‘Mulla Omar isn’t our student. He hasn’t studied here’: Islamic Scholar Arshad Madani on allegations of Deoband and Taliban connection

President of the Jamiat Ulama-e-Hind and principal of the Darul Uloom Deoband Arshad Madani refused the allegations that Taliban’s founder Mulla Mohammed Omar isn’t their student and clarified that the connection of the Deoband and Afghanistan is historical.

In an interview with Suresh Chavhanke of Sudarshan news channel, Maulana Madani denied the allegations that Taliban’s Mullah Mohammed Omar wasn’t their student.

“No Mulla Omar isn’t our student. He hasn’t studied here, it’s not true. He may have studied in deobandi Madrasa from Pakistan not Hindustan,” he said.

The Deobandi’s have always been in the headlines following the Taliban takeover of Afghanistan. While the Taliban follows the Deobandi school of Islam, the locals say that it is an extremist version that has little to do with them, according to The Print.

“We have denied that Mulla Omar isn’t our student. We’ve also clarified why we call him deobandi. People think that he has studied about deoband but he hasn’t. We only call them deoband because Deoband’s biggest leader Hazrat Sheikhuddin Rahmatullah alaihi was filled with hatred against Britishers and wanted to break the shackles of slavery. He was the first person in India to rise against the Britisher and soight aid from Afghanistan. He sent his students there. The Taliban claiming to be followers of Deoband are probably his followers three generations down the line,” Maulana Madani said.

He said that he doesn’t oppose anyone. “Those people call themselves Muslims, they’re Talibani or whatever they do. We have no idea. In my whole life, I haven’t gone to Afghanistan. If we had any connection or known them. They would’ve called us and we would go and work with them. But till date we have never even gone to Afghanistan.”

On women’s being sold in market and people being beheaded, the deoband Islamic scholar said, “Maybe what you heard is true. I don’t have any news of what’s happening around the world. And there are so many fake news spreading on mobile phones. Until and unless I see it with my own eyes or hear it with my ears, I don’t believe it,” he added.

He further said that he doesn’t know what Taliban saying or doing. “I only know they say Allah is one and Prophet Muhammad is His Messenger. Other than this what’s happening there I don’t know. I have no connection with them. Neither the Taliban come to me, nor I go to them,” the Maulana Arshad Madani noted.

Deoband is a town in Uttar Pradesh’s Saharanpur district. The town is also home to the Darul Uloom Deoband, an Islamic seminary that was established in 1886. This seminary emerged as a revered global centre for Sunni education.

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