NEW DELHI: Taliban ’s foreign minister Amir Khan Muttaqi visited the Darul Uloom Deoband in Saharanpur on Saturday, meeting Jamiat Ulema-e-Hind President Maulana Arshad Madani and other senior officials of the seminary.
Muttaqi expressed gratitude for the warm reception and optimism about India-Afghanistan ties. “I am thankful to all of you for the warm welcome given to me by everyone in Deoband and the love showered upon me. I will pray to God that India-Afghanistan relations improve further,” he said, as quoted by news agency ANI.
The Afghan leader highlighted the significance of educational and cultural ties, noting that no political discussions took place but that historical connections were celebrated.
As per news agency ANI, Maulana Arshad Madani emphasised the historical role of Afghanistan in India’s independence struggle and reassured that Afghanistan would not allow terrorists to use its soil against India.
This visit is part of a week-long trip to India by Muttaqi, marking the first high-level delegation from Kabul since the Taliban took power in 2021.
What is Darul Uloom Deoband?
Darul Uloom Deoband, established in 1866 in present-day Uttar Pradesh, is one of South Asia’s most influential Islamic seminaries.
It was founded by scholars including Maulana Muhammad Qasim Nanautawi and Maulana Rashid Muhammad Gangohi to educate Muslim youth in a rigorous, orthodox understanding of Islam, known as Deobandi Islam .
The seminary was originally part of an anti-colonial movement aimed at revitalising Islam and resisting British rule in India. Over the decades, Deobandi schools spread throughout India, Pakistan, Afghanistan, and other parts of South Asia.
The Afghan connection: How Deobandi Islam reached Afghanistan
While Darul Uloom Deoband is in India, its teachings spread across the border into Pakistan and Afghanistan. Pashtun communities were instrumental in establishing Deobandi seminaries along the Afghanistan-Pakistan border, according to The Conversation.
The Soviet invasion of Afghanistan in 1979 accelerated this process as Deobandi madrassas, supported by Pakistani authorities and funding from Saudi Arabia and the CIA, educated Afghan refugee youth who would join the anti-Soviet resistance.
Many of these students later became key figures in the Taliban. The movement’s founder, Mullah Mohammad Omar, and other Taliban leaders were educated in Deobandi-inspired seminaries in Pakistan, adopting a version of the ideology that included ultraconservative Wahhabi influences, as per NPR .
While the Taliban identify as Deobandis, scholars at the original Indian seminary emphasise that their interpretation diverged from classical Deobandi teachings.
“The Taliban say they are doing what we did in India. The way we kicked the British out of India, that’s what the Taliban are doing in Afghanistan,” said Maulana Arshad Madani back in 2021 when the Taliban took control over Afghanistan, clarifying that there is no organisational link between the seminary and the Taliban, as per NPR.
This visit of Taliban’s foreign minister comes amid efforts to improve India-Afghanistan relations, as Muttaqi emphasised hopes for increased exchanges and cooperation, including in regional projects like the Chabahar port in Iran.
The visit reinforces the soft-power and cultural dimension of diplomacy between the two countries while acknowledging the centuries-old educational and religious links that connect them.
Muttaqi expressed gratitude for the warm reception and optimism about India-Afghanistan ties. “I am thankful to all of you for the warm welcome given to me by everyone in Deoband and the love showered upon me. I will pray to God that India-Afghanistan relations improve further,” he said, as quoted by news agency ANI.
The Afghan leader highlighted the significance of educational and cultural ties, noting that no political discussions took place but that historical connections were celebrated.
As per news agency ANI, Maulana Arshad Madani emphasised the historical role of Afghanistan in India’s independence struggle and reassured that Afghanistan would not allow terrorists to use its soil against India.
This visit is part of a week-long trip to India by Muttaqi, marking the first high-level delegation from Kabul since the Taliban took power in 2021.
What is Darul Uloom Deoband?
Darul Uloom Deoband, established in 1866 in present-day Uttar Pradesh, is one of South Asia’s most influential Islamic seminaries.
It was founded by scholars including Maulana Muhammad Qasim Nanautawi and Maulana Rashid Muhammad Gangohi to educate Muslim youth in a rigorous, orthodox understanding of Islam, known as Deobandi Islam .
The seminary was originally part of an anti-colonial movement aimed at revitalising Islam and resisting British rule in India. Over the decades, Deobandi schools spread throughout India, Pakistan, Afghanistan, and other parts of South Asia.
The Afghan connection: How Deobandi Islam reached Afghanistan
While Darul Uloom Deoband is in India, its teachings spread across the border into Pakistan and Afghanistan. Pashtun communities were instrumental in establishing Deobandi seminaries along the Afghanistan-Pakistan border, according to The Conversation.
The Soviet invasion of Afghanistan in 1979 accelerated this process as Deobandi madrassas, supported by Pakistani authorities and funding from Saudi Arabia and the CIA, educated Afghan refugee youth who would join the anti-Soviet resistance.
Many of these students later became key figures in the Taliban. The movement’s founder, Mullah Mohammad Omar, and other Taliban leaders were educated in Deobandi-inspired seminaries in Pakistan, adopting a version of the ideology that included ultraconservative Wahhabi influences, as per NPR .
While the Taliban identify as Deobandis, scholars at the original Indian seminary emphasise that their interpretation diverged from classical Deobandi teachings.
“The Taliban say they are doing what we did in India. The way we kicked the British out of India, that’s what the Taliban are doing in Afghanistan,” said Maulana Arshad Madani back in 2021 when the Taliban took control over Afghanistan, clarifying that there is no organisational link between the seminary and the Taliban, as per NPR.
This visit of Taliban’s foreign minister comes amid efforts to improve India-Afghanistan relations, as Muttaqi emphasised hopes for increased exchanges and cooperation, including in regional projects like the Chabahar port in Iran.
The visit reinforces the soft-power and cultural dimension of diplomacy between the two countries while acknowledging the centuries-old educational and religious links that connect them.
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