Mastership in Islamic Spirituality (Tasawwuf)

A master of Islamic spirituality, Mawlana Thanawi was “widely considered the preeminent Su f i of modern India” (Metcalf 157). His approach to tasawwuf was in complete harmony with the Qur’an and hadith. Accurately summarizing the approach of the scholars associated with Dar al- ‘Ulum Deoband, regarding Sufism, Kenneth W. Jones writes:

Deobandis conceived of Islam as having two points of focus, Shari ‘a (the law, based on scriptures and religious knowledge), and the Tariqa (path, derived from religious experience). Thus they accepted Sufism with its form of discipline and the role of the ‘ulama’ in interpreting the four schools of Islamic law. The Qur’an, the h adith, qiyas (analogical reasoning), and ijma‘ (consensus) provided the foundation of religious knowledge, but understanding them required the ‘ulama’ as guides. Uneducated Muslims could not make judgments on belief or practice. The Deobandis, while accepting Sufism, rejected numerous ceremonies and the authority of pirs who claimed sanctity by their descent rather than by their learning. Knowledge granted authority and not inheritance. Pilgrimages to saints’ tombs, and the annual death rites of a particular saint (the urs) also lay outside acceptable Islamic practice. Among the types of behavior seen as erroneous innovations was any social or religious practice that appeared to come from Hindu culture (Jones 60).

The scholars of Deoband purified Islamic mysticism in the Indian subcontinent from all un-Islamic elements and practiced a tasawwuf that earlier Muslims, such as Hasan al-Basri, Junayd al-Baghdadi, and ‘Abd al-Qadir al-Jilani would advocate if they were living in the twentieth century. Pure, unadulterated Sufism is an important part of the Islamic faith. Dar al- ‘Ulum Deoband trained individuals to become rational scholars as well as sound practitioners of tasawwuf. Through the Deoband movement, Islamic history once more witnessed the combination of the jurist and the mystic into a well-rounded Islamic scholar. In choosing “Muftis and Shaykhs” as the title of a chapter in her well-researched monograph Islamic Revival in British India: Deoband, 1860–1900, Barbara Daly Metcalf emphasizes this beautiful combination.