The Deoband Madrassah Movement

Muhammad Moj

Description

Reinterprets the Deobandi Islam religious sect as a counterculture by spotlighting its conflict with mainstream Muslim society.

In this important study, Muhammad Moj explores the Deobandi sect within Islam and its relationship to Pakistani society in an innovative way. The Deoband Madrassah Movement (DMM) has largely been studied as a political and religious reform movement, but this book interprets it rather as a counterculture, drawing on the counterculture theory of Milton Yinger.

Using analyses of Deobandi journals and interviews with madrassahs and college students, this book comprehends the DMM from a broader perspective to discover the reasons behind its clash with the mainstream society in which it operates.

Preface; Prologue; 1. Deoband Madrassah Movement: Research Context; 2. Origin of the DMM: Seeds of a Counterculture; 3. DMM in United India: Activist Countercultural Trends; 4. DMM in Pakistan: Countercultural Politics and Extremism; 5. Deobandi Islam: Countering the Folk Islam and Popular Custom; 6. DMM versus Mainstream Society: Viewpoint of Deobandi Journals and Students; Epilogue; Appendices; Glossary of Islamic Terms; References; Index

Sujets

• Sunni
• Religión
• Worship
• Sunni Islam
• Sociology of religion
• Social sciences
• Islam
• Sunnisme

Informations

• Publié par: Anthem Press
• Date de parution: 01 mars 2015
• Nombre de lectures: 0
• EAN13: 9781783084463
• Langue: English

Extrait

The Deoband Madrassah Movement
DIVERSITY AND PLURALITY IN SOUTH ASIA
The Diversity and Plurality in South Asia series, wide in scope, will bring together publications in anthropology and sociology, alongside politics and international relations, exploring themes of both contemporary and historical relevance. This diverse line in the social sciences and humanities will investigate the plurality of social groups, identities and ideologies, including within its remit not only interrogations of issues surrounding gender, caste, religion and region, but also political variations, and a variety of cultural ideas and expressions within South Asia.
Series Editor
Nandini Gooptu – University of Oxford, UK
Editorial Board
Christophe Jaffrelot – CERI/CNRS, France Niraja G. Jayal – Jawaharlal Nehru University, India Raka Ray – University of California, Berkeley, USA Yunas Samad – University of Bradford, UK John Zavos – University of Manchester, UK
The Deoband Madrassah Movement
Countercultural Trends and Tendencies
Muhammad Moj
Anthem Press An imprint of Wimbledon Publishing Company www.anthempress.com
This edition first published in UK and USA 2015 by ANTHEM PRESS 75–76 Blackfriars Road, London SE1 8HA, UK or PO Box 9779, London SW19 7ZG, UK and 244 Madison Ave #116, New York, NY 10016, USA
Copyright © Muhammad Moj 2015
The author asserts the moral right to be identified as the author of this work.
All rights reserved. Without limiting the rights under copyright reserved above, no part of this publication may be reproduced, stored or introduced into a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means (electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise), without the prior written permission of both the copyright owner and the above publisher of this book.
British Library Cataloguing-in-Publication Data A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Moj, Muhammad, author. The Deoband madrassah movement : countercultural trends and tendencies / Muhammad Moj. pages ; cm. – (Diversity and plurality in South Asia) Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN 978-1-78308-388-6 (hardcover : alk. paper) – ISBN 978-1-78308-389-3 (papercover : alk. paper) 1. Deoband School (Islam) 2. Islam and politics–Pakistan. 3. Islamic religious education–Pakistan. 4. Islamic fundamentalism–Pakistan. I. Title. II. Series: Diversity and plurality in South Asia. BP166.14.D4M65 2015 297.8’3–dc23 2014046372
ISBN-13: 978 1 78308 388 6 (Hbk) ISBN-10: 1 78308 388 3 (Hbk)
ISBN-13: 978 1 78308 389 3 (Pbk) ISBN-10: 1 78308 389 1 (Pbk)
Cover image © danishkhan / iStockphoto.com
This title is also available as an ebook.
In memory of my loving parents Alive, they were close to me Departed, they are closer
CONTENTS
Preface
Prologue
Chapter 1. The Deoband Madrassah Movement: Research Context
1.1 Madaris in Islam
1.2 A Brief History of the DMM
1.3 The DMM and Social Movements
1.4 The DMM in a Countercultural Context
1.5 Research Methodology and Approach
Chapter 2. Origin of the DMM: Seeds of a Counterculture
2.1 Shah Waliullah’s Movement
2.2 The Link between Waliullah’s Movement and the DMM
2.3 The DMM’s Initial Ascetic Approach
2.4 The Countercultural Character of the DMM
Chapter 3. The DMM in United India: Activist Countercultural Trends
3.1 The End of the DMM’s Ascetic Approach
3.2 The DMM’s Entry into Active Politics
3.3 The Countercultural Politics of Deobandi Leadership
3.4 Deobandi Opposition to the Pakistan Movement
Chapter 4. The DMM in Pakistan: Countercultural Politics and Extremism
4.1 The Evolution of the DMM in Pakistan
4.2 The DMM’s Shifting Stances in Politics
4.3 The Rise of Extremism in the Deobandi Movement
4.4 Countercultural Tendencies in the DMM since 1947
Chapter 5. Deobandi Islam: Countering Folk Islam and Popular Custom
5.1 Different Interpretations of Bidah
5.2 The DMM and Dominant Beliefs and Practices in Pakistan
5.3 The DMM against Folk Islam
5.4 Deobandi Opposition to Non-religious Sociocultural Practices
Chapter 6. The DMM versus Mainstream Society: Viewpoints of Deobandi Journals and Students
6.1 The DMM versus Popular Customs and Practices
6.2 The DMM versus the Mainstream Political System
6.3 The DMM versus the Mainstream Educational System
6.4 The DMM versus Women’s Role in Society
6.5 A Comparison of Madrassah and Mainstream Students
Epilogue
Appendix I: The Deobandi Stance vis-à-vis Muslim Groups other than the Barelwis
Appendix II: Countercultural Exposition of the Deobandi Taliban
Appendix III: Interview Guide
Glossary of Islamic Terms
References
Index
PREFACE
This book explores the history and evolution of Deobandi Islam, a South Asian Sunni sect whose origin dates back to 1866 when a madrassah movement was launched in the small North Indian town of Deoband. Since its inception, Deobandi Islam has survived and spread mainly through its madrassah network, which has produced Deobandi prayer leaders, preachers and politicians on the one hand and has paved the way for the creation of extremist Deobandi organizations like the Taliban and Lashkar-e-Jhangwi on the other. The latter role of the Deobandi movement makes it all the more relevant in the present scenario, whereby a global wave of extremism and terrorism has seriously threatened world peace.
Unlike the existing literature that has studied the Deobandi movement in the context of political Islam and religious reform, this book endeavours to interpret this madrassah -based movement from a countercultural perspective. By employing an offbeat approach, this book tries to explain the background of the perennial conflict between the Deobandi sect and mainstream Muslim society in the subcontinent. An attempt has also been made to identify the countercultural currents in the 150-year-long history of the Deobandi movement. In addition to that, a comparative analysis of the values and attitudes of the students of a Deobandi madrassah and a mainstream educational institution has been included to underline the countercultural mindset of Deobandi Islam. In its concluding section, the book looks at some probable scenarios with respect to the future of Deobandi Islam as a counterculture.
The main objective of this work is to understand Deobandi Islam from a different perspective. This work is expected to be of ample interest and importance to the intelligentsia and academia on the one hand and politicians and policymakers on the other. By giving an insight into the making of the mindset of the Deobandi Taliban, this work also hopes to add considerable value to the ongoing policymaking process vis-à-vis the future of the Pak-Afghan region, especially after the withdrawal of NATO forces from Afghanistan.
While working on this book, I immensely benefitted from the efficient editorial oversight and valuable secretarial support offered by Anthem Press. In thanking the publishing staff for their efforts on my behalf, I do not, of course, absolve myself of responsibility for the shortcomings of this work.
PROLOGUE
This book identifies countercultural trends and tendencies in the Deoband Madrassah Movement (DMM) during its 150-year-long history, with a particular focus on Pakistan. Religious schools or madaris (plural of Arabic madrassah : ‘place of learning’) of Pakistan have acquired greater significance since the terrorist attacks of 11 September 2001. Since then, there has been a substantial increase in the literature concerning madaris in Pakistan. However, most of that literature has focused on madaris from the perspective of securitization. According to Malik, ‘Few of those studies are well grounded in empirical research – in fact most of them lack research altogether.’ The majority of recent studies on madaris suffer from ‘sensationalized overgeneralization’ and do not take into account the history of the religious education and the factors influencing the demand and supply of madaris (Malik 2008, 1). Recent research on madaris has also been ‘predicated on observational accounts and anecdotes’ (Ali 2009, 85), while ignoring the social context and historical background (Riaz 2008, 36).
The major focus of post-9/11 madrassah literature has been the rise in the number of madaris and their possible links to extremism. Just before 9/11, the Western media had already begun to highlight the madrassah–terrorism nexus during the rise of the Taliban in Afghanistan. In the year 2000, Jessica Stern, Jeffery Goldberg and Stephen Cohen each published articles that specifically focused on Pakistani madaris and their links with jihadism and terrorism. Immediately after 9/11, as the intensity of this discourse increased, Peter Singer (2001) pointed out that madaris were displacing the public education system and some of these had ‘extremely close ties with radical militant groups and played a critical role in sustaining the international terrorist network’. Andrew Coulson (2004) called madaris ‘weapons of mass instruction’. Even the 9/11 Commission Report referred to madaris as ‘incubators of violent extremism’ (2004, 385). Ali Riaz (2008, 39–40) studied the coverage of nine Western media outlets between 12 September 2001 and 31 March 2005 and identified two thematic similarities with regard to t