Islamic Revivalism: The Deoband Movement
- The Deoband Movement was organised by the orthodox section among the Muslim ulema.
- It was a revivalist movement with twin objectives:
- To propagate among Muslims the pure teachings of the Koran and the Hadis, and
- To keep alive the spirit of jihad against the foreign rulers.
- It aimed at the upliftment of Muslims through religious education and sought to resuscitate classical Islam.
- The ulema, under the leadership of Muhammad Qasim Nanautawi (1832–80) and Rashid Ahmad Gangohi (1828–1905), founded the school at Deoband, in the Saharanpur district of the U.P., in 1866.
- The object was to train religious leaders for the Muslim community.
- The school’s curricula deliberately shut out English education and Western culture, imparting instruction rooted in original Islamic religion, with the aim of the moral and religious regeneration of the Muslim community.
- This stood in sharp contrast to the Aligarh movement, which aimed at the welfare of the Muslim community through Western education and support from the British Government — the Deoband school, by contrast, did not prepare its students for government jobs or worldly careers, but for the preaching of the Islamic faith.
- The Deoband school attracted students not only from all parts of India but from neighbouring Muslim countries as well.
Political
- In politics, the Deoband School welcomed the formation of the Indian National Congress in 1885.
- In 1888, the Deoband ulema issued a fatwa against Syed Ahmed Khan’s organisations — namely, the United Patriotic Association and the Muhammadan Anglo-Oriental Association.
- Some critics observe that this opposition from the Deoband ulema did not stem from any positive political philosophy, or from genuine opposition to the British Government, but was mainly driven by their determination to oppose Sir Syed Ahmed’s activities.
- The new Deoband leader, Mahmud-ul-Hasan (1851–1920), sought to impart political and intellectual content to the religious ideas of the school, working out a synthesis of Islamic principles and national aspirations.
- The Jamiat-ul-Ulema gave concrete shape to Hasan’s ideas on the protection of the religious and political rights of Muslims, situated within the broader context of Indian unity and national objectives.
