Replicating the Deobandi model of Islamic schooling: the case of a Quomi madrasa in a district town of Bangladesh

Abstract

The proliferation of the Deobandi model of religious school has been taken for granted in South Asia, although how its pedagogic method and theological stances are being replicated in Bangladesh has received little academic attention. This paper delves into the replication of the Deobandi model of religious schooling in Bangladesh by describing the replication process in a local Quomi madrasa, which received strong patronage from Deoband at the height of the Islamic revivalist-reformist movements in South Asia. This study reveals that localized versions of Deobandi madrasas in Bangladesh are concerned with the ‘other’ Muslims, that is, Muslims with doctrinal views differing from the Deobandi school of thought. The contestation between the Deobandi interpretation of Islam and the other interpretive Islamic groups within the circle of madrasas suggests that Muslim identity is a matter of contention, with differing points of view from one type of madrasa to another and from one group of ulama to another.

Keywords:

• madrasa
• Deobandi
• ulama
• maslaki
• othering

Acknowledgements

I am greatly indebted to the anonymous referees and to the editor of this volume for their very useful suggestions and comments, which substantially enrich the writings and arguments I made in this paper. I am also grateful to my supervisor Professor Masahiko Togawa of Hiroshima University.

Notes

 1. Darul Uloom Deoband was established in the district of Saharanpur of Uttar Pradesh in 1867 by a group of Indian ulama. On Deoband, see Metcalf (1978, 1982) and Faruqi (1963).

 2. Besides Deoband, some noted educational and revivalist movements are the Aligarh, Barelwi, Ahle Hadith, School of Nadwat-ul-Ulama and Jamaat-i-Islami movement. On these movements, see Lelyveld (1978), Metcalf (1982, 268–96, 317–35), Nasr (1994), Sanyal (1996), Hartung (2006), Sikand (2005, 57–61, 70–85).

 3. Alam (2008) explains that, for the madrasas, the ‘other’ is not only Hindus but also ‘other’ forms of Islam. Alam's argument may also apply in the context of Bangladesh.

 4. For the British patronage of Calcutta Aliya Madrasa see the ‘Minute by Warren Hastings, governor-general of Fort William (Calcutta) in Bengal, recorded in the Public Department, 17 April 1781’ in Zastoupil and Moir (1999, 73–6).

 5. ‘Qaum’ refers to both believers and non-believers of the same geographic territory of a nation, according to Maulana Hussain Ahmad Madani (1879–1957), an influential Deobandi alim. See, Madani (2005, 79).

 6. According to the Madrasa Education Board, Dhaka, there were 15,941 Aliya madrasas (as of June 2006) at all levels. The number of Quomi is more than 20,000, and the number of students studying at these madrasas is not less than three million. Daily Prothom Alo, 3 April 2006. Dhaka.

 7. Ahmad Sirhindi is considered one of the founders of Mujaddidiyya, a lineage of Naqshbandiyya Sufi tradition in India (Buehler 1998, 59, 66–71).

 8. On Shah Waliullah see Rizvi (1980) and Baljon (1986).

 9. It denotes ‘the allegiance to the Sunni or dominant grouping of Muslim’; (Geaves 2005, 2).

10. Deoband, Darul Uloom. The Track (Maslak) of Deoband. http://darululoom-deoband.com/english/index.htm (accessed January 25, 2007).

11. For Sayyid Ahmad's theological orientation and his jihad movement, see Metcalf (1982, 52–63).

12. This movement was a seceded form of tariqa-i-Muhammadiya, founded by Maulana Keramat Ali (1800–1874) of Uttar Pradesh, India. He had extensively traveled through many parts of Bengal urging Muslims not to follow ‘Hinduized’ practices and customs (Hardy 1972, 110–2; Ahmed 1996, 39, 48).

13. This movement was founded by Hazi Shariatullah (1781–1840) of the Faridpur district of East Bengal and later propounded by his son and successor, Dudu Miyan (1819–1862) (Ahmed 1996, 40).

14. To understand how discourses of Islamic and Hindu revivalist-reformist movements engendered the process of separation in Bengal, see Datta (1999) and Chatterji (1994).

15. The idea of ‘composite nationalism’ or muttahida qaumiyat was propounded by Maulana Hussain Ahmad Madani (1879–1957). See Madani (2005).

16. To understand how the Deobandi theological stances differ from other reformist and sectarian orientations see Metcalf (1982, 264–314), Zaman (2002, 11), Sikand (2005, 57–61) and Buehler (1998, 176–92).

17. ‘Wahabi’ refers to the followers of the eighteenth century reformer Muhammad ibn. Abd al-Wahhab (1703–1787) of Arabia. On the Indian subcontinent, this naming implies a denigration of Muslims. For a fuller discussion of Wahabi Islam, see Algar (2002) and Delong-Bas (2004). For the connotation of ‘Wahabi’ in South Asia, see Uddin (2006, 57–8).

18. According to the information provided by the YM office, March 2007.

19. Qadiani refers to the Ahmadiyya Muslim community in South Asia, the followers of Mirza Ghulam Ahmad (1840–1908) of Qadian, an Indian village, who claimed to be the ‘Promised Messiah’. See Friedmann (2003).

20. Maulana Abdul Ohayed is credited with founding the country's first Ahmadiyya Jamaat in Brahmanbaria. Ahmadiyya Muslim, Bangladesh. Bangladeshe Ahmadiyyat [Ahmadiyyat in Bangladesh]. http://www.ahmadiyyabangla.org/Ahmadiyyat-in-Bangladesh.htm (accessed June 5, 2008).

21. Mufti Muhammad Nurullah. Interview by Author. September, 2004. Jami'a Islamia Yunusia Madrasa, Brahmanbaria.

22. Maulana Madani was principal of Deoband in the mid-twentieth century and one of the celebrated Deobandi ulama who served as president of Jamiat Ulama-i-Hind for seventeen years (1940–1957). See, Metcalf (2005, 23–54).

23. Maulana Hafezzi Huzur was an eminent Deobandi alim in Bangladesh who founded a political party, namely Bangladesh Khilafat Andolon (Bangladesh Caliphate Movement) and who was a presidential candidate in the 1981 President Election, securing third place.

24. He is known as Shaikhul Hadith (master on the prophetic tradition), the founder of a large Quomi madrasa located at Mohammadpur in Dhaka. He is presently the chairman of a faction of aligned Islamic parties in Bangladesh, Islami Oikyo Jot.

25. Excerpted from interview with Mufti Nurullah, op cit. note 21.

26. Nesabnama of YM, a booklet written in Urdu which states the curriculum and duties and responsibilities of the directors and teachers.

27. According to Ahmadiyya Muslim Jamaat, Bangladesh, there are 103 branches and 423 places where Ahmadiyya followers are working to extend their community. The total number of Ahmadiyya followers is 100,000 in the entire country.

28. Bangladeshe Ahmadiyyat. Ibid.

29. The Brahmanbaria Municipality area is composed of 12 wards, and each ward, a small administrative tier, consists of several paras, where a cluster of inhabitants live.

30. This organization was established in 1986, patronized by YM and led by one Maulana Hafez Abul Kasem in Brahmanbaria. There are 31 members of this organization, many of whom are former graduates of YM.

31. Interview with Maulana Habibur Rahman, Secretary of Education, Mohaddith, Al-Jamiatul Islamia Tazul Uloom Tahaffuze Khatme Nabuwat Madrasa, 26 March 2008.

32. Interview with ameer (chieftain) of Ahmadiyya Muslim Jamaat, Brahmanbaria, 27 March 2008.

33. Salana Jalsa is a public religious gathering for Ahmadi Muslims. The first salana jalsa in the country was celebrated at a mosque at Moulavi Para in Brahmanbaria, organized by the first ameer of Ahmadiyya Muslim Jamaat of Bengal, Maulana Syed Abdul Ohayed. Ahmadiyya Muslim Jamaat, Bangladesh: Dhaka, collected from the office of Ahmadiyya Jamaat, Brahmanbaria.

34. According to interviews with some Ahmadi followers at Kandipara, see also Daily Prothom Alo, May 20, 2006.

35. Maulana Muhammad Yousuf Ludhyanvi (Ludhyanvi 2000, 24). This booklet is based on a lecture delivered by Yusuf Ludhyanvi of Pakistan at a mosque in Dubai on 1 November 1985. Ludhyanvi is a reputed leader of International Majlis-e Tahafuzz-e Khatme Nobuwat. See also his essay entitled Who are Qadyane's posted on Deoband's homepage.

36. Professor Muhammad Abdul Goni (Goni 2002, 41–54).

37. Recorded interview of Md. Abdul Matin, Vice-Principal, Vadugarh Darus Sunnah Kamil Madrasa, 30 March 2008.

38. Recorded interview of the Imam and teacher of YM, 7 March 2007.

39. Bukhari is the most authentic compendium of hadith written by al-Bukhari (d.870).

40. Kasemi, 2005.

41. The term ‘Rizwi’ derives from the name of Ahmad Riza and his silsila (chain of discipleship) of pir–‘Rizwiyya’ (Sanyal 1995, 443, fn 10).

42. Kasemi, 2005, 17.

43. Riaz (2009, 89–90) contends that the rise of sectarianism in Pakistan in the 1980s and 1990s has influenced the trend towards denominational affiliation-based identity among many Muslims in Bangladesh.

44. According to the leading ulama's opinion published in the Daily Amardesh, February 17, 2009.

45. Daily Shamokal, January 17, 2009.

46. One Deobandi alim, Mufti Fazlul Haq Amini, asserts that ‘Being a follower of Atrashi pir [a local pir from the district of Faridpur], Salauddin cannot be the khatib of the national mosque as most people will not accept him.’ Daily Star, January 17, 2009.

47. Maulana Oabaidul was the chief of International Majlis-e Tahafuzze Khatme Nabuwat Bangladesh, the organization which is concerned with the preservation of the finality of prophethood of Muhammad, labeling the Ahmadiyya community as ‘non-Muslim.’

48. Daily Amardesh, February 17, 2009.