Friends of Deoband

‘Allamah Iqbal, the great Poet of the East, when asked, “What thing is the Deobandi, a creed or a sect?” replied, “It’s neither a creed nor a sect; Deobandi is the name of every rationalist religious man.”Deoband is neither a creed (madhhab) or a sect but it is a comprehensive picture and on the track of the Ahl al-Sunnah wa ’l-Jama‘ah.

The ‘ulama of Deoband are adherents of one of the four imams… of fiqh: Imam Abu Hanifah, Imam Shafi‘, Imam Malik and Imam Ahmad bin Hanbal; and follow the Ash‘ari and Maturidi schools of creed. As epitomes of Shari‘ah and Tariqah, the ‘ulama of Deoband were and are practitioners of a strict fiqh-based Tasawwuf, and follow the Chishti, Naqshbandi, Qadri and Suhrawardi tariqahs.

‘Allamah Iqbal paying tribute to the scholars of Deoband: “Let these madrasahs be in this very condition; let the children of poor Muslims read in these madrasahs. Should these mullahs and dervishes be not there, do you know what will happen? Whatever will happen I have come after seeing with mine own eyes. If the Muslims of India are deprived of the influence of these madrasahs, it will happen exactly like it happened in Andalusia (Spain) after eight hundred years of Muslim rule there. Today, except the relics of the ruins of Grenada and Cordoba and Al-Hamra, no trace is found there of the followers of Islam, and the Islamic civilisation. In India, too, save the Taj Mahal and the Red Fort of Delhi, no trace of the Muslims’ 800-year rule and their civilisation will be available.”

The intention of this page is to pay tribute and show respect to the Ulama of Deoband for if it was not for them then millions in the sub-continent, Southern Africa, United Kingdom, Europe, and other places would have been astray. Deoband is the Mother of Darul Ulooms.

The Renowned Hadith Scholar of the Last Century,
‘Allamah Shaykh ‘Abd al-Fattah Abu Ghuddah on Dar al-’Ulum Deoband:

“The great madrasah of Deoband is [like] a radiant sun that has illuminated various parts of India. It revived the Prophetic way (sunnah) academically, practically and in terms of suluk, and it removed the darkness of innovation (bid’ah), which had amassed in those lands for a lengthy time. It stripped the pools of knowledge and shari’ah from all that was alien to them in the same way that it stripped the suluk of the Sufis from new customs — such as sama’ and stringed instruments and their like from the gatherings of bid’ ah that were prevalent in India in those days. It replaced those innovations with clear and radiant sunnah — in terms of teaching and studying, suluk and propagation — until it (the madrasah) became a powerful, great and authentic source of light from which came droves of god-fearing (rabbaniyyin) ulama, who combined the excellence of knowledge and action (’amal), while adhering to the sunnah and eliminating bid’ah.” -