By Dr. Obaidur Rahman Nadwi
The mutiny of 1857 was the turning point for the Indians particularly for Muslims. They were more affected because of the shifting of political power from their hands to British.
In 1866, Maulana Qasim Nanatvi and his enlightened friends established Darul Uloom Deoband to protect Islam from the onslaught of British and to prepare them to make up what they have lost in 1857. The syllabi of Darul-Uloom consisted of the Qur’an, Hadith, Tafsir, fiqh and Usul-e-fiqh. There was no provision of modern subjects in its curriculum.
In 1875, Sir Syed Ahmad Khan founded M.A.O. College at Aligarh to impart teaching of social sciences and pure sciences. Whereas Deoband started promoting Islamic scholars. Aligarh College helped in pushing out scholars of English and other modern subjects.
The two different streams of knowledge caused a piquant situation in the Muslim society. Ulama from Deoband started denigrating Aligarh College products and Aligarh looked on Ulama as fundamentalists and persons of obscure understanding. The gulf widened between the two institutions.
To meet this situation and find out its cure, some Muslim intellectuals thought to establish an institution ‘that may cater both the streams of knowledge. “With this aim in view Maulana Muhammad Ali Mungeri, Maulana Shibli Nomani, Maulana Habibur Rahman Khan Sherwani, Maulana Mahmudul Hasan, Maulana Ashraf Ali Thanvi, Maulana Lutf-Ullah of Aligarh, Maulana Sulaiman Phulwarwi met in Kanpur in 1892/1310, and laid the foundation of Nadwatul Ulama. Syed Muhammad Ali Mungeri was elected its first Rector (Nazim). They thought that the modern education and traditional education had to be studied side by side. Apart from it the curriculum of Madrasas too needed reform.
After wide publicity of Nadwatul Ulama in India as well as in foreign countries its first meeting was held on 22, 23, 24 April 1894 in Madarsa-e-Faiz- Aam, Kanpur. Having kept their differences aside, Muslims of almost all sects and groups participated in the meeting. It should be noted that the head office of Nadwa was in Kanpur since 1897/ 1315 and on 2nd September 1898 it was shifted to Lucknow.
Reform in syllabi of Madrasas is one of the main objectives of Nadwatul Ulama. It played a remarkable role in improving the syllabi of Madrasas. Great emphasis had been laid on the up-to-date curriculum in every meeting, every lecture and every pamphlet of Nadwa. Members of Nadwatul Ulama realised and experienced that without establishment of new Darul-Uloom, it was impossible to introduce the reformed curriculum. Accordingly, they established Darul-Uloom in Khatun Manzil, Golaganj, Lucknow. Primary classes started functioning from 26 September 1898. On the invitation Allama Shibli, Sir Agah Khan attended the meeting of Nadwatul Ulama, which was held in the incomplete central hall of Darul Uloom on February 3, 1910. The editor of Al-Manar, Allamah Rashid Rida was also received on April 6, 1912 in the same hall. In 1914 Darul Uloom was shifted to this incomplete building from Khatoon Manzil.
Darul Uloom started functioning. It introduced modern subjects along with religious subjects. Its reputation spread not only in India but abroad within a short span of time. Founder members of Nadwatul Ulama played a constructive role in Nadwa’s establishment and its progress and prosperity. Besides, they tried their best to lessen differences between various communities and restore peace in the society through this forum.
Basic Objectives of Nadwatul Ulama
The basic objectives of Nadwatul Ulama are:
- To bring about basic and far-reaching reforms in Syllabi of Madrasas and chart out such one, in the light of Islamic principles and Shari’ah, as could fulfil the need of the day.
- To produce such Ulama who become well-versed in the teaching of the Qur’an and Sunnah and create awareness of modern thoughts and ideologies. Besides, they may keep pace with the time and may feel pulse of the community.
- To unite the Muslim community by lessening differences prevailing among them and foster feeling of Islamic brotherhood as well.
- To disseminate teachings of Islam particularly to acquaint the people of the country to its virtues and values.
Maulana Syed Mohammad Ali Mongeri did his best to achieve the said objectives. He wrote letters and essays in newspapers regarding the necessity of Nadwa and highlighted its objectives. To acquaint the people with its aims and objectives, a delegation was sent, headed by Maulana Mustaq Ali Naginvi to different parts of India with letters of Maulana Mongeri. He visited Deoband, Rampur, Patna, Nagina, Najibabad, Etawa, Aligarh, Jhansi, Bhopal and Bombay.
The delegation reached Aligarh. Here they met with Maulana Shibli and explained to him their scheme. Shibli at that time was a teacher at M.A.O. College, Aligarh. Besides Indian Madrasas, he had also seen degradation, debasement and low standard of education of Madrasas in Italy (Rome), Egypt and Syria. It seemed that he found a solution of his dream and ointment of his sores in the objectives of Nadwatul Ulama. Hence, he gave full consent and completely agreed with the aims and objects of Nadwa.
From Bombay the delegation led by Maulana Mustaq Ali Naginvi went to Jeddah (Makkah and Madinah). The first debut of Nadwatul Ulama was made in Hijaz by Maulana Mustaq Ali Naginvi. Scholars of Hijaz acknowledged Nadwa’s necessity and its significance. He also put forward the aims and objectives of Nadwatul Ulama before the Ulama of Madinah. During this visit, he met with Haji Imdadullah Muhajir Makki in Hijaz and showed him all written documents and proceedings. He expressed immense pleasure and signed the papers, too.
Nadwatul Ulama produced hundreds of scholars, reformers, thinkers, and writers of world repute. It is Nadwa which first paid due attention to the Arabic language and literature in sub-continent. Keeping in view that it is the language of the Qur’an and Sunnah (Sayings of Prophet Muhammad ﷺ), it prepared its own syllabus. A good number of religious seminaries adopted its syllabus in and out of India. Achievements of graduates of Nadwatul Ulama cannot be ignored in the field of the Arabic language and literature.
Scholars of Nadwatul Ulama have made a distinguishing position in the arena of education, journalism, national integration and social reforms due to their erudition and knowledge. For instance, Maulana Syed Sulaiman Nadwi’s monumental work Siratun Nabi is regarded an Islamic Encyclopaedia. Thus, Mulana Syed Abul Hasan Ali Nadwi’s extraordinary contributions to the field of Arabic language and literature will always be remembered.
Nadwatul Ulama played an important role to the development of journalism. It publishes academic journals in Urdu, Arabic, English and Hindi. It published AI-Nadwa (monthly) from 1904-1916, again in 1940-1945. Ad-Ddiya (from 1932-1935), Al-Bath-al- Islami (monthly) since 1955, AI-Raid (fortnightly) since 1959, Tamir-e-Hayat (fortnightly) since 1964, the Hindi journal Sachcha Rahi since 2002, the English journal The Fragrance of East since 1998, which help the teachers and students get acquainted with latest trends and issues and provide guidance for the dissemination of Islamic faith and learning.
Founder members of Nadwatul Ulama were far-sighted, provident and sagacious. They realised that unless the syllabi of madrasas are reformed and changed, good scholars may not be produced. Accordingly, they introduced modern subjects along with Islamic sciences so that the students might be able to face the challenges. Apart from it they laid great stress on promoting the Arabic language and literature. For one cannot study the original sources of Islamic sciences without acquiring proficiency in the Arabic language and literature.
To a great extent Nadwatul Ulama succeeded in bringing peace and restoring amity between different communities. Students hailing from various schools of thought come here to quench their thirst of learning.
Inclusion of English in the curriculum of Darul Uloom Nadwatul Ulama
Right from the beginning, the main thrust of Nadwatul Ulama had been to produce such scholars who may rectify the wrong interpretation of the Qur’anic injunctions by orientalists and to refute the westerns’ attack. Besides, they may check the unbridled interpretation of Islam by westernised Muslim scholars.
Maulana Shibli advocated the inclusion of English in the curriculum of Nadwa and it was introduced in primary classes in 1901.
In 1905, Nadwa’s administrative infrastructure was divided under three heads, e.g. (1) Registrar Office (Daftar Murasilats) with Maulana Syed Abdul Hai Hasani as Registrar, (ii) Finance Office (Daftar Mal) Munshi Ihtisham Ali Kakori became Finance officer, and (iii) Dean Office (Daftar Talim) Maulana Shibli took the charge of Deanship.
After Maulana Shibli became Dean in Nadwa in April, 1905, he made English a compulsory subject in the curriculum of Nadwatul Ulama. Due to his hard work and efforts, students started taking interest in learning the language. Maulana Abdul Bari, a Nadwa passed out, translated the books on Modern Philosophy of Berkeley and Hume into Arabic and also wrote an English treatise on miracles. Maulvi Zainul Abedin and Maulvi Ahmadullah journeyed to America and London respectively and served there for the cause of Islam. As a matter of fact, Shibli wanted to give a significant place to the English language in the curriculum so as to produce trained theologians acquainted with modern intellectual trends through English education.
Nadwatul Ulama has produced a galaxy of scholars in the English language like Maulana Ziyaul Hasan Alavi Nadwi, Dr. Abdullah Abbas Nadwi, Dr. Muzzammil Husain Siddique Nadwi, Dr. Salman Nadwi, Dr. Habibul Haque Nadwi, Dr. Syed Zeyaul Hasan Nadwi, Dr. Mazhar Alam Nadwi, Dr. Muhsin Usmani Nadwi, Dr. Ayyub Tajuddin Nadwi, Dr. Qazi Abdul Majid Nadwi, Dr. Mujib Akhtar Nadwi, Dr. Nasim Akhtar Nadwi, Dr. Shafiq Ahmad Khan Nadwi, Dr. Ehtisham Ahmad Nadwi, Dr. Wali Akhtar Nadwi, Dr. Mujibur Rahman Nadwi, Dr. Sanaullah Nadwi, Dr. Ehsanul Haque Nadwi, Dr. Akram Nadwi, Dr. Iqbal Husain Nadwi and others.
The teaching of Hindi and Sanskrit was also subsequently started in the Darul Uloom. The reason behind this was mainly the desire to defend Islam because at that time the Aryans were openly attacking Islam. In this situation, Allamah Shibli advocated for the teaching of Hindi and Sanskrit in Darul Uloom in order to enable the Muslim Ulama to understand the nature of Aryans’ attack on Islam and counterpose the ideological weaknesses of Hinduism and also preaching Islam among Hindu communities.
The English language holds a very important position in the world for more than one reason. It is not merely the language of the English people, but spoken daily by several hundreds of millions in four continents. As a matter of fact, this language is found extensively used in different countries in Asia and Africa, and it is also the language of the USA. Nearly 260 million people speak this language, whereas Russian, Spanish, German and French are spoken by 140 million people, 135 million people, 90 million people and 60 million respectively. Actually, the number of English-speaking people constitute about one-tenth of the population of the world.
As a language, English has not merely cosmopolitanism in flexibility, but also universality in applicability. The influence of this language is dominant in the East as well as in the West. English is taught, as a compulsory subject, in most of the higher schools in Europe, Asia and Africa. A good number of eastern countries have even adopted it as a second language. All this clearly adds to the belief that English will become, in a natural way, the single inter-communicating language of the world. Its resourceful and cosmopolitan vocabulary, inflectional simplicity and logical yet flexible grammar are all the chief factors to make it an easy and popular language, among different peoples in the world. This is certainly a strong factor for the international status of the English language.
Maulana S. Abul Hasan Ali Nadwi was a multifaceted genius. On account of his extraordinary erudition and deep scholarship of Islam, he became a world figure. Decidedly he was an undisputed leader of the Islamic world. Nadwatul Ulama made all round progress under his inspiring stewardship. He was a staunch believer in national unity and communal harmony. Besides, his ardent wish was promoting the English language and popularising internet studies among students. Mr. Shariq Alavi, Editor of The Fragrance of East once said it was Maulana Ali Miyan’s wish to publish an English Magazine from Nadwa. Al-Hamdulillah, this desire of him was fulfilled in his lifetime. Mr. Alavi stated that how happy Maulana Nadwi felt whenever a new issue of the Fragrance was presented to him. He also reminded Maulana’s message. “Use of the pen in spreading amity, brotherhood and patriotic feelings among different classes of the society”. Moreover, it was the Maulana’s desire that Media Research Centre came into being in 1994 and Department of Journalism and Languages was established in 1995.
Keeping in view the significance and importance of the English language, the Executive Committee of Nadwatul Ulama has decided to start one-year diploma course in English. The main purpose of this department is to train students for preaching. It is hoped that having completed one-year diploma course in English, they may surely be able to communicate teachings of Islam throughout the world. Besides, they may excel and enhance spoken English and communication skills, including letter drafting, debates, resume writing and interview communication.
Its inaugural ceremony was held on September 3, 2018. Hazarat Maulana S.M. Rabey Hasani Nadwi, Rector Nadwatul Ulama and President All India Muslim Personal Law Board, presided over the event. In his presidential address he said, “Muslims are in minority in the world and from the very outset it has been felt that as compared to majority scant attention is always paid towards the minority. Today knowledge is the most dominant element in the world. It is knowledge through which developed countries gained influence, excellence, progress and advancement in every sphere of life. Lack of knowledge is the main cause of Muslims’ backwardness and their marginalisation in every walk of life. Every country – whether it be Germany, France, England and other countries – prefers its own language. The English ruled over India for a long time. They made the English language the language of motherland in India. Even today intellectual circles have good command over the English language and are unable to understand Urdu or Arabic. They fail to comprehend teachings of Islam. Hence it is imperative that Ulama must learn English well and have excellent proficiency and profundity over it so that they may easily convey the true message of Islam to them.”
He further said, “Though English is incorporated in the syllabus of Nadwa yet we will have to produce experts of English language. So that real picture of Islam may be presented before the world in a good sublime way. It is obvious that without profound and deep knowledge of the English language, it is impossible.”
In his thought-provoking speech, Maulana S.M Wazeh Rasheed Nadwi, Director of Education, Nadwatul Ulama said: “Onslaught on Islam is being perpetrated from time immemorial. Due to lack of the knowledge of Western languages, Ulama could not refute allegations, doubts, scepticisms made by orientalists against Islam. Even a wide range of doubts were created regarding the Qur’an, Hadith and biography of Prophet Muhammad ﷺ but they failed to retort them due to unawareness of their languages. It is incumbent for Ulama to learn prevailing languages of the world so that they may response them in their own languages and styles.”
Dr. Saeedur Rahman Azami Nadwi, Principal of Darul Uloom Nadwatul Ulama laid great stress on acquiring the English language. He stated that today the English language has been the language of preaching. Ulama should learn it and also be aware of the pros and cons of this language. Being heirs of Prophet Muhammad ﷺ a great responsibility lies on Islamic scholars. They must gird up their loins to undertake this great job. The need of opening a special department for the English language was being felt for a long time of which today has been given final shape. It is hoped that this new department will certainly bear good fruits and will bring credit to Nadwatul Ulama.
The dedicated English Department has started with ten students. The Department has a 5-member team. The head of the department is former principal of Islamia College Dr. Muhammad Aslam Siddiqui and four teachers namely Dr. Obaidur Rahman Nadwi, Anis Ahmad Nadwi, Shakir Nadwi and Yusuf Mustafa Nadwi. The diploma students get a monthly stipend of Rs. 3,000 and free hostel facility on campus.
[Dr. Obaidur Rahman Nadwi is a Faculty Member, and HOD of the Department of Journalism and Languages, Darul Uloom Nadwatul Ulama, Lucknow, UP (India)]
