Intra-Sunni polemical indifferences: Revamping the Barewli hermeneutics of Eshq-e-Rasool and Tehreek-e-Labbaik (TLP) Electoral Politics in Pakistan

Abstract

Little has been written about Tehreek-e-Labbaik Pakistan (TLP), and what has been written, it introduced TLP as a social movement or a popular Islamist party (led by Khadim Hussian Rizwi) which grabbed vote over the issue of Hurmat-e-Rasool (Honor of the Prophet) and became third largest vote taking party in Punjab (General election 2018). Until now, most of the academicians had studied TLP with political lens, which could not decipher the intra-Sunni theological variances and polemical disputes over the nature of sacrosanct status of Prophet Muhammad (PBUH). Unlike the Salafi, Ahl-e-Hadith and Deobandi beliefs, Quranic translations, hermeneutics, and polemic discussions made by Barelwi clerics portray Prophet Muhammad (PBUH), a superhuman which possess supernatural qualities of Hazir-o-Nazir (omnipresent and witness), Ilm-i-Ghaib (knowledge of unseen), Mukhtar-e-Kul (powerful), Nur-i-khuda (God's light) and a long list of contested ideas. This research is an attempt to answer the questions how TLP leadership highlighted Barelwi sectarian interpretations of Prophet's quality of Hazir-o-Nazir (omnipresence and witnessing) to gain political mileage during election campaign and how did they present vote, as a new expression of Ishq-e-Rasool (Love for Prophet) among the Ashiqan-e-Rasool (Lovers of Prophet) in Pakistan.