Barelvi movement

The Barelvi movement (بَریلوِی, Barēlwī, bəreːlʋi), also known as Ahl al-Sunnah wa'l-Jamaah (People of the Prophet's Way and the Community) is a Sunni revivalist movement following the Hanafi and Shafi'i schools of jurisprudence, and Maturidi and Ashʿari schools of theology with strong Sufi influences and with over hundreds of millions of followers in South Asia and also in parts of Europe, America and Africa. It is a broad Sufi-oriented movement that encompasses a variety of Sufi orders, including the Chistis, Qadiris, Soharwardis and Naqshbandis as well as many other orders and sub-orders of Sufism. They consider themselves to be the continuation of Sunni Islamic orthodoxy before the rise of Salafism and Deobandi Movement. The movement drew inspiration from the Sunni Sufi doctrines of Shah Abdur Rahim (1644-1719) founder of Madrasah-i Rahimiyah and father of Shah Waliullah Dehlawi, Shah Abdul Aziz Muhaddith Dehlavi (1746 –1824) and Fazl-e-Haq Khairabadi (1796–1861) founder of the Khairabad School. It emphasizes personal devotion to and oneness of God i.e. Tawheed and the finality of Islamic prophet Muhammad, adherence to Sharia and in Fiqh following the four schools, following the Ilm al-Kalam and Sufi practices such as veneration of saints among other things associated with Sufism. They are also called Sunni Sufis. Ahmed Raza Khan Barelvi (1856–1921) who was a Sunni Sufi scholar and reformer in north India wrote extensively in defense of Muhammad and popular Sufi practices and became the leader of a movement called "Ahl-i Sunnat wa Jamàat". According to Oxford Reference, Ahl al-Sunnah wa'l-Jamaah or Barelvi is movement developed on the basis of writings of Mawlana Ahmed Raza Khan Barelwi. The Database of Religious History refers the movement as the Ahl-e-Sunnat wa Jamaat (often, Ahl-e-Sunnat) which has a very strong presence in South Asia. Professor Usha Sanyal, an expert on 'Ahl-i Sunnat Movement', referred the movement as Ahl-i Sunnat.