Headlines
Why NaMo must bite the bullet on madrasa reforms
By
By M. Rajaque Rahman The Maharashtra government's decision to tag students of traditional
madrasas as 'out-of-school' has put madrasa reforms back on the national
discourse. The issue is important not just for the Muslim community but
for the nation. Someone must push it through in national interest.
And
nobody seems more primed for the role than Prime Minister Narendra
Modi. It suits him as well. He can simultaneously play to the
nationalist gallery and also do something significant to alter the lot
of the Muslim community. A well-meaning madrasa reform agenda could be
the best advertisement for 'Sab ka Sath, Sab ka Vikas'.
Reliance
on madrasa education is often blamed for the backwardness of the
community. But the truth is that many Muslim children go to madrasas out
of compulsion. If it were not for these madrasas run by religious
charities, these children would never get any 'education'. From that
perspective, the argument that madrasas shield Muslim children from
formal education is also seriously flawed.
The Sachar Committee
Report indicated a desire within the community to shift to modern
education. But lack of accessibility and financial problems come in the
way. Hence, the most effective start in madrasa reforms would be to
create opportunities for every Muslim child to join the formal and
mainstream education by setting up quality and affordable schools in
places where madrasas draw poor children in large numbers.
This
means that this crucial reform can begin without ruffling any feather.
This, however, shouldn't dilute the urgent need of overhauling the
madrasa system of education. It has failed to equip students either with
skills to take advantage of opportunities available in the modern world
or spiritual training powerful enough to trigger inner transformation.
In
short, madrasas churn out misfits. My heart bleeds when I see alumni of
madrasas, including those of prestigious Deoband and Nadwa, working as
rickshaw pullers or labourers despite seven to eight years of
theological education. This also explains why only four percent of
Muslim children attend madrasas as parents of 96 percent know it can do
nothing to ensure the future of their children.
The need of the
hour is quality formal and vocational education with a fair dose of
religious and moral syllabus. But most Madarsas deliver just the
reverse.
Apart from being out of sync with the demands of the
modern world, madrasas have a more serious faultline. Their style tends
to keep the students insulated from the mainstream. Places of learning
are the only place where one mingles and grows with people from other
communities.
But in a madrasa environment, Muslim children will
never get a chance to get integrated with the rest of society. When they
live in isolation, they will be moulded in one particular mindset and
there will be no open mindedness to appreciate the country's diversity.
With
the hardline Tablighi (Wahhabi) ideology dominating the madrasa scene
in India, the issue is more critical than just teaching Muslim children
science and mathematics. Following an orthodox form of Islam that
insists on a literal interpretation of the Quran, this school of thought
believes that all those who don't subscribe to their brand of Islam are
to be hated, persecuted, even executed. The phenomena like IS are an
offshoot of this orthodoxy.
We cannot turn a blind eye to this
rigid ideology taking roots in India. I was shocked when I recently
visited the campus of a popular madrasa in Bangalore. It had nothing
Indian about it and looked more like a mini Saudi Arabia. That's why
madrasa reform should be an urgent national priority.
However,
that doesn't mean that we should convert all madrasas into mainstream
schools. Religious seminaries are meant to impart in-depth religious and
spiritual knowledge and as such have a definite and vital role in
society. A community without spiritual and religious leadership will
reel in chaos and turn fanatical. Islam today badly needs Ulemas who
have the spiritual depth and are 'educated'. Inevitably, this rare tribe
has to come from Islamic seminaries. So the challenge is to reform
madrasas into centres of theological excellence.
The madrasas
themselves must look to professionalize religious education by designing
contemporary courses and setting a minimum formal education as
eligibility for such studies. Like not everybody can take admission in
MBBS or BE, religious education must also be restricted to those who are
capable and have an aptitude for it. This will only add dignity to the
profession of serving God. Secular institutions of reputes can be
encouraged to start such courses for studies in different religions.
(M. Rajaque Rahman, a former journalist, is a full-time volunteer of the Art of Living. The views expressed are pesonal.
He can be reached at [email protected])