Scholars of the Deobandi tradition

Founders, leading ulama and contemporary scholars of the Deobandi tradition

A companion to the Deobandi tradition guide.

Founders and early teachers

Maulana Muhammad Qasim Nanautavi (محمد قاسم نانوتوی)

Born 1831 or 1832 (Darul Uloom Waqf gives both) near Nanauta, Saharanpur district; died 1880.
Studied with Mamluk Ali, and Hadith with Shah Abdul Ghani Mujaddidi.
Proposed that Darul Uloom Deoband should run on public contributions rather than government support (Darul Uloom Deoband).
Works listed by Darul Uloom Waqf include Tahzir al-Nas, Qibla Numa, Hujjat al-Islam and Ab-e Hayat.

Sources: Darul Uloom Waqf Deoband — Muhammad Qasim Nanautavi · Darul Uloom Deoband — history

Maulana Rashid Ahmad Gangohi (رشید احمد گنگوہی)

Born 6 Dhu al-Qa‘da 1242 AH (about 1827) in Gangoh, Saharanpur district; died 1323 AH (1905). The same source also gives 1904 for his death.
Became patron (sarparast) of Darul Uloom Deoband after Nanautavi’s death.
Gave his pledge (bay‘ah) to Haji Imdadullah and received authorisation (khilafat) from him.
Works include al-Kawkab al-Durri (notes on Jami‘ al-Tirmidhi) and Barahin-e Qati‘ah.

Sources: Darul Uloom Waqf Deoband — Rashid Ahmad Gangohi

Haji Imdadullah Muhajir Makki (حاجی امداد اللہ مہاجر مکی)

A Sufi master to whom, according to Darul Uloom Waqf Deoband, Rashid Ahmad Gangohi and Mahmud Hasan gave their pledge of allegiance.

Sources: Darul Uloom Waqf Deoband — Rashid Ahmad Gangohi · Darul Uloom Waqf Deoband — Muhammad Qasim Nanautavi

Maulana Muhammad Yaqub Nanautawi

First principal (sadr mudarris) of Darul Uloom Deoband from 1867 to 1888 and a revered spiritual guide, according to Encyclopaedia Iranica.

Sources: Encyclopaedia Iranica — Deoband (B. D. Metcalf)

Leading scholars of the twentieth century

Shaykh al-Hind Maulana Mahmud Hasan Deobandi (محمود حسن دیوبندی)

Born 1851 in Bareilly; died 30 November 1920.
The first student of Darul Uloom Deoband; graduated in 1873, taught there from 1874 and became its principal in 1890.
In 1915 planned a revolt against British rule through letters written on silk (the Silk Letter movement); arrested in Mecca and held in Malta for more than three years, released in 1920.
Laid the foundation stone of Jamia Millia Islamia in October 1920.

Sources: Jamia Millia Islamia — Maulana Mahmud Hasan

Hakim al-Ummat Maulana Ashraf Ali Thanvi (اشرف علی تھانوی)

Lived 1280–1362 AH (1863–1943); widely known by the title Hakim al-Ummat.
Graduated from Deoband in 1884; Oxford Reference calls him a central figure of Islamic religious, spiritual and intellectual life in his time.
Author of Bihishti Zewar, which Oxford Reference lists as one of the most influential Deobandi texts (translated in part by Barbara D. Metcalf as Perfecting Women, 1990).

Sources: Oxford Reference — Ashraf Ali Thanvi · Oxford Reference — Bihishti Zewar

Allama Muhammad Anwar Shah Kashmiri (انور شاہ کشمیری)

Born 16 November 1875 in Warnow, Lolab (Kashmir); died 28 May 1933.
Studied at Deoband and received authorisation to teach Hadith from Rashid Ahmad Gangohi in 1896.
Works include Fayd al-Bari (on Sahih al-Bukhari) and Mushkilat al-Qur’an.

Sources: District Kupwara (Govt. of J&K) — Anwar Shah Kashmiri

Shaykh al-Islam Maulana Husain Ahmad Madani (حسین احمد مدنی)

Died 1957. Oxford Reference describes him as an Indian Deobandi scholar and well-known scholar of Hadith, president of Jamiat Ulama-e-Hind, allied with the Indian National Congress and opposed to the creation of Pakistan.

Sources: Oxford Reference — Husain Ahmad Madani

Allama Shabbir Ahmad Usmani (شبیر احمد عثمانی)

According to Dawn, in 1945 the pro-Pakistan scholars who left Jamiat Ulama-e-Hind formed Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam under his leadership.

Sources: Dawn — Jamiat Ulema-i-Islam at one hundred

Maulana Muhammad Ilyas Kandhlawi (محمد الیاس کاندھلوی)

Started the Tablighi Jamaat in Mewat in 1926, according to Dawn; Britannica also dates the movement to 1926.

Sources: Dawn — the Deoband movement · Encyclopaedia Britannica — Tablighi Jamaat

Shaykh al-Hadith Maulana Muhammad Zakariya Kandhlawi (محمد زکریا کاندھلوی)

Born in February 1898 in Kandhla (the source gives both 3 and 12 February); died 24 May 1982 in Madinah and buried in Jannat al-Baqi‘.
Taught at Mazahir Uloom, Saharanpur, from 1335 AH; nephew and son-in-law of Maulana Muhammad Ilyas.
Works include Awjaz al-Masalik (on the Muwatta) and the Fada’il books such as Fada’il al-Qur’an and Fada’il al-Salat.

Sources: Jamiatul Ulama South Africa — Shaykh Muhammad Zakariyya Kandhlawi

Qari Muhammad Tayyib

Rector (muhtamim) of Darul Uloom Deoband from 1929 to 1983, according to Darul Uloom Waqf Deoband; some other accounts give a different end date.

Sources: Darul Uloom Waqf Deoband — former rectors

Mufti Muhammad Shafi (مفتی محمد شفیع)

Founder of Jamia Darul Uloom Karachi in 1951 and known by the title Mufti-e-Azam Pakistan, according to the seminary.

Sources: Jamia Darul Uloom Karachi — history

Contemporary scholars

Mufti Muhammad Taqi Usmani (مفتی محمد تقی عثمانی)

Born in 1943 in Deoband (The Muslim 500 gives 5 October 1943).
Vice President and Shaykh al-Hadith of Jamia Darul Uloom Karachi, where he completed his specialisation (takhassus).
Judge of the Federal Shariat Court (1980–1982) and of the Shariat Appellate Bench of the Supreme Court of Pakistan (1982–2002).
Chairman of the Shariah Council of AAOIFI (Bahrain) and of the Shariah Board of Meezan Bank.
Has translated the Qur’an into English and Urdu, and written a six-volume Arabic commentary on Sahih Muslim (The Muslim 500).

Sources: Official profile — Mufti Muhammad Taqi Usmani · The Muslim 500 — Muhammad Taqi Usmani

Mufti Muhammad Rafi Usmani (مفتی محمد رفیع عثمانی)

Born in July 1936 in Deoband; eldest son of Mufti Muhammad Shafi.
Became head of Darul Uloom Karachi in 1986; in 1995 scholars of the Deoband school named him Mufti-e-Azam.
Vice president of Wifaq-ul-Madaris Al-Arabia and a member of the Council of Islamic Ideology.
Died in Karachi on 18 November 2022, aged 86 (Dawn), and was buried beside his father at Darul Uloom Karachi.

Sources: Dawn — Mufti Rafi Usmani passes away · Dawn — Mufti Rafi Usmani laid to rest

Maulana Muhammad Yusuf Ludhianvi (محمد یوسف لدھیانوی)

Naib Amir of Aalami Majlis Tahaffuz-e-Khatm-e-Nubuwwat and editor of its magazine; he moved to Karachi in 1978.
Wrote a widely read question-and-answer column in the daily Jang for more than a decade, later collected in book form.
Killed with his driver in an ambush in Karachi on 18 May 2000 (Dawn; Albalagh).

Sources: Dawn — 2000 report · Albalagh — Maulana Yusuf Ludhianvi

Maulana Tariq Jameel (مولانا طارق جمیل)

Born in 1953 (The Muslim 500 gives 1 January 1953); his family comes from Tulamba in southern Punjab.
Studied at Government College Lahore and King Edward Medical College, leaving before completing his MBBS, and then studied the Dars-e-Nizami at Jamia Arabia, Raiwind.
Associated with the Tablighi Jamaat for about half a century; runs a madrasa in Faisalabad.
The Muslim 500 describes him as a Deobandi scholar.

Sources: The Muslim 500 — Tariq Jameel · Dawn — essay on Maulana Tariq Jameel (2021)

Political leadership: Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam

Mufti Mahmood — first head of the party in Pakistan and chief minister of NWFP (now Khyber Pakhtunkhwa) in the 1970s; he resigned in 1973 in protest at the dismissal of the NAP government in Balochistan.
Maulana Fazlur Rehman — born in Dera Ismail Khan in 1953; Ameer of JUI (F) since 1980, when he succeeded his father.

Sources: Dawn — Maulana Fazlur Rehman · Dawn — Mufti Mahmood’s resignation

The following two speakers are often mentioned in discussions of Deobandi scholarship. Reliable sources describe their affiliations differently, so they are listed separately and with the sources’ own wording.

Dr Israr Ahmed (ڈاکٹر اسرار احمد)

Born 26 April 1932 in Hisar, East Punjab; died in Lahore on 14 April 2010.
Graduated from King Edward Medical College, Lahore (1954) and took an MA in Islamic Studies at the University of Karachi (1965).
Resigned from Jamaat-e-Islami in April 1957; founded Markazi Anjuman Khuddam-ul-Qur’an (1972), Tanzeem-e-Islami (1975) and Tahreek-e-Khilafat (1991).
Affiliation: his own organisation describes him as “a firm traditionalist of the genre of Maulana Mehmood Hassan Deobandi”. The sources consulted do not describe him as a graduate of a Deobandi seminary; his formal education was in medicine and Islamic studies.

Sources: Tanzeem-e-Islami — the founder · Dawn — Dr Israr Ahmed dies (2010)

Dr Zakir Naik (ڈاکٹر ذاکر نائیک)

Born 18 October 1965 in Mumbai; MBBS from Topiwala National Medical College and Nair Hospital, University of Mumbai.
Founded the Islamic Research Foundation in 1991 and Peace TV (2006, according to Dawn); received the King Faisal Prize for Service to Islam in 2015.
Resident in Malaysia since 2016 (The Muslim 500).
Affiliation: he is not described as Deobandi in the sources consulted. He does not claim a particular school; commentators commonly describe him as Salafi / ghair-muqallid (Express Tribune opinion, 2016). See Salafi / Ahl-e-Hadith.

Sources: King Faisal Prize — Dr Zakir Naik (2015) · Dawn — Zakir Naik wins Saudi prize · Dawn — Peace TV (2016) · The Muslim 500 — Zakir Naik · Express Tribune — opinion (2016)