23rd August, 2022

Mananiye Yogi Adityanath Ji,

Pranam

Since UP has been your karmabhoomi for the last 30 years, you are likely to be well
informed about the activities and orientation of Deoband and Nadwa. Sadly though,
hitherto all governments have allowed Deoband and Nadwa to get away with their
fraudulent masks of religiosity and scholarship while their reality is spine chilling.

Therefore, we are bringing into the public domain some alarming facts about the intimate
links of Darul Uloom, Deoband and Darul Uloom Nadwatul Ulama, Lucknow with the
most lethal global terrorists organizations, in addition to their leading role in mentoring
the openly genocidal tanzeem called Taliban. This brief note builds a strong case for a
thorough investigation into the functioning and role of Deoband and Nadwa in promoting
jihadi terror within India as well as globally. And if the charges we are leveling are proven
correct, then Darul Uloom, Deoband and Darul Uloom Nadwatul Ulama, Lucknow
deserve to be shut down and the publications as well as the literature produced by these
sinister organizations ought to be banned.

Given your past track of swift and determined crack down on anti-social elements as well
as enemies of India, we hope these enemies of humanity will be dealt with appropriately
by your government.

Warm Regards

Madhu Purnima Kishwar

Founder MANUSHI
Senior Fellow, Nehru Memorial Museum & Library;
National Professor, Indian Council of Social Science Research, 2017-2020
Former Professor, Centre for the Study of Developing Societies

1
 NOTE

Urgent need for action against Darul Uloom Deoband, Darul Uloom Nadwatul
Ulama (Lucknow) & All India Muslim Personal Law Board for their direct / indirect
links with Al Qaeda, its former leaders Osama Bin Laden & Ayman al-Zawahiri,
ISIS, Muslim World League and Jihadi Terror groups based in Pakistan

Brief History: The Islamic seminary Darul Uloom Deoband was set up in 1866-67 by
Muhammad Qasim Nanotwi, Rashid Ahmad Gangohi, Haji Muhammad Abid and others.
The founders of the Darul Uloom Deoband meant it as a training ground and mass
production of soldiers/warriors of ‘pure’ Islam. Therefore, it works like an insular, secret
organization brainwashing recruits into adopting a highly sectarian and violent ideology
which brooks no dilution of the original mandate of Islam - that is to convert every part
of this planet into Dar al Islam (land where Islam is Supreme) where no other faith or
creed is allowed even nominal existence. This inevitably involves endless waves of
genocides against all those who refused to surrender before the brute power of Islam.

Those of us targeted as Kafirs cannot afford to forget or overlook the historical fact that
Deobandi icon Shah Waliullah had invited Ahmed Shah Abdali to come slaughter not
just Hindus, but also Sufis and Shias, in order to “revive the glory of pure Islam”.

Darul Uloom Deoband’s Proximity to the Taliban: According to researchers from the
Kabul Centre and the Institute for Defence Studies and Analysis (IDSA), Deoband is the
ideological fountainhead of the Taliban and has mentored many a virulent jihadis:

Darul Uloom Deoband (is the) The Indian Ideological Source of the
Taliban. The Taliban learned their interpretation of Islam while
studying at Deobandi seminaries in Pakistan. Mullah Omar, for
example, the leader of the Taliban, attended the Deobandi Darul Uloom
Haqqania madrasa in Akora Khattak, in Peshawar, Pakistan. So many
Taliban leaders were educated at this same school that its head cleric,
Maulana Sami ul-Haq, has been called the father of the Taliban. (1)

Darul Uloom Deoband Supported Blasting of Bamiyan Buddhas: Tahir Abbas, the
author of ‘Islamic Radicalism and Multicultural Politics: The British Experience (2011)’
writes:

Since the mid-1990’s, the Darul Uloom (Deoband) has been an

unremitting supporter of the Taliban. When the Taliban destroyed the
1,500-year-old Buddhas of Bamyan in March 2001, Darul Uloom
supported the action. (2)

Glorification of Taliban Takeover in Afghanistan: Darul Uloom Deoband’s Principal

Arshad Madani had also glorified the Taliban after they came to power in August 2021.
To quote his own words:

If Talibans are terrorist then Gandhi, Nehru were terrorists too. (3)
2
Deoband as the Lead Agency for Global Jihad: From Peshawar to Chittagong, the
Deobandi madrasa movement has spread its evil tentacles all over the Indian subcontinent
and beyond. They are one of the leading players in preparing Muslims around the world
for violence against non-Muslims as part of global jihad. Over the past few decades, there
have been hundreds of reports about Deoband being a fertile ground for honing
youngsters to unleash barbaric forms of Islamic terrorism. There are plentiful examples
of how Deoband has been exporting terrorist ideologies and tanzeems.

Maulana Asim Umar, Al Qaeda Chief of Indian Sub-Contient (AQIS) was a

Deoband product: He was reportedly killed in Afghanistan in 2019. A report by
the Economic Times provides insightful details about him:
A resident of UP’s Sambhal, Umar was a student of Deoband’s Darul-
Uloom. He left India in 1995 to join terror outfit Harkat-ul-
Mujahideen and remained in Pakistan and Afghanistan. He translated
jihadi literature from Pashto into Urdu and authored at least four
books which reflected his views on jihad. His growing stature in Al-
Qaeda became evident when he was named AQIS chief five years ago
by Al-Qaeda commander Ayman al-Zawahiri.

After becoming AQIS chief, Umar used his contacts in Deoband for
setting up an Aqis base. His stint at Jamia Uloom-e-Islamia in
Karachi and Darul Uloom Haqqania in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, helped
him cement his connection with senior leaders of Taliban, Al-Qaeda,
TTP, JeM and other groups. Indian counter-intelligence officials said
Umar’s oratory skills and grasp of jihadi literature brought him close
to the top Qaeda leadership. (4)

Deoband is a regular Refuge for Terrorists on the Run: There are countless instances
of jihadis seeking refuge in Deoband after committing terrorist attacks. To give one
example from among many, to quote from a Times of India report of 2017:

The revelation has been drawn from interrogation report prepared by

anti-terrorist squad of UP Police, which arrested in the past 10 weeks
four illegal Bangladeshi immigrants linked to Bangladesh-based terror
modules. All four had taken refuge in Saharanpur and were staying in
Deoband, the Islamic seat of learning which attracts Muslim scholars
from different countries. (5)

Islamic Countries Condemn Suicide Bombings, Not Darul Uloom Deoband: The
ideological predilection of Darul Uloom Deoband can be gauged from the fact that it has
never issued a fatwa against suicide-bombings. According to an article by S. Arshad:

Surprisingly, to a query on suicide bombings, the mufti of the Darul Ifta

had refused to give his fatwa, though the entire Islamic world has
declared suicide bombings haram and unjustifiable in the light of the
Quran and the Sunnah. A person from Pakistan had asked the following

3
 question in May 23, 2007: “I want to ask a question on jihad. How
justified is conducting suicide attacks against the non-Muslim army?”
Instead of giving a firm reply declaring it Haram on the basis of
Quranic verses and Hadiths, the mufti of the Darul Ifta parried the
question saying, “Please consult the ulema of your country on this
issue”. This should be seen as a very irresponsible behaviour on the
part of the Darul Ifta since it did not remove the misconception of a
Pakistani youth about suicide bombing. (6)

Deobandis Don’t Accept Nation States or Sanctity of International Borders between

Countries: Deobandis use the classic art of Taqiyya (wilful deceit) to claim that they
opposed the Partition of 1947 because of their “nationalism” and “patriotism” towards
India. But this assertion is patently deceitful and aimed at deflecting attention from the
fact that the pure Islam they uphold does not believe in the sanctity of nation states. “Good
Muslims” believe in the pan-Islamic principle of one unified global Ummah. While
Jinnah aimed at securing for Muslims a separate homeland through a genocidal Partition
of India, Deobandis looked down upon Jinnah for being content with carving out a mere
portion of the sub continent while Deobandis are committed to turning all of the Indian
subcontinent into a Dar al Islam!

The implications of this belief system and mindset which refuses to accept the jurisdiction
of the Indian nation state within which they reside, is particularly dangerous for India
since our country is surrounded by hostile jihad minded Islamic countries. The slogans
shouted by the Tukde Tukde Gang, threatening to break up India into pieces in order to
Islamize it, is a product of Deobandi ideology.

This is what India’s Information Commissioner Uday Mahurkar has to say about Maulana
Hussain Ahmed Madni (1879-1957), the then Principal, Darul Uloom Deoband and
President, Jamiat Ulama I Hind with regard to the partition of India:

"It is the non-Muslims who are the field of this Tabligh (propagation
and conversion) of Islam and form the raw material for this splendid
activity. We are opposed to Islam's right to missionary activity to a
particular area," thus spoke Deobandi leader Maulana Hussain Ahmed
Madani while opposing the formation of Pakistan in his speech before
the 1945 Jamiat-e-Ulema-Hind conference in Delhi as quoted by author
ZH Faruqi in his book “The Deoband School and the Demand for
Pakistan” and later by reformist leader Hamid Dalwai in his
book, “Muslim Politics in Secular India”. On another occasion,
Madani was even more unabashed in airing his views when he said: "If
Dara Shikoh would have triumphed over Aurangzeb, Muslims would
have stayed in India, but not Islam. Since Aurangzeb triumphed, both
Muslims and Islam were here to stay."

As indicated by his above statements, Madani, a Deobandi preacher

and Jamiat-e-Ulema-e-Hind leader, was a pan-Islamist. But since
a significant section of the Deoband movement opposed the partition
4
 and took part in the Congress-led freedom movement as part of its long-
term religious strategy to safeguard the interests of puritanical Islam,
Madani figures as a nationalist in history books written during the
Congress period. This was one of the main tragedies that India’s post-
partition history saw. (7)

It is truly tragic that the Commie-Islamist Combine distorted our history and misled the
people of India by painting Deobandis in the colours of nationalism.

Well known terrorist organizations targeting India from our neighbouring countries are
using precisely this principle of pan-Islamic/global Ummah to “bleed India to death
through a 1000 cuts.” Ironically, terrorist tanzeems inspired by Deoband are not happy
even with Pakistan on account of its pretense to be a nation state, albeit an Islamic one.
This despite the fact that in effect Pakistan is only a launchpad for terrorist acts and spread
of jihadi Islam.

International media provide regular reports of daily clashes between the Afghan Taliban
and Pakistani border forces along the Afghanistan-Pakistan border / Durand Line.
According to experienced analysts, this is because the Afghan Taliban and their cross-
border affiliate the Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) envision Afghanistan and Pakistan
as one land mass governed by Nizam-E-Mustafa (puritan Islamic Law) and are deadly
against Pakistan’s aspiration to be counted as a modern day nation state with pretentious
trappings of democracy.

International Terrorist Organizations’ Links and Support for Deoband and

Nadwa: Mananiya Yogi Adityanath Ji, you have already taken unprecedented measures
to keep an eye on Deoband by positioning security forces near this Islamic seminary. You
would not have needed to do that if Deoband was just a scholastic institution. However,
it is equally important to connect the dots from Saudi Arabia and Pakistan to Uttar
Pradesh.

Muslim World League’s Connections with Osama Bin Laden: According to the
Testimony of Matthew Epstein with Evan Kohlmann before the House Committee on
Financial Services Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations: Progress Since 9/11:
The Effectiveness of U.S. Anti-Terrorist Financing Efforts:

In approximately 1993, in conversations with former senior Al-Qaida

lieutenant Jamal Ahmed Al-Fadl, Usama Bin Laden identified three
Muslim charities as the primary sources of Al-Qaida financial and
fundraising activity:

1. Muslim World League, “MWL” (Al-Rabita Al-Alami Al-Islamiyya)

2. Benevolence International Foundation, “BIF” (Lajnat Al-Birr Al-
Dawaliyya/Lajnat Al-Birr Al-Islamiyya)
3. Qatar Charitable Society, “QCS” (Jamaat Qatar Heira)

5
 These three organizations served a critical role in the Arab-Afghan
terrorist infrastructure by laundering money originating from bank
accounts belonging to Bin Laden and his sympathetic patrons in the
Arabian Gulf, providing employment and travel documents to Al- Qaida
personnel worldwide, and helping “to move funds to areas where Al-
Qaeda was carrying out operations.” (8)

Muslim World League, a Saudi Arabia based designated terrorist organization run
by members of the Saudi Royal family: On 23rd September, 2001, shortly after the
9/11 attacks, US President George Bush had issued an Executive Order No. 13224
blocking Terrorist Property and a summary of the Terrorism Sanctions Regulations (Title
31 Part 595 of the U.S. Code of Federal Regulations), Terrorism List Governments
Sanctions Regulations (Title 31 Part 596 of the U.S. Code of Federal Regulations), and
Foreign Terrorist Organizations Sanctions Regulations (Title 31 Part 597 of the U.S.
Code of Federal Regulations). The Muslim World League was listed in this Executive
Order as a Terrorist organization on 3rd August, 2006 (9). On the same day, the US
Department of the Treasury had designated the Muslim World League as an Al-Qaeda
affiliated Terrorist organization. (10)

It came as a shock to many that the US Department of the Treasury removed the Muslim
World League from the list of designated terrorist organizations on 16th August,
2016 (11). But such a U-Turn by the US comes as no surprise to victims of US hegemony,
because we are well aware that the Deep State in the US has been nurturing many terrorist
organizations like the Taliban under their ‘strategic depth’ policy. Therefore, the US
government gets buffetted by its own internal pulls and pressures to support Islamic
dictators as well as terrorist organizations it has fathered – constantly playing Jekyl &
Hyde game with their illegitimate progeny. However, for us in India, it is significant that
the Muslim World League remained a designated Terrorist organization for over 10
years, from 3rd August, 2006 to 16th August, 2016.

Darul Uloom Deoband and Maulana Arshad Madani’s Connection with Muslim
World League: Maulana Arshad Madani, Principal, Darul Uloom Deoband, President,
Jamiat Ulama I Hind and Vice-President, All India Muslim Personal Law Board, proudly
boasts on his official website (12) about being appointed as a member of the Muslim
World League in 2012 when he was Professor of Hadith, Darul Uloom Deoband. This
was at a time when the Muslim World League was a designated ‘Terrorist Organization’.
On 6th June, 2012, a Deobandi website had also carried the news about Maulana Arshad
Madani’s appointment as a member of the Muslim World League. (13)

Thus, for over four years, Principal of Darul Uloom Deoband and President of Jamiat
Ulama I Hind, Maulana Arshad Madani was a member of the Muslim World League,
even though it was an internationally designated ‘Terrorist Organization’.

The Muslim World League is run under the patronage of the Saudi Royal family. In 2014,
Saudi Arabia’s Islamic Affairs Minister Saleh Al-Asheikh openly visited Darul Uloom
Deoband and pledged to work closely with Darul Uloom Deoband during a ceremony
organized in the minister’s honor by Deoband students and faculty members. (14)
6
Nadwatul Ulama’s Connection with Muslim World League and the Islamic State
(ISIS): A Deobandi website (13) had also carried the news about Maulana Muhammad
Rabey Nadwi, President of Darul Uloom Nadwatul Ulama, Lucknow and Chairman of
the All India Muslim Personal Law Board (AIMPLB) having been appointed a member
of the Muslim World League before 2012 (when it was an internationally designated
‘Terrorist Organization’).

Maulana Salman Hussaini Nadwi, nephew of Maulana Muhammad Rabey Nadwi and
then Dean of Darul Uloom Nadwatul Ulama, Lucknow had also written a letter
congratulating ISIS chief Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi lauding him as a Caliph of Muslims after
he made his speech in July 2014 at Mosul’s Great Mosque, declaring the creation of an
Islamic State with himself as its Caliph. (15)

Jamiat Ulama-i-Hind’s Connection With Al-Qaeda: In addition to its well established

involvement in global terrorist organizations, Deoband never misses an opportunity to
instigate Muslims to defy the sovereignity of India and its laws on flimsy issues - be it
the engineered protests against the CAA or farm laws or school uniforms. For instance,
Jamiat Ulama-i-Hind President, Maulana Mehmood Madani announced a Rs. 5 lakh
reward for Muskan Khan, the crazed proponent of Burqa-Hijab. She had staged a well-
rehearsed defiance of the notification by the Karnataka government’s education
department banning the entry of women / girls wearing burqa-hijab-niqab in educational
institutions, instead of coming in the school / college uniforms which are mandatory for
all students (16). Social media was promptly flooded with photographs of Muskan Khan
routinely wearing ultra modern and body exhibiting western dresses which clearly proved
that the Burqa-Hijab protest was a well choreographed Deobandi sponsored nautanki in
order to launch a vituperative global campaign to build a case that “Hindu Majority” India
was denying religious freedom to Muslim women. Enthralled by the success of this
nautanki, the then leader of Al-Qaeda, Ayman al-Zawahiri actually recited a poem for
Muskan Khan. (17)

Financial Connections of Madanis With Pakistan based Terrorist

organizations: The uncle-nephew duo Maulana Arshad Madani and Maulana Mehmood
Madani, are associated with several rabid Islamic organizations but the two most
noteworthy are: Jamiat Ulama I Hind and Sheikhul Hind Educational Charitable Trust.

7
 Above: Sample FCRA record of Jamiat Ulama I Hind.

Above: Sample FCRA record of Sheikhul Hind Educational Charitable Trust.

These two have been receiving crores of rupees from foreign sources. As per the FCRA
records, Jamiat Ulama-I-Hind UK Limited, has been donating regularly to Jamiat Ulama
I Hind and is also operating in Pakistan as per the records of the Charity Commission for
England and Wales. (18)

8
The Testimony of Matthew Epstein with Evan Kohlmann before the House Committee
on Financial Services Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations: Progress Since
9/11: The Effectiveness of U.S. Anti-Terrorist Financing Efforts also exposed how the
Muslim World League office in Pakistan was used to launch terrorist attacks:

Even since the early days of the Soviet-Afghan jihad, IIRO enabled
Muslim World League to provide Arab-Afghan militants with a covert
international military and financial infrastructure. U.S.
counterterrorism investigators have discovered a letter under the MWL
/ IIRO letterhead among numerous Al-Qaida documents recovered in
Bosnia-Herzegovina. The letter, dating from the late 1980s,
summarized a meeting held between Al-Qaida leaders and
representatives of Muslim charitable organizations in which the
attendees ultimately agreed to launch “attacks” from MWL offices in
Pakistan. (8)

It needs to be expeditiously investigated whether the activities and support of Jamiat

Ulama-i-Hind and uncle-nephew duo Maulana Arshad Madani and Maulana Mehmood
Madani are linked to wanted terrorists and terrorist organizations based in Pakistan.

Why is Democratic & Secular India Hosting Islamo-Fascist Organizations: How can
a country like India allow a hydra headed monsters like Darul Uloom Deoband and Darul
Uloom Nadwatul Ulama, Luckow to flourish on the soil of democratic India even though
these organizations endorse the use of barbaric forms of violence to achieve their goals
and have direct and indirect links with designated terrorist organizations in India,
Pakistan, Afghanistan and the rest of the Islamic world. Firstly, these organizations
engineered a bloody Partition of India in 1947. Instead of banning them after the
genocidal Partition, the Indian state allowed these Break-Up India Mafia to set up
countless mini-Pakistans on the soil of democratic and secular India.

The result is that Islamic outfits are openly declaring that they have plans to turn all of
India into Dar-al-Islam (land where Islam rules) by 2047. We cannot remain a mute
witness to this dangerous game being played at break-neck speed. Therefore, we request
you to initiate an urgent inquiry into the activities of Darul Uloom Deoband and Darul
Uloom Nadwatul Ulama, Luckow and shut down these sinister institutions immediately
in the interest of the security of Uttar Pradesh as well as India.

References:

1. https://web.archive.org/web/20210826202217/https://www.newageislam.com/radi
cal-islamism-jihad/researchers-kabul-centre-idsa/darul-uloom-deoband-indian-
ideological-source-taliban/d/9273
2. https://web.archive.org/web/20220811091037/https://books.google.co.in/books?id
=JdC90uc8PfQC&pg=PA33#v=onepage&q&f=false
3. https://web.archive.org/web/20220726225111/https://www.bhaskar.com/db-
original/news/we-do-not-believe-that-taliban-are-terrorists-if-fighting-for-

9
 freedom-is-terrorism-then-nehru-gandhi-and-sheikhuddin-were-also-terrorists-
128916509.html
4. https://web.archive.org/web/20220530194013/https://economictimes.indiatimes.c
om/news/politics-and-nation/maulana-asim-umar-deobands-radical-orator-who-
tried-to-brainwash-youths/articleshow/71513518.cms
5. https://web.archive.org/web/20201112035226/https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com
/city/lucknow/20-bdeshi-youths-with-terror-links-missing-from-
up/articleshow/60963316.cms
6. https://web.archive.org/web/20220809085739/https://www.newageislam.com/the-
war-islam/s-arshad-new-age-islam/silent-suicide-bombings-deoband-declares-
shias-kafirs-ahmad-raza-khan-bareillvi-gumrah-deviant/d/9525
7. https://web.archive.org/web/20220809145250/https://www.dailyo.in/politics/deob
and-narendra-modi-syed-asif-ibrahim-ib-cbi-ishrat-jahan-amit-shah-secularism-
muslims-4353
8. https://web.archive.org/web/20071020030506/https://www.investigativeproject.or
g/documents/testimony/15.pdf
9. https://web.archive.org/web/20220725123506/https://home.treasury.gov/system/fi
les/126/terror.pdf
10. https://web.archive.org/web/20220813063720/https://home.treasury.gov/news/pre
ss-releases/hp45
11. https://web.archive.org/web/20220226023022/https://home.treasury.gov/policy-
issues/financial-sanctions/recent-actions/20160816
12. https://web.archive.org/web/20211126172006/https://www.arshadmadani.com/ab
out-us
13. https://web.archive.org/web/20211017124306/http://www.deoband.net/news/maul
ana-arshad-madani-honoured-as-world-muslim-league-member
14. https://web.archive.org/web/20210726152948/https://www.arabnews.com/news/5
27401
15. https://web.archive.org/web/20220730195512/https://www.newageislam.com/the-
war-islam/sultan-shahin-editor-new-age-islam/indian-maulana-salman-nadwi-
congratulates-abu-bakr-baghdadi-accepts-him-caliph-muslims-writes-him-letter-
expressing-his-excitement-establishment-islamic-caliphate/d/98142
16. https://twitter.com/JamiatUlama_in/status/1491073479684542470
17. https://web.archive.org/web/20220802072252/https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com
/india/in-new-video-qaida-chief-ayman-al-zawahiri-wades-into-karnataka-hijab-
row/articleshow/90672577.cms
18. https://web.archive.org/web/20220813064901/https://register-of-
charities.charitycommission.gov.uk/charity-search/-/charity-
details/4042518/what-who-how-where

10