History and Mission of Madrasas in India
By Grace
Mubashir, New Age Islam
3 October
2022
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Most
Importantly, Madrasa Students Should Be Taught That, According To Quran,
Followers Of All Religions Will Be Judged On The Day Of Judgment, In Accordance
With Tenets Of Their Own Faiths And Their Good Or Bad Deeds, And Rewarded Or
Punished Accordingly. That Muslims Alone Will Go To Heaven Is A Lie That
Madrasa Students Need To Be Told Repeatedly In Order To Dispel That False
Notion That Leads To Islam Supremacism. Supremacism Of Any Sort Leads To Strife
And Violence In The World, And We All Should Avoid It.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
As madrasas
are being surveyed for their teaching content, among other administrative
issues, some are being summarily demolished in Assam, either by the government
or people, as centres of terrorism, what the reader would want is to know if
there is any truth in that. Do madrasas teach Islam supremacism, do they accept
other religions, do they teach al wala wal bara or teach coexistence, do they
present Islam as a totalitarian political system or as a spiritual path to
salvation, do they teach exclusivism, with Islam as the only religion whose
followers will go to heaven, why have they stopped teaching Persian books by
Sufi masters, why do they spend so much time teaching students how to
vehemently criticise other sects, do they create graduates who can fit in the
multicultural and multi-religious milieu in which we live or create misfits,
have they adjusted their content to times when Muslims are no longer rulers but
a subservient people across the world for several hundred years now, are they
still teaching books that were written at a time when Muslims ruled half the
world and expected to conquer the whole world. And so on. Many questions about
madrasas that are bothering Muslims and non-Muslims alike.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Do we know
which madrasa chain like Deobandi, Barelvi, Sufi, Ahl e Hadees, Jamaat e
Islami, teaches what books?
This is a
good time to think through all these questions and many more about our
madrasas. All Indians, indeed the world wants to know what is going on in
madrasas.
Madrasas are supposed to be centres of
knowledge that ensure access to knowledge at all levels of the social
hierarchy. They are the culminations of culture and training that mould
generations of sanity, discernment and purposefulness to participate in the
spheres of community formation and nation building. The madrasa curriculum,
which teaches to know God as the Lord of the Universe and to recognize man as a
co-creator, helps to overcome the limitations of work-oriented secular
education. It is claimed, madrasa education is creating generations that have
overcome the prestige emptiness of mere materialism with a definite sense of
purpose in life.
Despite its
limitations, madrasa authorities’ claim, those fortunate enough to have a
madrasa education are rich in spiritual inculcation. These cognitive
motivations have played a significant role in enabling this large minority in
India to survive the fires of crises. The greatest feature of madrasas is that
the habits of justice, tolerance and love, in stark contrast to the sects which
fill the land with the poison of hatred and training in the use of sharp
weapons.
Historical
Routes
Madrasa
systems in the Muslim community were not formed in the context of any
historical event or emergency situation. This practice was not initiated by
governments, nor was it sustained under their patronage alone. It is an
essential mechanism for acquiring knowledge which is one of the fundamental
pillars of Islamic life. Madrasas can be described as a great mission that has
existed naturally within the Muslim community since the beginning of Islam and
has continued uninterrupted throughout the decades and lands of history.
Dar
al-Arqam, the place
of study and consultation in Makka where the Prophet Muhammad started his
Islamic teaching, the knowledge audience in the Prophet's mosque built in
Madinah where he fled, the Ashabussuffa on its slope, and the knowledge
platforms of the Prophet's disciples who settled in different countries can be
considered as the first forms of madrasa systems.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Maktabs,
established for elementary Islamic learning, and the large education systems
that emerged in mosques in Muslim centres including Mecca, Medina, and Cairo,
were various expressions of the madrasa system. In Faz, Morocco, historical
records show that the first systematic madrasa was established in 859. Madrasa
of various schools in India have evolved over time by taking basic models from
all these.
Madrasa is
a word that means 'school'. The concept of the word ‘Dars’ is teaching.
In the Muslim world, madrasa was generally used to refer to institutions of
higher learning at the college level. 'Madrasa Aliya' in Calcutta reflect this
concept!
The madrasa
system in India is thirteen centuries old. With the growth of Islam in the 7th
century, the first 'Maktabs' were established in Malabar, South India. Maktabs
were the primary institutions of religious learning. It was started by Islamic
preachers, Muslim traders and others. In later centuries, madrasas were started
at the initiative of learned preachers, Sufis and administrators from other
parts of India. During the Arab Muslim rulers who ruled Sindh in the 8th-10th
centuries, Madrasas began to take formal forms. As markers of Islamic culture
and civilization, madrasas were springing up in key areas.
The madrasa
system of education began to develop in a big way in the 13th century with the
establishment of the Delhi Sultanate. With the formation of various provinces,
madrasa chains were started. One of the earliest important madrasas in India
was established in 1192 at Ajmer. During the Mughal rule (1526-1857) madrasas
became widespread and institutionalized. It was a common practice of Muslim
rulers to build mosques and religious educational institutions in the areas
under their jurisdiction. Many of these later grew into large Madrasas. Some
historians have recorded that there were 1000 madrasas in Delhi alone during
the Tughlaq period.
During
Akbar's time, madrasas included more science subjects. In the late fifteenth
century, the Iranian scholar Mir Fathullah Shirazi, a member of Akbar's court,
introduced works on astronomy, mathematics, medicine, natural science, and
polemics to scholars and incorporated them into the madrasa curriculum.
Such formal
Maktabs and Madrasas were the primary system of Islamic education in India. The
second is the Deen classes (religious sermons) and lectures held by many Muslim
scholars in their homes or local mosques. These can be described as informal
madrasas. Rooms can be found on two sides of the magnificent and spacious
mosques that were erected in major cities during the Muslim rule in India. Abul
Hasan Ali Nadvi has observed that this is a sign of their utilization as
centres of education, including Madrasas (Hindustan Ki Khadeem Islami Dargayem,
Maktabe Maarif, Azamgarh, 1971, p. 15). Manalir Ahsan Geelani has observed that
such madrasas were the prevailing system of education during Muslim rule
(Hindustan me Musalman ka Nizame Taalim wa Tarbiyyah, Nadwatul Muswannifeen,
Delhi- 1944, 1/13-15).
The third
was Gurukula Vidyalayas, run by private individuals known as Muallim and
Mu'addib. There were many religious scholars who enthusiastically took it upon
themselves to impart Islamic education to generations in their homes or
mosques. Many of them did this voluntarily and without getting paid. Those who
had other occupations as a way of life devoted their free time to religious
teaching. Many of them did this without getting paid. Those who had other
occupations as a way of life devoted their free time to religious teaching.
Many of them did this without getting paid. Those who had other occupations as
a way of life devoted their free time to religious teaching.
Eminent
thinker and educationalist Shibli Nomani's observation is noteworthy: “Once
upon a time colleges were formed by focusing on individuals and marking them
with their names. Where a scholar was, many students and seekers of knowledge
would come and surround him. They took advantage of his day and night classes.
Even his normal speech, movement and mannerisms were perceived as 'silent
lecturing'. Gradually, there is an increase in the number of teachers and
students. It forms a college and a Jamia (University).
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Today
individuals can address colleges and universities. However, at that time
students were known for being disciples of learned personalities. Colleges and
universities today are mainly located in small or large towns. But at that time
lively colleges functioned not only in the cities, but also in the villages and
even in the huts. The Muslim rulers had prepared a system of education for the
lower castes and captives who lived as servants and servants in houses and
other places. During the reign of Firoz Shah Tughlaq (1309-1388), thousands of
such people were educated at the expense of the government. Not only
traditional knowledge, They practiced handicrafts and mechanical work (Tariqe
Firuz Shahi 339-340). Ghiyasuddin Muhammad Khilji, a prominent slave dynasty
leader, instituted an extensive system of education for women belonging to the
lower classes (Tariqe Farishta 2/ 255). It was a gradual development of all
this later.
During the
dark centuries of caste discrimination, Muslim scholars indiscriminately
popularized knowledge through schools operating in cities, villages and even
slums, in a social environment where knowledge was forbidden to a large number
of people. On the one hand, religious judgments arose to 'melt lead into the
ears of a Shudra who listens to the Vedas', while on the other hand, Islam
extended the study of the Vedas to all mankind.
The rich,
the common man and the so-called different castes studied together in the same
madrasa and witnessed the practical beauty of equality. The political relevance
of madrasas that have crossed such boundaries should be measured in a time when
casteism is forbidden to gather together in public mosques and even to walk in
public streets. At that level, the impact of the madrasa system on the Indian
social fabric remains to be studied.
Prominent
Madrasas
There are
madrasas in India that function according to the syllabus prepared by different
Muslim sects based on their ideals. Schools such as Barelvi, Ahle Hadith,
Deobandi, Tabligh Jamaat, and Sufi all run many Madrasas, large and small.
Darul Uloom Nadwatul Ulama of Lucknow, supported by the Ash'ari-Hanafi Sarani,
is a high-level mahad college of the madrasa system, with many features.
The lion's
share of madrasas in India are located in Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Madhya Pradesh,
Chhattisgarh, Bengal and Assam. Madrasas are also functioning in South Indian
states, though not as extensive. There are many important madrasahs in India
starting with madrasa Rahimiya Delhi, Jamia Naimiyyah Muradabad, Jamia
Amjadiyya Rizviyyah, Al Jamiatul Islamiyya Mau- UP, Aljamiaatussalafiyyah
Surat, Aljamiaatussalafiyyah Varanasi, Aljamiatul Ashrafiyyah Mubarakpur.
Many of these, which started as primary madrasas and so on, are now
universities with thousands of students.
Uttar
Pradesh has more madrasas. India's largest Madrasa system, Deoband Darul Uloom,
founded by Mohammad Qasim Nanautavi, is also located in UP. An unofficial
estimate is that there are more than 20,000 Deobandi Madrasas operating under
the Jamiat Ulemaye Hind. The Deoband movement was the epitome of a movement that
had a decisive impact not only on madrasa education but also on the history of
India itself. Moreover, the madrasa movement was the foremost fighters of the
Indian freedom struggle. The history of madrasas, which played a leading role
in the anti-British struggles, including in 1857, and the hostile attitude
adopted by the British against madrasas for that very reason, should be
remembered in present-day India.
Educational
System
While
acknowledging that madrasas, not just religious schools , have various
limitations, especially in northern states, three important points need to be
understood. First, madrasas generally have extensive academic systems that
range from elementary religious studies to higher-level research studies. Its
nature may be different in different currents. Second, madrasas are not schools
limited to liturgical legal subjects, which can be described as mere religious
studies. Subjects like Language, Mathematics, Medicine, Science, Vocational and
Computer Science are also taught in madrasas in different ways along with
religious and ritual rules. India's oldest and largest Darul Uloom Deoband has
degree courses in medicine.
Barring some southern states, madrasas are
generally a parallel education system to public schools and colleges in India.
Although madrasas do not cover all the subjects and examinations taught in
schools and colleges as per the government curriculum, many of the language and
science subjects mentioned earlier are part of the madrasa syllabus. There are
many madrasas that teach religious subjects as well as all the subjects of the
school syllabus. These madrasas are the true educational institutions in
thousands of villages of North India, imparting education from literacy to
graduation to lakhs of children. In many places madrasas are comparable to
government schools. It should also be noted that various state governments are
giving recognition to such courses and equivalency certificates to those who
pass them. Graduates from such colleges get admission to PG in other
universities. Thousands of madrasas in India are also government-recognised.
This is changing now. The financial cost of private education and the poor
quality of government schools have drawn many to Madrasas. The disappearance of
these madrasas, which provide free education to hundreds of thousands of poor
children, does not mean that mere religious education will disappear, but that
a section of the population will be denied education.
The third
is very important: students in madrasas, the public educational institutions of
North India, particularly West Bengal, are not exclusively Muslim. People of
other faiths have also studied in madrasas and continue to do so. Raja Ram
Mohan Roy, who is described as the teacher of Hindu revival, former Indian President
Dr. Rajendra Prasad, Hindi writer Munshi Premchand and others were also
products of madrasas. Raja Ram Mohan Roy studied at a madrasa in Patna then in
Madrasa Aaliya in Calcutta. He had a background in Sanskrit and Hinduism and
was also knowledgeable in Persian and Arabic languages. If their names were
recorded in this way because they were prominent personalities, then it is
natural that many non-prominent brother community members were students in
madrasas.
Present
Scenario
Even today,
members of the fraternal community are being educated in some madrasas in North
India. There were earlier reports that non-Muslim students were studying in
three madrasas in Chandigarh. The parents of those students explained that they
get admission here because they get school-like education in the madrasas
operating near their homes in their area. There were reports of children from
Hindu families studying in madrasas in Uttar Pradesh and West Bengal. Al
Jazeera previously reported that 60 percent of the 1,400 students in a Madrasa
in West Bengal were non-Muslims. Also read that out of the thirty-two teachers
there, eleven were non-Muslims. At one stage, the non-Muslim representation in
madrasas in the state was up to fifteen percent! Also relevant is the
observation that non-Muslim participation in madrasas provides an opportunity
to know and experience each other among religious groups and imparts lessons of
social coexistence at the practical level.
But timely
changes are needed in madrasa education system. New secular subjects and
concept of indigenous Islam should be added to the educational system. Along
with it, the patterns should be streamlined with current pace of the country.
Most importantly, madrasa students
should be taught that, according to Quran, followers of all religions will be
judged on the Day of Judgment, in accordance with tenets of their own faiths
and their good or bad deeds, and rewarded or punished accordingly. That Muslims
alone will go to heaven is a lie that madrasa students need to be told
repeatedly in order to dispel that false notion that leads to Islam
supremacism. Supremacism of any sort leads to strife and violence in the world,
and we all should avoid it.
-----
A
regular columnist for NewAgeIslam.com, Mubashir V.P is a PhD scholar in Islamic
Studies at Jamia Millia Islamia and freelance journalist.
URL: https://newageislam.com/islamic-society/history-mission-madrasas-india/d/128091
New Age Islam, Islam Online, Islamic
Website, African
Muslim News, Arab World
News, South Asia
News, Indian Muslim
News, World Muslim
News, Women in
Islam, Islamic
Feminism, Arab Women, Women In Arab, Islamophobia
in America, Muslim Women
in West, Islam Women
and Feminism