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Brelwi claim that Shaykhs have more rights than parents

Question

Salaam Alaykum,
Are teachers equable compared to parents in respect and are peers more worthy of respect than parents?
Once on Madani channel we saw a man telling that peer is more entitled for respect than even compared to one's parent?
Are these Madani people (i.e. those who often wear dark green turben as customary) correct?
What is the meaning of peer and who are these people?
Jazaak ALLAHu Khair.

Answer

All perfect praise be to Allaah, The Lord of the Worlds. I testify that there is none worthy of worship except Allaah, and that Muhammad  sallallaahu  `alayhi  wa  sallam ( may  Allaah exalt his mention ) is His slave and Messenger.

The parents have a great status as Allaah linked His Right to the rights of the parents and made it an obligation on us to be kind and dutiful to them even if they are non-Muslims as we clarified in Fatwa 87019.

The teachers have also the right of respect but their status does not reach the status of the parents. Similarly, the Shaykhs who teach the people their religion and correct their Aqeedah (creed) and guide them to good moral conduct and advise them to follow the Prophet  sallallaahu  `alayhi  wa  sallam ( may  Allaah exalt his mention ) have their great status and respect but they as well do not reach the status of the parents, let alone them being more worthy of honor and respect than the parents.

As regards the mentioned channel, we are not aware of its condition, but we knew that it belongs to the people who follow Shaykh Ahmad Redha Khan Al-Brelwi Al-Hanafi Al-Qaadiri. If this is the case, it means that it follows the Sufi methodology. The Shaykh according to the Sufis is the person who is followed by people who make pledge of allegiance to him on his methodology. Indeed, Sufism has many superstitions and they exaggerate about their Shaykhs, and this makes them believe that they can harm and benefit and they attribute to them what can only be attributed to Allaah, like supplication, seeking help, hope and fear and so forth. Therefore, a Muslim must avoid them and beware of them.

For more benefit on Brelwiyyah, please refer to Fatwa 87790 and for more benefit on Sufism and pledging allegiance according to them, please refer to Fataawa 83615 and 83352.

Allaah Knows best.

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