Composite Nationalism and Two Nation Theory

Jamiat Ulema-E-Hind and Jamiat Ulema-E-Islam

Abstract

The partition of the Indian subcontinent is the most important incident in the modern South-Asian history. The people had lived together for centuries, despite having different religions, ethnicities, and cultures, but now they were divided, with religion being the cornerstone of this division. All of the major religious identities of the subcontinent, such as Hindus, Muslims, and Sikhs, utilized religion politically. This study deals with the Muslims’ politics, specifically, the Deobandi politics. The Deobandis were divided regarding the partition of the subcontinent after the British. One group, including Maulana Husain Ahmad Madani and Jamiat Ulema-e-Hind (JUH), was against the partition and opposed the Two-Nation Theory of the All-India Muslim League, Iqbal, and Jinnah, and supported the theory of Composite Nationalism of the Indian National Congress. The other group included Maulana Ashraf Ali Thanwi and Maulana Shabbir Ahmad Usmani, while the Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam (JUI) supported the Two-Nation Theory. The focus of this paper is both JUH and JUI, or Composite Nationalism and Two-Nation Theory. To explore exactly what their points of view were and on which religious, political, and practical grounds, JUH was opposing the idea of the separation of the Muslims and the creation of an Islamic state, and JUI was supporting it?