For those who don’t know that there are two major schools of Islamic philosophy in the world. One is in Saudi Arabia and another one in India.
Both have received bad reports in British Media. Deobandi adhere to Hanafi school of Sunni Islamic school. Hanafi school has the largest following amongst Sunni Muslims. Hanafi school is based in Iraq, 170 Kms south of Baghdad. Hanafi school of thought is followed by most Sunni Muslims in South Asia, Turkey and other parts of Asia. Abu Hanifa was of Zoroastrian descent and started this Sunni school of Jurisprudence. Deobandi call themselves a follower of Shah Waliullah Dehlavi who was a strong follower of Hanafi Sunni school. Dehlavi was well known for his anti Shia views. For Sunni Muslims, Deobandis have created a large amount of literature to conform to Quran and Hadith.
In a way, the Deobandi school of Sunni Muslims is actually sustaining the faith of the majority of Sunni Muslims across the world.
In terms of theology, Deobandis depend on Maturidi view, where in they do not recognize the Hindu scriptures at all. They do not recognize any Vedic literature because that is outside the purview of their arabic schools of thought. Also, Hindu scriptures are considered as a threat to their theological beliefs. They oppose all Sufi traditions.
In fact, Pakistan has adopted a mixture of deobandi fundamentalist viewpoints along with Wahhabism in Pakistan.
One of the founders of Deobandi, Rashid Ahmad Gangohi, has claimed that God has the capability to lie as part of His omnipotence. These points primarily help them take a stand against Sufism. Jamiat Ulema e Hind is one of their major political wing which claims that Hindus and Muslims have entered into a contract since independence to keep India a secular state. Deobandi school has produced many political groups such as Jamiat Ulema e Islam, Majlis-e-arhar- Islam, Tablighi jamaat who give credence to Sunni Islamic though process. These organizations work in tandem to oppose Hindu ideology and history of Hinduism. Most Hindu areas occupied by Islamic ideologies follow these deobandi sects. They collectively deny Hindu history of all lands occupied by Faith Based Colonizers (FBC) such as Islam. Sipaha-e-Sahaba Pakistan and Hefazat-e-Islam Bangladesh are the products of Deobandi school of thought.
Terrorist organizations such as Taliban, Lashkar e Jhangvi, Tehrik-e-Taliban all get their philosophical strength basis from the ideological viewpoints of Deobandis.
Their presence in the UK is led by Dar al-Ulum al-Arabiyyah al-Islamiyyah, Holcombe, Bury – Popularly known as “Dar al-Uloom Bury,” it is historically the first madrasa established in the UK, in 1975. Almost 50% of the mosques in the UK conform to this deobandi school of thought. They are often referred to as Wahhabis by other Muslim sects which they reject. An estimated 30–40 percent of Pakistan’s Sunni Muslims consider themselves Deobandi. According to Heritage Online, nearly 65% of the total seminaries in Pakistan are run by Deobandis, whereas 25% are run by Barelvis, 6% by Ahl-i Hadith and 3% by various Shia organizations. Many Deobandi schools in Pakistan teach Wahhabi principles. In the USA, Darul Uloom Madania has three different schools: Madinatul Uloom, Darul Rasheed, and Darul Khalil Academy, a K-8 standard private school, which is recognized by New York State. In addition there is an online distance learning course called eAlim, which was launched in 2010.
As explained before Darul Uloom Deoband follows Hanif sect of Sunnis and has emerged as the philosophy creator in all Sunni mosques of Bharat also.
Their trained students become teachers who teach Muslim kids and become religious leaders of Muslim communities across the world. Their role in fanaticism of radicalized Muslim youth and their hatred against Hindus as seen in recent riots in Delhi and anti-CAA protests needs to be investigated. For Majority of Hindus, Deobandis have emerged as an ideological threat against national integration in India. Majority of Hindus of India don’t want a secular state because it works against them. While Hindus May desire peace but the ideology that deoband represents is not conducive to peace in the subcontinent because it wants to retain a differentiation between their culture and the historical Hindu culture of the subcontinent. Ideally speaking, this school of thought needs to be sent out of India to their place of origin that is Saudi Arabia. It is good for them as well as for Bharat.
The hatred against Kafirs as a political philosophy has to end because that is creating Kafirphobia in their pupils. Kafirphobia is like a dry ice that burns the very hand that sustains it.
India is the home of Sanatana Dharma and deobandi school directly works against it. Since, there is no commonality between the two systems, the reason for Deoband being in India doesn’t make sense even for their own sake. Sanatana dharma is the predominant culture of Indian Subcontinent and the opposing schools of thought have very little to offer as compared to it. Buddhism, Hinduism and many other faiths have originated from the Sanatana Dharma system. That has created the culture of peace, justice and prosperity. Deobandi philosophy doesn’t help anyone including Muslims as it continues to create Islands of community which is taught to fear kafirs. It’s ironic that they are based out of India. They represent the philosophy of Muslim invaders. The fact that they have existed for so long goes completely to the credit of tolerant Hindus. The deobandi sect is in many ways incompatible with the pluralistic society of India. India is the home of world’s prominent religions and they have always preached peaceful existence.
The presence of Deobandi philosophy in India is almost like an invasion of intolerant communal sects on the broad minded character of India.
Sources: Wikipedia; Canva and Google Search
Disclaimer: The views expressed are personal to the author.
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