On 11 April 2006, a bombing at Nishtar Park in Karachi, Pakistan resulted in the deaths of at least 49 people and injured around a hundred others. [1] [2] [3] [4] At the time of the blast, a mawlid ceremony to mark the birthday of Muhammad organised by the Barelvi Jamaat Ahle Sunnat was taking place, in which tens of thousands of followers were gathered.
Among the dead were several Barelvi religious figures, including the senior leadership of the Jamaat Ahle Sunnat and the Sunni Tehreek. The notable leaders included Chief of Sunni Tehreek, Maulana Muhammad Abbas Qadri, central leaders Maulana Akram Qadri, Maulana Iftikhar Ahmad Bhatti, Dr. Qadeer Ahmad and Haji Haneef Billo, Hafiz Muhammad Taqi of other parties. [5] Three men said to belong to the Lashkar-e-Jhangvi were indicted for the crime. [6]
The Barelvi movement, also known as Ahl al-Sunnah wal-Jama'ah is a Sunni revivalist movement that generally adheres to the Hanafi and Shafi'i schools of jurisprudence, and Maturidi and Ash'ari schools of theology with hundreds of millions of followers, and it encompasses a variety of Sufi orders, including the Chistis, Qadiris, Suhrawardis and Naqshbandis as well as many other orders of Sufism. They consider themselves to be the continuation of Sunni Islamic orthodoxy before the rise of Salafism and the Deobandi movement.
Shah Ahmad Noorani Siddiqi was a Pakistani Islamic scholar, mystic, philosopher, revivalist and politician.
Syed Ahmad Saeed Kazmi was a Pakistani Islamic scholar and Sufi who belonged to the Barelvi movement of Sunni Islam. He migrated to Multan in 1935 from Amroha. He is known for his contribution to the Pakistan Movement, Urdu translation and Tafseer of Quran, and Dars-e-Hadith. His tomb sits next to Multan's 18th century Shahi Eid Gah Mosque.
The Sipah-e-Sahaba (SS), also known as the Millat-e-Islamiyya (MI), is a Sunni Islamist banned Deobandi organisation in Pakistan. Founded by Pakistani cleric Haq Nawaz Jhangvi in 1989 after breaking away from Sunni Deobandi party Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam (F), it was based in Jhang, Punjab, but had offices in all of Pakistan's provinces and territories. It operated as a federal and provincial political party until it was banned and outlawed as a terrorist organization by Pakistani president Pervez Musharraf in 2002. Even though it has been banned by the Pakistani government on numerous occasions, the Sipah-e-Sahaba has continued to operate under a different name throughout the country; it has significant underground support in Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. The organization was also banned by the United Kingdom, where there is a significant Pakistani diaspora population, in 2001.
Sectarian violence in Pakistan refers to violence directed against people and places in Pakistan motivated by antagonism toward the target's religious sect. As many as 4,000 Shia are estimated to have been killed in sectarian attacks in Pakistan between 1987 and 2007, and thousands more Shia have been killed by Salafi extremists from 2008 to 2014, according to Human Rights Watch (HRW). Sunni Sufis and Barelvis have also suffered from some sectarian violence, with attacks on religious shrines killing hundreds of worshippers, and some Deobandi leaders assassinated. Pakistan minority religious groups, including Hindus, Ahmadis, and Christians, have "faced unprecedented insecurity and persecution" in at least two recent years, according to Human Rights Watch. One significant aspect of the attacks in Pakistan is that militants often target their victims places of worship during prayers or religious services in order to maximize fatalities and to "emphasize the religious dimensions of their attack".
Pakistan Sunni Tehreek or simply Sunni Tehreek is a Pakistani Barlevi organization. The organization was founded by Muhammad Saleem Qadri in 1990 in order to prevent Barelevi mosques from being seized by Deobandi and Wahabi organizations. It also sees itself as a defender of Barelvis from attacks from Deobandis and Wahabi Muslims.
Muhammad Ilyas Attar Qadri is a Pakistani Islamic scholar who is the founder of Dawat-e-Islami. He belongs to the Qadri order of Sufism.
Jamaat Ahle Sunnat is a Muslim religious organization in Pakistan that represents the Barelvi movement. It is supported by Mashaikh including all spiritual centers. As a Sunni organisation it has adopted many Sufi customs and traditions. Jamaat e Ahle Sunnat is a representative of sunni(sufi) nation of Pakistan. It works under the superivision of spiritual centers including Golra Sharif, Sial Sharif, Pakpattan Sharif, AliPur Syedan Sharif and others. Pir of Golra Sharif is the current pattern in chief of the organization.
Syed Shuja’at Ali Qadri was the first Grand Mufti of Pakistan, Judge of Federal Shariat Court, a member of the Pakistani Council of Islamic Ideology, and a scholar of Islamic Sciences and modern science. He was influenced by Mustafa Raza Khan Qadri.
In 2006, 30 terrorist attacks, including 10 of a sectarian nature, took place, leaving 100 people dead and 230 others injured.
Muhammad Shafee Okarvi, also known by his honorific as Maulana Muhammad Shafee Okarvi, was a Pakistani religious scholar and orator. He was one of the founders of the Jamaa'at-e-Ahle-Sunnat Pakistan and the Gulzaar-e-Habeeb Trust. He has received various honors from the Pakistani government and private institutes including the Sitara-e-Imtiaz. Over a span of thirty-eight years, Okarvi delivered over 18,000 speeches on many religious topics.
The Sunni Ittehad Council is a political alliance of Islamic political and Barelvi religious parties in Pakistan which represents followers of the school of Sunni Islam.
Majlis-e-Tahaffuz-e-Khatme Nabuwwat is the programmatic name of a Pakistani Barelvi organization and Islamic religious movement in Pakistan aiming to protect the belief in the finality of prophethood of Muhammad based on Quran and Sunnah concept of Khatam an-Nabiyyin. It was founded by Mohammad Abdul Ghafoor Hazarvi in 1950 with Zafar Ali Khan, Abdul Hamid Qadri Badayuni, Khwaja Qamar ul Din Sialvi, Syed Faiz-ul Hassan Shah, Ahmad Saeed Kazmi, Abdul Sattar Khan Niazi, Pir of Manki Sharif Amin ul-Hasanat, Muhammad Karam Shah al-Azhari, Sardar Ahmad Qadri and Muhammad Hussain Naeemi. Later on the prominent Barelvi leaders Shah Ahmad Noorani, Shaikh ul Quran Allama Ghulam Ali Okarvi, Pir Muhammad Alauddin Siddiqui, Muhammad Shafee Okarvi, Syed Shujaat Ali Qadri, Iftikharul Hasan Shah and Khalid Hasan Shah also joined them to oppose the Ahmadiyya Movement.
Muhammad Muslehuddin Siddiqui, was a preacher born in Nanded on India's Deccan Plateau. He belonged to the Barelvi movement of Sunni Islam and a mureed of Amjad Ali Aazmi.
Maulana Bashir Ahmed Sialvi was a prominent Sunni scholar and Imam from Pakistan who lead many Ahle Sunnat organisations of Pakistan and served Islam throughout his life. He was born in Chak 164 Shekhan, Gojra, Pakistan. His father Molvi Haji Ilam Dean Sialvi was one of the first settlers to this area after migration from India. He was a prominent member of the Sufi-Sunni Ulemas and Mushaikhs in Pakistan and United States.
Abd al-Ḥāmid al-Qādirī al-Badāyūnī, also known as Mujahid-e-Millat, was a Pakistani Islamic scholar, Sufi, poet, and leader from Pakistan. He was the founder of the Islamic college Jamia-Talimat-e-Islamiya located in Karachi.
Persecution of Sufis over the course of centuries has included acts of religious discrimination, persecution, and violence both by Sunni and Shia Muslims, such as destruction of Sufi shrines, tombs and mosques, suppression of Sufi orders, murder, and terrorism against adherents of Sufism in a number of Muslim-majority countries. The Republic of Turkey banned all Sufi orders and abolished their institutions in 1925, after Sufis opposed the new secular order. The Islamic Republic of Iran has harassed Sufis, reportedly for their lack of support for the government doctrine of "governance of the jurist".
Shah Turab ul Haq Qadri was a Sunni Muslim scholar, preacher and politician from Hyderabad who represented the Sufi Barelvi movement in Karachi, Pakistan. He was the main leader of Jamaat Ahle Sunnat, a Sunni organisation in Pakistan.
Muhammad Waqaruddin Qadri also known as Waqar-e-Millat was an Islamic scholar associated with the Sunni Barelvi movement of south Asia. His fatawa (rulings) are compiled in three volume of the book titled Waqar ul Fatawa. He taught and administered in Islamic institutes in India, Bangladesh and later in Pakistan. He was conferred title of Grand Mufti of Pakistan during Muhammad Zia-ul-Haq regime.
Jameel Ahmed Naeemi was an Islamic scholar linked to the Barelvi movement, renowned for his expertise in Islamic theology and jurisprudence. He founded the Anjuman-e-Mohibban-e-Islam. His writings frequently highlight the significance of venerating Muhammad and the function of Sufism in Islamic tradition. Naeemi also participated in numerous educational and religious endeavors to disseminate Islamic teachings.