“Taliban” means “student”.

But do you know who the teacher of “Taliban” is and it’s Mughal connection? Lets find out.

The answer is Darul-ul-uloom, Deoband. Deoband is a small town in Western Uttar Pradesh, India where the seed of Talibani ideology was sown. Lets understand how.

A person named Shah Waliullah. Don’t forget this name.

He was born on 21 February 1703. He memorized the Qur’an by the age of seven. By sixteen he had completed the standard curriculum of Hanafi law, theology, geometry, arithmetic and logic. He was on the committee appointed by Aurangzeb for compilation Fatawa-e-Alamgiri – Aurangzeb’s interpretation of Shariah followed by majority of Sunni Muslims across the sub-continent even today. Waliullah pressed Aurangzeb for “Fatawa-e-Alamgiri” to be imposed on all non-Muslims, but was unsuccessful.

After the humiliating defeats of the Mughals at the hands of Bajirao Peshwa, it was clear that Mughal rule in India is all but over. Then Mughal emperor (Rangeela Shah) was weak and incapable. With the intention of weakening Hindus, Waliullah convinced Ahmed Shah Abdali of Afghanistan to invade India. When Abdali invaded India, Waliullah joined forces with local Muslim leaders which resulted in the defeat of the Marathas at The Battle of Panipat in 1761. All these are enough to prove the anti-Hindu mentality of Waliullah.

Then comes the anti-British revolt in 1857. The British crush the Mughals and the chance of Islamic revival in India becomes zero as British Govt assumes full power from British East India Company. Darul Uloom Islamic Madrassa was founded by Muhammad Qasim Nanautavi and Rashid Ahmad Gangohi in 1866, eight years after the Indian Rebellion of 1857–58 in Deoband. Both of them were heavily influenced by the religio-political ideology of Shah Waliullah i.e. strict interpretation to Sharia, Islamic rule on Hindustan, Islamic supremacy and ultimate destruction of Hinduism.

With all political and economic power lost, during its early years, the Deobandi school engaged in interfaith debates with Christian and Hindu scholars in a peaceful manner and talked about unity of Hindus, Christians and Muslims, multiculturalism and opposed the partition of India. In nutshell, present a Humane face of Islam.

The declared goal of “Darul Uloom” is to build “Pure Muslims” as it felt “British Colonialism” to be corrupting the Muslims in Indian subcontinent.

But since late 1970s, the Madrassa openly endorsed Wahabi ideology (there by showing its true colors). Starting 1980s Deobandis were heavily funded by Saudi Arabia. The Pakistani government deliberately cultivated Deobandi militancy to fight the Soviet Union and India (in Kashmir). The money and guns supplied later fueled civil conflict. The movement, now centered mainly in India, Pakistan, Bangladesh and Afghanistan, has spread to the United Kingdom, and has a presence in South Africa. The Darul Uloom has consistently supported the civil actions of the Taliban. Deobandi Islam is the most popular form of pedagogy in the Pashtun belt on both sides of the Durand Line that separates Afghanistan and Pakistan. Moreover, prominent Afghan and Pakistani Taliban leaders have studied in Deobandi Madrassas.

In nutshell, we see that the Ideological master of Taliban lies in India and traces back to the Mughal Emperor Aurangzeb whose goal was nothing less than building an Islamic emirate of Bharat.

The chain is as follows:

Mughal Rule->Aurangzeb->Waliullah->Deoband->Taliban.

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