Madrasas Should Maintain Their Prestige and the Curriculum Should Include Modern Sciences
By Maulana Khalid
Saifullah Rahmani
Translated from
Urdu by Ghulam Ghaus Siddiqi, New Age Islam
20 October
2022
Every Madrasa Must
Offer Modern Education Along with the Religious Education
Main
Points:
1.
Madrasas have played a good
role in passing on morals to the next generation and fostering a spirit of
humanitarian service.
2.
Despite this advantage, a drawback
is that some people think the entire Madrasa curriculum is unchangeable;
nevertheless, this is inaccurate.
3.
All Madrasas must offer education
up to the matriculation level.
4.
Even a large number of madrasas have
started requiring their students to take the matriculation and inter
examinations at an open school
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The traditions of
our religious Madrasas are wonderful. They have provided
education to a section of people in this country who were ignored by the people
and the government. Here, the idea of service is infused throughout the
educational process. Despite the fact that education is no longer a service but
trade and its objective is no longer the welfare of humanity but rather merely
to make money, it is these Madrasas that are responsible for passing on
morals to the next generation and fostering a spirit of humanitarian service,
resisting blind greed for accumulating material wealth.
Despite these
advantages, a drawback is that some people think the entire Madrasa curriculum
is unchangeable; nevertheless, this is inaccurate. Naturally, any deviance from
the Quran and Hadith—however slight—is forbidden. Teaching the
exegesis (Tafsir) of the entire Quran and the letter-by-letter reading
of the important collections of Hadith is a very beneficial
practice in India, even if some portions are taught in detail and others only
briefly. The custom of teaching only a few verses from various Surahs of
the Holy Quran and excerpts from a few volumes of Hadith is
insufficient in many countries around the world. However, it is important to
benefit from fresh insights presented in texts taught in other sciences.
The textbooks
used in the religious Madrasas were obviously not written with the
curriculum mentality. But these books were included in the curriculum because
of their value. Back ago, students used to dedicate a lot of time to their
education and finish all of these books. In the modern day, textbooks are
created with the psychology of students in mind. The curriculum is typically
prepared by a team rather than a single person, and the materials are kept
simple and age-appropriate. The use of Illustrations and diagrams aims to make
the subject easier to understand.
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Texts are
periodically illustrated, with exercises and homework given for each subject,
to engage students in education and learning. It is easier for students to
understand the textbooks when a subject is covered in the curriculum over
several years by classifying the quantity that should be covered each year.
This approach complies with the command of the Prophet of Allah (peace and
blessings of Allah be upon him) to "Speak to people according to their
comprehension." How much more beneficial it would be if texts, with the
exception of the Quran, the Hadith, and the founding texts of other
Islamic disciplines and works of literature, were compiled and taught along
similar lines? With this approach, students won't be confused by challenging
words, and their cognitive resources won't be diverted from the core ideas of
the text in order to understand it.
Some books
continue to be relevant today. An excellent example of well-written literature
with precisely chosen language is the jurisprudential treatise "Quduri."
Such books also require a lot of work; for example, sub-headings must be added,
paragraphs must be created in place of continuous text, exercises must be
constructed, and the chapter's new challenges must be simplified at the end.
The original text can be preserved while still being modified in this way to
meet modern needs. It is essential to create a unified curriculum education
committee of madrasas, where outstanding and experienced teachers
continuously assess the texts, to make sure that our curriculum matches the
demands of the present era.
It is essential
that the madrasa education system be divided into departments
and phases. The current system, which requires students to enrol in the primary
class of Darse Nizami and study the Arabic morphology book
"Mizaan al-Sarf," and then complete their Darse Nizami course
by reading the assigned textbooks up to the level of Sahih Bukhari,
is unnatural.
Every student has
a varied aptitude level, and not every work in the community calls for someone
with the same aptitude. In the future, some will have to impart the elementary
Arabic book Noorani Qaida. Some will teach the recitation of the
Quran. Some will teach the subjects of Aalamiyyat and Fazilat.
Some will serve as instructors or teachers of Islamic studies at modern
academic institutions. It is therefore not necessary for them to all have the
same level of skills and expertise. We should separate education into various
programmes and departments, much like modern educational institutions, and
award separate certificates for each grade so that people can conduct service
in line with their ability and become beneficial for the country and community.
Since there is no
such division, many students are required to complete Aalamiyyat and Fazilat-level
coursework. They are forced into teaching after completing the degree, which
has an impact on academic standards. Those who are unsuccessful teachers due to
a lack of skills open Madrasas needlessly. These Madrasas, on
which the community lavishes a great deal of money, serve more as means of
subsistence than as centres of higher education. Therefore, a student's
admission to the subsequent stage should be allowed if he [or she] successfully
completes one department and stage and is qualified to read it.
In the
past, Darul Uloom Deoband had a department called "Daru
al-Sana'i" where graduate and undergraduate students could enrol and
take handicraft classes. The scope of skill education was somewhat limited back
then, but it has significantly increased today for both boys and girls in the
area of vocational courses. Some courses can be taken by people with no formal
education, and they can earn good jobs. Students who lack the time or the
inclination to pursue further theological studies or who are struggling to make
family ends meet can enrol in these programmes after finishing a particular
level of study. They can find a method to support themselves with a decent life
as well as serve the religion as needed. The number of students in Madrasas
was quite low in the past, and it was possible that if these men chose to
pursue other livelihoods, there would be a gap in the provision of religious
services. However, this is no longer the case.
The fact that
certain significant religious Madrasas in India are now advocating for
the incorporation of contemporary education into their institutions is
extremely encouraging. They suggest that all Madrasas must offer
education up to the matriculation level. Even a large number of madrasas have
started requiring their students to take the matriculation and inter
examinations at an open school, and Masha Allah, madrasa students
have done well on these tests.
I wish this
initiative had been launched at least 50 years ago. The world today would be
substantially different, and India would have produced a generation of
intellectuals who could have led people in all sectors of life. I have also
witnessed the incident that led some to denigrate the Islamic scholar Hazrat
Maulana Syed Abul Hasan Ali Nadvi and oppose the integration of
contemporary education into Madrasas.
I've written
similar stuff carefully many times before. But our elders and friends thought
it was a wandering imagination and deluded. A Madrasa circle
once considered such concepts the same way they treated dualism and atheism. As
a result, there is currently a large gap between the younger generation and
the Madrasa scholars. They are unable to express their ideas
clearly to one another.
If we are unable
to understand what others are saying and effectively communicate our stance to
them, consider how we can prevail in this intellectual battle in the face of so
many attacks on Islam. Then, how do we preserve the faith of our younger
generation? As a result, it is crucial to incorporate contemporary sciences
into madrasa curricula while taking into account all
applicable legal requirements, guaranteeing that each madrasa offers
a contemporary education. I'm not advocating that madrasas become
wholly modern institutions, but there should be some minor adjustments to meet
current needs.
The circumstances
are dire. There is a need to move forward carefully and to complete all jobs
with wisdom and courage. However, there is no difficulty that cannot be solved,
and there is no evening that the morning is not meant for.
URL: https://newageislam.com/islamic-society/madrasas-curriculum-modern-sciences/d/128221
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