World attention has been focused on the Deoband’s version of Islam when the Taleban, after capturing power, implemented it in Afghanistan. Punishments such as stoning, flogging, and cutting hand and foot and the seclusion of women from the public space soon acquired notoriety for the regime. In this paper an attempt is made to highlight the role of the Deoband during the colonial period and how it influenced a section of the Muslim community not only in the Indian subcontinent but also in Afghanistan.

1857 revolt and its failure was an important event in the modern history of India that changed the whole thinking of the Indian people. After it. they fully realized that it was not possible for them to expel the English and that their rule had become a reality. Having no alternative except to compromise with the new realities, the Hindus and Muslim communities reacted differently to survive under new circumstances. The first and immediate response of the Muslim community was how to preserve and protect its religious identity? The community felt insecure under the new rule that was alien and hostile to it. Therefore, the question was how to react against it? The option to resist and fight was out of question in view of the failure of 1857.The other alternative was education and dissemination of religious knowledge to the community in order to strengthen the Islamic identity and to combat with modernity.

The ulama, regarding themselves as the custodians of religion, were facing two pronged attack on Islam: one was from the British government which was Christian in character and thus an inherent enemy to the Muslims; the second, were the Christians missionaries, who under the protection of government, were busy in preaching and converting people. To cope with these two challenges, some ulama decided to establish a madrassa in 1860 as an institution to provide guidance to the Muslim community in matters of religion.

The Deoband deviated from the traditional system of education that was so far used by the Ulama.Instead of teaching at madrassa, they asked students to come to their residence for learning. Their source of income was either from endowment or donation from the nobility. There was no system of examination and no facility of library. Keeping these weaknesses in mind, the founders of the Deoband adopted new methods from the colonial system of school and organized their institution on modern lines such as the hostels for students and a library that contained relevant religious literature. The examination was oral as well as written. However, the curriculum was strictly religious and no secular discipline of leaning was allowed to be aught. More emphasis was given on the hadis (traditions) and jurisprudence. Another significant deviation was that Urdu was adopted as the medium of instruction in places of Arabic and Persian The syllabus was constructed in such a way as to prepare students for imama, waiz, mufti and teacher.

The founders of the madrassa, from the very beginning, decided not to approach government for any financial assistance. Nor the Muslim nawabs or landlords were asked to donate. Thus, denying the support from the elite class, the common people were appealed to give donation according to their capacity. The reliance on people clearly showed the motives of the founders to get confidence of people and win over them for their cause. It was the policy of the madrassa not to have any contact with the government. Following it, they never invited any government official to their institution. On the contrary, they opposed the foreign rule and adopted a policy not to cooperate or collaborate it. The anti government policy was culminated during the period of Mahmudul Hassan (1887) when his pupil, Ubaidullah Sindhi went to Afghanistan to approach Turkey and Afghanistan to help the Indians in fighting against the British. He himself, later on, imprisoned in Malta on the charges of opposing and conspiring against the government.

The Deoband undertook the most important task to guide the Muslim community in their day-to-day matters in the light of religion. Their jurisprudence department, therefore, became the most important in dealing with social, cultural, and economic problems of the Muslims. They appealed the Muslims not go to the government courts but approach the Adalat (court) of the madrassa to settle their disputes. It is said the jurisprudence department received every year’s nearly 8000 queries from all over India. Based on these queries, the madrasa published every year the collection of Fatawa for the guidance. Besides personal problems, people were eager to know how to deal with the introduction of modern technology or a new life style which challenging the old one. The questions were asked about the English laws; about the activities of the Christian missionaries; about the use of English medicine, and about matchbox for lighting fire. Or whether to eat biscuits, or to play football and listen radio were according to the shariat. The Deoband vehemently opposed all such things that were British, foreign, and modern. Although.  Having no alternative, they recognized the British government but were not in favour to support or cooperate with it.

To check the process of modernization, they emphasized on the revival of Islamic values and those traditions that had become dormant due to political situation of the past .In order to revive the purity of religion, they launched a campaign to abandon all Hindu practices and rituals. They were also not in favour to celebrate Milad un Nabi (Day of the birth of the Holy Prophet PUH) or the urs of any saint or to distribute sweet after the recitation of the holy Quran.This puritan attitude of the Deoband brought them in conflict with the Brelvis and Ahle Hadis resulting in declaring each other as unbeliever,

To disseminate their views, the Deoband started to publish books for the literate class of society but for the common people, it trained its students to participate in Manazira (religious discussion) and defend Islam and it’s teaching against the onslaught of the Christians and the Hindus.

In the beginning, the Deobnad remained aloof from the policts but during the Khilafat movement it organized ‘Jamiat Ulama I Hind in 1919 and aligned itself with the Congress. Interestingly, Maulana Hussain Ahmad Madani, the principal and the leading member of the Jamiat supported the territorial nationalism, while, Iqbal, a Western educated, opposed it and emphasized on religious nationalism. The Deoband opposed the two-nation theory and also the demand of Pakistan.

However, the version of the Deoband Islam appealed not only a section of the Muslims in the Indian subcontinent but also in Afghanistan it got its disciples. Following the pattern of the Deoband, numbers of madaris are founded throughout India, Pakistan and Afghanistan to disseminate religious learning. These madaris cater the poor section of society and those who are deprived of modern amenities. That is the reason that these unprivileged and marginal sections of society are hostile not only to modernity but also to those elite classes who monopolize all resources of society. As a matter of fact their anger and hatred is the result of their deprivation.

 The Deoband version of Islam appeals the character of the Afghans who are spartan and rugged in their life style. Puritanism rather than pluralism suits them as they live in the valleys separately from each other having minimum contact with outside world. Moreover, they do not have enough resources to afford rituals and celebrations. Islation makes them suspicious of everything that is new and modern. Therefore, having no modern knowledge, the only weapon to fight for their survival is religion. That is why they are passionately fighting for its preservation.