SHAYKH AL ISLAM

Deobandis

Moderate Wahhabis or just plain Extreme ? You decide!

 

''Verily those who annoy Allah and His Messenger [salla Allahu 'alayhi wa sallam] – Allah has cursed them in this world, and in the Hereafter, and has prepared for them a humiliating torment.''        al-Qur’an  33:57

 

Shah Ismail Dehlwi : Taqwiyat al-Iman
Ideology of Intolerance

Gangohi is the 'Christ of our Time'
Fatwa of 300 Scholars [Ulema] against the Deobandi sect

Deoband 'parties'
Deoband Mawlid Controversy & Confusion
Hypocrasy in the name of Religion 
Refutation of Deoband anti-Mawlid Fatwa
Ulama of Deoband refuse to debate
Deobandis hit by Cash for Fatwas scandal

Deoband leaders detained after shooting
Deobandi Cleric held after 2 men shot
Deoband Mosque love triangle murders
More controversy surrounding Riyadh al Haq

The Imrana rape case and the Deoband edict
Deobandis in controversial Rape case fatwa
Protests against Deoband Rape case ruling

 

More stray & deviated sects :

Wahhabism | Tablighi Jama'at | Qadiani | Shi'ah | Jamaat-e-Islami

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World of Tasawwuf Visit our New Sister Site

 

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Important distinctions - the many faces of Islam
By Marwaan Macan-Markar



BANGKOK - Asia's moderate Muslims have unlikely allies who are giving legitimacy to a view that they asserted after September 11 - that Islam is not a monolithic faith, that there are many Islams.

Their unwitting supporters are a growing chorus of high-profile, neo-conservatives in the United States who are calling on Washington to deem Saudi Arabia an American enemy because of the form of Islam it practices and exports - Wahhabism.


This view has gained currency "within the [President George W] Bush administration - especially on the staff of Vice President [Dick] Cheney and in the Pentagon's civilian leadership - and among neo-conservative writers and thinkers closely allied with administration policymakers," the Washington Post newspaper wrote last week.


This group views Wahhabism as troubling because it sees a strong anti-US sentiment being pushed by its exponents. Adherents of this argument cite well known examples: Osama bin Laden and a majority of the 19 hijackers who participated in the suicide strikes in New York and Washington. Bin Laden, the man wanted by the United States for planning the September 11 attacks, and the majority of the hijackers came from Saudi Arabia and were adherents of Wahhabism.


In shedding light on the dangers of Wahhabism for the United States, the neo-conservatives are implying that a distinction can be made between this form of Islam that has taken root in Saudi Arabia, and the other Islams across the world. But for moderate Muslims in Asia, the problem with Wahhabism has little to do with the US twist and goes back years.


Following September 11, when Islam was pilloried as a monolithic faith that propagated terror, moderate Muslims attempted to offer a counterpoint. They asserted that the faith was far from monolithic, ranging from the more austere and extremist form practiced in the Middle East, particularly Saudi Arabia, and the other strands of Islam evident in Muslim communities in Southeast Asia, South Asia and Central Asia.


"Had the Muslim community been given the chance to choose its leaders, the likelihood is that we would not have chosen a bunch of Wahhabi or Deobandi extremists to speak for the rest of the Muslim community," Farish Noor, a political commentator in predominantly Muslim Malaysia, wrote in an article titled "Who elected you, Mr Osama?" as early as last year. The Muslim community, he added, "is much bigger and certainly more diverse".


Wahhabism emerged in the 18th century and since then became a pillar of legitimacy for Saudi Arabia's monarchy. Its adherents comprise just 10 percent of the world's more than 1 billion Muslims, but its conservatism includes restrictions on women's rights and participation in public life and it has succeeded in convincing the Saudi monarchy to ban all other religious practices in the country.


The Deobandi movement matches Wahhabism in its conservative views on Islam. The school that propagates this interpretation of Islam is based in Deoband, an Indian town, and represents the extreme fringe of the faith in Asia. Afghanistan's defeated Taliban regime was a product of the Deobandi ideology.


Another moderate Muslim voice, Surin Pitsuwan, Thailand's former foreign minister, also reiterated the broad spectrum in Islam and the differences between the faith as practiced in the Middle East and in Southeast Asia.


"This distinction has become a point of controversy ever since Islam arrived in our region over 10 centuries ago," Surin wrote in a newspaper commentary in late September. "Some consider the Southeast Asian brand of Islam less pure, and our Muslims less puritanical and less true to their faith than those in the Middle East."


Asia's moderate Muslims are amply qualified to shed light on the attempt by the Wahhabi movement, backed by Saudi funding, to impose its narrow, intolerant and oppressive views on other Muslims across the continent. This is because Asia is home to many strands of Islam, including those who belong to the two broad categories of Sunni and Shi'ite, those who accept at least two of the four legal traditions of the Sunnis and to those who accept Sufism as a part of their faith.


The Sunnis are the majority among the world's Muslims, while the Shi'ite Muslims make up the minority. The Wahhabis are members of the Sunni majority. This divergence in Islam - one of the first since the death of Prophet Mohammad [Peace & Blessings Upon Him] in 632 - resulted in the Sunnis accepting the fundamentals of the faith and the customs of the prophet. The Shi'ites accepted the fundamentals of the faith and placed additional loyalty to Ali, Mohammad's son-in-law.


Shi'ites make up the majority in Iran, while pockets of them live in South Asia, from India and Pakistan to Afghanistan, and Central Asia. The rest of the region is largely Sunni.


Sufism, on the other hand, is more widespread, with adherents living in Southeast Asia, South Asia and Central Asia.


With regard to the Sunni legal traditions that prevail, Hanafi, the oldest school and often described as the most liberal, is embraced by Chinese Muslims, those in Central Asia, and parts of South Asia. The Shafi legal tradition is evident in Southeast Asia and in South Asia.


In addition, the likelihood of Muslims in Asia having a broader outlook in religion is greater because a number of them live in close proximity to adherents of other beliefs, like Buddhism, Hinduism, Christianity, Jainism and Taoism.


For the Wahhabis, however, much of what passes for Islam in Asia could be considered a deviation from the fundamentals teachings of the Koran, which is anathema to them. The Wahhabis even have an Arabic word that they use to express disgust for any practice they deem "not Islamic" - bida.


The followers of Wahhabism have been trying to make inroads into the world of Asian Islam since the 1970s. This effort, backed by Saudi money, has had two objectives: to ensure that the Wahhabi version of Islam becomes the dominant form and to counter the promotion of Shi'ite Islam by Iran after the Islamic revolution there in 1979.


Hence, Wahhabi enthusiasts today have no qualms combating other Muslims in Asia, attacking their Sufi traditions, condemning those who recite prayers with songs, destroying mosques if they do not conform to the austere regimen of Wahhabism and ridiculing Muslims who celebrate the Prophet Mohammad's birthday.


For the Wahhabis, the ideal Islamic state was the one in Afghanistan ruled by the Taliban, where women were subjugated, laughter and song forbidden, and only one form of Islam permitted.


Moderate Muslims like Noor of Malaysia are well aware of the other torments in the Islamic world. These purists and "defenders of Islam" can "hardly speak for the thousands of other Muslims who have been killed by them in the quest for a model Islamic state," he wrote.


So when the neo-conservatives in the United States draw a distinction between Wahhabism and the other strands of Islam, Asia's moderate Muslims can say: We told you so.

(Inter Press Service)

Ref : Asia Times Online

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		By Roger Hardy BBC Middle East analyst

Osama Bin Laden, named by US officials as the main suspect in the 11 September attacks against America, is Saudi-born and a Wahhabi. Many people are accordingly asking about the character of "Wahhabism" and debating whether it is an inherently radical form of Islam.

The term "Wahhabi" is often used very freely.

The Russian media, for example, use it as a term of abuse for Muslim activists in Central Asia and the Caucasus, as well as in Russia itself - rather as the Western media use the vague and derogatory term "Islamic fundamentalism".

In fact, the term is properly used to describe an Islamic revivalist movement which sprang up in the Arabian peninsula in the 18th century.

Like many revivalists in the course of Muslim history, Muhammad Ibn Abdul-Wahhab, the founder of the movement, felt that the local practice of Islam had lost its original purity.

Wahhabi rules

Saudis themselves do not use the term "Wahhabi", preferring to call themselves Unitarians - believers in one indivisible deity.

Bin Laden supporters have been demonstrating in Pakistan

The modern Saudi state is founded on the 18th-century alliance between the Wahhabi religious movement and the House of Saud - the family that has ruled the Saudi kingdom since its creation in the 1930s.

In daily life, the Saudi religious establishment - the ulema - have imposed strict segregation of the sexes, an absolute prohibition of the sale and consumption of alcohol, a ban on women driving and many other social restrictions.

The rules are enforced by the "mutawa", or religious police, who patrol the streets and shopping centres on the look-out for anyone breaking the rules.

Taleban version

There are some similarities between the Saudi interpretation of Islam and that of the ruling Taleban movement in Afghanistan.

The Taleban, too, represent an unusually strict form of Sunni Islam - and restrictions on women, for example, are even tighter than in Saudi Arabia.

But the Taleban are not Wahhabis. They belong to what is known as the Deobandi movement, named after the small town of Deoband in the Indian Himalayas. It was here that the movement was founded, in the 1860s, during the period of British rule in India.

It would be wrong to see either Bin Laden or the Taleban as typical of modern Sunni movements. They represent a radical fringe, rather than the Sunni mainstream.

Reference; http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/middle_east/1571144.stm

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Just as Sikhs originated from Hinduism, but are not Hindus, and Protestants came from Roman Catholicism, but are not Catholics, similarly, the Deobandi sect originated in the Sunni community, but are not strictly Sunnis. . . .

The Deobandi interpretation holds that a Muslim's first loyalty is to his religion and only then to the country of which he is a citizen or a resident; secondly, that Muslims recognise only the religious frontiers of their Ummah and not the national frontiers; thirdly, that they have a sacred right and obligation to go to any country to wage jihad to protect the Muslims of that country.

The Deobandi interpretation of Islamic teachings is widely practiced in Pakistan. The Deobandi movement in Sunni Islam, was founded in response to British colonial rule in India and later hardened in Pakistan into bitter opposition to what its members views as the country's neo-colonial elite. The Islamic Deobandi militants share the Taliban's restrictive view of women, and regard Pakistan's minority Shiia as non-Muslim. . . .

 

Source: http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/

 

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In the recriminations that occurred in the aftermath of attacks many Muslims claimed that the terrorists did not represent the 'true' or 'real' Islam. There is no 'true' Islam, no more than there is a 'true' Christianity or a 'true' Judaism. Islam is a complex of competing sects, all laying claim to be the 'true' Islam.

 

The first split occurred over the succession to the lineage of Mohammed. This created the two major sects, the Sunni and the Shia. These sects have further split into other divisions, as well as there being other, unorthodox groupings such as the various Sufi sects. All of them claiming to be the 'true' Islam.

 

The two that concern us the most are two Sunni sects, the Wahhabi and the Deobandi.

 

The Wahhabi were founded by Abd al-Wahab (1703-1791) who claimed that the teachings of Mohammed had been corrupted by decadent influences. He argued that the faith should return to the purity of the Islam of the first two centuries. After his expulsion from Medina Wahab formed a relationship with the Saud tribe. The Saud's went onto conquer Arabia. By 1811 they had established control and created a capital in Riyadh. Wahhabism became the favoured version of Islam. The Saudi reign was challenged by the Ottoman Empire on two occasions. The last was made famous by the film Lawrence of Arabia. This was to mark the beginning of a strange friendship between the West and Islamic fundamentalism. The British formed an alliance with the Saudi's to defeat the common enemy, Ottoman Turkey. The result was the restoration of the Saudi dynasty in Riyadh and the re-establishment of the Wahhabi sect.

 

However, not all is well in the relationship between the Saud royal family and Wahhabi clerics. Wahhabism is puritan in outlook and shuns the ostentatious display of wealth. As oil money began to spoil and corrupt the royal family Wahhabi clerics began to declaim the corrupting influence of the West. There is now deep division within the Saudi society between the supporters of religious orthodoxy and the supporters of a more pro-western stance.

 

The Deobandi are named after a Muslim seminary founded in the Indian city of Deoband in 1866. This sect arose largely in response to the perceived corruption caused by the influence of Hindu syncretism and Sufi mysticism. They were also violently opposed to British rule. Like the Wahhabi it seeks to return to a purer version of Islam. For this reason the Deobandi are sometimes incorrectly referred to as Wahhabi.

 

When Pakistan and India split during the partition Deobandi radicals became influential in Pakistani politics. It is the Deobandi who founded the madrassas, the religious schools that were the source of the Taliban, Taliban simply means 'student'.

 

The important point to remember is that both of these sects arose as a reaction to the belief that Islam had been corrupted by outside forces, and they arose before oil had been discovered in the Middle East.

 

As mentioned the Saud royal family are the patrons of Wahhabi sect. The Wahhabi sect has had a powerful influence throughout the Islamic world. Many rich Saudi's regard it as their religious duty to support the efforts of the clerics. This has included the private and public funding of a network of charitable organisations. These organisations helped fund Deobandi madrassas in Pakistan and helped fund Bashir's school in Indonesia. A proportion of this money has also helped fund Osama bin Laden's activities, pursued in the name of Wahhabi religious zealotry.

 

It is worth noting that Saudi funding of terrorism had been of concern to several intelligence agencies. The CIA however, ignored these concerns for fear of upsetting the Saud royal family. The US continues to this day to tread softly with Riyadh, despite the now obvious connection.

In pursuing their ideological and economic agenda in the Middle East the Western powers have undermined the people most likely to support the creation of a progressive elite within Islam. Instead the West has sided with the reactionary and regressive forces of fundamentalist Islam. By turning a wilful blind eye to Saudi and Pakistani (and Indonesian) funding and military support of such forces, and by funding them themselves, they have allowed these forces to grow in strength. The secular forces that may have been able to successfully counter the growth of radical Wahhabi and Deobandi activists have been weakened.

 

This is a problem that will haunt the West for a good decade or more.

 

Source: http://www.integralworld.net/index.html?harris9.html

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 A.H. Jaffor Ullah  

 

Let us for once admit it openly that amongst South Asian nations Pakistan is an oddity as far as sectarian and religious violence is concerned.  Every once in a while we read in the Internet or in the print media news that describe in nauseating details the account of a carnage in which Muslim minorities, most likely Shiites, are killed in cold blood.    

 

Today (May 27, 2005) is no different.  These bloodlettings have become a routine affair in Pakistan .  With regular periodicities, the Wahhabi Jihad brigade undertakes suicide mission often targeting either minority Shiites or Ahmadiyas (also known as Qadiyanis).  The suicide bombers often carryout their jihadi attack on Muslim Sabbath day that falls on Friday.  As minority Muslims prostrates towards holy Ka’aba, bombs are hurled or the suicide bomber detonates the killing device with disastrous results.  

 

Hours after a serious suicide attack in the northern suburb of Islamabad , the capital of Pakistan , the Internet was abuzz with the news of sectarian killing in a Sufi Shrine.  The BBC also published a short account of the carnage in their website.  Reading all the reports one would surmise that sectarian violence is on the rise in Pakistan — a nation of nearly 165 million impoverished people.  The minorities are at the receiving end of these heinous attacks.  On May 27, 2005, an estimated 20 people were killed in the suicide blasts and about 200 people have received injuries from the bomb blast.  

 

Let us look into the incidences of extremists’ attack in the last 12 months to get a glimpse of the cancerous growth of jihadi brand of Islam.   

 

In May 2004, two separate attacks were brought forth in two different Shia Mosques; the total number of deaths was 35.  In October 2004, the scenes of two violent attacks were in Punjab, one in Multan and the other one in Sialkot, in which 70 people were killed.  In Sialkot blast, the target was a Shia mosque.  In March 2005, 43 Shias were killed in a bomb blast in Fatehpur, Baluchistan.   

 

It is quite clear that the minority Shiites in Pakistan are paying the price of Jihadism with their blood.  The Deobandi Doctrine, which emanates from strict Wahhabi teachings, is fueling the fire of a puritanical movement.  Therefore, some ''Sunni'' men are hell-bent on wiping the Shiites in Pakistan.  In one sense, it is a puritanical movement to wipe out Sufism (Folk Islam), Ahmadiyas, Shiites, and other minor offshoots of Islam from South Asian nations.  The Deobandi Mullahs have spawned a Wahhabi revivalism in South Asia, which dates back to 1940s.  The Tablig Al-Jamaat, which organizes marathon-preaching session in the dry winter season during December through February calling it Ijtema (congregation), is asking the faithfuls to revert to the teachings of Islam’s holy book.  It shuns the ‘Folk Islam,’ which had borrowed heavily from other religions and folklore of Persia, India, etc.  The most ordinary Muslims of South Asia were never perturbed by the presence of myriads of Sufi shrines those dot the rural landscape starting from Sind in the West where they are called Mazars of Kalandars to Eastern part of Bangladesh where they are called Dargah of Awlias.  The Deobandi teachings would like to annihilate the Dargah or Mazar cultures of South Asia.  This monolithic view of Deobandi (read Wahhabi Islam) is in clash with South Asia’s ‘Folk Islam.’  Thus, the killing of twenty Shiites who gathered in a Sufi shrine near Islamabad on May 27, 2005, is a chilling reminder that things could go out of hand if Wahhabi Doctrine is allowed to flourish in Pakistan, Bangladesh, and India.  

 

According to news, hundreds of pilgrims were celebrating an annual festival (most likely an Urs) when the bomb exploded at the Bara Imam shrine, which is just north of Islamabad and near diplomatic and government buildings including the prime minister's residence.  The devotees saw pools of blood everywhere and the bomb scattered body parts inside and outside the shrine.  It was indeed a very gory, and sickening scene, according to eyewitnesses.  Strangely, both the Sunni and Shia Muslims venerate the 17th-century Sufi holy man.  The Sunni devotees gathered on May 26, 2005, to celebrate when the day’s events were not marked by any violence.  However, when Shiites gathered on May 27, 2005, all hell broke loose.  A suicide bomber had detonated a powerful bomb killing 20 Shiite devotees in a matter of seconds.  This week, some conservatives, and a number of religious scholars criticized the Bara Imam celebrations.  They frown on traditional practices by Sufi Muslims, who follow a mystical branch of the religion.  

 

Does this view surprise anyone that Pakistan has become an extremely violent nation where throwing hand grenades, bombs, suicide bombing, etc., a routine affair?  According to some reports, about 160 people have been killed in 2004.  The government does not perform a thorough investigation to figure out who are behind the sectarian violence.  The president of Pakistan, General Musharraf, is used to the news of these kinds of jihadi activities in Pakistan.  The Islamists also tried to kill Musharraf during 2003-2004.  After hearing the news of the blast, Musharraf expressed “shock and profound grief” and ordered an inquiry to track down the killers.  However, if past is any clue, the investigation will not unearth who are behind the sectarian violence.  The planners of the suicide bombing will again receive impunity as before.  It seems as if Pakistan is paying heavily for Islamization brought on by Gen. Zia ul-Haq in late 1970s and early 1990s.     

 

Getting back to the story of today’s attack in Sufi shrine, the timing of the attack came right after the visit of US Assistant Secretary of State for South Asia, Christina Rocca, who met with Pakistani high officials in Islamabad.  To protest Ms. Rocca’s visit Islamic hardliners staged mass protests hours before the suicide bomb went off in the Sufi shrine.  The hardliners were protesting against alleged abuse of the Koran at the US detention centre in Guantánamo Bay.  Emotions are running high at this time, anything could have happened.  

 

In the meanwhile, suicide bombing has become a controversial subject in Pakistan.  The archconservative Mullahs who are devotees of Wahhabi Islam condone killing of deviant minority sects all in the name of jihad against impure Islam.  The same bunch won’t mind blasting of Christians, Hindus, Buddhists, Murtads (apostates), etc.  However, a group of senior Pakistani Muslim clerics this month declared suicide bombings and attacks on ordinary citizens and places of worship as un-Islamic.  Perhaps the government to make such characterization of suicide bombings goaded these clerics to offer their fatwa or religious edicts.  The practice of suicide bombing became very popular in certain places in Islamic world.  The late president of Palestine, Yasser Arafat, condoned suicide bombing as he launched Intifada II Movement in early 2000s.  

 

Now a paragraph on Pakistan’s growing schism.  The Sunnis in Pakistan abhor the Shiites.  While the Sunnis accept wholeheartedly Prophet Muhammad as the last Hazrat.  The Shiites do not accept this doctrine.  They revere Ali who was Muhammad’s cousin and son-in-law.  Just a week ago, I was listening to a news story from Iraq through America’s National Public Radio (NPR).  In the news piece that described the funeral of some Shiites men killed by Iraqi insurgency (mostly done by Sunnis), the bereaving men where reciting the Kalima repeatedly.  However, the thing that struck me the most was the following: The Shiite men were reciting only the first part of Kalmia Tayib while ignoring the second part, which says that Muhammad is God’s Rasul (the last prophet).  This had been a bone of contention amongst Shiites.  The Sunnis hate Shiites for their non-belief in Muhammad. Amidst the growing schism, the Sufi shrines in South Asia are open to anyone who wants to visit.  Therefore, the Bara Imam shrine serves as a symbol of harmony between the two communities (Sunnis and Shiites).  The same shrine was the scene of violence in February 2005 when assassins from rival faction gunned down its custodian.  

 

In summary, Pakistan, which has a long history of sectarian violence between Sunnis and Shias dating back to 1960s, is in the news again.  This time, a Sufi Shrine near Islamabad where hundreds of Shiite devotees came to celebrate the life of a mystic by the name Bra Imam was the scene of carnage where a suicide bomber had detonated bomb killing 20 people on the spot and injuring over 200 attendees.  According to a BBC report, more than 40 people were killed and many injured in a bomb blast at a Muslim shrine in the south of the country in March 2005.  The same report had stated that about 4,000 people have been killed in Pakistan over the past several years.  The Pakistani intellectuals should start a dialogue in various parts of the country to explain the inanities in religious war (jihad).  If sectarian violence goes out of hand, it may further destabilize the nation.  America should also help Pakistani government to efface the existing schism between Sunnis and Shiites.  These two factions are in collision course in Iraq with devastating result.  Let us all write articles to stop sectarian violence in Islamic world where things are in a state of flux, to put it in milder tone.

 

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Dr. A.H. Jaffor Ullah, a researcher and columnist, writes from New Orleans, USA

 

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Harkat-ul-Mujahideen

 

The Harkat-ul-Mujahideen Al-alami (HuMA; Al-alami, meaning International) is an offshoot of the proscribed Deobandi terrorist group, the Harkat-ul-Mujahideen (HuM), and was formed sometime in the year 2002 after parting ways with the latter on a dispute over organizational affairs. According to The Friday Times, there was reportedly some pressure on the HuM after its proscription in Pakistan in November 2001 to merge with the Jamiat-ul-Mujahideen, another Jehadi group based in that country. However, this plan met with stiff resistance from within the HuM and reportedly, the dissent led to a group breaking away from the parent outfit and calling itself the Harkat-ul-Mujahideen Al-alami. It is based in the Pakistani port city of Karachi

Read More

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Formation

 

Lashkar-e-Jhangvi (LeJ), a ''Sunni''-Deobandi terrorist outfit was formed in 1996 by a break away group of radical sectarian extremists of the Sipah-e-Sahaba Pakistan (SSP), a ''Sunni'' extremist outfit, which accused the parent organisation of deviating from the ideals of its slain co- founder, Maulana Haq Nawaz Jhangvi. It is from Maulana Jhangvi that the LeJ derives its name. It was formed under the leadership of Akram Lahori and Riaz Basra. The LeJ is one of the two sectarian terrorist outfits proscribed on August 14, 2001, by President Pervez Musharraf.

 

Ideology and Objectives

The LeJ aims to transform Pakistan into a ''Sunni'' state, primarily through violent means. The Lashkar-e-Jhangvi is part of the broader Deoband movement.

 

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Sipah-e-Sahaba: Fomenting Sectarian Violence in Pakistan By Animesh Roul Sipah-e-Sahaba Pakistan (Corp of the Prophet's Companions), a militant Islamist organization and the largest sectarian outfit in the country, was outlawed by President Pervez Musharraf on January 12, 2002 for its alleged involvement in terrorist related activities. More than 1,500 of its members were arrested at that time. Immediately after the ban, then-chief Maulana Azam Tariq renamed the organization Milat-e-Islamia Pakistan (MIP), the group's third incarnation. Previously known as Anjuman Sipah-e-Sahaba, the (Sipah-e-Sahaba Pakistan) SSP belongs to the Deobandi School of thought and its prime targets are the Shi'a community and Iranian interests in Pakistan. The gruesome killings of 40 people in twin bomb blasts in Multan on October 7, 2004, highlight the depth of the sectarian conflict that plagues Pakistan. The incident occurred when hundreds of people had gathered to mark the first anniversary of the killing of Sipah-e-Sahaba chief Maulana Azam Tariq outside Islamabad. The attack came almost a week after a lethal suicide attack inside a crowded Shi'a mosque in the city of Sialkot that killed at least 30 people with as many injured. While the SSP chief Maulana Muhammad Ahmed Ludhiyanvi, speaking to the media at Nishtar Hospital in Multan, blamed Shi'a radicals for the blast, police sources specifically pointed towards the militant Shi'a organization Sipah-e-Muhammad Pakistan (SMP) as the prime suspect. [1] SMP is an off-shoot of Tehrik-Nifaz-e-Fiqh-e-Jafaria (TNFJ – Movement for the Implementation of Jafaria Religious Law), the main Shi'a politico-religious party. Even as security forces claimed to have arrested one suspected mastermind of the blast, Amjad Shah of SMP in Toba Tek Singh, another source claimed that a different Shia outfit, Pasban-i-Islam (also affiliated to the TNFJ) was responsible for the Multan bomb blast. [2] Read More:

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Deobandi Islam: The Religion of the Taliban

Information provided and used with permission from the Defense Language Institute at: wrc.lingnet.org

"We have a common task – Afghanistan, the USA and the civilized world – to launch
a joint struggle against fundamentalism. If fundamentalism comes to Afghanistan,
war will continue for many years…Afghanistan will be turned into a center for terrorism"
 Mohammed Najibullah, August 1996 Afghanistan President

(The following month Najibullah was assassinated by the Taliban.
His mutilated body was hung from a light pole for public display in downtown Kabul)

 

"Afghanistan is the only country in the world with a real Islamic system.
All Muslims should show loyalty to the Afghan Taliban leader, Mullah Mohammad Omar"
Osama Bin Laden, April 2001

 

The International Deobandi Conference, April 2001

From April 8-11 of this year an estimated half-million people converged on a small town outside of Peshawar, Pakistan to celebrate the founding of a religious seminary known as Dar-ul-Uloon (house of knowledge). Dar-ul-Uloon is an Islamic madressa (religious school) that was founded in the city of Deoband, India in 1867. This celebration known as the “International Deoband Conference” acknowledged the madressa’s history but its primary purpose was to affirm a philosophy of a branch of Sunni Islam that has come to be known as Deobandi. From its inception almost 150 years ago the Dur-al-Uloon madressa has expounded a religious philosophy that now bears the name of the city in India where this well-known school resides. The April conference was organized by Jamiat Ulema-I-Islam (JUI), a Pakistani political party with a history of supporting and encouraging radical Islamic groups made up of fundamentalists and religious fanatics. The majority of the delegates to this conference came from Deobandi madrassas in Pakistan. There were also a large number of delegates from Afghanistan as well as India. With the exception of Israel every middle-eastern country was represented, as were representatives from non-Arab Muslim nations.

 

The highlights of the conference were a keynote address by Libyan leader Mu’ammar Al-Qadhafi, and taped speeches broadcast over loud speakers by the Afghanistan Taliban leader, Mullah Mohammad Omar and international terrorist, Osama bin Laden. Mullah Omar’s speech contained the strongest rhetoric. He accused the United Nations of being a tool of Western aggression and accused the West, particularly the U.N. and the United States, of oppressing the Muslims in Palestine, Kashmir, Bosnia and Chechnya. Osama bin Laden in his speech had high praise for the Taliban government as defenders of Islam against “non-Islamic forces” both foreign and domestic. He praised the Taliban government for having the resolve to stand firm in upholding the standard of Islam in the face of international criticism. The Iranian delegation, while comfortable with the anti-American diatribe, were clearly uncomfortable with the Deobandi religious philosophy which runs counter to the Shia understanding of Islam. It is probably for this reason that the Iranians tried to redirect the focus of the conference on the importance of Islamic unity. The Indian delegation, clearly bothered by the radical tone of the conference, pleaded for moderation. Despite these efforts the conference maintained a strong anti-American and anti-Western bias. The food Kiosks observed a ban on American products. Signs advertising Coca-cola were painted over and posters depicting burning American flags were popular souvenir items.

 

Introduction

The goal of this paper is to shed some light upon the Deobandi movement, the primary religious influence among the Taliban in Afghanistan. While religion is a significant factor it is only one piece in understanding the Taliban and Afghanistan situation. Historical, political, economical, and social factors must also be thoroughly examined. Perhaps most importantly tribal/ethnic divisions (there are more than 50 ethnic groups in the country) and the opium trade are major influences not only on the religious expression but also on the politics of the Taliban in Afghanistan. The reader of this paper is encouraged to investigate these other factors before drawing any conclusions about the Taliban.

 

Read more : Global Security/Military/Taliban/MullahOmar/DeobandOsamaBinLaden

 

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Extracted from 'White & Black' : Facts of Deobandi-ism

 A rejoinder to a series of booklets entitled "Johannesburg to Bareilley

( DEOBANDI-ISM CAUGHT UP IN ITS OWN WEB )

By

Allamah Kaukab Noorani Okarvi Rahm.

Translated by.
S.G. Khawajah

Published by: Maulana Okarvi Academy Al A'lami, South Africa  

 

 

Dear readers! My aim is not to indulge in hurtful saying or in speaking lies. May Almighty Allah protect me from every wrong-doing! But I speak the truth when I say that the hypocrites (Deobandi propagandists) say and do things while propagating the Deen, which are most shameful and distasteful. II is amazing that they would like wrong ideas to be explained but they would not like to call a wrong as wrong.

Dear readers! All men of wisdom, thought, intellect and consciousness know that calling bad names is after all calling bad names. Howsoever much you may try to explain them away, you cannot say that calling bad names is wishing well. We, also, say to the propagandists of Deoband that the controversy between us will continue to rage until they accept the idolatrous and disgusting writings of their stalwart ulama to be idolatrous and disgusting even according to the verdict of their own ulama, and until they deny that such writings are valid and laudable.

There is a well-known anecdote. Some villagers went to a religious scholar and asked him to inform them what they should do to purify the village well in which a dog had drowned. The religious scholar told them to draw a number of buckets of water from the well, and then the water would be purified. The villagers went back and drew the prescribed buckets of water but the water continued to be as foul-smelling. Thereupon, they went back to the religious scholar and informed him of the situation. The religious scholar inquired from them if they had taken out the dead dog from the well or it was still there. They said they had not taken the dog out of the well. The religious scholar admonished them that until they took the dog out of the well, the stink would continue to be there howsoever much water they would draw. Therefore, they should first take out the dog from the well, and then take out water (and he specified the number of buckets to be taken out) and then they would see that the stink was removed.

Dear readers! Similar is the case with the Deobandi-Wahaabi propagandists. Unless they end the real reason of the controversy, unless they deny the rationality and eruditness of their erroneous and idolatrous writings, the dispute will continue to the there, howsoever much they may try to explain away things.

Along with this, you should also realise that these people are in the habit of speaking lies, giving false statements and hoodwinking people. They, perhaps, think that the world is populated only by the deaf and the blind. Let us hear about some examples of their lies and decide for yourselves how great liars these people of Deoband are.

On page 2 of part 1 of "Johannesburg to Bareilly", it is written thus: "The ulama of Deoband have nothing to do with Muhammad Ibne Abdul Wahaab Najdi (Imam of the Wahabi faction). They have no concern with his mission, nor he is their spiritual leader, nor did they ever meet him. In fact, the ulama of Deoband belong to the Ahl-e-Sunnat-Wa-Jama'at and owe allegiance to the Hanafi sect."

In this passage, it has been sought to be proved that the ulama of Deoband are not Wahabi, and that they have got nothing to do with Muhammad Ibne Abdul Wahaab Najdi, the Imam of the Wahaabis. This has been contradicted by the writings of the ulama of Deoband themselves, as you will subsequently see.

The famous debater of Deoband, Muhammad Manzoor Nu'maani, has in his book, "Sheikh Muhammad Bin Abdul Wahaab and the right-guided ulama of India", published 10 years ago and endorsed by Sheikh Muhammad Zakariya Kandhalvi and Qaari Muhammad Tayyab, sought to prove that there was no ideological difference between Sheikh Abdul Wahaab Najdi and the ulama of Deoband and the Najdi Wahaabi and Deobandis were really one and the same. Here, I am not criticising the book by Nu'maani Sahib. My aim is only to bring to my readers the lies of the author of "Johannesburg to Bareilly" so that readers may know how very fond of lies the author of "Johannesburg to Bareilly" is. On the one hand, their ulama and elders are trying their utmost to prove themselves to be Wahaabi, but the author of "Johannesburg to Bareilly", while stationed in South Africa, is for ever engaged in uttering lies.

 

Dear readers! Let us examine such other writings of the stalwart ulama of Deoband.

"This title (Wahabi) means a person who subscribes to, or is subservient, to the creed of Ibne Abdul Wahaab". (Imdaad-ul-Fataawa), Page 233.

The Imam of the Deobandis, Rasheed Ahmad Gangohi, says, "the followers of Muhammad Ibne Wahaab Najdi are called Wahabi. He held excellent beliefs and his creed was Hanbali. Although he was rather of harsh temperament but he and his followers are good people." (Fataawa Rasheediyah, Page 111, Vol. 1).

Dear readers! You have just seen what the verdict of Gangohi Sahib is on Ibne Abdul Wahab Najdi. Now see what the ulama of Deoband themselves have written about Ibne Abdul Wahab Najdi, and, then, decide for yourselves who amongst them spoke the truth and who uttered lies.

Al-Muhannad, the book of beliefs of the ulama of Deoband, on page 12, contains the following question and answer:

"Question number 12: Muhammad Ibne Abdul Wahaab held the view that shedding the blood of Musalmaans and taking away their property and defiling their honour, all these things were lawful. He also termed them idolaters. He was insolent towards the elders. What is your view of him? And do you (think calling the Ahle Qiblah as infidels is a lawful act? Or do you think that he who does these things belongs to a legitimate sect?

Answer: In our view the same verdict applies to them as has been given by the writer of Durr-e-Mukhtaar. And Khawarij are a band of people who waged war against the Imam because they thought him to be guilty of falsehood, that is, idolatry, which justified waging war. For this reason they take the taking of our lives and our property and making our women captives to be lawful. He further held that they were rebels. He also held that they did not Describe them as infidels because this was a matter of interpretation, though a faulty one. And Allamah Shaami, in his marginal notes on the book, has said, "Like it happened in our times when the followers of Ibne Abdul Wahaab sallying forth from Najd overwhelmed Haramain Shareefain. They described themselves as belonging to Hambali creed, but it was their belief that only they were Musalmaans and whoever was against their belief was an idolater and, so, they justified the killing of the Ahle Sunnat and the ulama of the Ahle Sunnat until Almighty Allah deprived them of their ascendancy."

In "Fataawa Rasheediyah", it is stated that their (Najdis) beliefs are excellent, while in "Al-Muhannad" it is said that they (Najdis) believe that only they were Musalmaans and those who held beliefs contrary to theirs were polytheists, and since such people belonged to the Ahl-e-Sunnat, therefore killing them was lawful.

From this it can be derived that holding all Ahl-e-Sunnat to be polytheists and killing them was lawful and permitted in the eyes of Gangohi Sahib. He also says that the followers of (Ibne Abdul Wahaab) are good men, while all other ulama of Deoband hold them to be Kharijis and rebels. It, thus, becomes clear that Gangohi Sahib believes that Kharijis and rebels are good men.

Also consider this. Hussein Ahmad Sahib Tandvi Madni says: "Gentlemen' Muhammad Ibne Abdul Wahaab appeared in the Najd in the 13th century A.H., and, because he harboured evil thoughts and held wrong beliefs, he waged war on the Ahl-e-Sunnat Wal Jama'at, sought to force his evil thoughts upon them and considered lawful seizing of their properties as the spoils of war, and killing them, and considered all these acts to bring blessings. He was harsh on the people of the Haramain (Makkah and Madinah) in particular and on the people of the Hijaaz in general. He used most foul language against the pious men of the earlier generations. Because of the atrocities committed by him on them, countless people had to flee the holy cities of Makkah and Madinah, and many of them were martyred by his troops. In short, he was a tyrant, a rebel and an altogether evil person." (Ash-Shahaubus Saaqib, Page 42)

Gangohi Sahib says that their beliefs are excellent and he and his followers are good men, while Husain Ahmad Sahib Tandvi Madni says that his views were evil and his beliefs were most wretched. He considered the killing of Ahle-Sunnat as an act, which brought blessings, and justified taking away of their properties as spoils of war and, as such, lawful. He put the people of the Haramain and the Hijaaz to great hardships until they were forced to flee. He was most insolent towards the pious men of the earlier generations. He was guilty of killing thousands of Musalmaans, and was tyrannical, rebellious, blood-thirsty, and sinful.

Now, if Gangohi Sahib is speaking the truth, then Husain Ahmad Sahib Tandvi Madni is speaking the lie. Only one of two can be in the right. Now, a decision about them rests on the followers of the two men.

Gangohi Sahib says that their (Najdis) beliefs are excellent. How excellent can be seen in the writings of the Principal of Deoband, Husain Ahmad Sahib Tandvi Madni, who has listed, serially, examples of the beliefs of the Najdis in F his book, Ash Shahaubus Saaqib! These are:

1. "Muhammad Ibne Abdul Wahaab believed that people all over the world and all Muslims were polytheists and infidels. (Page 44)

2. The Najdis believed, and his followers still believe, that the lives of Prophets (Alaihum-us Salaam) were limited to the times during which they lived upon this earth. Thereafter, in death, they and other faithfuls are equal. (Page 45)

3. This group holds that having a vision of the blessed Prophet (Salla Allahu 'alayhi wa Sallam) and visits to his blessed tomb are bad innovations and unlawful. He also holds as unlawful even journeying in that direction for this purpose. According to some of them, even journeying for the sake of paying a visit to the blessed tomb is like committing fornication. May Allah save us from such evil thoughts! (Page 45)

4. The Wahaabis use most insolent language in respect of Prophethood and the person of the beloved Prophet (Salla Allahu 'alayhi wa Sallam), and in their insolence, claim to be the equals of the personality of the holy Prophet, and, according to them, only a little benefit accrued from him during the times he was preaching the Messages of Allah, and no benefits flowed from him after his passing away. And because they think so, they consider as unlawful praying for Allah's forgiveness through his intercession. Their elders also said that praying for Allah's forgiveness through his intercession was unlawful. (May Allah save us from having such thoughts)!  But, perhaps, it may be permissible to reproduce such thoughts, for merely reproducing blaspheming words does not by itself constitute blasphemy). They also said that the staff in a man's hand was of greater advantage to him than the glorious personality of the king of the universe (Salla Allahu 'alayhi wa Sallam), for with a staff in his hand one can defend himself from a dog while the personality of the 'Pride of the Universe' (Salla Allahu 'alayhi wa Sallam) cannot do even this much for him. (Page 47)

5. The Wahaabis are against performing mystic rites and sophistic practices-meditating, engaging in the remembrance of Allah and thinking about Him, owing allegiance to spiritual guides and the whole system of spiritual guides, and having a mental rapport with the spiritual guides, believing in the doctrine of annihilation and permanent life etc. etc In their view, al' such things are of no consequence, bad innovations and demeaning. (Page 59, Ash-Shahaubus Saaqib)

6. In Wahaabi belief, following any particular Imam is considered to be blasphemy against the Prophet, and they use wretched and wicked words for the four Imams and their followers, and thus they are alienated from the Ahl-e-Sunnat-Wa-Jama'at and so the non-emulators of India belong to this wicked group. While they claimed to be Hanbalee when they first appeared on the scene, but in many matters they do not follow Imam Ahmad Bin Hanbal (Alaihir Rahmah)—(Page 62, Ash-Shahaabus Saaqib).

7. Through verses Ar-Rahmaanu 'Alal 'Arshis Tawa etc, the Wahaabis try to prove that Allah physically occupies a throne and also make out His dimensions and, therefore, His bodily presence. - (Page 24, Ash-Shahaabus-Saaqib)

8. The Wahaabis of Arabia have often been heard to harshly denounce the expression, "As Salaatu was Salaamu Alaika ya Rasoolal Laah" (Peace and salutation to you, O Allah's Messenger)", and most scathingly condemn and ridicule its use, and hurl most unbecoming language against the people of the Haramain who use such an expression.—(Page 65, Ash-Shahaabus-Saaqib)

9. The wicked Wahaabis harshly denounce sending repeatedly peace and salutation on the mercy to the worlds, and consider reciting 'Dalaa'ilul Khairuat', 'Qaseedah Burdah' and 'Qassedah Hamziya'h and such like as most detestable and unwarranted. They also consider some couplets of 'Qaseedah Burdah' to be downright blasphemous, as for example the couplet: Ya Ashrafal Khalqi Maali Man Aloozu Bihi Siwaaka Inda Huloolil Haadisil 'Amami (O' the best of creations! I have no one To look up to in perilous times like these) (Page 66, Ash Shahaabus Saaqib)

10. Except for the knowledge by him of Allah's commands, the Wahaabis think the personality of the Last of the Prophets (Alaihis Salaatu w'as Salaam) to be devoid of all hidden and true knowledge. (Page 62, Ash-Shahaabus Saaqib)

1. The Wahabis consider the narration of the birth of the king of the universe (Alaihis-Salaatu-w'as-Salaam) itself to be a most reprehensible act and a very bad innovation". (Page 67, Ash-Shahaabus Saaqib)

Dear readers' the above-mentioned eleven beliefs held by Ibne Abdul Wahaab Najdi and his followers have been listed by the Principal of Deoband, Husain Ahmad Sahib Tandvi Madni, which in the sight of Gangohi Sahib are excellent beliefs. It is, therefore, proved that most foul, most wicked and altogether blasphemous beliefs are reckoned by him to be excellent ones and the excellent and Islamic beliefs are, in his eyes, polytheistic and innovative. What an amazing feat of perverted thinking!

Khirad Ka Naam Junoon Rokh Diya Junoo 'Ka Khirad
Jo Chaahe Aap Ka Husne Karishmah Saaz Kare

(You call wisdom to be madness and madness to be wisdom.
Your miracle making beauty may do whatever it wants).

On Page 45 of Ashrafus Sawaanih, it is stated thus: "A story is narrated of the times when Ashraf Ali Thanvi Sahib was a teacher at the Madrasah Jaamiul-Uloom, Kanpur. Some women living in the neighbourhood of the Madrasah brought some sweets so that the Qur'aan may be recited and the reward so earned be conveyed. Students of the Madrasah did not do so and ate up the sweets. This created quite a row. When informed of the row, Thanvi Sahib came and told the people in a loud voice, "Brethren! This place is populated by Wahabis. Don't bring anything here for the sake of faatihah and niyaaz."

One Page 192 of the biography of Janab Yoosuf Kandhalvi, it is stated that 'we are staunch Wahabis."

One of the elders of the Deobandi Wahaabi propagandist group, Sheikh-ul-Hadees Muhammad Zakariya Sahib, declares: "I am a more staunch Wahabi than all of you."—(Biography of Maulana Muhammad Yoosuf Kandhalvi, Page 193, authored by Muhammad Saani Hasni and Manzoor Nu'maani).

(It will interest my readers to know that, as they have already seen, the Principal of Madrasah Deoband, Janab Husain Ahmad Tandvi Madni, has described the Wahabis as a "band of evil and foul and filthy people" who are also insolent, but Janab Ashraf Ali Thanvi and Muhammad Zakariya and others say they are very proud of calling themselves Wahabis. With this admission, the reality about them will dawn upon people with greater clarity).

Thanvi Sahib, whom the Deobandis regard as their Hakeem-ul-Ummat, in a letter to his Imam, Rasheed Ahmad Gangohi Sahib, writes: "Although some ulama here regard me as a Wahaabi and some ulama from outside also have told people here not to be deceived by this man (Thanvi) for he is a Wahabi, but it did not have any effect for I had been practically co-operating with the public. But now that I intend not to co-operate even in a practical sort of way, I should expect to face some difficulty." Since Thanvi Sahib used to participate in Meelaad meetings, people did not accept him as a Wahabi, but now that Thanvi Sahib himself says that he would not be attending Meelaad congregations it should be clear to everybody that "he was truly a Wahabi although he had been hiding this fact." (Tazkiratur Rasheed, Page 135).

Janab Abdul Hasan Ali Nadvi in his book "Deeni Da'wat" (Invitation to Religion) has mentioned an episode about Muhammad Ilyaas Sahib, founder of the Tableeghi Jama'at. In 1938, he says, when he had gone to the Hijaaz for the Hajj, he along with his delegation met the Sultan of Najd in connection with the Tableeghi Jama'at.

Regarding preparations for the meeting with the Sultan, he writes: "It was resolved that first the aims and objects of the Jama'at should be written down in Arabic, then it should be presented to the Sultan. Maulana Ihtishaam-ul-Hasan and Abdullah Ibne Hasan, on their own, met the Sheikh-ul-lslam and Sheikh Ibne Bulhead". "Deeni Da'wat" (Invitation to Religion), Pages 97 and 98.

"After two weeks (on 14th March, 1938), the Maulana (Muhammad Ilyaas) along with Haaji Abdullah Dehlvi, Sheikhul Mutaw-witeen, Abdur Rahmaan Mazhar, and Maulvi Ihtishaam-ul-Hasan went to meet the Sultan. The king came down from his throne and received them with great honour and seated the honoured guests from India near him. They then presented their schedule for preaching. Upon this, the king lectured to them most eruditely for forty minutes on the unity of Allah, on the Book, and on the Prophetic traditions and on the need for following the Shari'at. After this, he came down from his throne and with much respect bade them goodbye. The next day, the Sultan wanted to go to the Hijaaz and left for Riyadh. ("Deeni Da'wat", Page 98)

Having obtained the testimonial of approval from the Sultan of Najd, now see how they went about it. He writes: "Maulvi Ihtishamul Hasan prepared a brief note on the objects of their preaching and presented it to Shaikhul Islam and Chief Justice, Abdullah Bin Hasan, who is of the progeny of Ibne Abdul Wahaab Najdi, and the Maulana (Muhammad Ilyaas) and Maulvi Ihtisham Sahib themselves went to see him. He honoured them greatly and gave them much support in every matter and orally promised them sympathy and help". ("Deeni Da'wat" Page 98)

Give your honest thought to this. What was it that prevented them from, disclosing, along with the entire proceedings, the Arabic text of the aims and objects of the Tableeghi Jama'at prepared for presentation to the Sultan of Najd? It is all two obvious. However much they may try to hide facts but facts will be out, after all. And the fact is that the aims and objects much lauded at the king's palace and the promise of total support in disseminating ideas connected with the "Invitation to Religion" were exactly the same as those which the Najdis had raised as their battle cry and, as a consequence, totally destroyed places of undying love and esteem and also the eternal monuments of Islam.

It should be clear to even a person of the meanest intelligence that had the aims and objects been even slightly different from those of the Najdi religion, the Sheikhul Islam and Chief Justice of the Najdi government, who had the blood of Ibne Abdul Wahaab Najdi flowing in his veins, would not have promised the least bit of help and support.

Look at another proof of total affinity in thought and belief between the Wahabi Najdi band and the Tableeghi Jama'at and total mutual co-operation between them which is provided by an incident which happened during the times of Muhammad Yoosuf Sahib, son and successor of Janab Muhammad Ilyaas. (You must have heard about this incident which occurred during the times of Janab Muhammad Ilyaas.) While narrating the story of the delegation of the Tableeghi Jama'at which had gone to Najd from Delhi under the leadership of Janab Abul Hasan Ali Nadvi, the biographer of Janab Muhammad Yoosuf writes (and here you will read of the deep relationship that existed between leaders of the Najdi Government and the said delegation). The story continues:

"Excellent relations were established with Sheikh Umar Bin Al-Hasan, who is of the progeny of Sheikh Muhammad Ibne Abdul Wahaab Najdi, and with Sheikh Abdul Laah Ibnul Hasan, Chief Justice and Sheikh-ul-Islam of the Saudi kingdom and head of the department of dos and don'ts (Amar Bil Ma'roof wa Nahee Anil Munkar) who had very close relation ship with the crown prince of the kingdom, and was his special aid. Because of their understanding the situation fully, those who tried to create doubts about the (Tableeghi) Jama'at dismally failed in such attempts.  (Biography of Maulana Muhammad Yoosuf, Page 414)

Here is another clear proof of the ideological affinity between the two. He writes: "We also met the elder brother of Sheikh Umar Bin Al-Hasan, Sheikh Abdul Laah Ibnul Hasan (with whom Maulana Ilyaas had entered into an agreement) and he treated us with much kindness. Some people tried to give the impression that the (Tableeghi) Jama'at was a band with "wrong beliefs" and they conveyed this complaint to the ulama. Due to our contact with the ulama and the influential people, those complainants were cold-shouldered".- (Sawaanih Maulana Muhammad Yoosuf, Page 414)

There is no need for it to be explained how these People would have pleaded their innocence of holding wrong beliefs before the Qaazis and the ulama and officials of Najd. The nature of a religious mind is such that even a man holding wrong beliefs does not consider anyone to be holding right beliefs until he is proved to be of his persuasion. From this, the Point becomes clearer still that the elite of the Najd already knew that these people did not hold wrong beliefs, they rather held similar views, and that is why [hose who complained about them being people with wrong beliefs could not succeed.

You would have, by now, seen proofs of the fact that the Deobandi propagandists are, in fact, Wahabis. These proofs have been provided by their own pens.

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The Sunday Telegraph

British Muslims ordered to adopt Taliban teachings
By Julian West and Jo Knowsley
(Filed: 27/07/1997) (p. 13)

 

Thousands of young British Muslims are being indoctrinated into the Taliban, the hard-line Islamic sect which believes women are the source of evil. The young men study at British mosques and religious colleges, learning the laws of the Deobandi sect, a political branch of Islam that formed the basis of the Taliban movement in Afghanistan.

 

There are already Deobandi mosques in Birmingham, Manchester, Bradford and London, together with up to 20 religious colleges. Others have been sent abroad for "training", lasting up to eight years, at Deobandi religious universities. Students emerge without any other qualification and are expected to come back to Britain and teach in mosques and colleges here.

 

Under the extremist Taliban regime in Afghanistan, executions are carried out in public and criminals have had their hands and feet chopped off. Women have been banned from working and must live in purdah, forbidden to leave their homes unless accompanied by a male relative. In the latest Taliban edict last week women have been forbidden to wear "noisy shoes" so that they can walk more softly.

 

Deobandis are given to issuing fatwas of this kind regulating tiny details of behaviour. Since the beginning of the century they have produced something like a quarter of a million of them. Most of Britain's Deobandi mosques were funded by money from Saudi Arabia. These include the Al Farouq Masjid mosque in Walsall, West Midlands, which cost an estimated £5 million to build. It is named after the Saudi oil millionaire who put up the money.

 

Laws enforced at the Walsall mosque are so strict that women members cannot attend their own weddings. Instead, two male relatives participate on their behalf. The religious colleges, mainly situated in the north of England, take students aged between nine and 21 to undergo five years of intensive training. Basic maths and science are taught alongside Islamic studies. Each college has between 250 and 300 students.

 

It is estimated that about 20 percent of Britain's 1.5 million Muslims now follow Deobandi teachings. These have so far focused on education rather than encouraging militant action. But it is believed that the Saudis are refusing to finance new mosques unless they belong to the Taliban's Deobandi school of Islam.

 

Ron Graves, professor of Islamic studies at Wolverhampton University, said the increase in Deobandi teachings in Britain was a cause for concern. "The Deobandis are obsessed with fatwas. It's how they control their members and how they would like to control the rest of the Islamic world. Deobandis see their way as the only correct route and are political in their teachings."

 

Prof. Graves said the Taliban had put a more militant edge to their laws because of the political climate from which the movement emerged in 1994.

 

Second-generation Muslims in Britain could be tempted to do the same, he said. "If they are struggling to find an identity and remain isolated from British culture, they might find the more militant elements of the Deobandi sect the perfect form of rebellion."

 

The source of Deobandi teaching is a sprawling university in the small town of Deoband in Uttar Pradesh, northern India. The institution is the second largest in the Muslim world, with 3,000 students. It produces only religious leaders, the imams and mullahs, who leave after eight years of training and go on to teach or found their own schools. There are believed to be dozens of these in Britain.

 

Many British Muslims studied at Deoband until India recently imposed tighter visa rules. Most now attend an affiliated university, opened at Bury, Lancs. seven years ago, but some still travel to Deoband.

 

The vice-chancellor of the Indian university, Maulana Marghubu R. Rahman, a mullah in his late seventies, admitted that the schools' aims included propagating their fatwa-driven teachings "throughout the world., including England".

 

But Dr Zaki Badawi, of the Imams and Mosques Council, suggested that young Muslims in Britain were unlikely to embrace extremism. "Second-generation Muslims want to shed their cultural baggage which often has no relation to being in modern Britain."

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By SHERI SHEFA
Staff Reporter