Understanding Deoband Locally: Interrogating Madrasat diyā’ al-‘ulūm

Scholarship on Islamic education in India has largely focussed on the colonial period which has contributed to a relative paucity of works on ways in which madaris have organised themselves and contributed to the production of knowledge in the contemporary period. It is only recently that scholars, activists and policy makers have turned their attention towards the madrasa [pl.: madāris] system in India. However, the very agenda of this scrutiny of madaris has meant that the 'object' of study has been within set parameters, which in this case has been Islamic education and its linkages with terrorism. The present paper seeks to understand the workings of a local Deobandi madrasa in North India and to participate in the Indian debate on madrasa education, although not on the agenda set by the post 9/11 academic world.