Deoband Mushaira Controversy: Bareilvi Sect Accuses Deobandis Of Hypocrisy
Darul Uloom Deoband says
the Mushaira was not organised by it.
Main Points
1. A poetess is seen
surrounded by boys and men in beards and skull caps.
2. The boys behave in a vulgar
and unruly manner.
3. Mushaira was
held in Mahmood Hall of Deoband.
4. Deoband said it was
conducting an investigation into the incident.
New Age Islam Staff
Writer
10 November 2023
On the 28th of October,
2023, Saudi Arabia kicked off Season 4 of the sports and entertainment series
and a controversy amid the death and destruction in Palestine. The entire
Islamic world had criticised the kingdom and its prince Mohammad Bin Salman for
ignoring the pain and agony of the Palestinians. Ten days after the launch of the
event, a Mushaira in Deoband has kicked off another controversy. The Mushaira
(poetry reciting session) was held on November 2, 2023, in the Mahmood Hall of
Deoband. It was patronised by Saleem Ahmad Saleem and presided over by Sadaqat
Deobandi. A host of poets and poetesses participated in the Mushaira.
The controversy arose because of the vulgar and unruly reaction and gestures of
the audience which mostly comprised boys in Islamic dress with beards and
skullcaps. The poetess was surrounded by madrasa students who recited rather a
romantic ghazal. A video of the Mushaira went viral and kicked off a
controversy. The opposite sect exploited the video to accuse the Deobandi sect
of hypocrisy. It said that the Deobandis oppose Milad which is in praise of the
prophet Pbuh but organise Mushairas in which a poetess is invited
without purdah to recite vulgar ghazals.
The Darul Uloom was quick
to give a clarification. Its head Maulana Abul Qasim Nomani said that the Darul
Uloom had nothing to do with the Mushaira. The Hall is named after
Maulana Mahmoodul Hasan but it is managed by a trust. The Mushaira was
organised by politicians of Deoband. The students of Darul Uloom were not
present in the Mushaira and an inquiry has been initiated. If students
of Darul Uloom are found involved, strict disciplinary action will be taken
against them. Another mufti associated with the Deoband sect argued that no
madrasa student was present in the Mushaira. In Deoband, all the people
wear Islamic dress and skullcaps, it appears that madrasa students were
present.
Maulana Sajjad Nomani
expresses his disgust over the incident. He says that the incident was
unfortunate. It is obvious that madrasa students and not college students were
present. He observed that over the years the moral character of madrasa
students has gone down and it requires serious reflection and thought on the
part of madrasa authorities and teachers. They should pay more attention to the
character building of students than to getting more students.
Critics also criticised
the timing of the Mushaira which was in honour of the poet Zia Baghpati.
In the Mushaira, no word was said on the massacre of Palestinians and
the audience had no consideration of the children and women of Gaza who were
killed on a daily basis. By organising a Mushaira at this juncture when
the videos of dead bodies of children and attacks on hospitals by Israel are
pouring in on social media. The madrasa students who are supposedly more
religious were expected to show discipline and restraint while listening to the
poetry of the poetess. It has been witnessed off late that nowadays madrasa
students show a greater interest in Mushairas and people in skullcaps
and beards are present in Mushairas in greater numbers. The reason as
given by Maulana Sajjad Nomani is that the boys of remote villages study in
madrasa and whenever they get an opportunity to attend such substandard
programmes, their pent-up emotions get boiled over. They are not interested in
literature or poetry. They flock to a Mushaira to see and listen to
women reciting romantic poetry.
It is a tragedy, or the
lack of feeling of Muslims at a time when the people of the Muslim World have
shown solidarity with the people of children. The Canadian poet Rupi Kaur
declined an invitation by the US government to join Diwali celebrations to be
held at the White House in protest against the US support to Israel on the
ethnic cleansing of Palestinians. Millions of Christians and Jews of the
Western world have come out in protest against the massacre of Gazans,
particularly children. Many Israeli teenagers have preferred going to jail as
punishment for not joining compulsory military training to getting involved in
the ethnic cleansing of Palestinians.
In India, Muslims are
organising Mushairas and other entertainment events. Pakistan has also
planned a mega Diwali event. Saudi Arabia hosted Shakira's song and dance on a
night when more than two hundred people including children were massacred in
Gaza. A community that has cut itself off from arts and literature shows
interest in Mushairas where fake poets recite cheap romantic poetry,
that too, in times when their brethren are massacred and left to die without
food, water and medicine. Our madrasas should reflect on what kind of scholars they
are raising.
…
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