Perspectiva de gènere en la docència de les tres assignatures

Despite the intellectual and activist efforts of modernists and Islamists to engage modernity directly, the majority of the Muslim masses have remained loyal to religious beliefs, practices and structures of authority inherited from the past. In late modernity mass education and modern technologies have made available the religious texts and sources to an ever-growing number of Muslims, thus further challenging the privileged access of ulama to these sources. As Eickleman suggests, modernity sees an “enlargement of human freedoms and an enhancement of the range of choices as people begin to take charge of themselves” (2000: 121).

The focus here is both “conservative Ulama and members of Sufi orders” (Shepard, 2004: 81). Traditionalists maintain that today Islam should be based on traditional sources including the Qur’an, Sunnah and, crucially, the accumulation of Islamic tradition. Consequently, traditionalists believe that there is no need to change social institutions or educational systems; the gate of ijtihad is closed, as Islamic law achieved its peak with the four jurisprudential schools. In short, traditionalists or what may be better described as ‘adaptationist neo-traditionalists’ (ibid, p.81), for even remaining true to the past in a new context involves a reiteration of tradition,

7 A Shi’a belief that the last imam Muhammad Mahdi, who is in occultation, will return to save the believers.

are those who keep the traditions of learning, and legitimated popular customs, as a rich heritage. From the beginning of the twentieth century, with the overwhelming effect of Islamist groups mentioned above, the traditionalists have also often preferred to be silent on political issues.

Rather than discussing all traditionalist movements, I am going to introduce in turn the Deobandis (including Tabligh-i Jamaat) and the Barelwis as patterns of traditionalist discourse which emerged in early modern India, since both have been influential in shaping Muslim religious belief, practice and patterns of authority in the context of Britain.

The Deobandi movement and Tabligh-i Jama‘at:

Muslims in the Indian subcontinent faced a number of transformations in public life which resulted in various responses to colonialism and British rule. Pre-modern reformist figures, such as Shaikh Ahmad Sirhindi (d.1625) and Shah Waliullah of Delhi (d.1762), insisted on preserving religious identity (see Rahman, 1979: 201-3;

Geaves, 1996: 130-3) among ordinary Muslims by focusing on religious education.

This trend especially gained more importance after the Mutiny of 1857. The ‘ulama tended to move into the small towns (kasbahs) such as Deoband, Saharanpur, Kandhlah, Gangoh, and Bareilly, which were less touched by the British presence and were, increasingly, the centres for preserving Muslim cultural and religious life (Metcalf, 1982:85). The North Indian ‘ulama, Muhammad Qasim Nanautvi (d.1877) and Rashid Ahmad Gangohi (d.1905), established a traditional education centre in Deoband, some ninety miles northeast of Delhi, in 1867 (Metcalf, 1982: 88;

Robinson, 1988: 4). The school became the pattern for all the other subsequent

madrasahs throughout the subcontinent (Geaves, 1996:147). The movement effectively expanded its network on the basis of this school prototype in many areas of India, so that the total number reached 8934 by the time of its centennial celebration in 1967 (Metcalf, 1982: 136).

Economic independence from the government and funding by public subscription (Metcalf, 1982:97) were what distinguished the school and its success. In addition to the formal organisation of the school which was supplemented by associational ties of origin, educational experience, and the Sufi orders (ibid, p.98), it adopted several modern pedagogical methods, such as “written examinations, syllabi, classroom teaching, attendance registers for students and annual convocations” (Masud, 2002:238). The school was set up to create well educated ‘ulama who would become prayer leaders, writers, and teachers, and thus disseminate their learning, in turn. For this reason, as regards the educational system, a curriculum was shaped mainly from the Islamic sciences (tafseer, hadith and fiqh). Students would be trained in the specialism of the three great intellectual centres of North India: in manqulat, the studies of Qur’an and Hadith, the speciality of Delhi; and in ma‘qulat, the rational studies of law, logic, and philosophy, the speciality of the two eastern cities of Lucknow and Khairabad (Metcalf, 1982: 100). However, they fully focused on the former, manqulat. In the school, ‘dars-i nizami’, the syllabus of Farangi Mahall in the 18^th century, was adopted as curriculum. Its second speciality was fiqh, since the Deobandis stressed correct performance of ritual and ceremonial duties rather than the study of jurisprudence. Consequently, this led the school to become a maslak (school of thought) that the Deobandis sought to revive religiosity (ibid, p.101). In this process, they claimed both intellectual and spiritual leadership, adopting Shari‘a

(Hanafi in fiqh, Ash‘ari in kalam⁸) and Tariqat (the path of Naqshbandi, mainly⁹).

While so doing, they issued a considerable number of fatawa (legal opinions), understood to be based on the four sources of law (adille-i Shari‘a), namely the Qur’an, Sunnah, Ijma (consensus), and Qiyas (analogical reasoning). Indeed, “From 1911, these fatwas were recorded and published regularly” (Nielsen, 2004:135).

Although the Deobandis are labelled by Barelwis as being ‘Wahhabi’, they never sought to eliminate Sufism but rather to integrate it into an obedient religious life (Metcalf, 1982: 145). Thus, the Deobandis emphasised the importance of all Islamic knowledge accumulated over the centuries and followed established Sunni schools of law in beliefs and practices.

As an offshoot of the Deobandi movement, the Tabligh-i Jamaat (TJ) was founded by Mawlana Muhammad Ilyas (d.1944) near Delhi in 1926 (Robinson, 1988: 15). It is also known as “the faith movement” (Lewis, 1993: 16) and could be said to be the activist form of the Deobandi movement. TJ’s work began in the region of Mewat, whose indigenous people were far from Islamic in belief and rituals because of the influence of Hinduism and Shi’ism. “M. Ilyas believed that the British were the main opponents of Islam, but he never allowed himself to be drawn into political activity”(Geaves, 1996:154). He thought that every Muslim had a responsibility to generate an awareness of Islam in others, and believed that if Muslims adopted the following practices, they would be successful in their religious life:

8 As regard as the faith sects, dominant sects, Maturidiyya and Ash’ariyya still construct the main bulwark of orthodoxy in Sunni Islam.

9 The Deobandis were not totally against Sufism, since they had close relationship with Naqshbandi Sufi orders, such as Haji Imdadullah (See, Metcalf, 1982: 158; Geaves, 1994:

179).

1) Inculcating missionary spirit, 2) acquiring and transmitting Islamic knowledge, 3) enjoining what is right and forbidding what is wrong, 4) working together in mutual love (Robinson, 1988:15).

TJ are well organised in preaching and missionary tours, which consist of an amir (leader), a mutakallim (speaker), a rahbar (guide), and the size of the team can range from three to ten (Geaves, 1996:153). The aim of TJ is the same as the Deobandis, to practice religion and preserve religious identity. A substantial difference, however, is that the TJ has been successful in transforming itself from a local into a global movement. Volunteers under the leadership of experienced Tablighi preachers go from house to house, inviting Muslims to attend the mosque and to learn how to pray. Typically, they avoid religious controversy and political issues and focus on personal religious observation.

The Barelwi movement:

The name Barelwi comes from this movement’s charismatic founder, Ahmad Riza Khan (d.1921), who was from Bareilly, a town in northern India (Sanyal, 1996). As an ‘alim, his scholarly defence of the Sufi way of life was the basis of the movement.

The Barelwis claim that they are ahl al-sunnat wa’l jama‘at or people and community of the prophetic path (Sanyal, 1996: 166; Geaves, 1996: 103). This allows them to counter the reformist groups’ central criticism that their Islam is impure and full of innovations (bid‘ah) and cultural accretions. On the contrary, they accuse the Deobandis and Jama’at-i Islami of being Wahhabi. This kind of “fatwa war” (Lewis, 2002:40) is still ongoing.

The Barelwis are often described as a reaction to other reform movements such as the Deobandis and Ahl-i Hadis (Geaves, 1996: 95), but Metcalf (1982: 296) argues that “like the other two, they offered religious guidance to their followers.” The Barelwis used their legal scholarship “to justify Islam as it had been handed down- a custom laden Islam which was closely tied to the Sufi world of the shrines where believers sought help from saints to intercede for them with God” (Robinson, 1988:

8). Unlike the Deobandis, the Barelwis were not so hostile to their colonial rulers for the threat they posed to Islamic culture (Geaves, 1996:95).

Ahmed Riza Khan’s teaching places, first of all, great emphasis on the pre-eminence of the Prophet. He stressed the Sufi concept, the light of Muhammad, which is derived from God’s own light (Metcalf, 1982:301; Robinson, 1988:9; Geaves, 1996:

95). He denied the charge of the ‘Wahhabis’ that this theory compromised the unity of God. Instead, he insisted that the Prophet was himself light, “present and observant (hazir u nazir) in all places. He was human but his humanity was of a different order from that of other men. He was also given unique knowledge of the unknown (ilmu’l-ghayb)” (Metcalf, 1982:301). All these understandings are based on the chapter of Najm, which give details about the Prophet’s attributes, in the Qur’an.

Therefore, the Prophet could be called upon to intercede (tawassul) for human beings with God (Robinson, 1988:9). Furthermore, the Barelwis showed a great deal of respect for Sufi orders and awliya (Sufi pirs and saints), such as “Abdu’l-Qadiri Jilani, who lived in the twelfth century and was regarded the last great ghaus [helper]

which is coming from the Prophet and his rightly guided caliphs and his descendants through Ali, Hasan and Husain” (Sanyal, 2005:94).

The Barelwis focused on daily religious life instead of opening schools. However, after the death of Riza Khan, the success of the Deobandis encouraged them to establish schools to train ‘ulama. In the meantime, the movement spread its institutions both inside and outside of South Asia. As with the Deobandis, the Barelwis insisted on following the four schools of law in Islamic beliefs and practices.