History and Background of Dars-e-Nizami Curriculum in South Asia
By Kaniz Fatma, New Age Islam
2 May 2023
Madrasas Should Provide Modern Education In Addition To Dars-e-Nizami
Main Points
1. Dars-e-Nizami is a 350-year-old curriculum used by Madrasas for
Arabic and Islamic studies.
2. Dars-e-Nizami provides students with the knowledge to understand Islamic
texts.
3. Mulla Nizamuddin, founder of Dars-e-Nizami,
was the third son of Mullah Qutbuddin, an expert in theological and rational
sciences.
4. Mulla Nizamuddin Farangi taught, wrote,
compiled, preached, and reformed in "Farangi Mahal" for
the rest of his life, inspiring thousands of teachers, academics, researchers,
writers, preachers, and reformers.
5. The Dars-e-Nizami curriculum had
43 books assigned for 11 disciplines, including 20 books on rational sciences,
14 books on linguistics, and 9 books on purely religious topics.
6. Sectarian disagreements have largely
caused changes in the curriculum between Barelvi and Deobandi Madrasas.
7. Madrasas
should provide modern education in addition to Dars-e-Nizami.
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Dars-e-Nizami is a popular term in
the religious, academic, teaching and educational systems of South Asia. One
must complete this curriculum in order to become an Aalim or Faazil
and wear the Dastar, turban, and Jubba of Aalimiyyat and Fazeelat
courses. Dars-e-Nizami is reputed to provide a comprehensive education
in Arabic and Islamic sciences, including Tafsir, Hadith, Usul-e-Tafsir,
Usul-e-Hadith, Arabic rhetoric and literature. Thousands
of Madrasas and Islamic colleges in South Asia still use this curriculum
as the gold standard today; even though it has been around for 350 years and
frequently only minor changes have been made on the basis of sectarian
affiliation. Throughout these centuries, notable ulama, nobility, and
great thinkers have admired the various branches of this curriculum.
Dars-e-Nizami, to put it simply,
is a unique system of learning that requires students to begin their studies
with a number of books that provide them with the foundational information for
every significant religious science and area of study. This curriculum's
strength is that, upon completion, students acquire the knowledge necessary to
comprehend texts from a wide range of Islamic disciplines, sciences, and
subjects. In particular, if systematic learning is maintained with care, there
is no need to struggle with the problematic classical nature of Arabic.
Formation of Dars-e-Nizami Curriculum
It is recognized that Dars-e-Nizami was named so on
the name of Allama Nizamuddin Muhammad Farangi Mahalli. But in reality,
Mulla Qutbuddin Shaheed, the father of Mulla Nizamuddin, was where this
curriculum got its root. Mulla Shaheed developed a unique teaching strategy. He
used to assign one book from the best collection on each subject, which
encouraged his students to become experts and researchers.
Later, his son Mulla Nizamuddin added more books on every
subject. He used to educate brilliant students with just one book, while he
used to teach common students two books on each subject. Only the books and
topics chosen by Mulla Nizamuddin are referred to as "Dars-e-Nizami"
in the modern period. Before beginning this curriculum, students had to
understand a few fundamentals by the age of 10 or 11. The students used to
complete their degrees under Mulla Nizamuddin's tutelage at the Farangi
Mahal in five or six years. Thus, a typical student began donning the
Fazeelat Dastaar between the ages of 16 and 18.
Introducing the founder of Dars-e-Nizami
Mulla Nizamuddin, the founder of Dars-e-Nizami, was
the third son of Mullah Qutbuddin, an unparalleled scholar of rationality and
textual knowledge of his time. He was the third son of Shaheed Sahalvi. Mulla
Qutbuddin's academic ability and religious services also impressed the King of
India, Aurangzeb Alamgir. Mulla Qutbuddin was once in his native town of
Sahali, while imparting the knowledge of Prophetic knowledge to the students,
when some miscreants attacked him and killed him brutally and set the house on
fire. After this incident, his family migrated from Sahali.
Arrival to Farangi Mahal
The family of Mullah Shaheed received an unoccupied home in
the Lucknow suburb of "Haweli Farangi" from the ruling
class of the time. "Farangi Mahal" is another name for this
residence. Mulla Nizamuddin arrived in the Haweli Farangi at the age of
14 after leaving his home town.
Mulla Nizamuddin got both external and spiritual knowledge of
Islam. He received a fundamental religious upbringing from his father. When he
got to Haweli, he sought out the eminent and knowledgeable scholars
of the time for additional education and read their textbooks. After earning a
degree in theology and logic, he was granted the honour of swearing allegiance
to the hand of the revered saint and great preceptor of the Qadiri Sufi
chain, Syed Abdul Razzaq Banswi (may God have mercy on him). He then explored
additional spiritual knowledge while following the Sufi path.
Farangi Mahal Madrasa
Mulla Nizamuddin Farangi continued to teach, write, compile,
preach, and reform in "Farangi Mahal" for the rest of
his life after completing the sciences and the arts. He introduced and taught
his assigned curriculum here. His teaching was so well accepted that his
disciples began to arise all throughout the Indian subcontinent. The majority
of the South Asian nations were exposed to the knowledge and instruction that Farangi
Mahal provided through him and his students. This one educational
institution in India produced thousands of teachers, academics, researchers,
writers, preachers, and reformers who made significant contributions to
academia throughout history.
The Initial Content of the Dars-e-Nizami Curriculum
Mulla Nizamuddin included about 11 art books in his
curriculum. Since Quran and Hadith are the basis of all religious
requirements, learning the Arabic language is mandatory for them. Hanafi
law predominated in the nation at the time, and Persian served as both the
official language and the court language. In addition to these, the curriculum
also included a wide range of other topics, such as philosophy, wisdom,
mathematics, logic, and theology.
As a result, it was a thorough curriculum that addressed the
national and religious requirements of the day. This curriculum had 43 books
that were assigned to 11 different disciplines. There were 20 books on the
rational sciences, including five books of mathematics, three books of wisdom,
four books of theology, and eight books of logic. Seven of the fourteen
linguistics books dealt with al-Saraf, five with Arabic grammar, and two
with rhetoric. However, out of the nine books that make up Ulum-e-Aaliyya,
or exclusively religious topics, only two books on Fiqh, four books on Usul-e-Fiqh,
two books on Tafsir, and one book on hadith were included.
The curriculum has changed somewhat over the course of
several eras. On the Indian subcontinent, this curriculum is largely the same
in Barelvi and Deobandi Madrasas. The sectarian disagreements
are mostly to blame for any changes that have occurred between the two groups.
Given that several Madrasas have begun to update
their curricula, they intend to provide secular education in addition to the Dars-e-Nizami.
If modern education were to be offered to Madrasa students in addition
to the Dars-e-Nizami, this would be to their great advantage.
-----
Kaniz
Fatma is a classic Islamic scholar and a regular columnist for New Age Islam.
URL: https://newageislam.com/islamic-society/history-dars-nizami-curriculum-south-asia/d/129683
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