The Ray of Hope 14 Jumaadaa I 1427 Sun 11 Jun 2006

A Journal By The Students Of Darul Uloom Deoband, India

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Vol.1 No.1 14 Jumada I, 1427 A.H. Sun 11 Jun 2006

CO N T E N T S

1 The renaissance of Islaamic spirits Shamsul Islam 2

2 Darul Uloom Deoband news (June 2006) The Ray of Hope 4

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The Ray of Hope 14 Jumaadaa I 1427 Sun 11 Jun 2006

The Renaissance of Isla amic Spirits

The British imperialists had a purpose. They had been sent to India to achieve some well-defined targets
that were to ensure that the Britishers got richer at the cost of Indian masses. For this, they employed a three-
pronged strategy: to render the Indians illiterate, to convert them into Christianity and to turn them into atheists.
Islam was faced with real danger of extinction. The guarantors and custodians of Islamic faith and its teachings
the madrasas were on their last legs. Thousands of madrasas had been destro yed in Delhi itself after the
unsuccessful War of Independence in 1857. Thousands of religious scholars and seers had been deported, jailed,
tortured to death or hanged. Muslims, wherever they were, had been gripped with extreme terror and
apprehension.
To rub salt in their wounds, hundreds of European Christian missionaries and evangelists had arrived to
propagate Christianity among the ignorant, clueless masses. Then the new education policy of the British
government was having a lethal influence on the faith and creed of the Muslim youths. The Ulemas who had
been held in high esteem among the populace for centuries were made to appear in the eyes of impressionable,
unsuspecting new generations as dark- minded fundamentalists who were bent upon keeping the masses away
from the march of time and pushing them back into the dark times of the medieval age. The commentators of
the Glorious Quran, the scholars of the Sacred Hadith, the pundits of ancient philosophy and logic had suddenly
turned into unrefined rustics in the perceptions of the populace and the government.
At this time, some pious Islamic scholars of high calibre -- Hazrat Maulana Haji Imdadullah Sahib
Muhajir Makki (1817-1899), Hazrat Maulana Mohammad Qasim Sahib Nanotvi(1832-1880), Hazrat Maulana
Rasheed Ahmed Sahib Gangohi (1829-1905) and others were busy not only in nursing the wounds inflicted
upon them after the failure of the War of Independence (1857) but were also engaged in prayers and
supplications before Allah to change the adverse conditions facing the Indian Muslims for the better.
Consultations and discussions among the learned and wise could be of little help as there was no practical
solution in sight of anybody. Any political, social or even religious movement would be crushed with heavy
hands by the imperialist powers. As for establishing a religious institution or educational establishment, there
was no means to sustain it. Earlier maktabs (primary schools) and madrasas (universities) were run with
government aid or generous grants from Muslim noblemen, jagirdars and zamindars sometimes in the form of
regular donations and at others in the form of jagirs and endowments. Now that the Muslim government in
Delhi was gone and the endowments and jagirs in the names of madrasas stood confiscated, little could be done
about preserving the Islamic faith and knowledges in the country.
But the entreaties and pleadings by the pious men and devout servants of Allah accompanied by their
moans and wails could not remain unanswered for long. Hazrat Maulana Qasim Sahib Nanotvi (R) came out
with a detailed strategy to bring about Islamic Renaissance in India. He planned to set up a network of Islamic
seminaries which would be a perennial source of guidance and leadership for the Muslim community in every
sphere of its social, religious and cultural life with the sole support of and contributions from the Muslim
community. His Eightfold Principles presented a golden set of rules that had the potential of achieving the
unthinkable goals which are briefly enumerated below:
1. The staff of the madrasa should do their best to collect as much donations as possible.
2. The well- wishers of the madrasa should make continuous efforts to provide the students with their daily
meals and also endeavour to improve it.
3. During consultations, the advisors of the madrasa must not insist upon their own views being accepted.
Rather they should be prepared to accept others views in the larger interests of the madrasa. The rector

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is supposed to consult a considerable number of the members of the Advisory Board or, if he wishes,
other men of learning and experience.
4. The faculty should not be self-centred and must not harbour ill- will for their own colleagues.
5. The curriculum as prescribed beforehand or as stipulated later after consultations should be completed
on time in every academic year.
6. The madrasa will continue to run successfully as long as there is no permanent source of income for it.
Any such source will put an end to the spirit of hope and fear of the members of the staff with respect to
Allah. The divine aid and assistance may come to an end and dissensions and conflicts may arise.
7. The assistance from the State or from the rich too appears to be detrimental to the future of the madrasa.
8. Contributions from people not desirous of fame and glory seems to be a source of blessing.
Then came the stage of the schemes implementation. The scheme needed to be put into action at a
particular location as a pilot project which would act as a trigger for setting up similar such institutions in every
nook and corner of the country. How the sleepy village of Deoband (Saharanpur district, Uttar Pradesh) beat
others to it is an interesting story.
Deoband was the marital home of Hazrat Maulana Qasim Sahib Nanotvi (R). His Eightfold Principles had
had a strong influence on the people here. In the wee hours of a Friday Hazrat Haji Syed Abid Hussain Sahib
(b.1834) making a bag of his hankie, set out to collect donations for establishing such a madras a. He began with
himself contributing Rs.3 to the cause. Then he went to Hazrat Maulana Mahtab Ali Sahib (d.1876) who
contributed Rs.6 with all his heart. Hazrat Maulana Fazlur Rahman Sahib (1831-1907) came up with Rs.12. By
the end of this auspicious day of 30 March 1866, Haji Abid (R) had collected Rs.300. In less than two months,
on the propitious day of 30 May 1866 (Wednesday), the first madrasa of its kind was inaugurated in the historic
Chhatta Mosque of Deoband with just one teacher and one pupil both of whom incidentally had the same
name, Mahmood. The teacher was Mulla Mahmood Deobandi while the student was Mahmoodul Hasan
Deobandi who later came to be revered as Shaikhul Hind (R).
In an amazingly short time, the repute of the madrasa flew far and wide and by the end of the calendar year,
the madrasa boasted of 78 students and 6 teachers, namely Maulana Mohammad Yaqoob Sahib Nanotvi (head
of faculty), Mulla Mohammad Mahmood Sahib Deobandi, Mulla Mohammad Fazil, Mulla Meerbaz Khan,
Mulla Fatah Mohammed and Hafiz Ahmed Hasan (Rahima humu Allah ie, May Allahs mercy be upon all of
them). Hazrat Maulana Qasim Sahib Nanotvi (R) was the first patron and supervisor of the affairs of the
seminary while Haji Abid Hussain (R) was the first rector.
Soon many other madrasas were set up on this successful model. Of them, the madrasas at Saharanpur
(Mazahirul Uloom), Moradabad, Hapur(Ghaziabad district), Thana Bhawan (Muzaffarrnagar district) and
Gulaothi (Bulandshahr district) deserve special mention. Within a few decades, the madrasa of Darul Uloom,
Deoband acquired a pivotal role in the social and religious affairs of the Indian Muslims. A large section of
Muslims inhabiting the Indian Sub-continent who followed the message of Prophet Mohammad (peace be upon
him) in its original, unaltered form came to be known as Deobandis.

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Daarul Uloom Deoband News (June 2006)

Bazme Shaikhul Islams half-yearly function
The half- yearly function of the Bazme Shaikhul Islam a subordinate body of the Madani Darul Mutala set up
with an aim to improve the oratory skills of the member students is likely to be held on Thursday, 29 June
2006 in the Darul Hadith. It is also holding an essay competition on the topics Hazrat Fidai Millat (R): Life
and Achievements and Hazrat Maulana Anwar Shah Kashmiri(R) and his Contributions in the Field of
Hadith for which the last date of submission of the articles is 18 June 2006 (Sunday). Rs.1100, 900 and 700
will be awarded as the fist, second and third prizes respectively. Books worth more than Rs.40 will be awarded
as consolation prizes to all the remaining participants.

Annual functions of the five main students associations

The dates for the annual functions of all the five major societies of the students of Darul Uloom, Deoband have
been announced. The Sajjad Library (the association of the students of Darul Uloom belonging to Bihar,
Jharkhand, Orissa and Nepal) will be holding the function on 29 June 2006, the Anjuman Taqwiatul Islam
under the Department of Munazara (debates and discussions) will hold its annual programme on 6 July 2006
while the programme of the An Nadi al Adabi (for the students desirous of improving upon their skills in
elocution and literary writings in the Arabic language) is scheduled on 20 July 2006. The Bazme Shaikhul Islam
under the Madani Darul Mutala will conduct its annual function on 27 July 2006.

Half-yearly function of the An Nadi Al Adabi

The half- yearly function of the An Nadi Al Adabi is scheduled to be held on 15 June 2006 in the Darul Hadith.
The Deputy Rector of Darul Uloom and patron of this journal Hazrat Maulana Qari Usman Sahib Mansoorpuri
will preside over the function while Hazrat Maulana Abdul Khaliq Sahib Sambhali is the chief guest. Hazrat
Maulana Shaukat Sahib Bijnori is the associations supervisor.

Hazrat Maulana Qari Us man Sb returns

The Deputy Rector of Darul Uloom and patron of this journal Hazrat Maulana Qari Usman Sahib Mansoorpuri
returned from his three-day tour of West Bengal on 9 June 2006 (Friday). He addressed a public meeting called
to raise general awareness about the heresy of the Qadiani sect.

Hz Maulana Naseem Sahib returns from his home-district

Hazrat Maulana Naseem Sahib Barabankawi came back from his home district Barabank i in the night of 7 June
2006 (Wednesday) after attending the funeral ceremony of his maternal uncle.