More Than Rituals: Aala Hazrat’s Teachings Inspire Unity, Service, and Reform at Urs 2025

By Syed Amjad Hussain, New Age Islam 20 August 2025 The 107th Urs-e-Razvi in Bareilly blended devotion with social service, celebrating A’la Hazrat’s legacy of faith, scholarship, and resistance while urging compassion, unity, and care for the needy in contemporary India. Main Points: 1. Lakhs of devotees gathered in Bareilly for the 107th Urs-e-Razvi, with flag hoisting, chadar processions, naat recitations, qawwalis, and langars creating a deeply spiritual atmosphere. 2. Shrine custodian Mufti Ahsan Raza urged devotees to avoid lavish DJ processions and instead support treatment for poor patients, linking devotion with social responsibility. 3. Aala Hazrat was not only a great Sufi scholar but also resisted British colonial rule through fatwas and moral defiance. 4. His farsighted fatwa on paper currency in 1905 showed adaptability of faith to modern challenges. 5. The Urs reinforced his timeless message of compassion, knowledge, unity, and resistance to injustice in today’s India. ----- The Beginning of Urs 2025: Bareilly Turns into a Spiritual Hub From 18th to 20th August 2025, the city of Bareilly once again became the beating heart of devotion as lakhs of pilgrims poured in to commemorate the 107th Urs-e-Razvi, the annual death anniversary of Imam Ahmed Raza Khan Barelvi, reverently remembered as Aala Hazrat. The sacred days began with the traditional hoisting of the green Razavi flag at the shrine, an age-old ritual marking the formal commencement of the Urs. Bareilly’s narrow lanes, usually echoing with the humdrum of daily life, were transformed into living arteries of faith. Processions carrying exquisitely decorated Chadars wound their way towards the shrine; the air was thick with the scent of roses, incense, and sandalwood. Naat recitations and soulful Qawwalis reverberated from open courtyards, while the domes of the Dargah shimmered under strings of festive lights. Community kitchens, or Langars, worked round the clock, serving simple but abundant meals to thousands of devotees without the slightest distinction of caste, creed, or class. Recognising the magnitude of the event, the district administration declared public holidays on 19th and 20th August in schools and colleges. Special traffic diversions, security arrangements, and medical camps were put in place to ensure comfort and safety. Local businesses too thrived during these three days, as hotels, eateries, and markets bustled with visitors. For a brief span, Bareilly ceased to be just another city of Uttar Pradesh, it became a city of devotion, service, and cultural confluence. Shifting from Extravagance to Service: A Call for Social Responsibility The Urs-e-Razvi has always been marked by grandeur, colourful processions, and devotional fervour. Yet, the 2025 Urs introduced a strikingly new dimension. In a rare and powerful appeal, Hazrat Mufti Shah Muhammad Ahsan Raza Khan Qadri Razvi, Sajjada Nasheen of the Dargah-e-Aala Hazrat, urged devotees to move away from costly DJ-led processions and elaborate Chadar ceremonies. He instead called upon them to direct those funds towards the treatment of poor and needy patients. The call did not fall on deaf ears. Many pilgrims, organisations, and well-wishers pledged to spend their savings on helping the sick rather than on spectacle. In many ways, this was not merely a change in custom but a revival of Aala Hazrat’s true spirit, his constant insistence that devotion to God should flow naturally into compassion, charity, and service to humanity. This shift has been widely hailed as a landmark in redefining what religious gatherings mean in contemporary India. The Urs, long a spiritual and cultural celebration, also became a platform for social reform, proving that spirituality, when rooted in sincerity, can offer practical solutions to pressing modern concerns. A Scholar, a Saint, and a Patriot Aala Hazrat Imam Ahmed Raza Khan, born in 1856 in Bareilly, was not only a towering Sufi saint but also among the most prolific scholars of Islam in the modern era. Over his lifetime, he authored more than a thousand works that spanned theology, jurisprudence, philosophy, astronomy, mathematics, and poetry. His monumental Fatawa-e-Razviya remains a touchstone of Sunni jurisprudence across the subcontinent and beyond. Through his scholarship and his deep devotion to the Prophet Hazrat Muhammad Mustafa Sallallahu Ta'aala Alayhi Wassallam, Aala Hazrat gave shape to what is today known as the Barelvi movement. Rooted in veneration of saints and the preservation of traditional Sunni practices, the movement spread rapidly across India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, and the global diaspora, profoundly shaping the spiritual lives of millions. Yet Aala Hazrat was not confined to books and sermons. He was also a quiet but firm resister of colonial power. At a time when India was groaning under British rule, his house in Bareilly reportedly sheltered freedom fighters. Symbolic gestures of defiance filled the space: freedom revolutionaries are said to have deliberately pasted Queen Victoria’s railway tickets upside down on his walls. More significantly, Aala Hazrat issued fatwas branding British rule unjust and urging Muslims not to co-operate with the colonial administration. His resistance was not of the sword, but of the mind and spirit. In his eyes, opposing injustice was itself a sacred duty. In that way, he bridged scholarship with patriotism, ensuring that faith became inseparable from freedom and dignity. Economic Foresight: The Fatwa on Paper Currency Aala Hazrat’s genius was not confined to theology or resistance; it also extended into economics, at a time when India’s economy was undergoing transformation under colonialism. In 1905, he issued a fatwa in response to questions from scholars in Hijaz on the permissibility of paper currency. The treatise, titled Kifl-ul-Faqeehil Fehim Fe Ahkam-e-Kirtas Drahim, remains a landmark in Islamic jurisprudence. At the time, paper currency was hotly debated in the Muslim world. Some dismissed it as worthless, others rejected it outright as a dangerous innovation. Aala Hazrat, however, reasoned with striking clarity that paper currency carried real, intrinsic value as a medium of exchange. He classified it as Maal (property with commercial worth), making it permissible for trade, subject to zakat, and valid for transactions even with fluctuating exchange values. This fatwa placed Bareilly on the intellectual map of the wider Muslim world and demonstrated how Islamic thought could adapt to changing economic realities. It also showed Aala Hazrat’s courage in engaging with modern questions, offering guidance not by rejecting the new, but by interpreting it in the light of timeless principles. The Urs as a Cultural Confluence The Urs has always been far more than a religious occasion. It is a cultural celebration where art, music, poetry, and faith meet. The 2025 Urs echoed this legacy. Courtyards resonated with Naat-Manqabat, poets recited tributes, and langars fed thousands irrespective of religion or caste. Hindus, Sikhs, and members of other communities joined freely in the festivities, proving yet again that Bareilly’s soul remains steeped in Ganga-Jamuni Tehzeeb, the shared culture of harmony that transcends narrow identities. This mingling is itself a testimony to Aala Hazrat’s vision: that love of the Divine and love of the Prophet must always blossom into love for fellow human beings. Relevance in Contemporary India In the India of 2025, Aala Hazrat’s message has perhaps never been more urgent. As society confronts divisions and sectarian anxieties, his call for compassion, unity, and learning offers a timeless corrective. The shrine’s appeal to divert funds towards healthcare is itself a living example of how his vision can still guide communities today. His stance against colonial injustice continues to resonate in the present, reminding us that faith is not passive, it must resist oppression in every form. His intellectual engagement with science and economics stands as proof that religion and modernity are not enemies, but companions when guided by wisdom. For millions of his followers across South Asia and the world, Aala Hazrat remains a guiding star, illuminating how to live faithfully in a fast-changing world. Conclusion: A Living Legacy The 107th Urs-e-Razvi was not just a remembrance of a saint who passed away more than a century ago. It was a living, breathing reaffirmation of his enduring relevance. From the fluttering green flag at the shrine to the Langars feeding the poor, from appeals to serve the sick to the echoes of his defiance against injustice, Bareilly bore witness to the many layers of Aala Hazrat’s legacy. In the city where he was born and now rests, Aala Hazrat Imam Ahmed Raza Khan Barelvi continues to inspire not only Muslims but anyone who believes in compassion, justice, and harmony. More than a hundred years after his passing in 1921, his voice still speaks clearly: that devotion must inspire service, that faith must walk with knowledge, and that standing against injustice is itself an act of worship. As the lights glittered across Bareilly’s skyline and the shrine echoed with zikr, it felt as though Aala Hazrat’s spirit was alive once more, urging his followers, and indeed the nation, towards love, unity, and moral courage. ----- Syed Amjad Hussain is an author and Independent research scholar on Sufism and Islam. He is the author of 'Bihar Aur Sufivad', a bestselling research book based on the history of Sufism in Bihar. 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