Pir Ilyas is called "Amir Ahle Sunnat" by his followers, which reflects his desire to lead the Ahle Sunnat. This is one of the reasons why he attracts students from the Barelvi madrassahs. In this way, he serves as a bridge between the Barelvi ulema (Islamic scholars) and the pirs (traditional spiritual leaders). However, unlike most modern pirs, he does not ignore shariat altogether. Like most Barelvi spiritual leaders, Pir Ilyas Qadri places more stress on zikr (devotional acts) and less on shariat (Islamic teachings and doctrines). As the group grew larger, most of his followers started calling themselves "Attari-Qadri," turning the group into a mystic sub-order. He, however, took the suffix of Qadri as his title because he had sworn bay'at at the hands of Pir Ziaud Din Ahmed Rizvi Qadri, a successor of Imam Ahmed Reza Khan Barelvi, the 19th century Ahle Sunnat imam who challenged the rise of Deobandism by issuing a fatwa against the movement. Pir Ilyas Attar Qadri has sworn bay'at (allegiance) to four of the leading orders in Sufi Islam the Qadriya, Chishtoya, Naqshbandiya, and Suharwardiya. All Dawat-e-Islami members, however, are required to wear parrot-green turbans and shalwar-kurta (traditional South Asian clothing) like their Pir. Surprisingly, the Dawat-e-Islami is loosely structured on the model of the Deobandi Tablighi Jamaat (an international Islamic reform movement). However, Pir Ilyas believed in peaceful resistance. Pir Ilyas Attar Qadri had sensed Deobandi extremism would grow as a result of the Afghan jihad and wanted to organize the Ahle Sunnat to face that challenge. Founded in 1984 as a small group around Pir (spiritual leader) Mohammad Ilyas Attar Qadri, Dawat-e-Islami grew into a formidable organization by the mid-1990s when more than 100,000 persons gathered at its periodic ijtimahs (conventions). The most unusual and disturbing aspect of the assassination was that the killer belonged to the Dawat-e-Islami, a Barelvi Sufi group which normally shuns violence and has been in the forefront of the struggle against Deobandism (a conservative Sunni religious movement that has become associated with militancy) and the Ahle Hadith jihadi groups. Pir Mohammad Ilyas Attar Qadri and the Struggle against Deobandism With all opposition to Islamism and jihadism in Pakistan falling silent since, Sufi Islamism has succeeded in doing what Deobandi jihadism had failed in the past. There were widespread demonstrations in Qadri's favor throughout the country.
When the police brought the assassin to court a day later, hundreds of lawyers showered him with rose petals.
He later told the police that he had killed the governor because Taseer had insulted the Prophet of Islam by describing Pakistan's controversial blasphemy laws as "black laws." Within hours of the assassination, Barelvi ulema (religious scholars) and more than 500 leading members of the Jamaat Ahle Sunnat ("The Community of People of the Traditions of Muhammad," a Barelvi Sufi religious organization) had issued a fatwa against leading the deceased governor's funeral prayers or even attending his funeral (The News January 5).
The other bodyguards from the elite force did not try to stop him and the smiling Qadri surrendered to his fellow officers after he made sure the governor was dead. Qadri was also believed to be associated with the South Asian Barelvi Sufi movement. The assassin in the January 4 killing, Malik Mumtaz Qadri, belonged to the Elite Punjab Police, a force specially trained in counterterrorism work and the protection of important individuals (Dawn, January 5). Any views expressed are solely those of the author or publisher and do not necessarily reflect those of UNHCR, the United Nations or its Member States.Īs Punjab governor Salman Taseer came out of a restaurant in an upscale area of Islamabad, one of his bodyguards uttered the slogan "Allahu Akbar" and fired on the man he was supposed to guard, killing him on the spot.
UNHCR is not responsible for, nor does it necessarily endorse, its content. Jamestown Foundation, Sufi Militants Struggle with Deobandi Jihadists in Pakistan, 24 February 2011, Terrorism Monitor Volume: 9 Issue: 8, available at: