With its roots in Islamic scholastic traditions of
Mughal India and pre-modern
Afghanistan, the Deobandi movement traces its lineage to the Sunni revivalist movements of
Shah Waliullah Dehlawi and his successors, including
Shah Abdul Aziz,
Shah Muhammad Ishaq, and
Shah Ismail Dehlvi. Scholars of the Deobandi movement view themselves as the spiritual heirs of Shah Waliullah Dehlawi, with early Deobandi leaders actively reviving his Sufi reformist teachings. Shah Waliullah Dehlawi was a contemporary of
Muhammad ibn Abd al-Wahhab, and they studied in
Medina under some of the same teachers.
Muhammad Iqbal said: "The Deobandi movement is neither a creed (Aqidah) nor a denomination (Tayifa) – terms by which its antagonists try to incite the masses against it – but it is a comprehensive picture and a complete edition of the tack of the Ahl al-Sunnah wal-Jama’ah in which all the offshoots of the Ahl al-Sunnah wal-Jama’ah are seen joined with their root."
Theology Deobandis follow the
Maturidi school of
Sunni Islamic theology. Their schools teach a short text on beliefs known as ''
al-'Aqa'id al-Nasafiyya'' by the Hanafi-Maturidi scholar
Najm al-Din 'Umar al-Nasafi. The official Deobandi book, ''
al-Muhannad 'ala al-Mufannad (The Sword on the Disproved), also known as: al-Tasdiqat li-Daf' al-Talbisat'' (Endorsements Repelling Deceits), is a work that summarises the beliefs generally held by the Deobandis. It was authored by
Khalil Ahmad al-Saharanpuri (d. 1346/1927) in order to defend and remit the Deobandis from the charge of
kufr (unbelief or blasphemy) levied against them by their opponents. According to Brannon D. Ingram, Deobandis differ from Barelvis on three theological positions. Gangohi stated that God has the ability to lie. This doctrine is called
Imkan-i Kizb.
Fiqh (Islamic jurisprudence) Deobandis are strong proponents of the doctrine of
Taqlid. In other words, they believe that a Deobandi must adhere to one of the four schools (
madhhabs) of Sunni Islamic Law and discourage inter-school eclecticism. They themselves claim to be the followers of the Hanafi school. Students at madrasas affiliated with the Deobandi movement study the classic books of Hanafi Law such as
Nur al-Idah,
Mukhtasar al-Quduri,
Sharh al-Wiqayah, and
Kanz al-Daqa’iq, culminating their study of the madhhab with the
Hidayah of
al-Marghinani. With regard to views on
Taqlid, one of their main opposing reformist groups are the
Ahl-i-Hadith, also known as the
Ghair Muqallid, the nonconformists, because they eschewed
taqlid in favor of the direct use of Quran and Hadith. They often accuse those who adhere to the rulings of one scholar or legal school of blind imitation
, and frequently demand scriptural evidence for every argument and legal ruling. Almost since the very beginnings of the movement, Deobandi scholars have generated a copious amount of scholarly output in an attempt to defend their adherence to a
madhhab in general. In particular, Deobandis have penned much literature in defense of their argument that the Hanafi madhhab is in complete accordance with the
Quran and
Hadith.
Hadith In response to this need to defend their
madhhab in the light of scripture, Deobandis became particularly distinguished for their unprecedented salience to the study of
Hadith in their madrasas. Their
madrasa curriculum incorporates a feature unique among the global arena of Islamic scholarship, the
Daura-e Hadis, the capstone year of a student's advanced madrasa training, in which all six canonical collections of the Sunni Hadith (the
Sihah Sittah) are reviewed. In a Deobandi madrasa, the position of
Shaykh al-Hadith, or the resident professor of
Sahih Bukhari, is held in much reverence. Their views were widely shared by a broad range of
Islamic reform movements of the colonial period.
Sufism Khalil Ahmad Saharanpuri outlined the creedal beliefs of Deobandis in his
Al-Muhannad ala al-Mufannad: The founding leaders of the Deobandi movement drew on and popularized
Shah Waliullah Dehlawi's criticism of certain folk rituals and practices that had crept into Sufi circles during the preceding century. Deobandis also oppose certain forms of istighatha practices. Deoband's curriculum combined the study of
Islamic holy books (the
Quran,
hadith and
religious law) with rational subjects (
logic,
philosophy and
science). At the same time, it was strongly Sufi in orientation and affiliated with the
Chishti Order.
Ashraf Ali Thanwi graduated from Darul Uloom Deoband and was widely considered a preeminent Sufi of modern India. The founders of the Deobandi school,
Qasim Nanawtawi and
Rashid Ahmad Gangohi, were inspired by the doctrine of
Shah Waliullah Dehlawi However Gangohi's
Fatawa-yi Rashidiyya rejected Sufi practices. This belief of the Deobandis conflicts with traditional Sufi views of Muhammad having unparalleled and unequal knowledge that encompasses the unseen realm. and opposed the practice of standing up in honour of Muhammad during the day of Mawlid.
Zakariyya Kandhlawi, noted hadith scholar and Deobandi shaykh, stated, == Scholarship ==