-saudi scholars like Israr Ahmad. May Allah have mercy on all of them.
You can find most of their statements at alifta.net. May Allah guide all of us.

Salafi shuyookh do not represent even a blip on the radar of Islamic scholarship. The greatest scholars of the past and present have also been sufis.

Israr Ahmad is alone in a lot of his ideas.

[Zpxbawtz]

Look up the statements of shaykh bin baz, shaykh fawzan, shaykh ibn uthaymin, shaykh salih al munajjid, shaykh ibn taymiyaa, shaykh ibn qayiim etc.Also non-saudi scholars like Israr Ahmad. May Allah have mercy on all of them.
You can find most of their statements at alifta.net. May Allah guide all of us.

Sufism means purifying one's souls and heart - getting closer to ALLAH - via continuous Dhikr - remembrance of ALLAH - continuous Wazifas - Sufism is ( purifying one's nafs from all bad deeds - thinking only about ALLAH and hereafter - )

for exmaple Qadariyya order Teachings emphasise the struggle against the desires of the ego. Gilani described it as "the greater struggle" (jihad) This has two stages; first against deeds forbidden by religious law and second against fundamental vices such as greed, vanity, and fear. A true seeker of God should overcome all desires other than wishing to be taken into God's custody

The Chishti Order is famous for its emphasis on love, tolerance, and openness. The order traces its spiritual origin through various saints all the way to the Islamic caliph Ali and from him to the Islamic prophet Muhammad.
The Chishti saints had two hallmarks which differentiate them from other Sufi saints. The first was their ethical relations to the institutional powers. This meant voluntarily keeping a distance from the ruler or the government mechanism. It didn't matter if the ruler was a patron or a disciple: he was always kept at bay since it was felt that mixing with the ruler will corrupt the soul by indulging it in worldly matters. In his last discourse to disciples, Khawaja Moinuddin Chishti said:
“ Never seek any help, charity, or favors from anybody except God. Never go the court of kings, but never refuse to bless and help the needy and the poor, the widow, and the orphan, if they come to your door. ”

The second distinctive dimension was related to the religious practice of the Chishtis. It was proactive rather than passive; a ceaseless search for the divine other. In this respect the Chishtis followed a particular ritual more zealously then any other brotherhood. This was the practice of sama, evoking the divine presence through song or listening to music. The genius of the Chishti saints was that they accommodated the practice of sema with the full range of Muslim obligations

how are they not according to Islam ?

[oxinsnepe]

Shias. sufis, barelwis etc. are not upon the deen according to the ijma' of the scholars.

That's pretty much meaningless since sufis make up the almost every single one of the classical scholars whose word is taken into consideration for reaching Ijma'...

This unless you consider as scholars of this Ummah only those 3-4 famous scholars of the Salafi da'wah in the last century.

[Madjostok]

Look up the statements of shaykh bin baz, shaykh fawzan, shaykh ibn uthaymin, shaykh salih al munajjid, shaykh ibn taymiyaa, shaykh ibn qayiim etc.Also non-saudi scholars like Israr Ahmad. May Allah have mercy on all of them.
You can find most of their statements at alifta.net. May Allah guide all of us.

you been duped
firstly the opinions of those scholars would not = ijma of scholars as a whole...for the most part you are refferring to salafis...also above that you said the scholars don't call to a sect etc....do you know how many different types of salafis there are?

also go and study ibn taymiyyahs RA opinions on tasawwuf from other sources...you should know by the thread on asharis that what these people tell you about other peoples opinions is not always what they actually are....my advise to you would be if you really wish to find out about a certain group or sect don't listen to their opposition...go and ask them about their beleifs yourself

[Zpxbawtz]

Follow the ulama who have the best akhlaaq and who do not ransom the sunnah for publicity/vanity/appealing to non-Muslim sentiments/whatever reason.

recently i am fond of Mufti Taqi Usmani - by reading his tafseer and some of his books - i hope there arent any scandals on him and he beleives in tasawwuf - which Sufi Tariqqa does he follow do you know ?

[LoohornePharp]

recently i am fond of Mufti Taqi Usmani - by reading his tafseer and some of his books - i hope there arent any scandals on him :s and he beleives in tawassuf - which Sufi Tariqqa does he follow do you know ?

He is attached to four turooq: the Chishti, the Qadiri, the Naqshbandi, and the Suharwardi turooq.

Mufti Taqi Uthmani DB is one of the greatest luminaries of our time. May Allah preserve him.

[oxinsnepe]

He is attached to four turooq: the Chishti, the Qadiri, the Naqshbandi, and the Suharwardi turooq.

Mufti Taqi Uthmani DB is one of the greatest luminaries of our time. May Allah preserve him.

and other than being attached to these turuq, he himself is a Shaykh in Tasawwuf himself.

Here it is the blog by a respected Khalifah of him:

www.ashrafiya.com

[QiuCIOdO]

you been duped
firstly the opinions of those scholars would not = ijma of scholars as a whole...for the most part you are refferring to salafis...also above that you said the scholars don't call to a sect etc....do you know how many different types of salafis there are?

also go and study ibn taymiyyahs RA opinions on tasawwuf from other sources...you should know by the thread on asharis that what these people tell you about other peoples opinions is not always what they actually are....my advise to you would be if you really wish to find out about a certain group or sect don't listen to their opposition...go and ask them about their beleifs yourself

Jazakallahu khaiyrun for the beneficial knowledge and may Allah cure and protect me from being "duped". I just have to make a few comments inshallah: firstly, when I say the ijma' of the scholars and refer to saudi arabia, I'm saying this, and correct me if I'm wrong, because this is the main point of reference for scholars around the world and that is the point of contribution for scholars around the world (i.e. not only saudi scholars). Ask any reliable scholar and they will tell you that they refer to saudi because that is the defined place for such things; secondly, the title salafi is something you have labelled them with when MOST (so don't quote minor ones like Shaiykh Nasiruddin Albani) of them don't call to such a sect (and be careful when you label such scholars for they are among the most beloved to Allah, the messengers of the messenger, and so you will have to deal with them on the day of judgement). Now, when I say sufi I mean the MODERN sufis and tariqas e.g. qadiriyya, naqshbandi etc. I'm not against tasawuff as a whole but only PART of it which is innovated in this modern times. So most scholars were sufis but not the sufi which we have today. As far as reading these peoples books and trying to see whether it is Islam or not, this is a modern trap of the shaytan because one is not qualified to make such judgements. Refer to my first post which I said what defines whether a sect is right or not (did I say that one should see if it matches with reasoning?) May Allah protect the ummah, all of us, from misguidance.

EDIT: To the recent posts. We do not judge islam by personalities and the way they follow it. We do so by what I stated in the original post, as far as I was taught.

[Qeiafib]

I'm saying this, and correct me if I'm wrong, because this is the main point of reference for scholars around the world and that is the point of contribution for scholars around the world (i.e. not only saudi scholars). Ask any reliable scholar and they will tell you that they refer to saudi because that is the defined place for such things;

This isn't really true, brother. People are under that impression simply because the haramain are located in Saudi. But the haramain have been under the leadership of other groups who followed different ulema before. Most recently the Ottomans. So Saudi scholarship doesn't hold any special place in Islam more than other regions.

[Madjostok]

Jazakallahu khaiyrun for the beneficial knowledge and may Allah cure and protect me from being "duped". I just have to make a few comments inshallah: firstly, when I say the ijma' of the scholars and refer to saudi arabia, I'm saying this, and correct me if I'm wrong, because this is the main point of reference for scholars around the world and that is the point of contribution for scholars around the world (i.e. not only saudi scholars). Ask any reliable scholar and they will tell you that they refer to saudi because that is the defined place for such things; secondly, the title salafi is something you have labelled them with when MOST (so don't quote minor ones like Shaiykh Nasiruddin Albani) of them don't call to such a sect (and be careful when you label such scholars for they are among the most beloved to Allah, the messengers of the messenger, and so you will have to deal with them on the day of judgement). Now, when I say sufi I mean the MODERN sufis and tariqas e.g. qadiriyya, naqshbandi etc. I'm not against tasawuff as a whole but only PART of it which is innovated in this modern times. So most scholars were sufis but not the sufi which we have today. As far as reading these peoples books and trying to see whether it is Islam or not, this is a modern trap of the shaytan because one is not qualified to make such judgements. Refer to my first post which I said what defines whether a sect is right or not (did I say that one should see if it matches with reasoning?) May Allah protect the ummah, all of us, from misguidance.

EDIT: To the recent posts. We do not judge islam by personalities and the way they follow it. We do so by what I stated in the original post, as far as I was taught.

actually a lot of saudi scholars are totally ignored because their fatwas etc are controlled by the saudi government....so we get strange fatwas against the mujahideen, also there are many disputes within saudi scholar...many of them have called others deviants etc so which saudi group should we refer to?

salafis of today....they refer to the scholars you mentiond above....many of them nowadays dont refer to themselves as salafis because the 'salafi' label and salafi dawah has been dragged through the mud and they have split into many different sects within themselves so now they are saying we should not call ourselves salafi

having said that i have not said anything bad about the shaykhs you mentioned...they may not have called themselves salafis but due to all the salafis referring to them they are generally known as salafi scholars....im not using the term 'salafi' as an insult

but just as there are different types of salafis there are also different types of sufis...despite them using the same label such as naqshbandi...you can't generalise as you will meet some who are on quran and sunnah and some who are not

[oxinsnepe]

when I say the ijma' of the scholars and refer to saudi arabia, I'm saying this, and correct me if I'm wrong, because this is the main point of reference for scholars around the world and that is the point of contribution for scholars around the world (i.e. not only saudi scholars). Ask any reliable scholar and they will tell you that they refer to saudi because that is the defined place for such things.

That's is not true, at all.

Name me one classical institution of knowledge situated in what today is called "Saudi Arabia", except for the Madina university, which has been founded just a few dozens years ago.
The Nizamiyyah? Baghdad, 'Iraq
Al-Azhar? Cairo, Egypt
Darul Uloom? Deoband, India
And many other were in Central Asia, Persia, North Africa, Western Africa, Yemen, etc.

This is not in any way to belittle the Haramayn (audhubiLlah), but rather to show that "Saudi Arabia" isn't and never was THE only center of Islamic knowledge.

It's only Salafis (and ignorant people with inferiority complex) making all this fuss about "Saudi Arabia", and this only because it has been the center of the Salafi Da'wah in the last decades.

[OnerePeepsy]

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:

Allah will never let my Ummah agree upon misguidance, and the hand of Allah is over the group (Jama'ah), so follow the great mass of believers (Sawad ul-'Azam), and whoever dissents from them departs to hell(al-Tirmidhi (4/2167)

[Zpxbawtz]

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:

Asalamu Aleikum - wonderful reply Yes Alhamdullilah I follow Hanafi madhab and my aqeedah is fully according to Fiqh ul Akbar - Al-Wasiyyah of Imam Abu Hanifah -- and yes i am searching for reliable Ullema- problem is daily i hear something bad about one Ullema or another - i hope i can find the best scholar right now i am very much fond of mufti Taqi Usmani specially after reading his awesome Tafseer Asan Tarjuma Quran -- and i am also looking for best reliable Tariqa Qadariyyah Shaikh to purify my Soul using Tasawwuf

[OnerePeepsy]

Asalamu Aleikum - wonderful reply Yes Alhamdullilah I follow Hanafi madhab and my aqeedah is fully according to Fiqh ul Akbar - Al-Wasiyyah of Imam Abu Hanifah -- and yes i am searching for reliable Ullema- problem is daily i hear something bad about one Ullema or another - i hope i can find the best scholar right now i am very much fond of mufti Taqi Usmani specially after reading his awesome Tafseer Asan Tarjuma Quran -- and i am also looking for best reliable Tariqa Qadariyyah Shaikh to purify my Soul using Tasawwuf

I do not have a lot of knowledge of Tasawwuf but I heard you try to find a Shaikh who you feel attachment to and then follow whatever Tariqa he has. Is it also proper to look beforehand for a Shaikh in a specific Tariqa?
This Book by the way, is good for knowing how to distinguish a good Shaikh from a Fake one.