We have some people here who are followers of Ahmed Raza Khan (Bralevis) wearing green turbans. What do you say about them? Do they deserve to be followed? Can we have them to be our leaders? Give me a brief history of the movement and their ills.

All perfect praise be to Allah, The Lord of the Worlds. I testify that there is none worthy of worship except Allah, and that Muhammad is His slave and Messenger.

Bralwiyyah (Brelwi) is a Sufi sect which was founded in the town of Barili, in the Uttar Pradesh state in India during British colonialism.  This sect is famous for exceeding the proper bounds of Prophets and Awliya (pious people).

Ahmad Ridha Khan bin Taqi Ali Khan founded this sect in 1272 A.H; he died in 1340 A.H.  He named himself Abdul Mustapha. The person who gave him this name (Abdul Mustapha) committed a very serious offence because worship should not be dedicated except to Allah.

Their false ideologies:

1) The Prophet is an absolute assistant to Allah, and that the whole world is under his control; he runs it as he wishes; gives whatever he wants to whomever he wants; and takes away what he wants from whomever he wants.  His order is irrefutable and no one can review or comment on his judgement.  They say: “Whoever does not make the Prophet the Owner of all the things is deprived from the sweetness of the Sunnah.”

2) The Awliya (pious people) after the Prophet have the power to run this world.

3) They have indeed exaggerated in their view about the Prophet until they raised him to the status of Lordship. Ahmed Ridha Khan wrote in Hadaa-iq Bakhshish (the gardens of grants): “O Muhammad ()! I cannot call you Allah, but I cannot distinguish between you both. Your matter is in the hands of Allah, He is the One who is best aware about your reality.”

4) They believe that the Prophet is present and sees the actions of all the creation at all times and everywhere.  They deny him being a human being; they consider him as a light of the lights of Allah.

5) They urge their followers to call upon the Prophets and Awliya (pious people) for help, and whoever denies this, they label him as apostate.

6) They say that Sadaqah should be paid on a dead person according to the number of prayer and fasting that he had missed in his life.  The amount of Sadaqah that should be paid on every prayer and fasting is the same as that of Zakaatul-Fitr.

Whoever believes in this wrong belief becomes a Kafir, and goes out of the fold of Islam and opposes the methodology of Tawheed [Belief in the Oneness of Allah, and worshipping Him Alone without associating with him any partners].

Therefore, it is not permissible for a Muslim to follow them or join them. Rather, it would be incumbent on him to advise them and warn others about their wrong belief.

For more benefit, please refer to Fataawa 137487, 86577, and 150587.

Allah knows best.