Apni Namazen Drust Kijiye
Ashraf Ali Thanwi lost his mother at a young age and was
raised by his father. His father took great pains in teaching Maulana and his
younger brother discipline and good character.
Thanwi went to Darul Uloom Deoband, India for his
religious education. He became a student of Haji Imdadullah and
considered him his mentor and teacher.
After his graduation, Thanwi taught religious sciences
in Kanpur. Over a short period of time, he acquired a reputable position
as a religious scholar of Sufism among other subjects. His
teaching attracted numerous students, his research and publications became well
known in Islamic institutions. During these years, he traveled to various
cities and villages, delivering lectures in the hope of reforming people.
Printed versions of his lectures and discourses would usually become available
shortly after these tours. Until then, few Islamic scholars had had their
lectures printed and widely circulated in their own lifetimes. The desire to
reform the masses intensified in him during his stay at Kanpur.
Eventually, Thanwi retired from teaching and devoted himself
to reestablishing the spiritual centre (khānqāh) of his shaikh in Thāna Bhāwan.
In 1906, Ahmad Raza Khan, issued a fatwa against Thanwi
and other Deobandi leaders entitled Husam ul-Haramain (Urdu: Sword
of Mecca and Medina), decrying them as unbelievers and Satanists. The fatwa
was also signed by other scholars including from Hijaz.
The founding scholars of Deoband used to change their name
while travelling on train and other transportation because there was threat to
their lives due to the fact that most population of the subcontinent did not
accepted their interpretation of Islam.
Maulana Ashraf Ali Thanvi was a strong supporter of the
Muslim League. He and his pupils gave their entire support to the demand
for the creation of Pakistan. During the 1940s, most Deobandi ulama
supported the Congress in contrast to the Barelvi who largely and only
supported the Muslim league, although Ashraf Ali Thanvi and some other leading
Deobandi scholars including Mufti Muhammad Shafi and Shabbir
Ahmad Usmani were in favour of the Muslim League. Thanvi resigned
from Deoband's management committee due to its pro-Congress stance.
