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Madrassas: A make-believe
world
By Aijazz Ahmed
ISLAMABAD - I lost my sight for a while as I
entered the dark, cold room, but as my eyes adjusted, I
made out the figure of a small boy sitting on the rough
floor, deep in concentration with a Koran, the Muslim
holy book, in his hands.
Fareed, only in the
ninth year of his life, was totally oblivious to my
presence and to his surroundings, so intent was he on
memorizing the Koran, hunched up at the religious school
or madrassa in Rawalpindi (the sister city of the
capital Islamabad) of Tajweed-ul-Quraan. Fareed was
enrolled at the seminary by his orthodox father, Ubaid
Ullah, where he joined almost 500 other children with
the aim to secure a place in heaven, where he believes
that he will be able to play with black-eyed heavenly
nymphs.
Fareed has nothing to do with terrorism
or politics, and he has only a vague knowledge of the
catastrophe of September 11, and what happened in
Afghanistan subsequently. He is at the madrassa
for one reason only, and that is to memorize the 77,934
words of Koran by heart so that he can recite it in full
- a recitation in Arabic that takes about 10 hours.
Muslims believe that a person who memorizes the Koran
will secure a seat in heaven for his parents and the
next seven generations.
Another student at the
madrassa, Yunis, on the other hand, cuts a very
different figure. Although his goal of learning the
Koran is the same as Fareed's, he is politically
charged, with a vision of the dismemberment of both
Israel and the United States, which he sees as symbols
of terrorism and injustice around the globe and the
number one enemy of Islam and the Muslim ummah
(community).
Both Fareed and Yunis come from the
suppressed poor underclass of Pakistani society, where
opportunities are few, and they, along with orphans,
make up the majority of the students at the country's
madrassas as Pakistan has few other institutions
to take care of the homeless and the underprivileged.
Interestingly though, in the past year or so, an
increasing number of children from wealthy urban
families are being enrolled in the seminaries.
Students at the madrassas, since the
subjects that they learn are sacred and derived from
god, are not allowed to sit on benches or at desks to
study. Humiliation is their fate, and as such they must
sit on the floor. Life at the school is hard, with few
diversions from study, such as sport. All of the
students live in hostels attached to the schools, but
invariably these have poor facilities, not to mention
the luxury of beds or heating. Fareed, for instance,
shares a small room with eight colleagues.
"I am
here to learn and memorize the Koran," whispers Fareed
in a low, frightened tone. "I am here to make the dream
of my father a reality, and of mine as well. I want to
become a religious scholar and secure a good birth in
heaven for me and my whole family. No matter what
treatment me and my colleagues meet here, God will
balance everything in heaven," says the youngster.
The growth of seminaries in Pakistan has been
phenomenal, almost 300 percent faster than regular
government and private schools. Before partition in
1947, there were 2,500 registered religious schools on
the Indian subcontinent (which now consists of Pakistan,
India and Bangladesh).
Today, there are more
than 10,000 registered religious schools in Punjab
province alone, while in the whole of Pakistan there are
more than 25,000, catering for more than 1.6 million
children. In addition, a further 25,000 to 40,000
non-registered schools provide lessons on the Koran to
an almost equal number students.
The Western
world widely depicts the students at the
madrassas as terrorists in the making. Talat
Masood, a researcher and a retired lieutenant general in
the Pakistani army, comments, "The people in the
madrassas are neither demons nor heroes ... they
have insecurities, pain, hopes and frustrations. There
is a very professional, unbiased and balanced approach
towards madrassa education, which contrasts
radically with the Western depiction of Muslim religious
education in such institutions," he says, adding, "They
are human beings just like us."
Kamil Khan, a
student at a large madrassa, adds, "We are not
terrorists, nor are we supporters of Osama bin Laden or
anyone else. But if you [the West] continue treating us
in this way, indeed, some of us could join hands with
them. It is the injustice and one-sided policy of the
United States and the Jewish state of Israel that has
forced people to raise guns."
The
madrassas receive their funding from several
sources. Wealthy Muslims are bound by religion to spend
a fixed portion of their wealth for the betterment of
the poor, while such Muslim countries as Saudi Arabia,
Iran, Sudan and Libya provide funds, in addition to
charitable organizations. The students also beg for
bread and butter in the evenings for themselves and
their other colleagues.
A few students pay fees,
but the amount is nominal. "That is why we have to
collect chanda [donations] and food from the
common man," said Mufti Jamil of Islamabad. Religious
schools have a wide and strong backing from some
political parties, notably the Jamaat-e-Islami Pakistan,
all factions of the Jamiat-ul-Ulma-e-Pakistan, (almost
five, with the biggest one being that of chief Taliban
supporters Maulana Fazlur Rehman and Maulana
Sami-ul-Haq), two rival factions of the Tehrik-e-Jaffria
Pakistan, other Shi'ite groups, the Sipah-e-Sahaba
Pakistan and its splinters, and other religious
political, semi-political and non-political
organizations and non-Pakistani Muslim (Arab) NGOs.
The Jamaat-e-Islami Pakistan, the
Jamiat-ul-Ulma-e-Pakistan and Shi'ite groups are the
major stakeholders in the madrassas. They control
almost 60 percent of the total madrassa
population, and indirectly influence the students
according to their political and strategic interests.
But no political party is directly or officially
involved in running the madrassas, rather they
control them through five federations (wifaqs).
These are constituted according to various
Islamic schools of thought, or sects, such as the
Deobandi (originating from India); the followers of Imam
Abu Hanfia (a moderate Muslim scholar in the early
centuries of Islam); Ahl-e-Hadith (in which people
blindly follow the sayings of the Prophet); Bralvi
(another school of thought on the subcontinent)
Shi'ites; and the Jamaat-e-Islami.
Despite its
intention to bring the madrassas under tighter
control, the government has yet to achieve anything
concrete. An ordinance banning madrassas from
admitting foreign students, from receiving foreign
funding and limiting their operations has fallen by the
wayside as, under the constitution, it did not receive
approval from parliament within the mandatory period of
six months.
A committee formed by the government
four months ago to modernize the madrassas has
not even met once against fierce opposition to any
government meddling in their internal affairs,
especially with regard to curriculum. Government sources
now concede that new Prime Minister Zafarullah Khan
Jamali will not risk raising the issue again, at least
not in the near future.
Even within Pakistan,
the madrassas are viewed from different
spectrums. In the traditional Muslim mindset, they are
seen as doing good as they propagate Islam, while for
others the schools are seen as spreading ignorance,
intolerance and illiteracy in an already backward
Pakistani society.
Madrassas were
introduced about 300 years ago on the Indian
subcontinent by then Muslim monarchs and rulers to
produce a bureaucracy capable of running the day-to-day
affairs of state, especially in terms of financial and
legal issues, according to the wishes and pleasure of
the king. Later, the seminaries took on the
responsibility of producing a Muslim leadership to lead
the liberation movement against the British rulers on
the subcontinent.
Professor Dr Manzoor, a
renowned scholar, writer and researcher, comments that
nowadays many madrassas have taken an unfortunate
direction. "The new role of the madrassas and
[the influence] of religious elements has added nothing
but hatred against non-Muslims and different sects of
Islam. Although some major schools produced better
results and play their role for religious harmony, many
inject the poison of extremism, sectarianism and
ignorance and have become a source of increasing
ignorance and religious intolerance in Pakistani
society."
He points out that the curriculum of
the madrassas is not competitive in today's
world, as the schools do not teach advanced physics,
chemistry, biology, computer science or information
technology; rather the subjects were set 300 years back.
The standard curriculum of the seminaries includes
logic, Arabic literature, Arabic grammar, understanding
the Koranic teachings, interpretation of the Koran,
hadith (sayings of the Prophet) and Islamic
jurisprudence.
The madrassas issue
degrees up to master's level which are recognized by the
country's University Grants Commission. These master's
students, with extra study, can eventually become muftis
capable of issuing fatwas on issues relating to
religion or religious provisions in day-to-day affairs.
Many ordinary graduates joins other religious schools as
teachers, or start their own madrassas. In last
October's national elections, the government recognized
degrees issued by the madrassas. For the first
time, all candidates had to have at least a degree to be
eligible to stand for the parliamentary polls.
Maulana Sharif, the principal of an Islamic
seminary attached to a government-controlled mosque in
Islamabad, differs with Manzoor. "We [madrassas]
are doing well; it is we who are keeping the Islamic
values and traditions intact for hundreds of years. If
the religious schools had not been there, the religion
of Islam and the society of so-called Muslims would have
faced irreparable losses at the hands of liberals and
Western agents. Islam essentially encourages pursuit of
knowledge and provides a great opportunity at the
individual level and the society level, and scope for
debate and dialogue while agreeing on the basic faith,"
he said.
Renowned poet, scholar and researcher,
Said Iftikhar Arif, says that Islam is not a religion of
terrorism; rather it prohibits terrorism and extremism
in any shape. "We, the Muslims of the subcontinent and
in particular Pakistan, are guardians of a great
heritage of beautiful, loving, tolerant Islam propagated
mainly by the mystics or the sufis, because of which
Islam evolved into an inclusive faith." Each federation
of the relative sects translates the subjects taught at
the madrassas according to their faith and sect.
Mufti Bashir, head of the biggest madrassa in
Rawalpindi, explains, "All subjects that we teach have
come from God, we only make students understand these
subjects."
"We open the minds of the students,
Islam encourages knowledge and debate, our education
system makes students a guard of Islamic values, we are
not striving to make them experts of modern science and
technology," says Maulana Sharif in response to a query
as to why subjects such as economics and modern science
are not taught in the madrassas.
Comments
Maulana Sami-ul-Haq, the man who taught many of the
former Taliban cabinet in Afghanistan, "Advancement and
competence in modern education is not our job or duty,
it is the duty of modernists and our critics who support
the Western educational system. We have not failed, we
are still competent enough to interpret Islam and
resolve issues related to Islam, but it is a failure of
cultured secularists in modern day education that
Pakistan is a backward society.
"Since we are
keeping the Islamic faith and values, that is why the
United States targets Muslims and our madrassas,"
he adds. "Yes, we are not rich enough and we have
limited resources, indeed, the practice of begging for
food by students damages their personalities, but still
they are better Muslims," he says.
Adds a
student, Bihar Ali, "We don't get military training, nor
are we offered guns, but certainly we have been taught
jihad, which is a basic duty of Islam." Although the
word jihad has ominous overtones in the West, it merely
means to struggle for Islam. One can wage a jihad
against poverty or illiteracy. Only in its extreme form
does it refer to war.
"Jihad is not terrorism;
rather it is a struggle against terrorism to eliminate
injustice and cruelty from the earth," says Maulana
Sharif. "Since we teach jihad, so the West is afraid of
us. If our students are or were busy in jihad in
Afghanistan or Kashmir, it is the failure of country's
Interior Ministry and that of the Pakistani army, who
abandoned their basic duty to protect and safeguard
Pakistan and Muslims," Maulana Sharif asserts.
Religious leaders and teachers at the
madrassas also deny involvement in crossing
borders into Indian-administered Kashmir. "We are not
involved in infiltration as propagated by India, and if
somebody from the madrassa is doing it; it is
again a failure of Pakistan's Interior Ministry and the
Indian forces," says Maulana Sharif.
Awal Khan,
a student of higher classes at Fazlur Rehman's
madrassa, gives his view. "No religious schools
are involved in sectarianism; rather it was a gift of US
Afghan policy. For its interests, the US administration
encouraged jihad and jihadi groups for a proxy war
against Russia, and now these groups are powerful and
uncontrollable. Only the US and the previous Pakistani
government of General Zia ul-Haq are responsible."
Maulana Sharif says, "Such contradictions and
inter-relationships exist in all societies, within
families, at social and cultural levels, in politics,
and even within strict institutions like
madrassas. We are not responsible for increasing
religious intolerance; again, the governments of
Pakistan and the unjust policies of the Western world
and America are responsible.
"The strict
vigilance of the religious schools and their activities
makes it next to impossible for them to provide
terrorist training and support any kind in this regard,"
said Maulana Sharif. "Intelligence agents can easily
make their way at least five times a day into any
madrassa in the country, but even then some
supporters of terrorism or extremists may lurk in some
madrassas in far flung areas," he added.
"It is the duty of the government to check this
infiltration if it prevails, we give admission to all
Muslim students, whether Pakistani or not, and again the
government must ensure visas and proper documents for
people to enter Pakistan," observed Mufti Azam (a man
who can issue decrees on Islamic affairs), Maula Hasham
Zai of the famous Jamia Banori Town, Karachi.
Counters Interior Minister Faisal Saleh Hayat,
"By and large, madrassas are doing well and they
are providing safe and constructive education to
children. We don't allow illegal students from other
Islamic countries to study in madrassas. We are
keeping a strict vigilance and observing strict practice
in this regard," he added.
"In the prevailing
circumstances, the presence of bin Laden in any
Pakistani madrassa is impossible," commented
Javed Iqbal Cheema, chief of the crisis management cell
of the Interior Ministry, in response to reports that
bin Laden had taken refuge in a madrassa in
Karachi. "All madrassas are under the strict
vigilance of not only Pakistan, but of the United
States," he added.
Records show that
madrassa students are not widely a part of the
jihad in Kashmir. To name a few, Ghulam Abbas, Arif
Hussain, Usman Atique, Mudassir Rashid, Mehmood Riaz,
Abul Asim, Mohammad Sabir Shahid Mehmood Shafqat, Abdul
Sattar, Faisal Mahmood, Sadaqat, Naweed and Niaz all
died in Indian-administered Kashmir in different
skirmishes with Indian security forces, and they were
all from the regular Pakistani education system, mostly
Christian missionary schools, such as Saint Patrick's
Karachi, La Salle Multan, Atchison Lahore, Cathedral
Lahore and Saint Patrick's Quetta, or government high
schools and colleges.
They embraced death due to
the influence the Islamic groups and political parties
such as the Jamaat Islami, the Lashkar Tayab, the
Mujahideen Albaddar, the Jamiat Ulma-e-Islam and other
groups that have student organizations. Certainly
madrassa students went in their thousands to the
jihad in Afghanistan, but mainly from the
Pashtu-speaking areas to fight against the Northern
Alliance, along with the Taliban. The US saw Islam as an
important force against the Soviets, and with its
backing, the madrassas became the training ground
for the fighters who defeated the Soviets in Afghanistan
in 1989 after nearly a decade of war.
Nevertheless, many madrassa students have
violent personalities due to long harsh treatment by
their teachers. They are politically charged and
attached blindly to their respective interpretations of
their faith and ideology. They seldom have the
capability to analyze developments taking place around
them. Although they are not a formal part of any
pan-Islamic movement or Muslim Brotherhood campaign, and
they are not being trained by bin Laden or anyone else
against a superpower for jihad, they have a love bond
with Islam and the Islamic ummah, and this can
trigger the violent man inside them as they have blind
faith and rigid standards.
Certainly, then, they
are catalysts for jihad because of the influence and
education they receive in the madrassas.
(©2003 Asia Times Online Co, Ltd. All rights
reserved. Please contact content@atimes.com
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