Change needed within set parameters: Deoband V-C

He comes in as the Vice-Chancellor of Darul Uloom following six long months when the seminary was embroiled in a controversy over its former Mohtamims remarks.

He comes in as the Vice-Chancellor of Darul Uloom following six long months when the seminary was embroiled in a controversy over its former Mohtamims remarks on Chief Minister Narendra Modi. However,Maulana Mufti Abul Qasim Nomani is clear that that issue is closed now.

Speaking to The Indian Express,the 64-year-old cleric from Varanasi plays down the challenge of his assignment. There is a routine that was going on and that continues. I was appointed as the working Mohtamim on February 23 and have been quietly working and managing Darul Uloom since that day. There is nothing new,just my designation has changed,but life goes on,event-free.

Fluent in Urdu,Arabic,Hindi and English,Nomani is well respected as an orator,and for his ability to argue and put complex ideas across simply. But as the new Mohtamim of Darul Uloom,the worlds most-respected Muslim seminary after Al Azhar in Cairo,he is keen to underplay any personal attributes which might attract too much attention or make him stand out in the crowd of religious scholars.

The first aalim or religious scholar in a family of weavers,he says he learnt a lesson in harmony early on even as he trained in Islamic law. Watching Ganga-Jamuni mixed culture in Benaras,the taana-baana woven texture of the weave I have seen and the basic harmony that has prevailed for years despite provocations,even after the heinous bomb blast at the holy Sankatmochan mandir recently,my city was peaceful. I am very proud of it.

Trained in Quranic law,he was a student of Darul Uloom between 1961 and 1968,and at Jamia Islamia in Varanasi later as an expert in Islamic law and jurisprudence.

He is aware of predecessor Ghulam Mohammed Vastanvis MBA degree setting him out as a reformer. Qasim is not about to make any such claims. I have taught in a madrasa for 40 years and that is what I do. It was very open and clear that I was not a manager or with a special degree in management,but the elders thought it fit to make me the Mohtamim. As they said,it was because of experience of various kinds,not a degree. We are not changing anything that has been laid down. Gaadi chal rahi hai,sirf driver badla jaa raha hai The car is moving along,only the driver has been changed.

With Vastanvi drawing a fair amount of spotlight also for not being a product of a Deoband madrasa,Qasim asserted that his concerns and focus for Deoband were time-tested.

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The focus is on learning and training students to be better citizens and building their character. As Deoband has nothing to do with politics,we stay clear of it,but believe in actively discharging our responsibilities in the social sphere and ensuring good Islamic practices are continued and the virasat Islamic heritage is secured for future generations.

Qasim was careful to emphasise that everything that would happen would happen with the Majlis-e-Shoora the all-powerful governing council of the Darul Uloom being fully in the know. Of course we believe change is necessary and we do keep doing it. Our predecessors have done so too,changing the syllabus and introducing new elements to keep up with the times. But it will be in the parameters that are there. The late Maulana Marghoobur Rahman and his predecessor,Maulana Qari Mohammed Tayyeb,did it too. What is key is that the Majlis-e-Shoora decides,the Mohtamim is only the implementor.

Youngsters at Deoband,in fact,have fond memories of Qasim,of how difficult it was to woo him away from his beloved Benaras where my family has been around for at least 15 generations now.

He was reluctant to leave Madanpura,his birthplace,which is just a stones throw away from the holy Dashashwamedh ghat by the Ganga. The Benarasi paan,in fact,is something that still leaves him wistful as he gets ready for the more austere Saharanpur life.