Mahdawi/Jaunpuri Innovation of Obligating Dogana Namaz

 بِسۡمِ اللّٰہِ الرَّحۡمٰنِ الرَّحِیۡمِ

الصلاة والسلام عليك يا سيدي يا رسول الله

In the Name of Allah, the Rahman, the Merciful

Blessings and salutations of peace be upon you my Master, Apostle of Allah

Allah, Holy and Exalted is He, says:

اَلۡیَوۡمَ اَکۡمَلۡتُ لَکُمۡ دِیۡنَکُمۡ وَاَتۡمَمۡتُ عَلَیۡکُمۡ نِعۡمَتِیۡ وَرَضِیۡتُ لَکُمُ الۡاِسۡلَامَ دِیۡنًا

Today have I perfected for you your Religion and completed upon you My favor and am pleased with Islam for you as a Religion

(Surah 5, Ayah 3)

One of the most fundamental teachings of our Religion Islam, rejection of which is plain kufr, is that this Religion is perfect and complete. There can be no addition or subtraction to it whatsoever, whether in its creed, worship, laws or moral teachings. The Shari’ah of the Prophet Muhammad, peace be upon him, in particular is unalterable until Judgment Day. The Holy Prophet Muhammad, peace be upon him, would emphasize during the Sermon:

أَمَّا بَعْدُ فَإِنَّ خَيْرَ الْحَدِيثِ كِتَابُ اللَّهِ وَخَيْرُ الْهُدَى هُدَى مُحَمَّدٍ وَشَرُّ الأُمُورِ مُحْدَثَاتُهَا وَكُلُّ بِدْعَةٍ ضَلاَلَةٌ

To proceed, then surely the best speech is the Book of Allah and the best guidance is the guidance of Muhammad. The worst of the affairs are its new matters and every innovation is misguidance (Sahih Muslim)

Bid’ah, or the introduction of something new into Islam which has no basis or origin from the Quran and the Sunnah, is severely condemned by the Holy Prophet, peace be upon him. The common denominator of all the astray sects that have broken off from the Jama’ah of the Muslims – the main body meaning Ahl us-Sunnati wal-Jama’ah – is that they have introduced innovations into the Religion in opposition to the Prophet’s Sunnah.

One of the well-known and established Pillars of Islam is that it is incumbent and mandatory upon every soul that has reached adolescence and is not insane to offer the five daily Salah, known as the Maktubat (Fajr, Zuhr, Asr, Maghrib and Isha). Salat al-Witr is wajib (obligatory) according to the Hanafi school on the basis of a Hadith of the Prophet, peace be upon him. But apart from the five Maktubat no other Salah has been made fard (mandatory) in the Shari’ah. The so-called Mahdawi sect that follow the pretender Muhammad Jaunpuri have introduced the Bid’ah of making the offering of two rak’ah of Salah mandatory on Lailat al-Qadr, the 27^th of Ramadan. They refer to this Salah or Namaz by the name “Dogana”, and have made it fard (mandatory) without authority from the Quran and Sunnah. The Mahdawis argue that the founder of their sect, Muhammad Jaunpuri, whom they regard as the Mahdi, was Ma’sum ‘anil-Khata (infallible and inerrant), and therefore it is a religious obligation to obey his every commandment without question. They falsely claim that even the elders of Ahl us-Sunnah (Sunni Muslims) acknowledge that the Mahdi will be Ma’sum ‘anil-Khata: “Hazrat Imam Mahdi al-Mau'ood is the Vice-Regent of Allah and free from erring. Since we have received the command to perform two-rak’at namaz through an Imam who is free from erring, it [the command] is obligatory and final. In the technical parlance of Shariat it is called farz. It is in this meaning that the dogana-e-Shab-e-Qadr is obligatory [farz] for us. Besides, there are other reasons to prove that the dogana is farz [obligatory]. To understand that the dogana is obligatory, it is necessary to first understand two points. First, what is the difference between a command of Hazrat Imam Mahdi and the extractions of an issue by the imams of Ijtihad [interpretation and re-interpretation of Islamic Law]? Secondly, what is the relationship between Hazrat Imam Mahdi and the Imams of Ijtihad? In regard to Hazrat Imam Mahdi al-Mau'ood, not only the Mahdavis, but also the notables of the Ahl-e-Sunnat believe that Mahdi is free from erring.” (Doganah Lailatul Qadr, p.15)

However, we Sunni Muslims all believe that only a Prophet is infallible and inerrant, and only the command of a Prophet, on the authority of God, is unquestionable. The belief that there may be or are infallible individuals after the Prophet Muhammad, peace be upon him, whose commands and prohibitions are supremely authoritative in their essence, is a plain denial of the doctrine of Khatm an-Nubuwwah (finality of Prophesy) and is kufr. It is a false doctrine held by the Imamiyah Shi’ah and also these so-called Mahdawis, followers of Jaunpuri. The Jaunpuri doctrine that the Mahdi is infallible and possesses legislative authority in Islam is in reality a claim of Nubuwwah for Muhammad Jaunpuri. I shall demonstrate in future blog entries, in sha Allah, that the Mahdawis essentially believe that Muhammad Jaunpuri was a Prophet equal in rank to the Prophet Muhammad, peace be upon him!