Maulana Mahmood Madani is the National President of the Jamiat Ulema-e-Hind (JUH), one of the oldest and largest socio-religious organisations of Indian Muslims. He is a strong advocate for justice, communal harmony, and the constitutional rights of minorities. Known for his frank condemnations of terrorism, as well as his unyielding defence of Indian Muslims in the face of rising Islamophobia, Madani represents the continuation of a long legacy of religious scholarship and social activism.
Lineage: Maulana Mahmood’s grandfather, Maulana Syed Hussain Ahmad Madani, was a great scholar of Islamic theology who taught Hadith in Madinah and at Darul Uloom Deoband. He served as the president of the JUH until his death in 1957 and was succeeded by his son, Asad Madani (Maulana Mahmood’s father), who served as president until his passing in 2006.
Jamiat Ulema-e-Hind (JUH) and Composite Nationalism: The JUH was established in 1919 by leading Deoband scholars who famously argued for the concept of composite nationalism—believing that a democratic nation should not be formed on the basis of a single factor (such as religion or ethnicity) but should be pluralistic. Maulana Mahmood has strived to keep this concept alive amid the turmoil of nationalist politics in India.
After graduating from Deoband in 1992, he became actively involved in the JUH, organising national conferences that caused a rapid rise in membership. He served as the General Secretary of JUH from 2001 to 2021, before transitioning to his current executive role as the National President. Following his father’s passing in 2006, a leadership dispute led to an administrative bifurcation of the organization, though Mahmood Madani remains its premier global face.
Legal Battles and Constitutional Defenses: Maulana Madani leads numerous legal battles in various courts across India to secure the constitutional rights of Indian Muslims, covering the Right to Citizenship, the Right to Practise Religious Duties, and defending individuals falsely implicated in terror-related charges.
Advocacy and the Protection of Waqf Rights: In July 2026, Jamiat Ulema-e-Hind made the preservation and legal defense of Waqf institutions a primary focus of its national advocacy. Madani framed the safeguarding of Waqf properties as a collective religious obligation for Indian Muslims. He explicitly called upon custodians (mutawallis) across the country to counter external encroachments by modernizing internal management through enhanced financial transparency, mandatory audits, total digitization of legal records, and robust documentation.
Combatting Islamophobia: Maulana Mahmood Madani continues to support systematic initiatives to counter hatred and religious-based crime against Indian Muslims. The Justice and Empowerment of Minorities (JEM) cell—formerly operating as the Justice and Empowerment Initiative for Indian Muslims (JEIM)—functions under his aegis to record cases of Islamophobia in a systematic, data-driven manner, providing legal advocacy and material assistance to victims. This represents the first such institutional attempt by Indian Muslims to systematically log communal crimes and present verified data to international human rights organisations.
Stance on the Gaza Genocide: Maulana Madani has maintained a firm voice of support for Palestine, consistently criticizing military actions and civilian blockades in Gaza. Madani frames the ongoing conflict as a severe violation of international law and universal human rights, calling upon global state actors to enforce strict accountability and safeguard civilian life.
