KARACHI: Discussing some of the current major trends in global Sufism here on Monday, Dr Marcia Hermansen, director of the Islamic World Studies programme at Loyola University, Chicago, linked these to preacher/politician Tahirul Qadri and analysed how Qadri sahib was applying these trends in what she termed ‘new Barelviism’.

The scholar was giving a lecture titled ‘Beyond Barelviism — Pakistani Sufism in the Light of Trends in Global Sufism’ at the IBA’s main campus.

Dr Hermansen said there was a perception that Barelvis were the “default” version of South Asian Islam; she asked rhetorically if that perception had changed. She looked at the pressures of modernity, migration and globalisation on Barelviism and briefly discussed some of the beliefs of ‘Ala Hazrat’ Ahmad Raza Khan, founder of the Barelvi movement. She said there was a notion that Barelvis “embrace everything associated with Sufism”.

The scholar said political mobilisation of the Barelvis in Pakistan was first witnessed in the 1970s and ’80s in the shape of the Jamiat Ulema-i-Pakistan, captained by Shah Ahmad Noorani.

Coming to Barelvis in the Muslim diaspora, she said that “Barelviism in the UK looks different than in the US”; this is mainly because of the different demographics of the Muslim communities in the respective countries.

Discussing trends in global Sufism, Dr Hermansen said most of the Muslims born in the US or those who were the offspring of immigrants were followers of “traditional Islam”. Analysing the various contemporary phases global Sufism had recently gone through, she said that “authenticity Sufism” became popular in the 1990s, which embraced traditional knowledge, the study of fiqh and knowing one’s madhhab (school of thought).

The current trend favoured a more “effective Sufism”, which was more diffuse. It is “global, emotional, networked, not so much based on Piri-Mureedi or based on following a tariqa [Sufi path]”.

As for Tahirul Qadri, Dr Hermansen said there were controversies about the preacher, for example about his interpretation of Sufism and his thoughts about Wahdatal Wujood, with his critics claiming he had “transgressed the bounds of ‘proper’ aqeedah.” All of these criticisms, the academic noted, had been addressed by the Minhaj-ul-Quran organisation run by Qadri sahib.

In 2004, she said, Tahirul Qadri undertook a tour of the Middle East. After this there were visible changes in the preacher, as he crossed paths with global Sufism. Among these, said the academic, was Qadri sahib’s adoption of ‘Azhari’ style headgear, denoting the style of turban worn by scholars linked to Egypt’s famed Jamea Al-Azhar, as well as his taking on the title of Shaykhul Islam, a title, she pointed out, that was not used by Sufis.

“Who is Tahirul Qadri? A Sufi; a scholar; a politician, or all of the above?” she said. Dr Hermansen said Qadri sahib’s current emphasis was on studying hadith and linking up with figures linked with global Sufism, such as Lebanese-American figure Hisham Kabbani and Yemeni preacher Habib al-Jifri.

Dr Hermansen said the international Sufi conference held in India last month showed that “the conference is where global Sufism is being practised”, not just in the khanqah or the mosque. She added that Tahirul Qadri, being a “post-tariqa Sufi” and a “media preacher” could be seen as a representative of “new Barelviism.”

Published in Dawn, April 12th, 2016