Tuesday, July 3, 2012

A Response to 'Ali Laraki

You are withing you right when you decide not to take your Tasawwuf from South African or UK followers of the Deoband Tack. The preferred method in Deoband is a combination of Chishti, Qadri, Suhrawardi and Naqshbandi methods. Methods popular in Africa are by and large the other ones and they have their choice. If above four methods have not yet found wide currency then it is a bit premature to paint their propagators in black colour. Moreover it is likely that Shaikh Laraki is not familiar with the fact that a Naqshbandi Shaikh, Pir Zulfiqar Ahmed Naqshbandi is regularly making 'Aitikaaf in Ramadaan in Zambia for many years by now.

Now expanding the Deen amongst the Zulu, Sotho, Tswana and other African nations can not be a quickie. People have been busy in the basic task of defending their Deen from the colonialist incursion. This they have done to a very significant level. The accusation of not spreading the Deen is in the vein that you ran only for 47 kilometers and not 87 kilometers. Speed of spreading of Deen has not been the same in 1400 odd years of history. In first fifty years of Islam it was delivered to perhaps half of the then known world. Next fifty years should have been enough for the whole of the then known world. Then next fifty years should have been enough for the new world, if it was known at that time. In all two hundred years would have been sufficient for communication Islam to whole world. When Shaikh Laraki points a finger in this regard then he too has to be accepted amongst the defaulters. He is as free to take Islam to non-Muslims as any body else.

Laraki is using the historical process of spread of Islam in Indian subcontinent against Deoband Tack. You can not use your data to negate your conclusions. Islam spread in India through Sufi traditions and you do have Pakistan and Bangladesh out of that, two whole countries. Then at least twenty percent of the people of India are Muslims ( the official figures notwithstanding). There are two caveats on that. This is true for north India only because the credit for spread of Islam in south India should go to the traders. The second caveat is that this has taken many centuries to reach that stage. Deoband Tack is just an infant on that scale.

Not being able to keep their flock in control is a bit silly. If temporarily the youngsters are dabbling in Salafism and the like then it is indeed a cause of concern but not of alarm, let alone chiding. And Ilhaad lies beyond that. The biggest danger to faith came and it went by - it was communism and Marxism. Marxism in Muslim youth is now nearly non-existent.

And 'Ali Laraki should have paid some heed to another piece of reality - Tablighi Jama-'at's efforts in containing Ilhaad that created havoc in India. It is strange that a Muslim like 'Ali Laraki should be ignoring the positives and exclusively focusing on those problems that might not even be there. Youngsters might be peeping into bars but we also hear about youngsters going in Jama-'at.

Bringing  Barelwis into discussion serves no purpose. One, 'Ali Laraki in this case, should understand that four major differences in beliefs is not tiny matter. 'Ali Laraki should try to lean towards Al-Haqq rather than trying to make a secular-like balancing act.

And the sign of is quite unlike a Muslim. Why should anyone wish that Muslims will be a used ticket?
This is not like a well wisher, let alone an Islamic attitude.