Deobandi movement in South Africa

Clockwise from top: Darul Uloom Deoband, Darul Uloom Zakariyya
Religions
Sunni Islam
Scriptures
Quran, hadith and sunnah

Darul Uloom Deoband was established in 1866 in the Saharanpur district of Uttar Pradesh, India, as part of the anti-British movement. It gave rise to a traditional conservative Sunni movement known as the Deobandi movement. The Deobandi Movement has an international presence today, with its full-fledged manifestation in South Africa, a country where the movement was initiated through the Indian Gujarati merchant class. The Islamic education system of the Deobandi movement, as well as the necessary components of social and political organizations such as Tablighi Jamaat, Sufism and Jamiat, are fully functioning effectively in South Africa, as they do in India. Madrasas in South Africa provide Islamic higher education and are now centers for Islamic education for foreigners who are interested in receiving a Deobandi-style education. Many of their graduates, especially from Western countries such as the United Kingdom and the United States, are Western students. Some of South African madrasas are recognized globally, providing fatwa services. South Africa is now known for producing exceptional Islamic literature through translation and compilation. Similarly, the Tabligh Jamaat is a hub in South Africa that spreads throughout South and East Africa. Graduates of South African madrassas spend their time in the path of the Tabligh Jamaat. Through the work of several spiritual personalities of the Deobandis, the tradition of Deoband's Tasawwuf (Sufism) has taken root in South Africa. Among them are Muhammad Zakariyya al-Kandhlawi, Masihullah Khan, Mahmood Hasan Gangohi and Asad Madni. South African Deobandi Muslims have many important and influential educational and socio-political organizations that educate the people and play an important role in religious and social activities. Among them are Jamiatul Ulama South Africa and the Muslim Judicial Council.

Background

In the late 19th and early 20th century, due to the migration of Muslim businessmen from Gujarat to Africa, Deobandi ideology reached Africa. In the 19th century, some Muslim students from Surat and Bharuch districts of Gujarat were admitted to Darul Uloom Deoband, and among them were some notable religious scholars. The first among them was Ahmed Bujurg Surti, who was a resident of Shimla in Surat. In 1903, he graduated from Darul Uloom Deoband. He was ordained by Bay'ah to Rashid Ahmad Gangohi, one of the founders of Darul Uloom Deoband. One of his teachers was also Mahmud Hasan Deobandi. After completing his studies in Deoband, he returned to his birthplace and later traveled to South Africa.^[1] Ismail Bismillah was the second outstanding graduate of the Deoband who went to South Africa. Later, he went to Burma and then started teaching at the Jamia Islamia Talimuddin.^[2]

Anyway, the first direct student of the Deoband from South Africa was Muhammad bin Musa Afrika. He was originally a resident of Simla, which is associated with Dabhel in the Surat district of Gujarat, but his family had moved to South Africa a few generations ago and established residence in Johannesburg. He was a student of the hadith scholar Anwar Shah Kashmiri at Deoband. After completing his studies, he returned to Johannesburg where, alongside his extensive business ventures, he provided extensive religious services. He founded the Waterval Islamic Institute in Johannesburg for teaching Islamic and contemporary sciences. He built a building for it and bore all its expenses himself. He was responsible for providing free boarding facilities for students in accordance with the arrangements of Darul Uloom Deoband. He was the president of the Jamiat Ulama-e-Transvaal for many years. He was primarily indebted to the huge financial assistance for the construction and progress of Jamia Islamia Talimuddin. He was always interested in academic work. He founded a writer's organization in Dabhel called Majlis-e-Ilmi where the credit for publishing important books by Indian scholars was due. He died on April 16, 1963, in Johannesburg.^[3]

Ismail Ahmed Cachalia was the second prominent scholar of the Deoband in South Africa. Cachalia came from a powerful tradition of political activism. He completed his studies at Darul Uloom Deoband in 1930. Deoband played a role in shaping his politics because most of his teachers were members of the Indian National Congress or the Jamiat Ulema-e-Hind. He was a prominent political activist in South Africa and was a member of the Joint Passive Resistance Committee in 1946 and was arrested for leading a batch of women resistors. The Government of India honored him with the Padma Shri in 1977.^[4]

One of the most popular personalities of Deoband was Hussain Ahmed Madani, who was the Sheikhul Hadith of Darul Uloom Deoband for a long time. At that time, some of his students were from South Africa who had come or later went to South Africa. Among them were Muhammad Yusuf Pandor, who runs a madrasa, and Bayejid Afriki, who is his Khalifa.^[5] Abdul Hakeem Umarji, a senior scholar from South Africa who was a student of Madani, served as the president of the Jamiatul Ulama KwaZulu-Natal.^[6] Among them, there were several more students who were registered as South Africans in Darul Uloom Deoband, they were:

• Muhammad Kasim Afriki (graduated in 1948)
• Nur Ali Afriki (1953)
• Muhammad Ismail Afriki (1954)
• Abdul Khalik Afriki (1955)
• Muhammad Yusuf Pandor (1956)
• Muhammad Kasim Bharat (1957)
• Muhammad Afriki (1957)

There are a sufficient number of students from South Africa at Darul Uloom, and by the end of the 20th century, about 250 had arrived. But when South African Muslims establish their own large madrasas in their country, they do not have to go to Deoband and can stay at those madrasas without difficulty.^[7]

In 1910, the Muslims of South Africa sent a large sum of money to Darul Uloom Deoband. Since then, their support has increased and there are a lot of sympathetic and supportive of Darul Uloom in various places in South Africa, such as Durban, KwaZulu-Natal, Transvaal, and KwaDukuza, and reached East Africa.^[8] Similarly, in 1920, Darul Uloom Deoband faced some financial difficulties in India, but this shortage was filled by valuable donations, especially from foreign countries, with South Africa playing a significant role in fulfilling this shortage.^[9] Due to the partition of India, a significant portion of the funding sources for Darul Uloom Deoband moved to Pakistan. Even during the economic crisis of 1951, the Muslims of South Africa continued to support Darul Uloom Deoband.^[10] Later, in 1971, a hostel named "Africi Manzil" was built for African students.^[11]

Expansion

Qari Muhammad Tayyib

In 1963, Darul Uloom Deoband's rector Qari Muhammad Tayyib traveled to South Africa, which greatly helped strengthen the Deobandi ideology. About two thousand people from the four provinces of South Africa gathered at the airport in Johannesburg to welcome him. The mayor of Johannesburg and his wife were also present at a large police station. He stayed in Johannesburg for 15 days, then went to Durban and then to Cape Town. As a result of this journey, the misunderstandings about the Deobandi movement were dispelled and the identity of Darul Uloom Deoband became stronger. During this journey, he took a step so that the backward Muslim community could send their children to madrasas for religious education.

Other madrasas

Notable Deobandis

• Ebrahim Desai
• Taha Karaan
• Yusuf Karaan

References