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Reference

Research & References

How we decide what to publish, and where our information comes from.

Our labels

Verified fact
Supported by primary documents, official records or multiple independent reliable sources.
Historical account
Widely reported in histories and reference works, but with variation in detail between sources.
Traditional account
Transmitted within the community's devotional literature; presented as tradition, not as documented history.
Scholarly interpretation
A position held by qualified scholars, where other qualified scholars may differ.
Personal experience
An individual account submitted by a member. Not evidence of general outcomes.
Disputed claim
Contested between reliable sources or between parties. Presented neutrally with attribution.

Source categories

1. Qur'an

Cited by surah and verse number, e.g. Qur'an 68:4. Translations differ; we paraphrase meanings rather than presenting one translation as definitive.

2. Hadith

Cited by collection and number, e.g. Sahih al-Bukhari 6018. Numbering varies between printed editions and online databases, so cross-check where precision matters.

3. Classical and Islamic scholarship

Works such as al-Nawawi's Riyad as-Salihin and hadith commentaries; used for established positions rather than novel rulings. This site never issues independent fatwas.

4. Biographies and movement literature

Works produced within the tradition (for example compiled letters of Maulana Ilyas, and Fazail-e-Amaal) are treated as primary source material for what the movement teaches about itself — not as neutral history.

5. Academic research

Peer-reviewed scholarship in religious studies, sociology and South Asian history, and survey work by established research organisations such as the Pew Research Center, which describes the movement as a global educational and missionary movement founded in Mewat in 1926, historically apolitical, active in roughly 150 countries, with participant estimates that vary very widely.

6. Government and public records

UK charity filings, planning records, census data and other public records are used for factual claims about UK institutions and facilities.

7. Historical documents

Contemporary letters, printed materials and dated photographs where available.

What we exclude

  • Low-quality blogs and forwarded messages, where stronger sources exist.
  • Allegations about living individuals.
  • Unverified religious rulings and sectarian polemic.
  • Membership or attendance figures presented as precise.
  • Miracle claims presented as documented history.

Corrections

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