Al-Jamia-tus-Salafiah (), commonly known as Jamia Salafia and also as Markazi Darul-Uloom, is an Ahl-i Hadith Islamic seminary in Varanasi, Uttar Pradesh, India. Its foundation stone was laid in 1963 under the All India Ahle Hadith Conference, and regular teaching began in 1966. Alongside religious education it runs schools following government and CBSE syllabuses, a study centre of Maulana Azad National Urdu University, and a publishing department.
It has been described as the largest Salafi–Ahl-i Hadith institution in India. The seminary is funded largely through donations from within India, and many of its teachers are graduates of Islamic universities in Saudi Arabia.
History
Background
The idea of a central seminary for the Ahl-i Hadith community in India dates back to the founding of the Markazi Jamiat Ahle Hadith in 1906. The proposal gained momentum after Indian independence in 1947, and the final resolution to establish the seminary was passed at a conference of the Markazi Jamiat Ahle Hadees held at Naugarh, Uttar Pradesh.
Foundation
Residents of the Madanpura locality of Varanasi donated about of land for the seminary, and Muslims from other parts of India contributed towards its establishment. The foundation ceremony was held on 29 November 1963, when the Saudi Arabian ambassador to India, Yusuf bin Abdullah Al-Fauzan, laid the foundation stone on the instructions of King Saud bin Abdulaziz. Construction continued over the following three years, during which the classrooms needed to begin teaching were completed.
Inauguration
The seminary was inaugurated in 1966 by Abdul Qadir Shaibatul Hamd, representing Abd al-Aziz ibn Baz, then vice-chancellor of the Islamic University of Madinah, after which regular teaching began. It was originally named Al-Jamia-tul-Markaziah and later became known as Markazi Darul-Uloom.
Later developments
New departments have been added over the years, including separate colleges for boys and girls offering both religious and modern education. Graduates have gone on to further study at universities in India, Saudi Arabia and other Arab countries, and some have entered government service or work in education and research.
In the 2015–16 academic session, the Hifz and Mutawassita departments were moved to a new building near the main campus, freeing space for older students. As of 2020, a four-storey building was being built on a plot to ease a shortage of student accommodation.
Campus
The main campus is in the Reori Talab area of Varanasi, on the land donated by residents of Madanpura.
The seminary's mosque is a large building noted for its architecture, with a basement used for examinations and other events. The campus also has an assembly hall where cultural programmes and training sessions are held every fortnight, and a computer institute where students can learn computing.
Central Library
The central library moved into its present building in July 2001. The two-storey building, of about 470 square metres, stands in the south-western corner of the campus. The collection numbers more than 60,000 volumes in Arabic, Urdu, English, Hindi and Persian, and around 3,000 books are added each year. The library receives over a hundred Indian and foreign journals, magazines and newspapers, which are bound and kept at the end of each year, and has between 250 and 300 users a day, including scholars from other Islamic and government universities.
The collection has grown partly through donations. The personal libraries of the writer Abdul Majid Hariri of Madanpura and of Abul Qasim, known as Saif Banarsi, of Daranagar were merged into it, and further collections were given by individuals in Ghazipur, Jairajpur, Moradabad, Kanpur and Kolkata. Former students studying at universities in Saudi Arabia helped acquire books published there that were not available in India.
Catalogue records for more than 30,000 books have been computerised. The library has 20 computers for students and scholars, with the Al-Maktaba al-Shamela digital library installed. A separate library run by the students' association holds about 6,000 books.
Academics
Teaching runs from primary to college level, with boys and girls taught in separate units. Religious education is combined with selected modern subjects.
Boys' education
Mutawassita – three years, equivalent to junior high school Sanavia – two years, equivalent to high school Shariat College – see below Faculty of the Teaching of the Quran – see below Al-Manar Boys' School – modern education, see below Rahmania Boys' School – primary to junior high school
Al-Manar Boys' School was opened in April 2004 to give students a modern education alongside religious teaching. It follows the CBSE syllabus for classes 6 to 10, with some religious subjects added, and the institution has sought government recognition for it.
Shariat College
Shariat College teaches four stages: Alemiat (two years, equivalent to Intermediate); Fazilat (three years, equivalent to a bachelor's degree); a two-year specialisation stage equivalent to postgraduate study; and a two-year Education and Training course equivalent to a B.Ed.
Faculty of the Teaching of the Quran
The faculty has a department of Hifz (memorisation of the Quran) and departments of Tajwid, teaching recitation according to the narration of Hafs and according to what the institution calls the "seven golden principles of recitation".
Girls' education
Rahmania Girls' School – nursery (three years), primary (five years) and high school (five years), following a government-equivalent modern syllabus with some religious subjects. Religious studies department – Mutawassita, Sanavia and Alemiat for girls. Its first students graduated in 2007. Ummahatul Momineen Girls' Inter College – education up to Intermediate level on the Uttar Pradesh government syllabus, with some religious education.
Distance education
The seminary hosts a study centre of Maulana Azad National Urdu University, through which students can take B.A., B.Com. and M.A. degrees, and diplomas in English, food and nutrition, and mass communication, by distance learning.
Affiliated institutions
Because the campus is too small to accommodate all prospective students, more than 27 madrasas elsewhere have been affiliated with the seminary.
Research, publications and fatwa
The seminary has a department for research, compilation and translation, which has issued more than 400 books in Arabic, Urdu, Hindi and English, distributed in India and abroad. By the count of its publishing arm, Maktaba Salafia, more than 421 titles have been printed, some running to as many as nine volumes; the department also sells books and stationery to students at low prices.
The seminary runs Salafia Press, which publishes two magazines: Mohaddis in Urdu and Sautul Ummah in Arabic. It also has a permanent department of ifta, which issues fatwas in reply to letters on questions of Islamic law sent from across India.
Outreach
The seminary sends scholars and preachers to urban and rural areas as part of its outreach work.
See also
Ahl-i Hadith Salafi movement Islamic University of Madinah
References
External links