Deobandi Movement

A Kashmiri scholar of hadith who rose to be chief teacher and shaykh al-hadith at Darul Uloom Deoband, and led it after 1915. His lectures became the Arabic commentaries Fayd al-Bari on Sahih al-Bukhari and al-Arf al-Shadhi on Jami al-Tirmidhi.

The first student of Darul Uloom Deoband, afterwards its chief teacher and rector, known by the title Shaykh al-Hind. He organised the Silken Letters scheme of 1916 against British rule, was interned at Malta for three years, and opened Jamia Millia Islamia on his return.

An Indian Hanafi jurist widely titled Mufti-e-Azam, or Grand Mufti of India. He led Madrasa Aminia in Delhi for nearly half a century, was a founder and twice president of the Jamiat Ulama-i-Hind, and left some four and a half thousand legal rulings collected as Kifayat al-Mufti.

A Hanafi jurist who served as head mufti of Darul Uloom Deoband and founded Darul Uloom Karachi in 1951. His Urdu commentary Ma'arif al-Qur'an, which began as a radio programme, became one of the most widely read Qur'anic commentaries in South Asia.

The Indian scholar who founded the Tablighi Jamaat in the Mewat region during the 1920s. Trained at Darul Uloom Deoband under Mahmud Hasan, he built a movement of lay religious preaching that later spread across the Muslim world.

A Pakistani Hanafi jurist who led Darul Uloom Karachi as its president from 1986 until his death in 2022. Titled Grand Mufti, he served on Pakistan's Council of Islamic Ideology and wrote on zakat, on Hanafi law, and on the hadith commentary Fath al-Mulhim.

A Pakistani Hanafi jurist and writer on Islamic law, trained at Darul Uloom Karachi and in economics and law at Karachi and Punjab. He served on Pakistan's higher courts, completed the hadith commentary Fath al-Mulhim, and shaped the standards of modern Islamic finance.

The second leader of the Tablighi Jamaat, who directed it from 1944 to 1965 and oversaw its spread beyond South Asia. A graduate of Mazahir Uloom Saharanpur, he compiled Hayat al-Sahaba, a three-volume Arabic collection on the lives of the Prophet's Companions.

A hadith scholar of Mazahir Uloom Saharanpur who taught for over fifty years and wrote a six-volume Arabic commentary on Malik's Muwatta. His Urdu devotional tracts, collected as the Faza'il series, became the standard reading of the Tablighi Jamaat.

A scholar of hadith and Qur'anic commentary, chancellor of Darul Uloom Deoband. He completed Mahmud Hasan's Qur'an glosses, began the Arabic commentary Fath al-Mulhim on Sahih Muslim, and led the Deobandi scholars who supported the creation of Pakistan.

A Bangladeshi scholar of hadith who led the seminary at Hathazari in Chittagong for more than three decades and chaired the country's Qawmi madrasa education board. Trained at Hathazari and Darul Uloom Deoband, he wrote a commentary on Sahih al-Bukhari.

Husain Ahmad Madani (1879-1957) was an Indian scholar of hadith who taught in Medina, was interned by the British on Malta, and led Darul Uloom Deoband as Shaykh al-Hadith. His 1938 work Muttahida Qaumiyat aur Islam made him the foremost scholar opposing the demand for Pakistan.

A school of Sunni thought and practice that grew from the seminary founded at Deoband in northern India in 1866 or 1867. Its scholars combined the roles of jurist and Sufi guide, built a madrasa funded by public subscription, and made hadith the centre of religious education.

A movement of lay religious preaching founded by Muhammad Ilyas Kandhlawi in the Mewat region of northern India in the 1920s. Built on short preaching tours undertaken by ordinary Muslims, it grew from one rural district into a presence across much of the Muslim world.

An Indian scholar, educator and writer associated with the founding of Darul Uloom Deoband and with its first consultative council for nearly four decades. He taught at Bareilly College, served in the colonial education department, and wrote Urdu commentaries on the Arabic literary classics.