Muslims of India divided between Madrasa and Modern Education System
By S.
Arshad, New Age Islam
21
September 2021
A Modern
Islamic Education System Will Include Basic Islamic Content And Modern Sciences
Important
Points:
1. Students of madrasas have no knowledge of
modern sciences and do not have skills for the job market
2. Modern schools do not provide basic
religious education and leaves room for sectarian influences from outside.
-----
Darul Uloom
Deoband was established in 1866 with the mission of equip Muslims of India with
the knowledge of Quran, Hadith and Fiq’h (Islamic jurisprudence). Aligarh
Muslim University stressed on modern subjects including science and totally
ignored religious sciences.
Sir Syed
Ahmad Khan established Aligarh Muslim University in 1875 to equip Muslims with
the modern education and to cultivate among them a scientific temperament.
On the
other hand, Darul Uloom Deoband stressed on the knowledge of the Quran, Hadith
and Jurisprudence and totally ignored modern subjects including sciences.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
This
started the tradition of two parallel systems of education among the Muslims of
India. One was the madrasa system of education while the other was modern
school system where secular education is imparted.
Over the
decades, the two systems of education became so deeply entrenched in the Muslim
society that not much thought was given on the justification of the existence
of two parallel systems of education in the country.
The majority of the Muslims send their
children to modern secular schools where they acquire knowledge of modern
subjects including sciences. They curriculum of these schools are devoid of religious
sciences and so students of these modern schools do not have even the basic
knowledge of Islam. Whatever knowledge of Islam they get is from Friday sermons
in mosques or from private tutors at home who teach them to read the Quran or
from the local Meelad where the preachers mostly speak on sectarian
issues. They speak less on basic tenets of Islam.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
A minority of parents send their children to
madrasas where they learn Quran, Hadiths and jurisprudence but do not learn
English or computer or sciences. They mostly become Hafiz, or Qari
or a Mufti and can work only in madrasas or mosques as preachers or
teachers. They cannot find jobs in the job market that require skills in
English or computers or knowledge required to compete for government jobs or
for administrative positions in the government.
Though the
graduates of modern schools have advantage because of their modern education as
they are qualified to be doctors, engineers, bureaucrats and professionals and
live a happy and dignified life, they have little knowledge of their religion.
For example, a student of Jamia Millia Islamia who belonged to Mewat in Haryana
once asked me what Karbala was. Another young man who worked in a bank
contested my stand that Karbala was in Iraq. He insisted that Karbala was in
Saudi Arabia. Surprisingly, he said he will ask this with the imam of his local
mosque. The imam told him over the phone that he will tell him after consulting
books. Interestingly, the imam also did not know whether Karbala was in Iraq or
Saudi Arabia. This may sound untrue but I am a witness to this.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
This is the
kind of religious education the general Muslims have. Most of the Muslims have
heard about Karbala and know that Imam Hussain and his family were killed in
Karbala but they do not have much idea about the history and geography of the
tragedy and about the family members. This is because modern schools do not
included any paper on Islamic history or Theology. Only schools running under
Madrasa Board have Islamic History or Theology in their curriculum. This is the
reason, most Muslims have sectarian affiliations on the basis of half-baked
knowledge they acquire from the members of sectarian organizations and
preachers. Muslims who have proper study of Islam and study the Quran and
Hadith due to their own interest in Islam do not subscribe to sectarian ideas
of beliefs. They have a balanced approach towards understanding Islam.
We may
recall the three boys from Kalyan in Maharashtra in India who had fled to Syria
during 2014 to join the jihad with the ISIS. This was because of this confused
education system of Muslims that they have half-baked knowledge of Islam. They
fall prey to extremist religious ideas they form due to the contact with
extremist preachers.
Two
parallel systems of education – Madrasas and modern schools --- may be
supported where Muslims are in minority. Since in a non-Muslim majority
country, the government will not allow teaching of religious subjects in
schools, madrasas can be justified for religious education of Muslims. But in
Muslim majority countries like Pakistan and Bangladesh, the existence of two
parallel systems of education is illogical, even counterproductive because the
madrasa system of education is devoid of modern sciences and the modern schools
are devoid of basic religious education necessary for every Muslim.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
Also
Read: Madrasas: Islamic or Sectarian?
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
In Muslim
majority countries, only one education system should be formed. The educational
institutions should include both modern and religious subjects and the students
should choose their course of study and subjects according to their aim in
life. In such institutions unnecessary
religious subjects that are the part of madrasas for centuries will be left out
and the students will gain only the necessary religious education sans
sectarian literature. Such an education system will be compliant with the needs
and spirit of the modern times and the students coming out of these
institutions will have a balanced knowledge of the religion and a pragmatic
approach towards society.
-----
S.
Arshad is a columnist with NewAgeIslam.com.
URL: https://www.newageislam.com/islamic-society/muslims-india-madrasa-modern-education/d/125405
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