Mumbai News: Sufi Groups Protest Inclusion Of Wahabi, Deobandi Clerics In Dargah Administration, Urge Action From Centre
Mumbai: Sufis have protested against what they claimed is the illegal appointment of members of non-believer sects like Wahabi and Deobandis in Waqf Board-registered Sufi shrines.
The Sufi Islamic Board, in a letter to Minister of Minority Affairs, Kiren Rijiju, said that clerics who do not believe in dargahs should not have a role to play in the management of Sufi shrines. Wahabis adhere to a puritanical interpretation of Islam that stresses on stringent monotheism. The sect, founded by preacher Abd-el-Wahab a few hundred years ago, has roots in India and considers veneration of Sufis and saints as 'shirk' or sin. The sects draw their beliefs from the Islamic seminary at Deoband, Uttar Pradesh. The Sufis practice a more syncretic religion that incorporates music, celebrations, and veneration of saints.
Sufis, who supported the Waqf Act 2025 and had campaigned for a separate Waqf Board for their shrines, said they did not understand why Wahabis and similarly minded sects are interested in the management of dargahs which are a theological anathema for them.
SIB opposed the presence of All India Muslim Personal Law Board, the Jamaat-E-Islami, and Jamiyat Ulema-E-Hind members in dargah trusts. They claimed that if the Wahabi, Deobandi, and Jamati followers are allowed to retain their hold on the properties, like they have in the past, the process of amending the Waqf law in 2025 would go down the drain.
Drawing the ministry's attention to recent developments in Tamil Nadu, Mansoor Khan, national president, SIB, said that the Tamil Nadu Wakf Board started appointing office bearers before the Waqf Bill 2025 comes into effect in totality.
In the past month, there have been appointments that violate the Waqf schemes, SIB said, adding that followers of the Sufi Parampara were removed from the management of a dargah in Salem and were replaced by Tablighi Jamaat members who follow the Wahhabi ideology. Sufis said there are court orders that distinguish between non-believer religious groups and believer sects like Sufis.
Suhail Khandwani, managing trustee of two of the most visited Sufi shrines in Mumbai, the Haji Ali and Makdum Fakih Ali Mahimi dargahs, said he agreed that only those who believed in saints should manage dargahs.
"In Islam, we believe that everyone has a right to their own religious beliefs. I think that only those who believe in a religious idea should manage the affairs of a religious institution based on that idea. Dargahs should be managed by those who believe in them," said Khandwani.
Maulana Mahmood Dariyabadi, founder member of All India Muslim Personal Law Board, disagreed with the view that Deobandis do not respect saints. "Who are these groups who claim that Deobandis are not believers? India has many Sufi silsilas (traditions) that are respected by everyone. Deobandis do believe in Sufiyat," said Dariyabadi.
The Jamaat-E-Ulema, an organisation representing clerics, had similar views. "It is not true that all Deobandis do not believe in dargah worship. There are believers among Deobandis," said Niaz Farouqi, spokesperson for the organisation.
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