Interesting article on madrassas

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South Asia

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.

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