Darul Uloom Deoband is a Madrasa located in Saharanpur district of Uttar Pradesh, India, established on 30 May 1866. Its centennial conference was held on 21, 22 and 23 March 1980. The conference was inaugurated by Abdallah Ben Abdel Mohsen At-Turki, the representative of the Saudi Arabian king, and included Quran recitation by Abdul Basit 'Abd us-Samad from Egypt, an opening speech by the Madrasa's rector, Qari Muhammad Tayyib, and a speech by the Indian Prime Minister, Indira Gandhi. The conference concluded with a prayer by Qari Muhammad Tayyib and was broadcast live on the All India Radio. A 100 hectares area was prepared for the conference, with the number of participants ranging from 1.5 to 2 million, including 18,000 participants from outside the Indian subcontinent. In this gathering, more than ten thousand Madrasa graduates are awarded with honorary turban. In addition to supporting the Afghan mujahideen, the conference also included several initiatives against the Russian invasion in Afghanistan through the efforts of Minnatullah Rahmani. Alongside the main conference, a special seminar was organized to discuss the responsibilities and curriculum of the madrasa at Darul Hadith.
Background
In 1949, at a meeting in Darul Uloom Deoband, the centennial conference was proposed by Hifzur Rahman Seoharwi and Manzoor Nomani in the lifetime of Hussain Ahmed Madani, the purpose was to send a message to the government about the importance of Darul Uloom Deoband in the aftermath of the Partition of India. Prior to this, such a conference had been held in undivided India in April 1910. Finally, decisions were made at the end of the meeting, and an office was opened for this purpose. However, this conference cannot be organized for various reasons.
In 1975, the centennial celebration of Darul Uloom Deoband's sister institution, Darul Uloom Nadwatul Ulama, was held. As a result of the event, the decisions of the Deoband Conference held on 21, 22, and 23 March 1980, were also widely publicized. The governments of India and Pakistan provided special facilities for participants in the conference through an agreement. The Government of Pakistan arranged a special train from Lahore to Attock, and the Government of India started a special train from Attock to Deoband. Additionally, the Government of India published a commemorative stamp.
Venue
An area of one million square meters is prepared for this conference. The area of the pandal was 6 lakh square feet. The stage is 10 feet high and 150x150 feet wide. There are 400 guests on the stage and 150 journalist chairs on both sides. The gathering place starts from the western rail line and goes to the garden two and a half miles away in the east. GT Road is the northern boundary and Eidgah is the southern boundary. Camps are set up outside for incoming guests. Separate camps are set up for guests from each area, and boards are placed with the names of each area. Hand pumps are installed every three hundred yards for water. The food stalls are located in the north. Three lakh people sit under the shamiana, and the same amount of space is left outside the shamiana as an open field. The camps for those who stay overnight are behind them.
General Session
First session
On 21 March 1980, the first session began at 2:00 pm after Jumma prayer. A running commentary of this first session was broadcast by All India Radio, New Delhi. Khalid of Saudi Arabia, King of Saudi Arabia's special representative, and delegation leader Abdallah Ben Abdel Mohsen At-Turki from Saudi Arabia were the chairman of this inaugural session. Kuwait's Minister of Awqaf Yusuf Al-Hadji inaugurated it. Six representative teams from Saudi Arabia participated in the event. While one representative from the Saudi Arabian government was nominated by King Khalid, the other five representative teams were formed with significant personalities from international organizations and universities, including Saudi Arabia's Crown Prince Fahd who sent a message. Representatives from Jordan's King, Oman's Sultan, Egypt's President Sadat (led by Kuwait's Minister Abdul Al-Munim Al-Namareh), Iraq, Kuwait, Libya, Sri Lanka, and Nepal also participated in the event. A delegation from the Islamic organizations of the United Kingdom and Syed Ehtesham Qazimi from the United States also attended. The first session of this general session was inaugurated by the recitation of Quran by renowned contemporary reciter Abdul Basit 'Abd us-Samad.