Rooting Out Irreligious Practices

Every true Islamic reformer roots out the irreligious practices people perform in the name of religion. Through his speeches and writings, Mawlana Thanawi battled against all evil innovations in religion and presented Islam as it stood in light of the Qur’an and h ad i th. Mawlana Thanawi was deeply concerned about the ignorance of those Muslims who performed many unnecessary acts perceiving them to be righteous acts of religion. Hence, he wrote many books that dealt with this subject. His book Hifz al-iman clearly explains the evils in acts such as grave worshipping, beseeching other than Allah, believing in the omnipresence of the Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace) and pious people, and so on. Another work entitled Aghlat al-‘awam is an earnest effort to root out all un-Islamic rituals prevalent among people. Innovations in belief, worship, and transactions are condemned in this book. Mawlana Thanawi’s balanced approach places all religious injunctions in their proper place without excess ifrat) or shortcoming (tafrit).