But who would you blame, Salman, when you step back and look at everything that has happened?” That’s the interviewer asking Salman Rushdie, author of The Satanic Verses, as to whom he holds responsible for preventing him from attending the Jaipur Literature Festival and the subsequent brouhaha over freedom of speech and expression.
It was what is called a leading question, for the interviewer added: “Do you think the onus is on the Government eventually?” No mention was made, not even a word was uttered, about the mullahs who had threatened, minutes before the interview was aired on NDTV, that “rivers of blood will flow” if Rushdie were to make an appearance, even via video-link, at the festival.
To his credit, Rushdie was more forthright than his interviewer: “I don’t know if I can choose only one person. I think that the gentleman from Darul Uloom (Maulana Abul Qasim Nomani)... Deobandis... they have banned ... I mean for goodness sake, Darul Uloom is the group from which the Taliban learnt their ideology. This is the group which in the notorious Imrana case said that a woman raped by her father-in-law should be divorced by her husband ... These are dreadful people, and then if this is the face of Islam and it is going to take root in India, then it is a very bad state of affairs. And so I blame them very strongly.”
Many of us are aware of the fact that Darul Uloom Deoband is one of the major theological centres of Islam. We also get to read about the occasional fatwa issued by Deobandi maulanas that hits the headlines. The last time this centre of Islamic theology was in the news was when Maulana Ghulam Mohammed Vastanvi, a moderniser, was viciously hounded out of the Vice-Chancellor’s office by the entrenched orthodoxy. But few have bothered to look beyond the little that is known about Darul Uloom Deoband or understand what makes Maulana Nomani describe the successful campaign to keep Rushdie away from the festival and out of India as a “victory for democracy”.
Darul Uloom was not always a well-endowed, sprawling campus teeming with kaffiyeh-sporting young men eager to learn the intricacies of Islamic theology. When it was set up on May 30, 1866, it was no more than a nondescript madarsa. As the official website says, “It was difficult to visualise that a madarsa beginning so humbly ... was destined to become the centre, within a couple of years, of the Islamic sciences in Asia ... Before long, students desirous of studying the Holy Book and the Sunnah, the Shari’ah and the Tariqah (the spiritual path), began to flock here in droves ... and within a short-time the radiant rays of knowledge and wisdom illumined the heart and mind of the Muslims ... with the light of faith (Iman) and Islamic culture.”
Apart from teaching theology, the maulanas of Deoband also issue fatwas, or rulings based on their interpretation of Islam. That task is undertaken by Darul Ifta, described by its official website as “one of the most significant departments of Darul Uloom”. Darul Ifta, set up in 1892, “has always been (the) centre of attraction and held great respect and trust in public and court circles. So far, more than seven lakh fatwas have been issued from this department ... The fatwas of Darul Uloom (are) highly esteemed in and outside the country; besides the masses, the law courts in the country also honour them and consider them decisive”. It would, therefore, be appropriate to suggest that a reading of these fatwas, issued in response to specific queries, would help understand the worldview of the Deobandis. Reproduced below is a random selection of fatwas issued by this seminary as they appear on Darul Ifta’s website; only spellings have been corrected:
Question 9400: In a non-Muslim country who can give the punishment of rajm (stoning to death)? Is a private individual allowed to administer this punishment? In a non-Muslim country if a Muslim wants to purify himself of his sin of zinah should he go to a country where the punishment of rajm is administered?
Fatwa 1249/1249=M/1429: In non-Islamic countries, the penalty of rajm (stoning to death) is not implemented. No individual is allowed to administer the punishment. Such a person should only repent to Allah and seek His forgiveness.
Question 2019: If someone does blasphemy against Hazrat Mohammed or uses derogatory language for his character, then what should be his punishment in India? What should be the punishment under Islamic law?
Fatwa 1386/1226=B: Punishing a criminal or a guilty is the duty of a Government not individuals like we and you. In India, though we do not have an Islamic Government we should try our level best to get such a perpetrator punished according to the Indian Constitution. In an Islamic country, the culprit of blasphemy is to be killed.
Question 27497: Goa is a tourist place where olden time churches are there, though mass not taking place now in these churches but people visit these churches for sight-seeing for the art of the churches. Can a Muslim visit such places even though mass not taking place?
Fatwa 2695/H=1083/th=1431: Please explain if it is for any good purpose, otherwise it is better to leave it. It is mentioned in Hadith that the good effect of one’s Islam is that he gives up nonsense things.
Question 14869: What is the ruling on a person who believes in the validity of other religions beside Islam? He believes that one can reach god even by following other religions beside Islam. He believes that there can be saints (awliya) in other religions beside Islam. And that not all present day People of Book will go to hell. Fatwa 1386/1386=M=1430: His belief is not based on any solid proof.
Question 5192: Who are ‘Bohras’? Are they Muslims? Can a Muslim marry Shia and Bohra woman?
Fatwa 989/844=B-1429: Bohras are Shia. The beliefs and faiths of Shia found in their books are against the Quran and Hadith. Therefore, they are not Muslims. It is not correct for a Sunni Muslim to get married with a Shia or Bohra.
Question 36219: Is riding a bike or a car unlawful for females according to Shari’ah?
Fatwa 207/207/M=1433: It is absolutely undesirable for women to drive a car or bike ... (text in Arabic).
Question 23879: To what extent purdah is necessary for women? Is wearing burqa covering the entire body including hands, toes, and face must for women?
Fatwa 1385/B=280/tb=1431: The holy Quran says: ‘O Prophet, tell your wives and your daughters and the women of believers that they should draw down their shawls (jilbab) over them (when they go out of home). Jilbab is that lengthy chaddar by which a woman covers herself from head to toes. Hence, it is necessary for a woman to cover her complete body, hands, feet, face, etc, when she goes out of home at the time of any need or compulsion.
Question 21253: Can women use perfume or ittar because they get more sweating (pasina). Can they use or Islam doesn’t give permission to use?
Fatwa: 604/L=212/tl=1431: Women can use perfume provided they are not passing by non-mahram in this state. While going out of house using aromatic perfume is not lawful ... (text in Arabic).
It’s a different world at Darul Uloom Deoband which fosters a worldview that many may find strange. But that’s the way it is.
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