Below is the translated letter issued by Darul Uloom Deoband on 8/12/2016, just two days after they issued their first Fatwa on Maulana Saad on 6/12/2016.
The original Urdu letter:
[Translation] The Rujoo of Maulana Muhammad Saad Kandhlawi and the response letter from Darul Uloom
Darul Uloom Deoband was not satisfied with the first Rujoo letter from Maulana Muhammad Saad Saheb. This letter was sent in response to Darul Uloom Deoband’s unanimous stance (Fatwa). Darul Uloom decided to issue their unified stance and informed Maulana Muhammad Saad Saheb through a letter. At first, they did not think it necessary to publish Maulana Saad’s Rujoo letter and their response showing their dissatisfaction. However, since some officials from Nizamuddin have now published a refutation, Darul Uloom must publish this letter. The letter explains why they were not satisfied and clarifies the status of Maulana Saad’s Rujoo.
We are publishing Maulana Muhammad Saad Saheb’s Rujoo writing and Darul Uloom’s letter below. We will share more details later if needed.
Darul Uloom Deoband’s Rejection Letter
Assalamualaykum WRWB,
From: Abu al-Qasim Nomani, Head of Darul Uloom Deoband
To: Maulana Muhammad Saad Saheb, May Allah grant us and you what He loves and is pleased with,
May the peace, mercy, blessings and grace of Allah be upon you. We hope all is well.
After reading your letter, we were initially pleased. Our hope is that if any of us makes a mistake in Allah’s religion or in honoring His chosen personalities due to oversight or error, we should sincerely work to correct it without delay. The beginning of your letter gave this impression, which is valuable. However, this positive impression faded by the end of your letter.
At the end of your letter, you wrote: “Compared to the above matters, due to any negligence or carelessness in speech or lack of considering all wisdoms at the time of statement, the shortcomings in expression have caused some misunderstandings among the responsible persons of your esteemed religious center, me and my companions. I find such misunderstanding very regrettable and considered it non-cooperative with the blessed effort of Da’wa and its Markaz” (in his words).
First, the stance of Darul Uloom Deoband is not based only on your old statements. Recent statements are also part of it. Excluding some parts of a quotation, the rest come from recent times.
Second, your recent statements have encouraged closeness to Madrasas, scholars, and the people of Allah. However, you have not mentioned retracting or refuting the questionable statements.
Third, the last part of your letter clearly shows that you believe this Fatwa of Darul Uloom Deoband (sent with this long letter) comes from mistrust and non-cooperation with Da’wa work and its Markaz. This is completely wrong. Fatwas are not issued based on mistrust. They are issued to explain Sharia.
You should know that in scholarly and Sharia terms, “suspicion and mistrust” refers to judgments made without evidence. When based on evidence, it is not mistrust. This Fatwa and stance of Darul Uloom Deoband is based on your clear statements. So calling it “mistrust” is itself a form of mistrust.
Despite this, since you come from a well-known scholarly and religious family and have a hereditary connection to Da’wah and Tabligh, this fatwa has given you the benefit of doubt. Yet you interpret this as mistrust. The relationship of Darul Uloom Deoband with the Tablighi Jamaat and its cooperation with its educational activities is clear and needs no further explanation.
Furthermore, at the end of your letter under “note”, you wrote that despite your limited knowledge, you will try to send more information and scholarly references regarding the objections to your statements. This shows you still believe your opinions are correct and want to provide arguments for them. To avoid unnecessary lengthy correspondence, we now plan to send the unanimous stance of Darul Uloom Deoband to madrasas, scholars, and serious community members. This will protect this blessed group work from wrong ideas and maintain its usefulness and the trust of true scholars.
[End of Letter]