Modernisation of madrasas in India
Modernisation of madrasas in India
The madrasa equips a scholar not for simple scholastic interpretation of the Holy Quran and the traditions of the Prophet of Islam but also to cater to the changing needs of the Muslim society.
THE MADRASA system of education and its continuity in India has been a topic for hot discussion since the colonial regime. The relevance of this system has also been debated and discussed at various fora of intellectuals inside and outside the country. With the growing militancy in Kashmir as elsewhere in the country and in the South Asian region as a whole, madrasa system of education has come to the centre-stage of discussions. And this is the point from where the demand for modernisation of madrasa on the Indian soil gets strengthened.
But the sad part of the present times is that the BJP Government has been targeting these madrasas as breeding ground of conservatism and obscurantism. It is further alleged that madrasas create fundamentalist minds; they have also allegedly been places where anti-national elements are being produced. I want to submit that these charges are untenable. In fact they have never been victims to anti-national sentiments. But before we come to that let us have the perspective clear. Here two things are important which have to be kept in mind. First, what is the purpose of madrasa education and second, how have they historically accomplished this task.
The purpose of madrasa is not to produce engineers and doctors or for that matter technocrats but to produce scholars to interpret Islam in relation to the demands of the specific time. For example, what a Muslim scholar needs to know to take Islam to the people was not quite the same in the early Nineteenth century as it is today. In other words, the madrasa equips a scholar not for simple scholastic interpretation of the Holy Quran and the traditions of the Prophet of Islam but to cater to the changing needs of the Muslim society. This brings us to the second issue, which is to see how the madrasas from the days of early colonial rule have been handling this demand.
Vigorous reforms
The charge of mental stagnation levelled against Indian madrasas does not seem to be true if somebody takes pain to go through the dramatic changes that Indian madrasas are ushering in in their curricula now. As a matter of fact, madrasas in India have been undergoing vigorous reforms in the recent decades to enable their graduates to keep pace with the fast changing world and meet the requirements of the community at all stages. Not to speak of small madrasas the well-known Islamic seminary Darul-uloom at Deobund introduced computer application in its curriculum in 1994. Apart from computer, other technical courses have also been given due place in the curriculum of the seminary. Let us look at some of these.
After going through the curricula in vogue in important madrasas like Darul-uloom Deobund, Darul-uloom Nadwat-ul-ulema, Lucknow, Jamiatul-falah, Balaria Gunj, Jamiatul-Islah at Saraimeer and Jamia salafiah at Varanasi, all in Uttar Pradesh, one has to confess that the charges of stagnation and statusquoism against the madrasas in India are baseless and unfounded.
To begin with Darul-uloom Deobund which teaches in the eight years of total duration of study modern disciplines like Modern Indian History, Islamic History, Civics, Geography, General Sciences including some information on Zoology, Botany, principles for health care, some chapters of the Indian Constitution, principles of economics, philosophical theories, life history of modern philosophers and computer applications.
While discussing Darul-uloom Nadwat-ul-ulema at Lucknow, one should not forget that a fair knowledge of the English language has been a special feature of this Islamic seminary. Right from the day one this seminary has adopted English Language and Literature as one of the elementary subjects. In its total 16 years duration of study it lays emphasis on English Language and Literature at par with other Islamic disciplines. From the primary level, it teaches various modern disciplines, especially English, Hindi, Science, Indian History, Economics almost up to the graduation level.
Madrasatul-Ishah, which is the living expression of the dream of Allama Shibli and Allama Hameeduddin Farahi, provides knowledge of modern disciplines. It includes in its curriculum English Language and Literature, history of classical and modern philosophy almost up to the graduation level.
Looking at the present curricula of above important madrasas and other madrasas like Jamiatul-hidaya in Rajasthan which teaches not only the afore-mentioned disciplines but Business Management, Commerce and Agriculture as well, one can easily substantiate that madrasas in India have already been modernising their syllabi for decades. And the most surprising aspect of the modernisation is that Jamia Mohammadia Mansura at Malegaon (Maharashtra) produces medical practitioners, as medical science is one of the distinguishing features of this madrasa. One can say that the pace of modernisation is a bit slow to reckon with, but the process as such cannot be denied.
Apprehensions
Now the question that remains to be answered is that what does the Indian Government mean when it emphasises that madrasas in India need to be modernised. Many circles of Muslim scholars apprehend that in the name of modernisation of madrasas, the government may have been trying to deprive them of their independence and autonomy. If the case were so then certainly it would amount to violation of the fundamental rights provided by the Constitution to every community of the country to run its own seats of learning according to its choice.
Last but not the least, the changes in the madrasas are being brought about not to link them up with the modern system of education or to bring their graduates closer to the government job opportunities; these changes are aimed at ensuring the very existence of madrasas in India.
MUZAFFAR ALAM
Modernisation of madrasas in India
The madrasa equips a scholar not for simple scholastic interpretation of the Holy Quran and the traditions of the Prophet of Islam but also to cater to the changing needs of the Muslim society.
THE MADRASA system of education and its continuity in India has been a topic for hot discussion since the colonial regime. The relevance of this system has also been debated and discussed at various fora of intellectuals inside and outside the country. With the growing militancy in Kashmir as elsewhere in the country and in the South Asian region as a whole, madrasa system of education has come to the centre-stage of discussions. And this is the point from where the demand for modernisation of madrasa on the Indian soil gets strengthened.
But the sad part of the present times is that the BJP Government has been targeting these madrasas as breeding ground of conservatism and obscurantism. It is further alleged that madrasas create fundamentalist minds; they have also allegedly been places where anti-national elements are being produced. I want to submit that these charges are untenable. In fact they have never been victims to anti-national sentiments. But before we come to that let us have the perspective clear. Here two things are important which have to be kept in mind. First, what is the purpose of madrasa education and second, how have they historically accomplished this task.
The purpose of madrasa is not to produce engineers and doctors or for that matter technocrats but to produce scholars to interpret Islam in relation to the demands of the specific time. For example, what a Muslim scholar needs to know to take Islam to the people was not quite the same in the early Nineteenth century as it is today. In other words, the madrasa equips a scholar not for simple scholastic interpretation of the Holy Quran and the traditions of the Prophet of Islam but to cater to the changing needs of the Muslim society. This brings us to the second issue, which is to see how the madrasas from the days of early colonial rule have been handling this demand.
Vigorous reforms
The charge of mental stagnation levelled against Indian madrasas does not seem to be true if somebody takes pain to go through the dramatic changes that Indian madrasas are ushering in in their curricula now. As a matter of fact, madrasas in India have been undergoing vigorous reforms in the recent decades to enable their graduates to keep pace with the fast changing world and meet the requirements of the community at all stages. Not to speak of small madrasas the well-known Islamic seminary Darul-uloom at Deobund introduced computer application in its curriculum in 1994. Apart from computer, other technical courses have also been given due place in the curriculum of the seminary. Let us look at some of these.
After going through the curricula in vogue in important madrasas like Darul-uloom Deobund, Darul-uloom Nadwat-ul-ulema, Lucknow, Jamiatul-falah, Balaria Gunj, Jamiatul-Islah at Saraimeer and Jamia salafiah at Varanasi, all in Uttar Pradesh, one has to confess that the charges of stagnation and statusquoism against the madrasas in India are baseless and unfounded.
To begin with Darul-uloom Deobund which teaches in the eight years of total duration of study modern disciplines like Modern Indian History, Islamic History, Civics, Geography, General Sciences including some information on Zoology, Botany, principles for health care, some chapters of the Indian Constitution, principles of economics, philosophical theories, life history of modern philosophers and computer applications.
While discussing Darul-uloom Nadwat-ul-ulema at Lucknow, one should not forget that a fair knowledge of the English language has been a special feature of this Islamic seminary. Right from the day one this seminary has adopted English Language and Literature as one of the elementary subjects. In its total 16 years duration of study it lays emphasis on English Language and Literature at par with other Islamic disciplines. From the primary level, it teaches various modern disciplines, especially English, Hindi, Science, Indian History, Economics almost up to the graduation level.
Madrasatul-Ishah, which is the living expression of the dream of Allama Shibli and Allama Hameeduddin Farahi, provides knowledge of modern disciplines. It includes in its curriculum English Language and Literature, history of classical and modern philosophy almost up to the graduation level.
Looking at the present curricula of above important madrasas and other madrasas like Jamiatul-hidaya in Rajasthan which teaches not only the afore-mentioned disciplines but Business Management, Commerce and Agriculture as well, one can easily substantiate that madrasas in India have already been modernising their syllabi for decades. And the most surprising aspect of the modernisation is that Jamia Mohammadia Mansura at Malegaon (Maharashtra) produces medical practitioners, as medical science is one of the distinguishing features of this madrasa. One can say that the pace of modernisation is a bit slow to reckon with, but the process as such cannot be denied.
Apprehensions
Now the question that remains to be answered is that what does the Indian Government mean when it emphasises that madrasas in India need to be modernised. Many circles of Muslim scholars apprehend that in the name of modernisation of madrasas, the government may have been trying to deprive them of their independence and autonomy. If the case were so then certainly it would amount to violation of the fundamental rights provided by the Constitution to every community of the country to run its own seats of learning according to its choice.
Last but not the least, the changes in the madrasas are being brought about not to link them up with the modern system of education or to bring their graduates closer to the government job opportunities; these changes are aimed at ensuring the very existence of madrasas in India.
MUZAFFAR ALAM
