Deoband, Nadwa misinterpreted Quran, strengthened casteism in Islam: Dalit Muslims body

New Delhi [India], June 17 (ANI): Professor of Khwaja Moinuddin Chishti Language University, Lucknow Dr Masood Falahi while addressing a webinar organised by Dalit Pasmanda Collective Justice Project said that Islamic Seminary Nadwa and Deoband have misinterpreted Quran and strengthened casteism in the community.

Professor Falahi was speaking at a webinar organised by Dalit Pasmanda Collective Justice Project on “Discrimination In Islamic Seminary Nadwa And Deoband” on Friday.
The chief speaker of the webinar, Dr Masood Falahi, while addressing the webinar highlighted the ideology behind the establishment of Deoband Seminary.

Noting that the core idea behind the origination of Deoband Seminary was the upliftment of Ashraf that is upper caste Muslims, he said that the founding fathers and the theologists of Deoband Seminary like Muhammad Qasim Nanautavi, Rafiuddin Deobandi, Sayyid Muhammad Abid, Zulfiqar Ali Deobandi have given the Fatwas which are discriminatory on caste basis and validates the perpetuation of caste discrimination and upper caste domination in Muslim societies.

Referring to the Muslim’s holy book Quran, Dr Falahi said, “Quran says that all individuals are equal and only supreme is Allah but the theologists of Deoband Seminary had interpreted the Quran and given the higher status to Syed, Sheikh and Pathans who dominate the Pasmanda Muslim castes like Ansari, Julaha, Rayeen etc.”

He further said that the members of all Muslim organisations are from the upper caste which helps them in maintaining their domination on Pasmanda Muslims.

“The caste discrimination is so deeply rooted in Muslim society that it invalidates the inter-caste marriage/nikah even after the long duration of the relationship between both the members,” he added.

Dr Falahi concluded the webinar with a vote of thanks to the DPCJP for providing a platform for fruitful discussion and for augmenting information.