1 BARELVI’ISM AND CHRISTIANITY: SIMILARITIES AND THE POSSIBLE REASONS WHY By NOUMAN HUSSAIN A thesis submitted to the University of Birmingham for the degree of Masters by Research Department of Theology and Religion College of Arts and Law University of Birmingham November 2017 University of Birmingham Research Archive e-theses repository This unpublished thesis/dissertation is copyright of the author and/or third parties. The intellectual property rights of the author or third parties in respect of this work are as defined by The Copyright Designs and Patents Act 1988 or as modified by any successor legislation. Any use made of information contained in this thesis/dissertation must be in accordance with that legislation and must be properly acknowledged. Further distribution or reproduction in any format is prohibited without the permission of the copyright holder. 2 ABSTRACT This paper aims to discuss and discover the reasons for the resemblances found between the Barelvi sect of Islām and Christianity. It has a striking similarity with Catholicism in a number of its creed and practices particularly the following four, the humanity of Jesus and Muḥammad, the celebration of the birthdays of Jesus and Muḥammad, the building of structures over graves to venerate the dead, and the revering of Saints, supplicating to them and asking them for aid. The question as to why these two sects have similarities was explored. Upon examination of critical texts such as the biographies of Ahmed Riḍa and his own works, it was determined that he was not directly affected or influenced by Christian missionaries, although some evidence points to the fact that he may have absorbed the culture that surrounded him. It was determined that the reasons were a combination of direct and indirect influences of culture and philosophy that led to the similarities between Barelvi’ism and Christianity and Catholicism. This research highlights the significance of social and philosophical influences on individuals and how these lead to different interpretations of Islām, it further adds to the understanding of the emergence of sects in Islām. 3 CONTENTS ABSTRACT .............................................................................................................................. 2 CONTENTS .............................................................................................................................. 3 INTRODUCTION ..................................................................................................................... 5 Methodology: ........................................................................................................................ 6 CHAPTER 1 HISTORY OF NORTH INDIA, UTTAR PRADESH ........................................ 9 1.1 Pre-mutiny Uttar Pradesh. ............................................................................................... 9 1.1.1 General situation of the Muslims.............................................................................. 9 1.1.2 Religious situation and freedom ............................................................................. 10 1.1.3 Education system .................................................................................................... 12 1.2 The Mutiny .................................................................................................................... 13 1.3 Post Mutiny Uttar Pradesh............................................................................................. 15 1.3.1 The education system and the Christian Missionaries involvement ....................... 15 1.4 Christian Missionaries in India ...................................................................................... 18 1.4.1 Their Aims and Objectives ..................................................................................... 20 1.4.2 Their Methodology ................................................................................................. 21 1.4.3 Missionary Effort and Impact ................................................................................. 22 1.5 Sects and trends in Indian Islām .................................................................................... 25 1.5.1 Deoband .................................................................................................................. 25 1.5.2 Qādiriyya ................................................................................................................ 26 1.5.3 Aḥmediyyah ........................................................................................................... 26 1.5.4 Ahl ul Ḥadīth .......................................................................................................... 26 1.5.5 Nadwa ..................................................................................................................... 27 1.5.6 Hinduism ................................................................................................................ 27 CHAPTER 2 BIOGRAPHY.................................................................................................... 29 2.1 Bai`a and Ḥajj ................................................................................................................ 31 2.2 Education ....................................................................................................................... 32 2.2.1 Naqi Ali Khan......................................................................................................... 32 2.2.2 Other branches of knowledge ................................................................................. 34 2.2.3 Other main teachers of Ahmed Riḍa ...................................................................... 36 2.3 His works ....................................................................................................................... 36 4 CHAPTER 3 RESEMBLANCES ........................................................................................... 45 3.1 First resemblance- Humanity of Muḥammad and Jesus ................................................ 45 3.2 Second resemblance - Celebration of the Prophets birthday ......................................... 47 3.3 Third resemblance - Saint Veneration ........................................................................... 48 3.4 Fourth resemblance are omnipresent: - The belief that Jesus and Muḥammad ............. 49 3.5 Fifth resemblance - Veneration of pictures, images and possessions of the saints ....... 50 3.6 Sixth resemblance -Building and decorating over graves ............................................. 52 3.7 Seventh resemblance – the belief that God came down in the form of the Prophet Muḥammad and Jesus. ........................................................................................................ 53 3.8 Eighth resemblance - Superstition ................................................................................. 54 CHAPTER 4 POSSIBLE REASONS FOR RESEMBLANCES ............................................ 55 4.1 Was Ahmed Riḍa affected directly by Christianity or Christian Missionaries? ............ 55 CHAPTER 5 EFFECT OF CULTURE ................................................................................... 62 CHAPTER 6 COMMON INFLUENCE ................................................................................. 70 CONCLUSION ....................................................................................................................... 76 Reflection and future research ............................................................................................. 78 Limitations........................................................................................................................... 78 REFERENCES ........................................................................................................................ 80 5 INTRODUCTION Barelvi’ism is a sect of Islām that recently came into existence during the British rule in India between 1858 and 1947. The name stems from its founder Ahmed Riḍa Barelvi who resided within the city of Bareilly in the Province of Uttar Pradesh, India. Followers of the Barelvi sect mainly originate from the rural areas of India and are inclined to the practices of superstition and saint and grave worship, thus this sect is often described as being an “indianised” (Asthana & Nirmal, 2009, p.67) version of Islām and comprises Ṣufi and Sunni practices. Although there is a strong following of this sect within what is now known as Pakistan, during the British rule of India, the Barelvi movement was opposed by many other sects such as the Ahl ul Ḥadīth and Deobandis who criticised the founder as being an innovator and for deviating from what was believed to be orthodox and traditional beliefs and practices of Islām (Zaheer, 2011). If one was to read the biography of Ahmed Riḍa by Sanyal (1996) and Bihari (2004), one would find that he spent his life calling to what he believed was the correct form of Islām and his works are still available for us today. When one delves into his writings, one will come across a number of beliefs and practices that recur in his works; these specific beliefs and practices are passionately and sometimes fiercely defended by Ahmed Riḍa in his works. While Ahmed Riḍa argues and defends these beliefs as being based upon the religious texts of Islām, one will find that these beliefs and practises greatly resemble those of Christianity, in particular Catholicism