Q. You are accused by a post on eShaykh.com of being influenced by Shi’ite propaganda and your status as an authorized Deputy-Shaykh of the Naqshbandi Sufi Order is being put to question. What is your response to this?
A. I am authorized to speak, and guide people to the correct path by Mawlana Shaykh Nazim al-Qubrusi, who told me that our GrandShaykh also authorized me to speak, and teach, and initiate people into the path of Ihsan. Mawlana Shaykh Nazim approves of my views. It is not strange for a Shaykh to disagree with certain hadiths found in the Siha Sitta, although the vast majority of Ahlus Sunnah may agree on them. For example, according to both Bukhari and Muslim, Hadrat Abu Talib died an unbeliever, and is in the fire (Allah forbid!). However, Mawlana Shaykh Nazim openly rejects such ahadith as forgeries, and declared Hadrat Abu Talib to be an Imam and in Paradise. Does this mean Mawlana is a Shi’ite as well? Mawlana Shaykh Nazim declared by the authority of Sultan ul-Awliya Mawlana Shaykh ‘Abd Allah Daghestani that Hadrat Mahdi is not Sunni, nor Shiite.
In Fiqh, I follow the Hanafi madhab, and this is not a secret. Love for the Ahlul Bayt is a sign of goodness, while the opposite is a sign wickedness. We are not obliged in anyway to those who mock us, and cast doubt on our authority, to do anything other than pray for them. Perhaps they are like the brothers of Yusuf (alaihi salam), who threw him into a well, and cast him aside, due to fear. They were still his brothers, and they did repent eventually, and come to believe in him.
We hope those persons will stop making dishonest statements and spreading fear for what they cannot control nor subdue. We are not speaking without authority, nor do we simply make things up to amuse ourselves.
Rather, I speak from inspiration, and am made to speak. We hope such brothers attain guidance and higher levels of understanding.
In one of his speeches on the merits of the Ahlul Bayt, Shaykh ul-Islam Dr. Tahir ul-Qadri identifies the behavior of individuals who rally people against others who profess love for the Ahlul Bayt, declaring them to be Shi’ite in a negative light, as a hallmark of Kharijism, not Sunni heroism.