Nadwatul Ulema

Dar Uloom Nudwatul Ulema is an Islamic educational institution established at Kanpur in 1894 on the occasion of the first annual convocation of Nadwatul Ulema (organization of Scholars). The figures who played a key role in its establishment included Muhammad Ali Mungeri, Sheikh Ashraf Ali Thanwi, Allama Shibli Nomani and Maulana Mehmood Ul Hassan.

Later, on this institution was shifted to Lucknow. The main aim as proposed by the scholars was to counter the very influence of modern materialistic western education and to forge a close association between modern secular and religious minded Muslims.

The formation of Aligarh Movement and the retaliatory Deoband Movement divided Muslims into two main sections; people aligned with Aligarh were more secular and liberal who approached modern day problems faced by the Muslims from the materialistic point of view but were not negating Islam.

On the other hand, Deobandis were more of religious extremists who were never open to new ideas arrived from the west and were neglecting the very basic essence of Islam, Ijtihad. They considered people adopting new ideas as apostates and friends of enemies of Islam. This was a critical time for Muslims because they were going through an intermediary phase where no one was accepting other’s ideas.
This split was not limited to secular and conservative sections of the society but religious people were also divided among themselves based on the sectarian lines. Along with this, the western ideologues were arguing that Church and the state should be separate and that religion has nothing to do with the matters of the state.

In this delicate time, Nudwa Tul Ulema provided the very basic and necessary bridge between the modern educated Muslims inspired by Aligarh and deeply conservatives inspired by Deoband by following the footsteps of Hazrat Shah Wali Ullah (r.a). Dar Ul Uloom Nudwat Ul ulema attracted both western educated and religious educated Muslims because on one hand it was open to new ideas and on the other hand, it was deeply religious in itself. It also played a key role in the sectarian harmony among Muslims by bringing them on one platform.

Hanafi, Shafi, Ahle Hadith and Shia scholars were included in the founders of this institution and currently, it offers courses based on Shafi, Hanafi and Ahle hadith guidelines. It also downplayed the narrative that religion is a matter which has nothing to do with the state by arguing that Islam is not simply a religion rather it is a complete code of life which provides guidance from acute daily matters to the matters of the state.

Over the years it produced a class of Muslims who were both open to new ideas; modern sciences and rational reasoning as well they were hardcore religious people who never let material secularism to overcome them. This movement deeply affected the minds of Sub-Continent Muslims and inspired a section of moderate Muslims who later on played a major role in the struggle for freedom which ultimately led to the formation of a separate homeland for Muslims, Pakistan.