LUCKNOW: Taliban regime foreign minister of Afghanistan, Amir Khan Muttaqi, on Saturday, visited one of the biggest Islamic seminaries in Asia – Darul Uloom -- in Deoband in Saharanpur district of western UP as part of his six-day trip to India.
The Taliban leader's visit to Deoband, however, goes beyond politics.
Muttaqi participated in a scholarly session where he studied a Hadith (Prophetic tradition) under Maulana Mufti Abul Qasim Nomani inside the seminary’s central library.
He later sought and received permission to teach Hadith, for which the rector conferred upon him the Hadith Sanad (certificate of authority).
Following this, Muttaqi earned the right to use the title 'Qasmi', denoting his academic connection to the prestigious institution.
The Afghan foreign minister visited the seminary in the presence of renowned Ulema, including Maulana Arshad Madni, president of Jamiat-ulema-e-Hind.
"Deoband is a big centre for the Islamic world… and Afghanistan and Deoband are connected, hence I am going to meet the leaders there. We want our spiritual students to come and study here too," he said when asked about his visit.
The Afghan foreign minister said that the aim of his visit was to consolidate the political and trade relations with India. He added that the dialogue with Indian leaders and officials had been in an amicable atmosphere, and he hoped that the Indo-Afghan relations would go to the next level in future.
As per the Darul Uloom sources, during the meeting with Ulema, Muttaqi discussed the issue of awarding educational visas to Afghan students. However, his address to the students was cancelled at the last moment, considering the security aspect of the dignitary amid the massive gathering of students.
Darul Uloom Deoband, the Islamic seminary located in Deoband town in Saharanpur district of western Uttar Pradesh, has been a seat of Islamic teachings for scholars from India and around the world.
The Islamic seminary has 34 departments and over 4,000 students pursuing studies.
According to Ashraf Usmani, the seminary’s media in charge at the time, a student gets a degree of maulviet (maulana ) after 8 years of studies and thereafter, successful students opt for specialisation in literature, fatwa, tafseer (explanation of the Quran), Hadith, English, computers, etc.
The seminary's website of the renowned institution, as a religious and academic centre in the Islamic world, says it is the largest institution for the dissemination and propagation of Islam and the biggest headspring of education in the Islamic sciences.
The seminary is held in high regard by many Taliban leaders.
Several senior commanders and leaders of the group studied at Darul Uloom Haqqania in Pakistan’s Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa province, which was founded on the lines of Darul Uloom, Deoband. In an interaction with reporters on Friday, Muttaqi had highlighted the significance of his visit to Deoband, saying it has a long history with Afghanistan.
“Deoband is a significant religious place for us. This place and its people have a long history with Afghanistan. The way our students come here to study engineering and science, they also come here for religious studies,” he said.
