Islam in India - Leadership and Organisations

Leadership and Organisations

• An estimated 2/3 of the 150,000,000 Indian Muslims are believed to be adherents of the Sunni Barelwi school of thought and follow Sufi traditions like Mawlid, Dargah visit, Dhikr and mysticism. Manzar-e-Islam Bareilly Shareef, Markazu Saqafathi Sunniya, Kerala Jamia Nizamia, Hyderabad and Al Jamiatul Ashrafia Azamgarh are most famous Seminary of Ahle Sunnat Barelwi Muslims.

• The All India Ulema & Mashaikh Board (AIUMB) is an apex body of Indian Ahle Sunnah Muslims. The Body consisting of Sajjada Nashins of all the Prominent Sufi Dargahs and Khanqahs, Sunni Scholars, Imams of Masajids, the Mufti & the teachers of the Madarasas being the office bearer and the members of this Board.

• All India Ulema & Mashaikh Board and Raza Academy have taken a stand against Wahabism in India and have urged Indian Muslims to reject hardline Wahabi Ideology as propagated by Darul Uloom Deoband and its allies. Recently Ahle Sunnat rejected Deobands fatwa against Milad celebration of birth of Muhammad.

• Indian Shiite Muslims form a substantial minority within the Muslim community of India comprising between 25%–31% of total Muslim population in an estimation done during mid 2005–2006 of the then Indian Muslim population of 157 million. Sources like Times of India and DNA reported Indian Shiite population during that period between 40,000,000 to 50,000,000 of 157,000,000 Indian Muslim population

• The Deobandis, another influential section of the Muslim population following the Hanafi school of thought of India originate from the Darul Uloom Deoband (house/abode of knowledge), an influential religious seminary in the district of Saharanpur of Uttar Pradesh. The seminary is known for its nationalist orientation and played an important role in the Indian freedom struggle. The Jamiat-ul-Ulema-e-Hind, founded by Deobandi scholars in 1919, supported the Indian National Congress in the national freedom movement and became a political mouthpiece for the Daru'l Uloom.

• The Tablighi Jamaat (Outreach Society) became active after the 1940s as a movement, primarily among the ulema (religious leaders), stressing personal renewal, prayer, a missionary spirit and attention to orthodoxy. It has been highly critical of the kind of activities that occur in and around Sufi shrines and remains a minor if respected force in the training of the ulema. Conversely, other ulema have upheld the legitimacy of mass religion, including exaltation of pirs and the memory of the Prophet. A powerful secularising drive led by Syed Ahmad Khan resulted in the foundation of Aligarh Muslim University (1875 as the Muhammadan Anglo-Oriental College) - with a broader, more modern curriculum, and other major Muslim universities.

• The Jamaat-e-Islami Hind (Islamic Party), founded in 1941, advocates the establishment of an Islamic government and has been active in promoting education, social service and ecumenical outreach to the community.