deoband and nadwatul ulama

[hearandobey]

assalamu alaykum,

i was reading in the book "abul hasan an-nadwi" by sh muhammad akram an-nadwi, that the reason nadwatul ulama was established was because after the british invaded india, there were two main political strands: one were the secularists in all aspects of life, economy, culture etc. and the other were the "traditionalists" who thought that there's no space for ijtihaad, no new "ibdaa'", we must stick to what we had all along etc. (ie deobandis). sh akram mentions that it was thanks to the deobandis efforts that islam remained in india and the youth were practicing etc, however nadwatul ulama came along to find a balance, a middle-course between these two strands... i think that kind of explains the "open, critical" thinking that the nadwis have and their acceptance of different shar'i opinions and not just the hanafi ones...

if anyone knows any more historical facts, interesting articles or even books about this topic, pls share...

[Yasir]

wa’alaikum as-salaam,

There’s some information on the formation of the institute on their website, here (http://www.nadwatululama.org/english.htm).

You could also refer to Sh. Akram’s book, “Madrassah Life (http://www.azharacademy.com/Scripts/prodView.asp?idproduct=1826)”, insha’Allah, which gives an insight into the institute and an informative glimpse of student life.

[Abu wakee]

Assalamu alaikum,

Nadwis although by large are hanafis, there are some shafiis and ahle hadith (also jamatis always- they are hanafi too though). They are definitely the most moderate and balanced lot in the subcontinent, in my opinion. They tend to have good 'aqidah too.

I once knew this bro who studied at nadwa for a few years and asked him about the environment there. He said in Nadwa it's pretty amicable and they're not as strict as Deoband. As an example he said his tafsir teacher was a jamati.

I discussed with him issue of tawassul and you know I was pleasantly surprised at what he told me. He said he was taught that calling upon the dead is shirk, but some have allowed tawassul through the Nabi sal Allahu 'alayhi wassalam (by that he meant bi haqqin nabi) and said even that many others fobade it.

Anyway he was a tableeghi as well, a really nice brother masha Allah.

[hearandobey]

jzk bro yasir for the article and recommending the book. i actually do have it but i've only read a few pages.

bro abu wakee, i agree some of the nadwi scholars are very balanced mashallah. have you seen the shaykh akram aqeedah thread (http://forums.islamicawakening.com/showthread.php?t=11820)?

[Abu wakee]

I saw that thread but I would really like a transcript/audio/video of what he said though.

There's also another nadwi scholar Sh. Riyadh Nadwi in UK. He has some nice stuff too.

[Yasir]

jzk bro yasir for the article and recommending the book. i actually do have it but i've only read a few pages.Have a read of the rest of the book when you get a chance, insha’Allah. I found it to be a very interesting account. The objectivity in the discussions of the students, their desire to explore issues from a variety of perspectives and the extent of their reading was certainly something refreshing, masha’Allah.

There's also another nadwi scholar Sh. Riyadh Nadwi in UK. He has some nice stuff too.
Sh. Riyadh is involved with the Oxford Cross-Cultural Research Institute (OCCRi) (http://www.occri.org.uk/index.htm) and has also produced some valuable work, masha’Allah.