Among the foremost objectives of this organization was the...

Among the foremost objectives of this organization was the protection of the Ottoman caliphate from dismemberment, the protection of the rights of the Muslims of India and the liberation of India from alien rule.

The ulema issued a series of fatwas justifying seeking cooperation of non-Muslims for the achievements of these objectives.[^73] The movement to protect the caliphate failed due to various internal and external reasons but it made the ulema think pragmatically about the political situation of India. The encounter between Deoband and Aligarh led to the establishment of Jamia Millia Islamia at Dehli in 1920.

This institute was inaugurated by Maulana Mohamood-ul-Hasan, the rector of Deoband, and supported by activists from Aligarh. It managed to educate Muslims in both modern as well as traditional religious subjects.[^74] The aims and objectives of the Jamiat , when analyzed, reveal its dual loyalty to Islam and Islamic countries, on the one hand, and to India, on the other.

They also indicate the utmost emphasis on the “ Sharia ”, its preservation and its promulgation which concern the personal lives of Indian Muslims. The country was to be freed from the foreign yoke not only because of the democratic right of a nascent India but because of the religious duty of the Muslims to fight for the freedom of their motherland. The whole program of the Jamiat had to revolve around a single pivot, i.e.

the Sharia, which was unchangeable and which could be correctly understood and interpreted only by the ulema, who considered themselves its custodian and, therefore, the correct leaders of Muslims could come only from them. This rigid and orthodox stand on the part of ulema was bound to create a rift in the communal life of Muslims, who, in the course of time were led to depend more upon the leadership of their western educated intelligentsia.

This rift was sharpened by the communal attitude of the Hindus, who being in an overwhelming majority, were considered by middle class Muslims to be a threatening force to their legitimate rights in an independent India.[^75] Consequently, the Deobandi ulema chose to support the Congress instead of the Muslim League in the political struggle. They disputed the league’s two-nation theory and repeatedly questioned the religious credentials of the League’s leadership, and particularly, Jinnah.