Ali Ashraf

Ashraf Ali Thanwi lost his mother at a young age and was raised by his father. His father took great pains in teaching Maulana and his younger brother discipline and good character.

Thanwi went to Darul Uloom Deoband, India for his religious education. He became a student of Haji Imdadullah and considered him his mentor and teacher.

After his graduation, Thanwi taught religious sciences in Kanpur. Over a short period of time, he acquired a reputable position as a religious scholar of Sufism among other subjects. His teaching attracted numerous students, his research and publications became well known in Islamic institutions. During these years, he traveled to various cities and villages, delivering lectures in the hope of reforming people. Printed versions of his lectures and discourses would usually become available shortly after these tours. Until then, few Islamic scholars had had their lectures printed and widely circulated in their own lifetimes. The desire to reform the masses intensified in him during his stay at Kanpur.

Eventually, Thanwi retired from teaching and devoted himself to reestablishing the spiritual centre (khānqāh) of his shaikh in Thāna Bhāwan.

In 1906, Ahmad Raza Khan, issued a fatwa against Thanwi and other Deobandi leaders entitled Husam ul-Haramain (Urdu: Sword of Mecca and Medina‎), decrying them as unbelievers and Satanists. The fatwa was also signed by other scholars including from Hijaz.Till to-date there had been no reply to the fatwa , instead Ashraf Ali himself was satisfied with it. He prayed for Ahmed Raza Khan funeral , called him with honours and when inquired about this fatwa said :"Whatever Ahmed Raza did was out of his love and affection to the prophet Muhammad hence if he had not called me Kafir despite knowing my kufr He would have himself been out of Islam."

The founding scholars of Deoband used to change their name while travelling on train and other transportation because there was threat to their lives due to the fact that most population of the subcontinent did not accepted their interpretation of Islam.

Maulana Ashraf Ali Thanvi was a strong supporter of the Muslim League. He and his pupils gave their entire support to the demand for the creation of Pakistan. During the 1940s, most Deobandi ulama supported the Congress in contrast to the Barelvi who largely and only supported the Muslim league, although Ashraf Ali Thanvi and some other leading Deobandi scholars including Mufti Muhammad Shafi and Shabbir Ahmad Usmani were in favour of the Muslim League. Thanvi resigned from Deoband's management committee due to its pro-Congress stance.