Deobandi
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The Deobandi (Hindi: देवबन्दि, Urdu: دیو بندی) are a Muslim religious revivalist movement in South Asia which has more recently also spread to other countries, such Afghanistan, South Africa and the UK. They follow the fiqh (tradition of jurisprudence) of Imam Abu Hanifa and follow Imam Abu Mansur Maturidi's thought in Aqeedah (Doctrine) and Ilm ul Kalaam (Rhetoric) i.e the science of refuting attacks on Islam made using Greek logic. The name derives from Deoband, India, where the madrassa Darul Uloom Deoband is situated.
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[edit] Tenets
Deobandi thought is characterised by a strict adherence to the Sunnah (the tradition of the Prophet Muhammad) and an emphasis on Sharīˤa (Islamic law). It has five main principles, which are:
- Tawħīd: (Monotheism) of God; no one shares His attributes.
- Sunna: Following and loving the methodology of the Messenger of God, Muhammad in every small and big matter.
- Ħubbu s-Sahāba: Love of the companions of the Messenger of God, and following their way.
- Taqlīd wa l-Ittibā: Giving preference to the jurisprudence of one of the earliest jurists of Islam over that of later jurists.
- Jihād fī Sabīli l-Lāh: Doing Jihād in the way of God against every evil.
[edit] History
The Deobandi movement developed as a reaction to the British colonialism in India, whom they believed to be assimilating the Islamic religion. Fearing this, a group of Indian ˤUlāmā led by Maulana Qasim Nanautavi founded an Islamic seminary known as Darul Uloom Deoband. It is here that the Islamic revivalist and anti-imperialist ideology of the Deobandis began to develop. Gradually, their influence, through organisations such as Jamiat Ulema-e Hind and Tableeghi Jamaat, began to spread and hundreds of Madrassas and Darul Ulooms affiliated to Deoband sprouted. Notable Deobandi seminaries include Nadwatu l-Ulama (Lucknow) and Darul Uloom Karachi (Karachi, Pakistan).
Some of the early Deobandi scholars included Mawlana Qasim Nanotwi, Mawlana Rasheed Ahmad Gangohi, Mawlana Husain Ahmed Madani, Mawlana Ashraf Ali Thanawi, Allama Anwar Shah Kashmiri, Mawlana Ilyas Khandhelawi and Mawlana Ubaidullah Sindhi, Mawlana Muḥammad Zakarīyā al-Kandahlawī, as well as Mawlana Rahmatullah Kairanvi, the famous polemicist who emigrated to Arabia after the 1857 war, who was also associated with Deoband.
[edit] Oppostion by Barelvis
Their beliefs led to the development of an antagonism with an opposition Indian Islamic movement, who became known as the Barelvis, after Ahmed Raza Khan Barelvi. The Barelvis opposed the Deobandis for their opposition to several practices common in the Indian subcontinent at the time such as the celebration of Mawlid an-Nabi (the birthday of Muhammad), seeking intercession from saints and various other practices, all of which the Deobandis considered to be bidˤa "innovation". The Barelvis supported a more presumably more "traditional" Islam and were more receptive to Sufi folk-Islam of rural India (while the connection to the actual tradition i.e. Islamic textual sources for the practices of the Barelvis remains a point of contention). Such differences led to the Barelvis making takfīr (declaring to be non-Muslim) on the Deobandis, accusing them of being Wahhabis. This rivalry and antagonism has, however, declined in recent decades and generally consider each other to be part of Ahlu s-Sunnat wa l-Jāmaˤa.
[edit] Present
The Taliban are said to follow the teachings of the Deoband school, although many non-Deobandis, like Ahmed Rashid, claim they follow a simplistic version of the school's teachings. [1]
