Is Madrasa Reform Possible?
By
Arshad Alam, New Age Islam
10 May 2023
How Do
Reformists Plan To Reconcile Contradictory Worldviews?
Main
Points:
1. It is common
place to argue that madrasas must be reformed, but Muslim reformists fail to
tell us how to go about it
2. Rather than
playing for the gallery, it will be better if they come out with some kind of
blueprint for reforming this institution
3. Reform
should not just entail addition of piecemeal subjects but should be a synthesis
between two very different worldviews
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Representative Photo
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When it
comes to talking about madrasas, Muslim articulation generally takes two
positions. The first comes from the conservative section of the Ulama who argue
that there is no problem with the system and hence there is no need to change
it. They posit that the same system of religious instruction has continued
since the time of the Prophet and hence changing it would amount to going
against the way of the Sunna. The second position is that of the reformists
within Muslims who argue that the present system of Islamic instruction has
become outmoded and hence it should be changed to meet current demands. They
point out that the conservative position is ahistorical as Muslims and Islam
have always evolved with changing times. While the latter position is correct,
it is important to point out that the reformist position itself is not well
thought out.
The
reformist position is a modernist one in the sense that they want the inclusion
of modern subjects into the curriculum of madrasas, a majority of whom are
content to teach purely religious subjects. However, beyond this, the reformist
position does not spell out how this reform can be effectively implemented.
This is because there is no delving deep into the problems of the system. These
are basically feel-good reformists, who think that simply by saying that
science and history should be taught at madrasas, they have solved one of the
biggest problems of Muslim society. But the minute you ask them, how should
this be done, they fall silent. In short, they have nothing worthwhile to add
to the debate except for wishful thinking regarding madrasa reform.
Let us
first interrogate the oft-repeated assertion that one should reform the madrasa
curriculum by adding modern subjects like science, history, etc. The extant
syllabus within madrasas is purely a religious one, after the then Dars e
Nizami was modified in this fashion by Deoband. There are books on Quran,
hadis, fiqh, etc, which takes up all the time of students. How then, one might
ask, will it be possible to add new subjects without overburdening the
students? Do these reformists want students to study all the time? Have they
thought about the psychological and emotional effect it is going to have on
these students?
We must
also understand that the basic postulates of madrasa education and modern
education are fundamentally different. Within a Barelwi madrasa, for example,
children are still made to learn that the sun revolves round the earth and not
vice versa. After all, their ideologue, Ahmad Riza, spent a considerable time
‘proving’ that the heliocentric theory of the known universe was patently false
as it contradicted the Quran. What is being argued here is that the worldview
and assumption about most things are fundamentally different when we talk of
science and religion. Most of our pundits repeat ad nauseam that science should
be taught at madrasas but they have no clue regarding how to integrate the
teaching of science with that of Islam. In a recent documentary produced by a
portal, one learned pundit even claimed that many madrasas were already
teaching science. But of course, if you ask this expert to name some of these
madrasas, he wouldn’t be able to name even one of them. The simple reason is
that there has been no study which can tell us that madrasas are undergoing
this transformation. These self-appointed spokespersons of the Muslim community
have no idea what they are talking about.
Representative Photo
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But let us
for a moment assume that madrasas really want to teach these modern subjects.
The most logical question then should be whether they have the capacity to do
it? Who are the teachers in these institutions? They are recruited on the basis
of their traditional education which they have received in madrasas. How can
they be expected to teach subjects in which they have no competency? Moreover,
most of them are recruited not through any competitive exam but through caste
and familial networks. Educationists the world over have argued that if one
really wishes to change the educational system, then one should first look at
the preparedness of teachers. Without any insult to madrasa teachers, can we
really ask them to do something for which they are not trained in the first
place? But of course, for our reformist Muslims, this seems to be no problem at
all.
What about
government programs like modernization of madrasas which allow madrasas to hire
teachers specifically for the teaching of subjects like science and
mathematics? Certainly, such programs exist. But anyone who has worked on its
implementation will tell you that the program is badly targeted. Broadly, there
are two kinds of madrasas in the country: those run by the state and those run
by the community. The problems that we have so far been discussing does not
relate to government funded madrasas. These state funded madrasas already teach
modern subjects. The problem is that of the community funded madrasas, which
only teach religious subjects. The focus of the madrasa modernization program
should have been these community madrasas but given the lack of Muslim
representation in higher bureaucracy, it looks like no one told them about this
difference between state and community funded madrasas. The result is that most
of the funds have been cornered by state funded madrasas. But what is more worrisome
is this: even the community funded madrasas have utilized these funds to engage
untrained undergraduate teachers to teach science and math. And if one digs
deeper, one will find webs of nepotism, based on family and caste. Ultimately,
it is the poor and overwhelmingly Shudra Muslim students of such madrasas who
suffer the most.
So, the
question of reform is not just philosophical but also practical. Is the madrasa
capable of transforming itself into a place of modern learning? I think it is
not. If Muslims are really interested in their educational advancement, then it
is better that they should start looking beyond this redundant institution. The
only way forward should be reliance on secular private or state institutions
rather than madrasas.
But then
both the reformists and the conservatives will argue that Islamic learning will
be eclipsed in India. This is pure nonsense. Traditional scholars should and
will not disappear but even such scholars should compete minimum years of
secular schooling. What can be done is to institute departments of Islamic
theology in colleges and universities. Islamic scholars should graduate from
such institutions but not before completing 12 years of state schooling. In
this way, they would be able to straddle both the sacred and profane worlds.
And who knows; they might even be able to find a creative solution to combine
these divergent worldviews!
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A
regular contributor to NewAgeIslam.com, Arshad Alam is a writer and researcher
on Islam and Muslims in South Asia.
URL: https://newageislam.com/islamic-society/madrasa-reform-ulema/d/129747
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