NEW DELHI: A meeting at Darul Uloom at Deoband next week, expected to be attended by ulema from over 6,000 madrassas including those affiliated to other sects like Barelvis and Ahl-e-Hadiz, will deliberate on the need to take a stand against groups which justify terrorism as being sanctioned by Islam.
The day-long discussions have been planned in view of terror groups like Lashkar-e-Taiba and Jaish-e-Mohammed arguing that violence against non-believers, including innocent bystanders, was part of religious duty and was theologically approved by Deoband's Darul Uloom.
"We have condemned terrorism earlier. But this time we felt that as an institution, the Darul Uloom had to take an initiative to make it clear that Islam does not sanction terrorism and that Deobandis do not believe in this either," said Maulana Mahmood Madani, general secretary of Jamiat Ulema-i-Hind.
The organisers of the conclave said terrorist tanzims, which drew ideological inspiration and recruited fighters from madrassas in Pakistan, have argued that teachings of Deoband were their inspiration.
"We want to say that what happens in their madrassas is their business. We are keen to make it clear that killing innocents, let's say someone walking on the road, is not justified in Islam," said the school's deputy rector Qazi Usman.
The task before the meeting, which is slated to take place on February 25, will comprise offering a theological explanation repudiating the "divine" duty claimed by
