Ahsan Abulfazal’s Reviews > Mawdudi and the Making of Islamic Revivalism > Status Update

Mawdudi received his ijazahs (certificates to teach religious sci- ences) from the seminary in 1926 (1344 A.H.). He thus became a Deobandi 'alim and a member of the sodality associated with that school. In one ijazah, Kandihlawi has included Mawdudi in the chain of illustrious scholars of Islam extending back from the Deobandi ulama of the Fatihpuri seminary to Khalil Ahmad Ambahtawi (the sarparast [overseer] of the Deobandi Mazahiru'l-'Ulum Madrasah at Saharanpur and a great Deobandi 'alim of the turn of the century), to Mawlana Muhammad Mazhar Nanautawi (one of the Deoband daru'l-'ulum's most famous teachers of hadith and former principal of the school), to Shah Abdu'l-'Aziz and Shah Waliu'llah of Delhi, and finally, to Imam Malik ibn Anas (716-795) (the founder of the Maliki school of Sunni law)

Mawdudi never publicized his Deobandi training or his ties to the ulama. It was not until after his death that his ijazahs were discovered and references to them began to appear in the Jama'at-i Islami's literature.