Maldivian Government Endorses Deobandi Islam, the Religion of the Taliban By Azra Naseem September 19th, 2011 The

Religious Unity Regulations have provided the clearest indication yet of the official direction religion in the Maldives is taking: towards Deobandi Islam, the religion of the Taliban. Among 36 institutions of Islamic learning approved by the regulations is the ult ra-orthodox Jamia Darul Uloom in Deoband, India and at least six affiliated madr asas. Established in 1867 to bring together Muslims who were hostile to British rule, the Deoband madrasa, created the so-called Deobandi Tradition committed to a liter al and austere interpretation of Islam. For the last 200 years, the Deobandi Tra dition has argued that the reason Islamic societies have fallen behind the West on all spheres of endeavour is because they have been seduced by the amoral West , and have deviated from the original teachings of Prophet Mohammed. It is the fundamentalist Deoband Dar-ul-Uloom brand of Islam that inspired the T aliban movement. Many of the Taliban leadership in Afghanistan and in Pakistan a re graduates of the Deobandi-influenced seminaries in Pakistan. Mullah Omar, for example, attended the Deobandi Darul Uloom Haqqania madrasa in Peshawar. The Kabul Centre for Strategic Studies has reported that so many of the Taliban leaders were educated at the school that its head cleric, Maulana Sami ul-Haq is regarded the father of the Taliban. The Deobandi Tradition is highly critical o f Islam as practiced in modern societies, feeling that the established religious order had made too many compromises with its foreign environment. The mission of the Deoband is to cleanse Islam of all Western influences, and to propagate their teachings with missionary zeal. Increasingly, the Deobandi move ment has been funded by the Wahhabis in Saudi Arabia, leading to the former bein g co-opted by the latter. Without a clear indication such as Darul Uloom appearing in the name of the instit ution it cannot be said with certainty how many of the total of 10 listed Pakist ani institutions in the regulations are categorically Deobandi. Available facts suggest, however, that more than just the two Darul Ulooms liste d in the Regulations are Deobandi. It is the Deobandi that has the largest numbe r of religious seminaries in Pakistan of 20,000 registered seminaries in Pakista n, 12,000 are run by Deobandi scholars; and 6,000 by the Barelvi, with whom the Deobandi have many disputes. Among the 10 Pakistani institutions approved by the regulations is lafia, a seminary whose alumni include several leaders in Al-Qaeda -Taiba, the organisation behind the Mumbai terror attacks in which s alleged to have participated. It is also the leading supplier of nservatism in the Maldives. also Jamia Sa and Lashkar-e a Maldivian i Salafi neo-co

Even when the approved list of institutions in the regulations list goes beyond S outh Asian borders, it gravitates towards the Deobandi movement. The list includ es, for example, the Darul Uloom Zakariya in South Africa. The only institute in Britain the regulations approve of is the Islamic Dawa Academy, a place which pr oduces the Muslim equivalent of a missionary. Why is there such an acute need to proselytise in a country where the population already believes in Islam except to propagate a particular view?

The Deoband HQ has recently sought to distance itself from violent extremism. Fo r the powers that be in the War on Terror, what matters is the graduation from e xtremism to violence. But, for societies such as the Maldives, and for the peopl e who have to live under its precincts, what matters more is the oppression that extremism imposes on daily life. This is the reality that a Maldivian people li ving under the Religious Unity Regulations will have to face. The application of the Deobandi school of thought on Maldivian women is a fright ening prospect that is not too far in the distant future. The Talibans stance on women is a clear indication of the scale of the potential problem. An example of the Deobandis take on women is the 24 April 2010 Fatwa by the seminary in Deoban d that declared it haraam and illegal according to Sharia for a family to accept w omens earnings. It is unlawful for Muslim women to do job in government or private institutions w here men and women work together and women have to talk with men frankly and wit hout veil. Embarrassed by the angry reaction in the Indian media and among womens groups, th e Deoband madrasa denied it banned women from the work place and only insisted t hat working women be properly covered. As analysts have pointed out, however, what the Fatwa suggests is that women can only work in such places where they can fu lly veil themselves and where they cannot frankly talk to men, whatever that means . The Fatwa effectively banned Muslim women from the workplace in India. The Religious Unity Regulations stipulate that no one should propagate their par ticular ideology of Islam as the right Islam. This stipulation looks good in writi ng, and is perhaps what has allowed the government to spin the document as a crac k-down on extremism. It is true the regulations prohibit the promotion of a particular ideology of Is lam as the true Islam. But by regulating what truth about Islam would be considere d as legitimate in the first place, a pre-selected knowledge of the right Islam wh at looks like Deobandi Islam is being imposed on the people that pre-empts the r egulations themselves. It is clear from the staggering changes that have occurre d in Maldivian faith in the last decade that the Deobandi movement has been a re sounding success in the country. Now it has the chance to flourish further, with no conflicting opinions to be allowed in. Clamping down on other forms of Islam is, in fact, a defining characteristic of the Deobandi Tradition. Although from a global perspective the Deobandis are onl y one of many religious expressions of Islam, from the Deobandi point of view, t heirs is the only true Islam. The Deobandi regard all other forms of Islam as heretical, leading to continued tension and long-term violence between the Deobandi and other Muslims. In Pakist an, where the Deobandi is known to have played a crucial role in establishing an Islamic state, the Deobandi Taliban have carried out many acts of violence agai nst followers of the Berlevi tradition, which many Pakistans Muslims follow. The Religious Unity Regulations have already created tensions among those who ha ve claimed the mantle of religious scholar in the Maldives. The Islamic Foundation of the Maldives is arguing against the Regulations on the basis that the requir ement of a first degree as a prerequisite for the Preachers License is unconstit utional. It is also fighting for the religious right to describe Jews as evil peo ple and liars. The Adhaalath Party, meanwhile, has objected to the regulations because the Pres ident and his advisors apparently watered down the purity of their contributions

to the draft Regulations by contaminating it with provisions from English lawnot suited to a 100 percent Muslim country, echoing the founding principles of the De obandi Tradition. Compared to the first draft, Presidents advisor on the Regulations, Ibrahim Ibra Isma il, said, the regulations do not impinge on freedom of expression. What matters is not whether, comparatively speaking, the first draft is a verita ble Magna Carta. What matters is the final draft that has been gazetted. And it severely restricts the freedom of the Maldivian people in the name of the right I slam Deobandi Islam. To spin the document as something that will allow liberal-min ded thinkers to convince people of the middle ground is deliberately misleading i f not an outright lie. This document does the exact opposite. All comment pieces are the sole view of the author and do not reflect the editor ial policy of Minivan News. Source: Minivan URL: http://www.newageislam.com/NewAgeIslamIslamicIdeology_1.aspx?ArticleID=5535

Forward to a friend

Print

COMMENTS 9/23/2011 7:51:01 AM satwa gunam Words of secularism will be spoken by Muslim who are in a country as minority ot herwise that word does not exist for Muslim is the reality. Maldives and GCC ar e the people who are becoming model for Christians in west

9/22/2011 4:39:01 PM Ghulam Mohiyuddin The very idea of any government endorsing any sect or religion should be abhorre nt in this day and age. Governments have no business approving or disapproving a ny religion.

Total Comments: 2