The Deobandi movement or Deobandism is a revivalist movement within Sunni Islam that adheres to the Hanafi school of law. It formed in the late 19th century around the Darul Uloom Madrassa in Deoband, India, from which the name derives, by Muhammad Qasim Nanautavi, Rashid Ahmad Gangohi, and several others, after the Indian Rebellion of 1857–58. They consider themselves the continuation of Ahlus Sunnah wal Jamaat. The main purpose of this movement was to reject the grave worshipping, shirk and protect the orthodoxy of Islam from Bidah, as well as the influence of non-Muslim cultures on the Muslim of South Asia. The movement pioneered education in religious sciences through the Dars-i-Nizami associated with the Lucknow-based ulema of Firangi Mahal with the goal of preserving traditional Islamic teachings from the influx of modernist, secular ideas during British colonial rule. The Deobandi movement's Indian clerical wing, Jamiat Ulema-e-Hind, was founded in 1919 and played a major role in the Indian independence movement through its participation in the Pan-Islamist Khalifat movement and propagation of the doctrine of composite nationalism. The movement shares several similarities with Wahhabism.
In Islam, the ulama, also spelled ulema, are scholars of Islamic doctrine and law. They are considered the guardians, transmitters, and interpreters of religious knowledge in Islam.
Islam is the largest and the state religion of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan. Pakistan has over 240 Million adherents of Islam. As much as 90% of the population follows Sunni Islam. Most Pakistani Sunni Muslims belong to the Hanafi school of jurisprudence, which is represented by the Barelvi and Deobandi traditions.
The Barelvi movement, also known as Ahl al-Sunnah wa'l-Jamaah is a Sunni revivalist movement following the Hanafi and Shafi'i schools of jurisprudence, and Maturidi and Ashʿari schools of theology with strong Sufi influences and with hundreds of millions of followers. It is a broad Sufi-oriented movement that encompasses a variety of Sufi orders, including the Chistis, Qadiris, Soharwardis and Naqshbandis as well as many other orders and sub-orders of Sufism. They consider themselves to be the continuation of Sunni Islamic orthodoxy before the rise of Salafism and Deobandi Movement.
Darul Uloom Karachi is a Madrasa in Karachi, Pakistan. It was founded by Muhammad Shafi Deobandi in June 1951 at Nanak Wara and later on it transferred to Korangi, Karachi, on March 17, 1957. It continues the tradition of the Darul uloom system initiated by Darul Uloom Deoband. The institution has adopted a balanced approach between religious and worldly matters. The secondary schools have individual faculties for both boys and girls. The school has the highest standards of Islamic education and offers a combined curriculum covering traditional Islamic studies and contemporary academic subjects. It is registered as one of the Islamic Schools under Wifaq ul Madaris Al-Arabia.
Ashraf Ali Thanwi (often referred as Hakimul Ummat and Mujaddidul Millat was a late-nineteenth and twentieth-century Sunni scholar, jurist, thinker, reformist and the revival of classical Sufi thought from Indian subcontinent during the British Raj, one of the chief proponents of Pakistan Movement. He was a central figure of Islamic spiritual, intellectual and religious life in South Asia and continues to be highly influential today. As a prolific author, he completed over a thousand works including Bayan Ul Quran and Bahishti Zewar. He graduated from Darul Uloom Deoband in 1883 and moved to Kanpur, then Thana Bhawan to direct the Khanqah-i-Imdadiyah, where he resided until the end of his life. His training in Quran, Hadith, Fiqh studies and Sufism qualified him to become a leading Sunni authority among the scholars of Deoband. His teaching mixes Sunni orthodoxy, Islamic elements of belief and the patriarchal structure of the society. He offered a sketch of a Muslim community that is collective, patriarchal, hierarchical and compassion-based.
Muhammad Qasim Nanautavi was an Indian Sunni Hanafi Maturidi Islamic Scholar, theologian and a Sufi who was one of the main founders of the Deobandi Movement, starting from the Darul Uloom Deoband.
Islamic Fiqh Academy (IFA) of India is a Deobandi fiqh organization. It was established in 1988 in New Delhi under the guidance of Mujahidul Islam Qasmi. The primary objective of the academy is to address contemporary issues and challenges faced by Muslims in light of the principles and methodology of Islamic jurisprudence, as derived from the Quran, Sunnah, and the interpretations of classical jurists and scholars. The IFA aims to find solutions to problems arising from social, political, economic, industrial, and technological developments through collective efforts and research. It organizes seminars, symposiums, and conferences, and prepares literature to address new issues and challenges faced by Muslims in the modern world. The academy focuses on promoting the principles of fiqh and Islamic ethics, while also fostering dialogue and cooperation with other academic and fiqh institutions worldwide.
Islamic Revival in British India: Deoband, 1860-1900 is a book authored by Barbara D. Metcalf, a professor at the University of California. Originally, this book emerged as a revised edition of her doctoral dissertation and was published in 1982 by Princeton University Press. At its core, the book focused on the Deobandi movement's formative phase, representing the first major monograph dedicated to the institutional and intellectual history of this movement. It seeks to clarify the transformative journey undertaken by Islamic scholars, commencing in the 18th century. This journey was catalyzed by the challenges faced by Indian Islam in the aftermath of the 1857 Mutiny, prompting a diverse array of approaches for resolution. Throughout her research, the author gathered pertinent materials in Urdu to present a precise depiction of Deoband's organizational structure.
Revival from Below: The Deoband Movement and Global Islam is a book by Brannon D. Ingram, a professor affiliated with Northwestern University. This scholarly publication, brought to readers in 2016 through the University of California Press, explores the reformist agenda of the Deobandis and delves into the understudied aspect of their expansion beyond South Asia, with a particular focus on South Africa. The author reexamines the Deobandis' articulation of their reformist goals, unveiling a dimension that has received inadequate scholarly attention: their networks' reach and influence in regions outside of South Asia. The author offers compelling insights into the meaning of the Deobandi tradition and delves into the Deobandis' understanding of religious and social reform. Through a balanced approach encompassing both textual sources and individual agency, Ingram elucidates the intricate dynamics of Deobandi practices and analyzes the implications of their transnational expansion in the post-colonial era. Despite its paramount significance, the Deobandi stream of thought within Hanafi Islam is often subject to misinterpretation and unwarranted criticism. In reality, it stands as an influential Muslim reform and revival movement, surpassing all others outside of the Middle East.
The Deoband School And The Demand For Pakistan is a book authored by Ziaul Hasan Farooqi, a Professor at Jamia Millia Islamia. Published in 1963 by Asia Publishing House in New Delhi, this work wielded considerable influence over contemporary policies. Originally, it sprang forth from the author's MA thesis, concluded in 1959 at McGill University, it stands as the earliest English exploration of Deobandi thought. Positioned approximately 90 miles away from Delhi, the Deoband School emerged as a seminary primarily focused on training nationalists. From its inception, the Deoband School embraced a religious movement that professed unwavering loyalty to the nation. Throughout the freedom movement, it opposed British rule and consistently rejected the Muslim League's struggle for the establishment of Pakistan. The author contends that this book represents an endeavor to unravel the paradoxical position of the Deoband School and illuminate the roots of its opposition to the demand for Pakistan by Indian Muslims. Furthermore, a critical analysis of the Deoband School's traditional perspectives on culture, religion, and religious studies is also presented.
Perfecting Women: Maulana Ashraf Ali Thanawi's Bihishti Zewar is a partially translated work with commentary on the original text, Bahishti Zewar, authored by Barbara D. Metcalf, a Professor at the University of California, Davis. Initially published in 1992 by the University of California Press and Oxford University Press, this scholarly piece was made possible through a translation fellowship from the National Endowment for the Humanities. Its primary aim is to address and dispel misinterpretations surrounding the portrayal of women in Islam. What sets it apart is its unique focus on a female audience, aligning with the Deobandi mission to impart foundational knowledge of Islamic jurisprudence to the Muslim laity. The introduction not only delves into the content but also provides a socio-historical backdrop of the Deobandi reform movement, shedding light on its objectives and concerns.
This bibliography of Deobandi Movement is a selected list of generally available scholarly resources related to Deobandi Movement, a revivalist movement within Sunni Islam, adhering to the Hanafi school of law, formed in the late 19th century around the Darul Uloom Deoband in British India, from which the name derives, by Qasim Nanawtawi, Rashid Ahmad Gangohi and several others, after the Indian Rebellion of 1857–58. It is one of the most influential reform movements in modern Islam. Islamic Revival in British India by Barbara D. Metcalf was the first major monograph specifically devoted to the institutional and intellectual history of this movement. Muhammad Tayyib Qasmi wrote a book named The Tradition of the Scholars of Deoband: Maslak Ulama-i-Deoband, a primary source on the contours of Deobandi ideology. In this work, he tried to project Deoband as an ideology of moderation that is a composite of various knowledge traditions in Islam. This list will include Books and theses written on Deobandi Movement and articles published about this movement in various journals, newspapers, encyclopedias, seminars, websites etc. in APA style. Only bibliography related to Deobandi Movement will be included here, for Darul Uloom Deoband, see Bibliography of Darul Uloom Deoband.
This bibliography of Darul Uloom Deoband is a selected list of generally available scholarly resources related to Darul Uloom Deoband, a leading Islamic seminary and Muslim theological centre in India at which the Deobandi movement began, founded in 1866. It is one of the most influential reform movements in modern Islam. It created a largest network of satellite madrasas all over the world especially India, Bangladesh, Pakistan, Afghanistan neighboring countries in Asia and beyond, and as far afield as the Caribbean, South Africa, United Kingdom and the United States. Islamic Revival in British India by Barbara D. Metcalf was the first major monograph specifically devoted to the institutional and intellectual history of Deoband. Syed Mehboob Rizwi wrote History of Darul Uloom Deoband in 1977 in 2 volumes. This list will include Books and theses written on Darul Uloom Deoband and articles published about Deoband in various journals, newspapers, encyclopedias, seminars, websites etc. in APA style. Only bibliography related to Darul Uloom Deoband will be included here, for Deobandi movement, see Bibliography of Deobandi Movement.
Deobandi fiqh is a school of Islamic jurisprudence that is based on the Hanafi school of Islamic law. It is associated with the Deobandi movement, which originated in India in the late 19th century and has since spread to other parts of the world, particularly in South Asia. Deobandi fiqh emphasizes a strict adherence to the Quran and the Sunnah, and seeks to ensure that all aspects of daily life are guided by Islamic law. It places a strong emphasis on the principles of fiqh, or Islamic jurisprudence, and is known for its strict interpretation of Islamic law. It also emphasizes the importance of Islamic ethics and morality, and emphasizes the need for Muslims to lead a pious and virtuous life. Deobandi fiqh has had a significant influence on Islamic education and scholarship, particularly in South Asia and among the global South Asian diaspora. It plays a foundational role in the judiciary of Afghanistan. It has also been associated with various Islamic political movements and has been a subject of controversy and debate within the Muslim community.
What Is a Madrasa? is a book authored by Islamic scholar and intellectual Ebrahim Moosa. The book is a blend of autobiography, advocacy, ethnography, and history and gives an insider perspective of the Deobandi madrasas in the Indian subcontinent. It was published by University of North Carolina Press in April 2015.
Deobandi hadith studies is a field of Islamic scholarship within the Deobandi movement that critically examines and authenticates the sayings and actions of the Islamic prophet Muhammad as recorded in the Hadith literature. The Deobandi approach to Hadith studies is based on the principles of the classical scholars of hadith.
Faith-Based Violence and Deobandi Militancy in Pakistan is a book released in 2016 by Palgrave Macmillan, which explores the connection between Deobandi ideology and acts of violence and terrorism based on faith in Pakistan. The book consists of 18 chapters, presenting an easily understandable analysis. It also delves into the presence of Deobandi groups in Western nations and other countries, discussing the involvement of their radical factions in incidents of violence and terrorism on an international scale.
The Deoband Madrassah Movement: Countercultural Trends and Tendencies is a book authored by Muhammad Moj, a research fellow at the University of Western Australia, that aims to examine the Deobandi movement from a counter-cultural perspective, with a particular focus on its impact in Pakistan. The book comprises six chapters, providing insights that challenge conventional views of madrasas as centers of learning and socialization. Zeeshan Chaudri, a PhD scholar at SOAS University of London, commented on the book, expressing concerns about its research methodology and the potential bias in portraying the Deobandis as an intolerant faction in South Asia.
Islam, Youth, and Modernity in The Gambia: The Tablighi Jama'at is an ethnographic account examining the Tablighi Jama'at movement within The Gambia. Authored by Marloes Janson and published by Cambridge University Press in 2013, the book delves into the intricacies of Tablighi members' lives, providing insights into how the movement shapes established Islamic practices, authority structures, and gender roles. Shortlisted for the 2014 The Thinking Allowed Award for Ethnography by BBC Radio 4 and the British Sociological Association, it represents the first full-blown study of the Tablighi Jamaat movement in Africa. Drawing from 12 months of fieldwork in the early to mid-2000s, initiated in the late 1990s, Janson's narrative focuses on the experiences of five members, highlighting the nuanced interplay between modernity, Islam, and youth in the Gambian context. The book emphasizes the movement's resonance with urban youth aged 15 to 35 and its distinctive characteristics in The Gambia, including active women's participation in missionary activities. At its heart, the book thoroughly explores the repercussions of Islamic reform on gender dynamics in The Gambia. Janson characterizes the Jama'at as a youth movement, delving into how Tablighis redefine identity, social dynamics, and gender roles through practices like missionary tours and teaching/learning sessions.
