Saharanpur (UP): Afghan Foreign Minister Amir Khan Muttaqi on Saturday expressed confidence that the India-Afghanistan ties will grow stronger in the future as he visited Darul Uloom Deoband in Saharanpur, one of the most influential Islamic seminaries in South Asia.
A raging controversy over the absence of women journalists from his presser in New Delhi a day earlier, which sparked sharp criticism from opposition parties and media bodies, followed the Afghan minister for the second day, but the seminary maintained that there were no restrictions from any side on women journalists covering its events on Saturday.
“I am thankful for such a grand welcome and the affection shown by the people here. I hope that India-Afghanistan ties advance further,” the Afghan leader told reporters as he was greeted by Mohtamim (vice-chancellor) of Darul Uloom Deoband Abul Qasim Nomani, president of Jamiat Ulama-e-Hind Maulana Arshad Madani, and officials of the seminary, amid a floral shower.
Speaking about his visit, Muttaqi emphasized the long-standing spiritual and cultural ties between Afghanistan and Deoband. “Deoband is a big centre for the Islamic world… and Afghanistan and Deoband are connected. We want our spiritual students to come and study here too,” he said on Friday, ahead of the visit.
He also highlighted that Afghan students often come to India for both religious and modern education, adding that institutions like Deoband have a historical relationship with Afghanistan’s Islamic learning traditions.
Founded in the late 1800s in the town of Deoband, Saharanpur, by Sayyid Muhammad Abid, Fazlur Rahman Usmai, Mahtab Ali Deobandi and others, Darul Uloom Deoband has long been regarded as one of the world’s most influential Islamic seminaries.
The foundation of its current campus was laid by Muhammad Qasim Nanautawi, and the institution primarily focuses on manqulat — Islamic studies based on classical texts and traditions derived from the Quran and Hadith.
According to the seminary’s website, it remains “the largest institution for the dissemination and propagation of Islam” in the subcontinent and continues to serve as a leading academic and spiritual hub for Islamic scholars across the world.
The Deobandi school of thought holds deep influence across South Asia, particularly in Afghanistan and Pakistan. Many senior Taliban figures studied at Darul Uloom Haqqania in Pakistan’s Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province — an institution modelled after Darul Uloom Deoband.
Its founder, Maulana Abdul Haq, had studied and taught in Deoband before Partition, while his son Sami-ul-Haq, often called the “Father of the Taliban,” played a crucial role in nurturing many of the group’s leaders and commanders.
During his media interaction on Friday, Muttaqi reiterated this shared heritage, noting that Deoband has “a long history with Afghanistan.” He said, “Just as our students come to India for engineering and science, they also come here for religious studies.”
