Indian Deobandis Against Terrorism: Reiterating a
Historical Tradition
Yoginder Sikand
Following the massive anti-terrorism convention
organized by the Dar ul-Ulum Deoband two months ago,
literally dozens of such public meetings have been
held by Muslim groups, particularly those led by
Deobandi ulema, across India. Ulema who have addressed
these rallies have insisted that terrorism has no room
in Islam, some of them going so far as to issue fatwas
to that effect, and also calling for inter-communal
harmony. Which is all, of course, to the good,
considering the fact that many non-Muslims continue to
labour under the impression that there is an inherent
link between Islam, particularly the Deobandi
expression of it, and terrorism.
The sudden spate of conventions stressing
inter-community harmony and denouncing terrorism
organized by the Indian ulema have received
considerable media attention. However, these
conventions have been reported about in the media in
such a manner as to suggest that they represent a
sudden change of heart, due perhaps to political
pressure, on the part of the Indian Deobandi ulema,
who have, for years, especially since the rise of the
Taliban in Afghanistan, received a very bad press. It
is also being argued in some sections of the media
that the anti-terrorism and pro-communal harmony
rhetoric of the Indian Deobandis is not really sincere
and is simply a means to stave off criticism or state
control and that they are secretly wedded to an
aggressively 'anti-national', 'communal' and
'pan-Islamic' agenda.
This argument, is, however, deeply flawed, as a
reading of the history of the Deobandi ulema will
suggest. Keeping in mind this historical context, it
appears that the current campaign for communal harmony
and against terrorism led by the Indian Deobandi ulema
is actually a reiteration of a tradition that has deep
roots in Deobandi history, rather than being a new
invention meant simply for public consumption. The
fact remains, although this, unfortunately, is
strictly kept out of our history textbooks, that the
majority of the Indian Deobandi ulema in pre-1947
India were strongly anti-imperialist, vehemently
opposed communalism, championed Hindu-Muslim unity,
and, while insisting on the protection of Muslim (and
other minorities') rights, forcefully opposed the
Partition of India. They stressed that there was no
contradiction between being Muslim and Indian at the
same time. Considerably before the Congress and the
Muslim League began talking about full independence
for India, leaders of the Deoband madrasa had already
not just begun demanding it but also started taking
practical measures for it. The then rector of the
madrasa, Maulana Mahmud ul-Hasan, was imprisoned by
the British in Malta for organizing an uprising that
aimed at overthrowing British rule and replacing it by
a government consisting of Hindus and Muslims.
Those who, ignorant, deliberately or otherwise, of the
strongly patriotic traditions of the majority of the
Indian Deobandi ulema, insist that the current
campaign of the Indian Deobandis against terrorism and
communalism is simply a pious ruse designed to conceal
an 'anti-national' agenda, would do well to read a
recently reprinted Urdu booklet, bearing the revealing
title of 'Hamara Hindustan Aur Uske Fazail' ('Our
India and Its Glories'), which brilliantly articulates
this commitment of leading Deobandi ulema to the cause
of composite Indian nationalism and inter-communal
harmony.
One of the two essays in the booklet is penned by
Maulana Husain Ahmad Madni, then rector of the Deoband
madrasa and head of the Jamiat ul-Ulema-i Hind ('The
Union of the Ulema of India'), a major Deobandi ulema
organisation. The essay was first published sometime
in the early 1940s, in response to the Muslim League's
demand for a separate Muslim state and to counter the
claim articulated by many 'upper' caste Hindu leaders
that Indian nationalism was necessarily synonymous
with 'Hindu nationalism', thus effectively excluding
the Muslims from the Indian nationalist project.. The
essay is based on the argument that India has a
special, revered place in the Islamic tradition.
Hence, it insists, the Muslims of the country should
consider themselves particularly honoured to have been
born in the country. Because India had been specially
blessed by God, it argues, the Muslims must work for
the welfare, including the unity of the country.
Contrarily, to demand the partition of the country, it
suggests, would be to defy the Divine Will itself. At
the same time, using the motif of India being
specially blessed by God, for which it draws upon
resources within the larger Islamic tradition, it
seeks to counter the assertion put forward so
aggressively by 'upper' caste Hindu 'nationalists' of
Islamic identity being necessarily contradictory to
Indian nationalism.
Maulana Madni's essay, titled 'Hamara Hindustan' ('Our
India'), draws upon narratives contained in the works
of classical Islamic scholars to illustrate the
'glories' (fazail) of India. He writes that Islamic
tradition has it that God directed Adam, the first man
and the first prophet, to be sent down to earth to
India. It was thus from India that the human race
sprang from Adam's progeny. This implies, Maulana
Madni argues, that the Indian Muslims must consider
India as their 'ancient home' (watan al-qadim). In
addition, Maulana Madni refers to the Quran as
mentioning that God has sent prophets to every nation,
and Maulana Madni takes this to mean that prophets
must have also been sent to India as well. This, he
says, is further suggested by the fact the numerous
Muslim saints (awliya-i allah) have 'discovered',
through 'spiritual encounters' (ruhi mulaqat), the
graves of various prophets in India. Since, as the
Quran says, the religion (din) taught by all the
prophets of God, including those who were possibly
sent to India, was one and the same—al-Islam ('The
Surrender'), it is obvious that from ancient (i.e.
pre-Muhammadan) times onwards Islam has been present
in India. In fact, Maulana Madni argues, 'it is an
unchallengeable fact that from the very beginning
India has been the land of Islam (islam ka watan)'.
India, Maulana Madni insists, is as much the
motherland of the Muslims as it is of other
communities in the country. In a rhetorical statement
that might appear as somewhat quixotic, Maulana Madni
went so far as to claim that Muslims do, or at least
should, display an even greater concern for India's
welfare than other communities because while many
Hindus burn their dead and throw their ashes into
rivers, and the Parsis let vultures feed on their
dead, the Muslims bury their dead in the bosom of the
earth, in the very soil of their motherland. In
contrast to the Hindus and the Parsis of the country,
the mortal remains of the Muslims remain in India in
their graves and shall remain so till the Day of
Judgment. The Hindus believe in reincarnation of the
dead, and there is no guarantee that their dead would
be reborn in India, while the Muslims believe they
shall remain in their graves till the Day of Judgment.
Hence, Maulana Madni argues, it is only the Muslims
who remain faithful to India even after their death.
This itself means, he writes, that Muslims are, or
should be, more attached to India and concerned about
its welfare than people of other communities.
No community can, therefore, claim a monopoly of
Indian patriotism, Maulana Madni insists, challenging
Hindu assertions to the contrary. Just as the Aryans,
the Huns and the Greeks came to India and settled here
and made this their home, he writes, so did the early
Muslims. The only difference between the Muslims and
the others is that the former arrived in India
earlier. In fact, Maulana Madni argues, the Muslims,
as a whole, can be more legitimately said to be the
original inhabitants of India, since the vast majority
of the Indian Muslims are descendants of converts from
India's pre-Aryan aboriginal people. Hence, he
asserts, it is completely misleading to claim that
India is not the land of the Muslims or that it
belongs to the Hindus alone. The welfare of all the
communities of India, including the Muslims, depends
on the overall welfare of the country, and this is yet
another reason why the Indian Muslims must love and
serve their country. Maulana Madni insists that the
Muslims cannot not leave India and depart for any
other country, nor would any other country accept
them. The Indian Muslims would have to live and
flourish in India itself.
While recognising that the Indian Muslims have a
spiritual bond with Muslims elsewhere owing to
adherence to a common religion, Maulana Madni argues
that this does not come in the way of their
patriotism. Nor are the Indian Muslims alone in
sharing such spiritual ties with their co-religionists
elsewhere. The Indian Hindus, Maulana Madni notes, are
linked through a common religion with Hindu
communities outside India, such as in South Africa,
Mauritius and Fiji. If that does not lead to their
patriotic credentials being questioned, he asks, why
should the Indian Muslims' spiritual links with
Muslims elsewhere be regarded as suspect?
As head of the Deoband madrasa and of the Jamiat
ul-Ulema-i Hind, Maulana Madni enjoyed the support of
the majority of the Deobandi ulema, and his legacy
continues long after his death. As his essay so
brilliantly asserts, he, like most of his fellow
Deobandis, was consistently and ardently
anti-imperialist and passionately committed to
Hindu-Muslim harmony and unity and to the cause of
India as a whole. This, one cannot help remarking, was
in stark contrast to Hindu extremist forces, such as
the RSS and the Mahasabha, who vehemently opposed
Hindu-Muslim unity and also played into the hands of
British imperialism.
The Deobandi ulema who are now raising their voices
against terrorism and for communal harmony are thus
not engaging in anything novel. This has been the
tradition of majority of the Indian Deobandis right
from the late nineteenth century, and they thus seem
only to be reiterating this tradition. Such
initiatives should be warmly welcomed. If the state
and secular non-Muslim forces are genuinely concerned
about terrorism and communal conflict, they must
explore ways of creatively cooperating with these and
other such ulema groups. But then, since terrorism and
communal conflict are not issues specific to any
community, it is also for non-Muslim, particularly
Hindu, religious organisations, to take a cue from the
Deobandis and launch similar mass awareness campaigns
against all forms of terrorism, including those
engaged in by Hindu groups which have unleashed untold
violence in recent decades. Sadly, there are little
signs of any significant moves in that direction.
Sukhia Sab Sansar Khaye Aur Soye
Dukhia Das Kabir Jagey Aur Roye
The world is 'happy', eating and sleeping
The forlorn Kabir Das is awake and weeping
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