Re: Is a Pakistani Christian equal to a fellow Muslim?
i didnt say the Non-Muslim has to pretend to be a Muslim. i’ve mentioned it twice before that in Pakistan, Non-Muslims do take up Islamiat as a subject in schools.
Technically, this Christian girl Could do Hifz. (unless there is a religious decree telling her not to, but i’m not sure about that).
anyways, some explanation is in order here.
for Pakistanis, or Muslims in general, Hifz is something very dear to our hearts. A lot of us would love for our children to be Hafiz. However, many people have the concern that it will take too much time in early years of schooling, and therefore the child will not be able to catch up later on with “normal” school. Therefore, measures such as these are necessary to put in place so that people do not think that if their child will do Hifz, he will be left behind in his career.
further, as already mentioned, Hifz indicates skills in the child which are valuable in any career (ability to be devoted to a goal, memorization). The Hafiz has spent a valuable time of his life on this, and he should be rewarded in the admissions process. Same as for example, if you apply to a western college, they will value you if you’ve done sports/community work for example.
if people can be given extra marks for NCC (military training), or if minorities can be given special consideration (putting them in a separate pool of applicants through quotas), then why is giving extra marks to Hafiz unfair?
every country/culture/society promotes its values in education. i think in most countries it is necessary for the students to study the history of the country to even graduate from high-school. now tell me, if they eventually want to become doctors, why is it necessary for them to have studied history?
it’s not all so black and white. you have to look at the bigger picture. and in the bigger picture this totally makes sense.
also, the Convent is a pretty active institution in Pakistan educationally. why don’t they open up some medical colleges and also give extra marks to people who are more learned in the Christian faith?
Pakistan has a right to define the laws in education sector in the country according to religious and societal values.