Hello, this is Owen Bennett Jones, and you're listening to the BBC World Service.

Over the next two weeks, we'll be exploring one of the most influential, but least talked about, branches of Islam in the world.

Ever since 9-11 there's been much talk of Saudi Arabia's Wahhabi doctrine inspiring

violent outrages. But there are other sources of violent jihadism.

Go to South Asia and its Diabandi Islam

which provides the spiritual justification

for the violent jihadism of the Taliban and numerous sectarian groups in Pakistan.

At the same time, the Diabandis have spawned a peaceful missionary movement with millions of followers around the world.

Over the next two weeks we'll be exploring Diobandi Islam in its many forms.

And to begin, we head to India where it all began.

I'm now in the town of Deoband.

It's about 150 kilometers north of Delhi.

More particularly, this is the Darrahalum-Dirband.

It is the world headquarters, in a sense, of the Deobandy movement.

There are people all over the world, look this mosque this madrasa and that's what this is it's an Islamic seminary

as the heart of their religious belief and it's a fascinating place to be because deobandism is associated with the Taliban

with violence and I had this impression that you know it would be very strict very conservative very harsh very austere but the

atmosphere is really not like that it's much more relaxed than any madraser

I've ever been to in my life to my right there's a courtyard and on it there are young men playing

volleyball, three or four volleyball courts there and I'm moving now as I come in here through

the courtyards. Thousands of people are here and they're all gathering around and ahead of us, the mosque.

It's lit up, it's just evening now, dusk, and there are yellow lights shining on the white marble there and many of the students holding

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