The Darul Uloom Deoband is an Islamic seminary in India at which the Sunni Deobandi Islamic movement began. Uttar Pradesh-based Darul Uloom is one of the most important Islamic seminaries in India and the largest in the world. It is located in Deoband, a town in Saharanpur district, Uttar Pradesh. The seminary was established by Muhammad Qasim Nanautavi, Fazlur Rahman Usmani, Sayyid Muhammad Abid and others in 1866. Mahmud Deobandi was the first teacher and Mahmud Hasan Deobandi was the first student.
Muhammad Tayyib Qasmi was an Indian Sunni Islamic scholar who served as Vice Chancellor of Darul Uloom Deoband for more than half a century. He was grandson of Muhammad Qasim Nanautavi, the founder of the Darul Uloom Deoband.
Idris Kandhlawi was a Pakistani Sunni scholar during the mid-twentieth century, widely recognized for his contributions to various fields of Islamic studies, including hadith, Quranic studies, Islamic jurisprudence, Prophetic biography, and theology. Holding the titles of Sheikh al-Hadith and Sheikh al-Tafsir, he traced his lineage to Abu Bakr on his father's side and Umar on his mother's side. He studied in Thana Bhawan under Ashraf Ali Thanwi. He studied hadith, first at Mazahir Uloom under Khalil Ahmad Saharanpuri, and later at Darul Uloom Deoband under Anwar Shah Kashmiri. He started his professional career at Madrasa Aminia and later went to Darul Uloom Deoband. In 1929 he took a position in Hyderabad State, where he had access to the Asafia Library. This experience enabled him to produce a five-volume Arabic commentary on Mishkat al-Masabih titled Al-Taleeq al-Sabeeh, of which the first four volumes were published in Damascus. His scholarly work garnered recognition in the Arab world. He later assumed the roles of Sheikh al-Tafsir at Darul Uloom Deoband and Sheikh al-Hadith wa al-Tafsir at Jamia Ashrafia. In addition, he served as the Chancellor of Islamia University of Bahawalpur during its tenure as Jamia Abbasia.
Syed Fakhruddin Ahmad (1889-1972) was an Indian Sunni Muslim scholar and jurist who served as the Principal of Madrasa Shahi, and the sixth President of Jamiat Ulama-e-Hind. He was a professor of hadith at the Darul Uloom Deoband.
Izaz Ali Amrohi was an Indian Islamic scholar who served as the second and ninth Grand Mufti of the Darul Uloom Deoband. His book Nafahtul Arab is taught in madrassas including the Darul Uloom Deoband.
Hifzur Rahman Seoharwi was an Indian Sunni Islamic scholar and an activist of the Indian independence movement, who served as the fourth general secretary of the Jamiat Ulama-e-Hind. He fought against British rule for 25 years (1922-1947) and spent eight years in jail. As a politician, he opposed the partition of India, and served as a member of the Indian Parliament for the Indian National Congress from Amroha from 1952 to 1962.
Hafiz Muhammad Ahmad (1862–1928) was an Indian Muslim scholar, who served as the vice chancellor of the Darul Uloom Deoband for thirty five years. He was the Grand Mufti of the Hyderabad State from 1922 to 1925.
Aziz-ul-Rahman Usmani was an Indian Sunni Muslim scholar who served as first Grand Mufti of Darul Uloom Deoband. He is best known for his Fatawa Darul Uloom Deoband. His brother was Shabbir Ahmad Usmani.
Sayyid Muhammad Abid (1834–1912) was an Indian Muslim scholar who co-founded Darul Uloom Deoband. He was the Vice Chancellor of Darul Uloom Deoband for three times.
Zafeeruddin Miftāhi was an Indian Muslim scholar and jurist who served as a Mufti of Darul Uloom Deoband and the second president of Islamic Fiqh Academy. He compiled the religious verdicts of Azizur Rahman Usmani, called the Fatāwa Darul Uloom Deoband in twelve volumes and wrote books including Islām Ka Nizām-e-Masājid, Islām Ka Nizām Iffat-o-Asmat and Tārīkh-e-Masājid.
The Siddiqi family of Nanauta are the descendants of the first Rashidun Caliph, Abu Bakr, based primarily in the town of Nanauta in India. The notable people of this family include Mamluk Ali Nanautawi, Muhammad Qasim Nanautawi, Muhammad Yaqub Nanautawi, Muhammad Tayyib Qasmi, Muhammad Salim Qasmi and Qari Shakir Qasmi.
Ahmad Hasan Amrohi also known as Muhaddith Amrohi within the Deobandi movement; was an Indian Muslim scholar and freedom struggle activist who served as the first principal of Madrasa Shahi in Moradabad. He was an alumnus of Darul Uloom Deoband and among the founding members of Mahmud Hasan Deobandi's Thamratut-Tarbiyat. He was an authorized disciple of Imdadullah Muhajir Makki.
Darul Uloom Deoband was established in 1866 in the Saharanpur district of Uttar Pradesh, India, as part of the anti-British movement. It gave rise to a traditional conservative Sunni movement known as the Deobandi movement. The Deobandi Movement has an international presence today, with its full-fledged manifestation in South Africa, a country where the movement was initiated through the Indian Gujarati merchant class. The Islamic education system of the Deobandi movement, as well as the necessary components of social and political organizations such as Tablighi Jamaat, Sufism and Jamiat, are fully functioning effectively in South Africa, as they do in India. Madrasas in South Africa provide Islamic higher education and are now centers for Islamic education for foreigners who are interested in receiving a Deobandi-style education. Many of their graduates, especially from Western countries such as the United Kingdom and the United States, are Western students. Some of South African madrasas are recognized globally, providing fatwa services. South Africa is now known for producing exceptional Islamic literature through translation and compilation. Similarly, the Tabligh Jamaat is a hub in South Africa that spreads throughout South and East Africa. Graduates of South African madrassas spend their time in the path of the Tabligh Jamaat. Through the work of several spiritual personalities of the Deobandis, the tradition of Deoband's Tasawwuf (Sufism) has taken root in South Africa. Among them are Zakariyya Kandhlawi, Masihullah Khan, Mahmood Hasan Gangohi and Asad Madani. South African Deobandi Muslims have many important and influential educational and socio-political organizations that educate the people and play an important role in religious and social activities. Among them are Jamiatul Ulama South Africa and the Muslim Judicial Council.
Muhammad Yunus Choudhury, popularly known as Haji Muhammad Yunus, was a Bangladeshi Islamic scholar and educationist. He was the second rector of Al Jamia Al Islamia Patiya, former president of Idarat al-Maʿarif and an active member of the Muslim World League. As the founding president of Befaqul Madarisil Arabia Bangladesh, Yunus contributed to the establishment and renovation of roughly 1500 madrasas in Bangladesh. He was awarded the title of Shaykh al-ʿArab wa al-ʿAjam by the Imam of Masjid al-Haram.
Muhammad Ibrahim Balyawi (1887–1967), also spelt as Muhammad Ibrahim Balliavi, was an Indian Sunni Muslim scholar who served as the 6th Principal of Darul Uloom Deoband. He spent almost 50 years instructing Hadith, Mantiq, Islamic philosophy, and other subjects at Darul Uloom Deoband.
Sharif Hasan Deobandi was an Indian Islamic scholar and Muhaddith. He served as Sheikh al-Hadith at Darul Uloom Deoband from 1972 to 1977. He also worked as a professor of Hadith and Sheikh al-Hadith at Jamia Islamia Talimuddin in Dabhel for almost ten years.
Syed Ahmad Dehlavi was an Indian Muslim academician and hadith scholar who served as the second principal and Sheikh al-Hadith of Darul Uloom Deoband between 1884 and 1890. He specialised in Islamic astronomy and mathematics. His students included Abdul Hayy Hasani, Murtaza Hasan Chandpuri, Mahmud Hasan Deobandi, Aziz-ul-Rahman Usmani, Muhammad Yasin Deobandi, Ubaidullah Sindhi, and Ashraf Ali Thanwi.
Habibur Rahman Usmani (1860–1929), also written as Habibur Rahman Deobandi and Maulāna Habib al-Rahmān, was an Indian Islamic scholar, Arabic writer and poet, and an Islamic jurist. He served as Deputy Vice-Chancellor, then Vice-Chancellor for the VC Office of Darul Uloom Deoband, for nearly twenty-three years. He succeeded Hafiz Muhammad Ahmad as Grand Mufti of Hyderabad State for about one year. His students included Shabbir Ahmad Usmani, Manazir Ahsan Gilani, Muhammad Shafi Deobandi, Habib al-Rahman al-A'zami, Muhammad Idris Kandhlawi, Atiqur Rahman Usmani, Qari Muhammad Tayyib, Badre Alam Merathi, Hifzur Rahman Seoharwi, Saeed Ahmad Akbarabadi, Manzoor Nomani, and Yusuf Banuri.
