Socio and Religious Reform: Muslim Reform Movements

The Deoband Movement was organised by the orthodox section among the Muslim ulema as a revivalist movement.
Objectives
- Propagating pure teachings of the Quran and Hadis among Muslims
- Keeping alive the spirit of jihad against foreign rulers.
The Deoband Movement began at the Darul Uloom (or Islamic academic centre), Deoband (United Provinces) in 1866 by Mohammad Qasim Nanotavi and Rashid Ahmed Gangohi.
The aim of the Deoband Movement was the moral and religious regeneration of the Muslim community.
Deoband School welcomed the formation of the Indian National Congress in 1888.

It was a systemic movement aimed at reforming the social, political, and educational aspects of the Muslim community.
The movement undertook to modernize Muslim education by adapting English as a medium of learning and Western education rather than just focusing on traditional teachings.
Sir Syed established the Scientific Society in 1864, in Aligarh to translate Western works into Indian languages to prepare the Muslims to accept Western education and to inculcate scientific temperament among the Muslims.
In 1877, he founded the Muhammadan Anglo-Oriental College on the pattern of Oxford and Cambridge universities. The college later grew into Aligarh Muslim University.
The Aligarh Movement helped in the revival of Muslims. It gave them the common language of Urdu.

Founded by Shah Waliullah.
Ideals
- The desirability of harmony among the four schools of Muslim jurisprudence which had divided the Indian Muslims.
- Recognition of the role of individual conscience in religion where conflicting interpretations were derived from the Quran and the Hadis.
The teachings of Walliullah were further popularised by Shah Abdul Aziz and Syed Ahmed Barelvi who also gave them a political perspective.
Initially, the movement was directed at the Sikhs in Punjab but after the British annexation of Punjab (1849), the movement was directed against the British.
During the 1857 Revolt, the Wahabis played an important role in spreading anti-British feelings.

The movement was called by this name because of its emphasis on the Islamic pillars of faith
Founded by Haji Shariatullah in 1818 in East Bengal.
It aimed at the eradication of social innovations or un-Islamic practices present among the Muslims of the region and drew their attention to their duties as Muslims.
Under the leadership of Dudu Mian, the movement became revolutionary from 1840 onwards.
Dudu Mian’s arrest in 1847 finally weakened the movement.