Afghanistan’s Foreign Minister Amir Khan Muttaqi’s visit to Darul Uloom Deoband has revived interest in the region’s shared Islamic heritage. Deoband, the 19th-century reformist seminary, once shaped a plural and intellectual Islam that viewed faith as a uniting moral force within a diverse India. Its offshoot, the Jamiat Ulama-e-Hind, stood for “composite nationalism” — an idea that bound Hindus and Muslims into a common political destiny. But while India’s Muslim scholars upheld coexistence, the Taliban in Afghanistan and Pakistan’s ruling establishment have turned religion into a tool of political power. As Pakistan’s army chief declares that Hindus and Muslims share “nothing in common,” Afghanistan’s outreach to Deoband signals a very different message: that South Asian Islam’s true legacy lies not in division, but in dialogue, learning, and shared history.
By Subhash Dhuliya
In a remarkable gesture of outreach, Afghanistan’s Foreign Minister Amir Khan Muttaqi visited the historic Darul Uloom Deoband in Uttar Pradesh’s Saharanpur district during his week-long visit to India. The visit, rich in symbolism, evoked the deep civilizational and spiritual ties that have historically connected India and Afghanistan through shared traditions of Islamic learning.
Addressing the media, Muttaqi expressed gratitude for the affection shown by Indian Muslims and scholars. “The love that the people and Maulanas here have shown to me during my visit to Deoband has touched my heart,” he said, adding that Afghanistan hoped to strengthen its ties with India and resume diplomatic engagement in Delhi.
His words carried more than diplomatic courtesy; they resonated with a shared spiritual and historical lineage between Indian and Afghan religious traditions — a lineage that stretches back to the founding of Darul Uloom Deoband in 1866.
Deoband: The Intellectual Heart of South Asian Islam
The Darul Uloom Deoband is not merely a seminary; it is a cornerstone of Islamic reform and scholarship in South Asia. Born out of India’s anti-colonial struggle, the Deobandi movement aimed to revive Islamic learning, promote moral discipline, and resist British cultural domination through education rather than violence.
From its modest origins, Deoband developed into a vast network of affiliated madrasas across India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, and Afghanistan. Its approach combined orthodox Islamic theology with an ethos of reform, discipline, and community service. For generations of Muslims in the subcontinent, Deoband represented a path of piety rooted in knowledge and national commitment, not separatism.
Jamiat Ulama-e-Hind and the Idea of Composite Nationalism
The Deobandi spirit of reform later found political and social expression through the Jamiat Ulama-e-Hind (JaUH), founded in 1919 in the crucible of two great movements — the Khilafat Movement and the Indian Freedom Struggle.
The Jamiat’s leaders, notably Maulana Mahmud Hasan and Maulana Hussain Ahmad Madani, envisioned Islam as a moral unifier within a diverse India. Madani’s theory of “Composite Nationalism” (Mutahida Qaumiyat) proposed that a nation is defined by shared territory and collective destiny, not by religion. This idea stood in direct opposition to Muhammad Ali Jinnah’s Two-Nation Theory, which later became the ideological foundation of Pakistan.
In championing a united and secular India, the Jamiat articulated a distinctive South Asian Islamic identity — one that fused faith with patriotism and moral integrity with civic loyalty.
Deoband and the Taliban: Shared Theology, Divergent Paths
The Taliban, who emerged in Afghanistan in the 1990s, often describe themselves as followers of the Deobandi tradition. Yet this link is more historical than ideological, more inspired than identical.
The Taliban’s founders studied in Deobandi-style madrasas in Pakistan — products of the Deobandi educational network that expanded during the Afghan jihad. However, while they inherited the language and jurisprudence of the Deobandi school, their political vision and militant methods fundamentally diverged from the non-violent, scholarly ethos of Deoband.
Key Differences:
| Aspect | Darul Uloom Deoband | The Taliban |
| Nature | Educational and reformist | Political-military movement |
| Core Aim | Moral reform and learning | Establishing a theocratic state |
| Political Vision | Loyalty to Indian Constitution, composite nationalism | Islamic Emirate, clerical rule |
| Method | Education, persuasion, reform | Armed jihad and coercion |
| View on Women’s Education | Supportive (with segregation) | Restrictive and prohibitive |
Indian Deobandi scholars, including Maulana Arshad Madani and Maulana Mahmood Madani, have categorically distanced the seminary from the Taliban’s interpretation of Islam. They argue that Deoband shaped minds, not militias — its struggle was moral and educational, not militant.
Thus, while the Taliban may claim Deobandi inspiration, their ideology is a fusion of Deobandi theology, Pashtun tribal codes (Pashtunwali), and wartime radicalism. The Deobandi movement, by contrast, was rooted in peaceful reform and coexistence within a plural society.
A Symbolic Visit and a Shared Civilizational Space
When Muttaqi visited Deoband, he was not just acknowledging a religious institution; he was acknowledging a shared heritage. His interaction with Indian scholars, especially Maulana Arshad Madani, reflected mutual respect and a hope for renewed India–Afghanistan understanding.
Madani reminded Muttaqi that India’s connection with Afghanistan was not merely theological but historical — intertwined with India’s freedom struggle and the joint resistance to colonial power. He emphasized that the two peoples’ bond was not sectarian but civilizational.
Such statements contrast sharply with the political use of religion seen elsewhere in the subcontinent — most notably in Pakistan.
Pakistan: From Islamic Republic to Ideological State
When Pakistan was created in 1947, it was conceived as a homeland for South Asia’s Muslims — yet not necessarily as a theocracy. The founders, including Jinnah, initially spoke of religious freedom and equality. However, over decades, the Pakistani state’s identity became increasingly Islamized, especially under military regimes seeking legitimacy.
Today, Pakistan stands ideologically distant from the inclusive and plural vision once articulated by the Deobandi scholars of pre-Partition India.
- The Pakistan Army’s rhetoric, as recently voiced by its current chief, that “there is nothing common between Hindus and Muslims,” underscores how the state has institutionalized the Two-Nation Theory as a permanent psychological and political divide.
- This contrasts sharply with India’s composite nationalism and Afghanistan’s recent gestures of cultural outreach.
- While Deoband and the Jamiat Ulama-e-Hind view Islam as compatible with secular democracy and coexistence, Pakistan’s establishment has often weaponized religion for national identity, foreign policy, and internal politics.
Field Marshal Asim Munir, Pakistan’s powerful army chief, now stands as the real centre of authority in a country where the military continues to define both state and ideology so we can perceive that his ideology is ruling ideology of Pakistan.
His recent assertion that India and Pakistan share “nothing in common—not religion, language, culture, or lifestyle” reveals not only strategic animosity but also a deep impoverishment of historical understanding. Doesn’t reflect even a minimum level of sense of history. The truth is that South Asia’s civilizational fabric is richly interconnected — its languages, cuisines, music, and even Islam itself shaped by centuries of coexistence and cultural exchange. By denying this shared heritage, Munir embodies an ideology that has long sustained Pakistan’s identity — one rooted in separation from India rather than continuity with it.
By denying this shared heritage, Munir represents the enduring ideology that has defined Pakistan’s post-Partition identity—an identity built on perpetual distinction from India rather than continuity with it. Placed in the broader South Asian context, such thinking isolates Pakistan from the plural civilisational stream to which it organically belongs, reducing a region once united by cultural synthesis into hardened borders of irrational political imagination.
In striking contrast, Afghanistan today appears to be exploring a different philosophical path: if Foreign Minister Amir Khan Muttaqi’s outreach to Darul Uloom Deoband truly reflects the Taliban’s evolving vision, it suggests a turn toward intellectual and cultural reconnection with South Asia’s plural Islamic tradition. In doing so, Afghanistan’s stance implicitly challenges Pakistan’s rigid ideological construct, placing the two neighbours at odds not just politically but at the level of civilisational philosophy itself.
In theological terms, Pakistan also hosts a strong Deobandi presence, but its state-sponsored Islam is deeply entangled with power, militarization, and sectarian politics — far removed from Deoband’s original intellectual ethos.
Islam as a Bridge, Not a Barrier
The Deobandi tradition and the Jamiat Ulama-e-Hind continue to represent a distinctive South Asian Islamic voice — conservative in theology but pragmatic in politics, spiritually rooted yet constitutionally loyal. Their emphasis on unity within diversity provides a counter-narrative to both Hindu majoritarianism and Islamic separatism.
Afghanistan’s outreach to Deoband, coming from a government that once symbolized extremism, suggests a potential re-engagement with South Asia’s shared Islamic heritage — one that values dialogue, coexistence, and education over confrontation.
If pursued sincerely, such gestures could reopen an old civilizational window: the idea that faith can unite rather than divide, and that Islam in South Asia — shaped by centuries of pluralism, scholarship, and cultural exchange — remains capable of bridging nations and communities.
Reclaiming the Spirit of Shared Faith
From the founding of Darul Uloom Deoband to the visit of an Afghan foreign minister, the story of Islam in South Asia has always oscillated between two poles — unity and division, reform and radicalization, coexistence and confrontation.
Deoband and the Jamiat represent the unifying current — an Islam of knowledge, ethics, and pluralism. The Taliban and Pakistan’s ideological militarism represent the divisive one — an Islam of power, fear, and exclusion.
In an age of fractured politics, the Deobandi message, born in colonial India, still offers a lesson for the region: that faith, when freed from politics, can heal borders — not harden them if good sense prevails.
Author’s Note
Prof. Subhash Dhuliya is a researcher, educator, and commentator on global affairs, specializing in media, culture, and international communication. He is the Founder-Director of Newswriters.in and has previously served as Vice Chancellor of Uttarakhand Open University. He has been Professor at IGNOU, IIMC, and CURAJ. Earlier in his career, he worked in journalism as Assistant Editor with Times Group (Sunday Times and Navbharat Times) and Chief Sub-Editor at Amrit Prabhat (Amrit Bazar Patrika Group). This article is authored by Prof. Dhuliya, with background research and editorial support from ChatGPT.
Resources for farther reading:
Deoband, 1860-1900 by Barbara D. Metcalf (Princeton University Press, 1982). Islamic Revival in British India A foundational study on the origins of the Deobandi movement as an anti-colonial revivalist effort, tracing its intellectual roots and spread across South Asia, with implications for later militant interpretations in Pakistan and Afghanistan.
Islam by Brannon D. Ingram (University of California Press, 2018). Revival from Below: The Deoband Movement and Global. Examines the transnational expansion of Deobandism from India to Pakistan, Afghanistan, and beyond, highlighting its ethical Sufi dimensions and divergences, including its role in shaping Taliban ideology.
Muhammad Khalid Masud (Anthem Press, 2016). The Deoband Madrassah Movement: Countercultural Trends and Tendencies Analyzes Deobandism as a countercultural force in conflict with mainstream Muslim society, focusing on its evolution in Pakistan and links to extremist groups like the Taliban.
Muhammad Qasim Zaman (Princeton University Press, 2018). Islam in Pakistan: A History. Provides a comprehensive historical overview of Islamic interpretations in Pakistan, including Deobandi traditionalism’s interplay with politics, sectarianism, and state-building.
Siddiqui, A. (2016). The Deoband School and the Making of Modern South Asian Islam. Examines the historical development of the Deobandi movement in colonial India and its influence on contemporary Islamic thought and politics.
Rashid, A. (2000). Taliban: Militant Islam, Oil and Fundamentalism in Central Asia. A detailed account of the rise of the Taliban, their ideological foundations, and their impact on regional politics.
Haqqani, H. (2005). Pakistan: Between Mosque and Military. Explores the intersection of religion and politics in Pakistan, highlighting how military and religious institutions have shaped the nation’s ideological trajectory.
Nasr, S.V.R. (2000). Islamic Leviathan: Islam and the Making of State Power in Pakistan. Analyzes how religious ideologies, particularly Islamic movements, have influenced Pakistan’s state formation and policy-making.
Gannon, K. (2010). The Taliban: An Islamic Fundamentalist Movement. Provides an overview of the Taliban’s ideology, organizational structure, and the regional and global implications of their governance.
Metcalf, B.D. (2002). Islamic Revival in British India: Deoband, 1860–1900.A seminal work on the origins of the Deobandi movement, its philosophy, and its role in shaping South Asian Islam.
Rashid, A. (2012). Pakistan on the Brink: The Future of America, Pakistan, and Afghanistan. Explores the ideological, political, and military challenges facing Pakistan, including the influence of militant groups and internal divisions.
Jalal, A. (1995). Democracy and Authoritarianism in South Asia: A Comparative and Historical Perspective. Provides context for understanding how religious and ideological movements interact with politics in Pakistan and the broader region.
