Donot target Madrasas: They are the greatest NGOs in India

The BJP MLA from Indore and Madhya Pradesh cabinet, Usha Thakur made a controversial statement over madrasas by saying, “religion-based education is spreading radicalisation” on 21st October. Thakur is a minister for tourism and culture in Shivraj Singh Chouhan government in Madhya Pradesh and during a press conference yesterday, she said that all terrorists and radicals are raised in madrasas. Here is her full statement, “There should be uniformity in education. Religion-based education is spreading radicalisation, feeling of enmity. Therefore, every student should get same education collectively.” When a reporter said that the madrasas are teaching cultural values, she replied, “If you are a citizen of the country, you will see that all radicals and terrorists are raised in madrasas, they had turned Jammu and Kashmir into a terror factory. The madrasas that are not linked to nationalism and society’s mainstream should be brought into the mainstream education for collective progress of the society. The government should stop giving funds to madrasas. Waqf Board in itself is an able organisation and if someone, in a personal capacity, wishes to impart religious teachings, s/he is free to do so as per our Constitution.” She backed her statement with an example of Assam where recently all state-run madrasas have been converted into regular schools.

Himanta Biswa Sarma, the BJP MLA from Assam and  the state education minister gave the similar reasons for the closing of all government aided madrasas. He told ANI a couple of  weeks back, “In my opinion, teaching of Quran can’t happen at the cost of government money. If we have to do so then we should also teach both the Bible and Bhagavad Gita. So, we want to bring uniformity and stop this practice.” Now here is a bit twist in a story, Sarma didn’t only close madrasas, he also shutdown state-run tols (ashrams teaching Sanskrit and religious scriptures) about which Usha Thakur made no remark in her statement. But interestingly, according to State Madrassa Education Board (SMEB), there are 616 recognised madrasas and only 100 tols, as per Sarma. Isn’t it a big deal to shut 616 madrassas at the expense of 100 tols, is it? Probably, the saffron party didn’t like the idea of spending money on the education system of that minority community whose socio-economic condition is even worse than Schedule Caste, as per the Sachar Committee report.

Now, back to Usha Thakur’s opinion that the students of madrasas picks up gun instead of picking pen, we need to first understand what madrasas actually teaches and from where its’ concept came in society? In general, madrasas teaches the Qur’an, the authentic sayings of the Prophet Muhammad (P.B.U.H), sacred law and other Islamic subjects. In contrary to widespread misperception, madrasas also teaches secular subjects like calculation, grammar, history, poetry, science, medicine, technology and social science. In addition to this, madrasas also organises vocational courses in agriculture and mechanics.

The concept of madrasas originated in the seventh century. The Muslims who wanted to enhance their knowledge about Islam, organised a religious education system, in which they could sit in a circle to listen to a scholar in the mosque. Then after 400 years, rulers and wealthy members of the community started to meet at public and private libraries for the same purpose, these were the early forms of madrasas. By the 11th century, madrassas had permanent buildings, paid staff, resident scholars with living quarters and stipends and  students were given room and education for free. Then by the end of the 12th century, madrasas started flourishing in Damascus, Baghdad, Mosul and other Muslim cities. At that time, thousands of madrasa going people were literate in comparison to Westerners among whom only less than 5% knew how to read and write. But in 19th and 20th century, Christian missionaries and colonial rulers such as the British empire opened schools that were based on Western education and offered courses in English, science and technology. From here, the importance of madrasas started diminishing.

If we specifically talk about India, madrasas first time came to India in Kerala in the seventh century, later moved to Sindh but these were informal madrasas. The more organised madrasas were found with the advent of Delhi Sultanate in 1206 A.D. During the Mughal Emperor, Akbar’s reign in the 16th century, the scholar Fathulla Shirazi introduced the ‘rational sciences’ in the madrasa curriculum that included astronomy, geography, physics and philosophy.

This must be clear by now that madrasas does not only focus on religious but also on modern and scientific teachings. Apart from it, madrasas have also played a pivotal role in modern Indian history so much so that the Madrasa Aliya was granted university status by the West Bengal government in Kolkata. And the well-known social reformer, Raja Ram Mohan Roy has also studied in Madrasa Aliya between 18th-19th century. I really wonder, will Usha Thakur call Mohan Roy a terrorist after knowing this?

Most studies have found this theory of madrasas being labelled as ‘factories for producing Islamic terrorists’ hollow and false as there is no iota of evidence to prove that madrasas radicalise or persuade young Muslim students to indulge in terrorism. In fact, the Muslim terrorists have accepted that they were collegeor university-educated and tech-savvy. Let’s not deny the fact that some terrorists did go to madrasas at some point in their life but based on a few cases, we shouldn’t generalise the whole system. If we really want to go by this logic then we should also label London School of Economics as a terrorist factory because Omar Saeed (convicted of killing Washington Post’s, Daniel Pearl) has studied over there.

Anyway, such negative stereotypes may give publicity for a while but they do not present the ground reality. Imagine a poor village where there is no source of education, at such places madrasas are the only option where parents can send their children for studies. For many orphans and poor families, madrasas provide essential social services like education, food and lodging children who otherwise could find themselves under the grips of forced labour, sex trafficking, organ stealing, and other abuses. Thus, madrasas actually give opportunity rather than a threat to a society.

As per the definition mentioned in Encyclopedia Britannica, Madrasah means “school, in Muslim countries and an institution of higher education. The Madrasah functioned until the 20th century as a theological seminary and law school, with a curriculum centered on the Quran. Arabic grammar and literature, mathematics, logic, and, in some cases, natural science were studied in Madrasah in addition to Islamic theology and law. Tuition was free, and food, lodging, and medical care were provided as well. Instruction usually took place in a courtyard and consisted primarily of memorizing textbooks and the instructor’s lectures. The lecturer issued certificates to his students that constituted permission to repeat his words.”

wealthy families donated funds for the erection of buildings and for stipends to students and lecturers. By the end of the 12th century, Madrasah flourished in Damascus, Baghdad, Mosul, and most other Muslim cities.

As per Wikipedia, “however, in English, the term Madrasah usually refers to the specifically Islamic institutions. A typical Islamic school usually offers two courses of study: a Hifz course teaching memorization of the Qur’an (the person who commits the entire Quran to memory is called a hafiz); and an Alim course leading the candidate to become an accepted scholar in the community. A regular curriculum includes courses in Arabic, Tafsir (Qur’anic interpretation), Shariah (Islamic law), Hadiths (recorded sayings and deeds of Prophet Muhammad),mantiq (logic), and Muslim history. In the Ottoman Empire, during the Early Modern Period, the study of hadiths was introduced by  s.leyman I .

Depending on the educational demands, some Madrasah also offer additional advanced courses in Arabic literature, English and other foreign languages, as well as science and world history. Ottoman Madrasah along with religious teachings also taught “styles of writing, grammary, syntax, poetry, composition, natural sciences, political sciences, and etiquette.”

Putting Madrasah under the scanner is a gross injustice as these Madrasah have contributed to the national cause. Graduates from the Madrasah as well as the founders of some of the leading Muslim seminaries in India played an important role in the struggle against the British. From 1857 to 1947 they never compromised with the British government and always held aloft the torch of freedom. It is now a known history that Madrasah people not only participated enthusiastically in the 1857 revolution but also they led the movements at various places. ReshmiRumalTahrik (Silky Handkerchief Movement) was purely an Ulama-based movement.

Madrasas are the greatest NGOs in the world that promote education among the people. Madrasah and Maktabs offer free education; free board and free books while the government of India yet could not managed to provide children with free education.

(www.siyasat.net is Ahmedabad, Gujarat,India based website)