Maulana Arshad Madani Elected President Of Jamiat Ulema-E-Hind For Seventh Consecutive Term

Maulana Arshad Madani has been elected as the President of Jamiat Ulema-E-Hind (JUH) for the seventh consecutive term in a unanimous decision taken by the organisation’s state units during the meeting of the Working Committee.

After his election, Maulana Arshad Madani expressed deep concerns over the deteriorating state of the administration and law and order in the country as well as other important national and social issues, especially education and the educational backwardness of the community.

According to Fazlur Rahman Qasmi, secretary JUH, “The number of members of Jamiat in the last term was about 15 million while this year there is a strong possibility of increasing this number. The working committee of Jamiat Ulama-i-Hind has announced the membership campaign of this term to be started from today till July 31.”

“Jamiat Ulama-i-Hind has been focusing on the promotion of education from the beginning by establishing of schools and madrassas as well as the provision of scholarships for the poor and needy students pursuing modern and technical education. Following the steps of its forefathers, an amount of Rs.10 million has been allocated for scholarships this year, about 600 students from all over the country have been selected, out of which about 500 students have been given scholarship so far”, he added. 

While addressing the working committee, Maulana Arshad Madani highlighted the need and importance of scholarships and said that with this small effort of JUH, the future of many intelligent and hardworking children can be brightened to some extent. “The kind of religious and ideological confrontation that has just begun across the country cannot be countered by any weapon or technology. The only way to counter this is to equip our new generation with higher education, and enable them to use their knowledge and consciousness to defeat their opponents in this ideological war and reach the milestones of success and prosperity.”

He said that all the post-independence governments had excluded Muslims from the field of education under a set policy. The Sachar Committee said in its report that Muslims are lagging behind Dalits in education. Maulana Madani questioned that whether it happened spontaneously or Muslims deliberately withdrew themselves from education? 

He further said that none of this has happened, but all the governments that have come to power have deliberately pushed the community back in the field of education. “They have realized that if Muslims move forward in the field of education, they will rise to the highest positions with their abilities and talents. Efforts have been made to isolate Muslims from the national mainstream of education through tricks and obstacles.”

Asserting the need for education, Maulana Madani said that Muslims must equip their children with education at any cost, and the young generation will use education as a real weapon for success in their careers. “We urgently need schools and colleges in which our children can get higher education with religious identity in the world without any hindrance or discrimination. Muslims can set up colleges in every city. It is unfortunate that Indian Muslims are not paying attention to what is very important for us at this moment.”

Maulana Madani said that the scope of the Jamiat is wide and it is working successfully on every front, so on the one hand it is establishing schools and madrassas, at the same time, it has started emphasizing the importance of education which provides employment. Employment education means technical and competitive education so that the children can get employment immediately. 

“Jamiat Ulama-i-Hind has been very sensitive about education since independence, so its leaders set up a Board of Religious Education (Deeni Taleemi Board) in 1954 with the main objective of spreading educational awareness among Muslims and establishing schools and madrassas across the country. So what we are seeing is a network of schools and madrassas all over the country is the result of their efforts. But now we have to start a new campaign in this regard. That is why we have decided that Jamiat Ulama-i-Hind will launch an effective nationwide campaign to popularize education among Muslims, and establish educational institutions wherever necessary and make every effort to convince all responsible citizens of the nation”, he said.

Lastly, Maulana Madani said that the current situation of the country has become extremely dangerous for minorities, especially the Muslim minority and Dalits.

“India has been known for centuries for its religious tolerance. Secularism and tolerance are not only the identity of India but also the spirit of its Constitution. In a multi-religious country, no particular religion or ideology can rule. The biggest question before us today is whether the country will run on the basis of a particular ideology or on the basis of nationality or on the principles of secularism?”

Maulana Madani said that this country belongs to all. He appealed to all Muslims to become messengers of love, peace and unity. 

He directed the district and local units of Jamiat to hold the program of reforming the society as a movement to curb the evils prevailing in the society.

In addition to the President, Mufti Syed Masoom Saqib Nazim General Jamiat Ulema-i-Hind, Maulana Habib-ur-Rehman Qasmi, Maulana Syed Asjad Madani, Maulana Ashhad Rashidi, Maulana Mushtaq Anfar, Mufti Ghiasuddin, Maulana Abdullah Nasir, Haji Husn Ahmad Qadri, Haji Salamatullah, also attended the event.