Question:
Mosque board members have declared that people who don’t consider Deobandis to be kuffar like the Qadianis – in accordance with the fatwas of Mawlana Ahmad Raza Barelwi – are ‘unwanted’ in the Masjid. How do people like me who don’t do takfir of Deobandis deal with this? Should we still pray behind mosque Imam even though the Imam suggests we are na-pak (unpure) because of us not agreeing with him?
Answer:
You are praying for Allah, not for the imam, in general. Even in Madinatul-Munawwarah there is the imam and we know he is wahabi, but we still pray behind him. It is the hadith of the Prophet (s), “don’t check the `aqidah of the imam”. So we follow. We are following for Allah and for the Prophet (s) and for our obligations. So what the imam is, is not our concern. So if you are in the area of that masjid, pray at home or pray in the mosque – both are acceptable with no restrictions. If the imam accepts Deobandis or the imam does not accept Deobandis, it is not your argument. It is the responsibility of `ulama to debate each other, not for the common people to debate on these issues.
I am so surprised to see that Muslims will do interfaith with non-Muslims and they won’t come to us to do interfaith as Ahl as-Sunnah wa’l-Jamah and ahl at-tasawwuf. It is a surprising issue.
If there are differences between `ulama, it is said in Islamic belief that differences of opinion are a mercy. If we have a big difference then let us sit with those we have differences with and argue constructively. This is an issue that is so problematic today. Muslims sit with non-Muslims to discuss their issues but will not sit with Muslims to discuss their issues.
We are very well-known as strong Ahl as-Sunnah wa’l-Jamah, and we wish that all different Islamic ideologies to be guided back to Ahl as-Sunnah wa’l-Jamah.
Shaykh Muhammad Hisham Kabbani
