Jamiat Ulema e Hind

Jamiat Ulema-I-Hind or (Urdu: ‎,جمعیت علمائے ہند Hindi: जमीयत उलेमा-ए-हिन्द, translation: Organisation of Indian Islamic Scholars) is one of the leading Islamic organisations in India. It was founded in 1919 by Sheikh ul Hind Maulana Mehmood Hasan, Maulana Syed Hussain Ahmad Madani, Maulana Ahmed Saeed Dehlvi, Mufti Kifayatullah Dehlavi, Mufti Muhammad Naeem Ludhianvi, Maulana Ahmad Ali Lahori, Maulana Bashir Ahmad Bhatta, Maulana Syed Gul Badsha, Maulana Hifzur Rehman Seoharvi and Maulana Abdul Bari Firangi Mehli. Madani was elected the first president of the organization, a position he held until his death in 1957.

During the Raj, the Deobandi and Deoband-based organization was against colonialism and for a united India, opposing the formation of a separate homeland for Indian Muslims. Madani's position was that Muslims were unquestionably part of a united India and that Hindu-Muslim unity was necessary for the country's freedom. He worked closely with the Indian National Congress until the Partition of India was carried out. A faction under Shabbir Ahmad Usmani supporting the creation of Pakistan parted ways in 1945 to support the All Indian Muslim League. This faction came to be known as the Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam, and is currently a political party in Pakistan.

The Jamiat has an organisational network which is spread all over India. It also has an Urdu daily Al-Jamiyat. The Jamiat has propounded a theological basis for its nationalistic philosophy. The thesis is that Muslims and non-Muslims have entered upon a mutual contract in India, since independence, to establish a secular state. The Constitution of India represents this contract. This is known in Urdu as a mu'ahadah. Accordingly, as the Muslim community's elected representatives supported and swore allegiance to this mu'ahadah, so it is the duty of Indian Muslims is to keep loyalty to the Constitution. This mu'ahadah is similar to a previous similar contract signed between the Muslims and the Jews in Medina. In 2009, Jamiat Ulema-e-Hind said that Hindus should not be called kafirs (infidels), even though the term only means a "Non-Muslim," because its use may hurt someone.

In 2008, in a surprise incident, Jamiat-Ulema-e-Hind split into two factions. The interim President Maulana Arshad Madani took steps to constitute a new executive council to replace the old one. This triggered the old faction led by Maulana Mahmood Madani to remove Maulana Arshad Madani as interim President by initiating a no-confidence motion against him. Maulana Arshad Madani's group claims that the no-confidence motion is itself null and void, as the executive council in question had already been dissolved and a new council constituted, while the other group claims that the constitution of the new council was without legal basis. Both sides claim that the sequence of events was such that it favours their cause and the two are working for the cause of the country and Community.