Madrassa education: a threat to peace and tolerance

Shamraz_Khan · January 27, 2014, 3:01am

Re: Madrassa education: a threat to peace and tolerance

Actually that is not true. I'm not sure where have you been, but Taliban banned internet in Afghanistan when they ruled the country back in late 1990s. They have been bombing CD/DVD shops all over Pakistan including Islamabad. I remember when Lal Masjid jihadis were attacking cds shops Islamabad. So, this is not some unknown blogs reporting it, but pretty well known Taliban policy.

Captain1 · January 27, 2014, 2:15pm

Re: Madrassa education: a threat to peace and tolerance

I am aware of the CD/DVD ban by Pakistani TTP, haven't heard about internet ban at all. Cell phone was never banned. My point is lets keep real news separate from fake news (blogs).

nGenius · January 27, 2014, 7:35pm

Re: Madrassa education: a threat to peace and tolerance

India leader's helicopter missing

Einstein once said that a little knowledge is a dangerous thing & this is good example of that.

Madrassa education: a threat to peace and tolerance

Madrassa education: a threat to peace and tolerance
What the majority of madrassas do is they divide society between ‘us’ and ‘them, they divide society on religious lines and thus break the very ideology on which basis this country was founded
Sajid Kamal
Sajid Kamal
January 25, 2014

Traditionally, madrassas (seminaries) have been a source of all types of knowledge for Muslims where education, even in the science subjects, was provided. With the passage of time, the role of the traditional madrassas has been restricted just to impart religious education. In Pakistan, such religious schools have not been controlled and administered properly, which is the reason why extremist elements are being produced in these religious seminaries. The history of this uncontrolled madrassa system in Pakistan dates back to the 1980s when the US and Saudi Arabia poured almost four billion dollars for setting up religious schools, the madrassas, and, since then, such schools have become the breeding ground for religious extremists in Pakistan, thus worsening the security conditions even more.

Pakistan is a country facing acute security problems. To tackle this issue, one sector is the quality of education in religious schools. The main purpose of education is to enlighten the people, so that they can have a proper understanding about the various issues prevailing in the country, and to educate the people in such a way so that they can distinguish between the good and bad but, unfortunately, this is not the case in Pakistan as the US Commission on International Religious Freedom has researched Pakistani school textbooks to discover that there is religious biasness in almost every madrassa, which leads to societal intolerance and maligns the minority groups.

A large number of the Pakistani population lives in small towns and villages. Poverty, feudalism, illiteracy and lack of awareness leave the people with two choices: either to abandon the education of their children or to induct them in religious schools. Most of the madrassas provide free education, boarding and lodging services to the children, and that is one of the reasons that they are hijacked by religious extremist zealots who hypnotise the minds of the children, hence providing perfect recruits to the extremist organisations. The curriculum, which is taught in these madrassas needs particular importance, as it reflects Islam as a religion of war and hate. Not only in the madrassas but also in the regular schools of the country the, jihad-bis-saif, (jihad with the sword) is highlighted with particular emphasis on Islamic wars, thus neglecting the fact that Islam is a religion of peace as the word Islam itself means peace, purity and submission, and the wars fought in Islamic history had a proper context and reason.

Another problem, which is linked with the current security situation in our society, is the various sectarian schools getting their funding and backing from Saudi Arabia and Iran while dividing Pakistani society into various sects. The sectarian violence in the country has increased over the past years, with thousands of people being killed in the Sunni-Shia conflict. One main cause of this sectarian violence is the madrassas as well since, according to their concept of Islam, only they are on the right path and the others have no right to follow their religious ways and beliefs.
Declaring the followers of other sects ‘kafirs’ or non-Muslims is sort of a normal practice in a majority of the religious seminaries where the target audience is young children. In short, religious extremism, with which the majority of this nation has been hit, is a serious threat and can affect Pakistan for years to come. This problem has to be tackled as soon as possible otherwise the effects will be very grave and can push Pakistan years back. What the majority of madrassas do is they divide society between ‘us’ and ‘them, they divide society on religious lines and thus break the very ideology on which basis this country was founded. The frustrated, jobless and uneducated youth falls prey to such schools and gain their energy from them, which in turn creates hate and disrespect in society. Thousands of madrassas in this country are unregistered and illegal — only in Islamabad there are around 83 illegally constructed mosques and seminaries. One has to notice the number of young children in these schools and what sort of education they are being given. The minds of young children are like wet clay and it can be molded in any form one desires. Unfortunately, in most madrassas, it is being molded in a negative manner. Since the youth is the key to the development of a country, it is time we ask ourselves: is the key to the development of this country not getting rusty? Nearly 80,000 madrassas are unregistered with millions of students playing in the hands of unchecked religious extremists.

Bold steps have to be taken by the government to ensure that misguided madrassas are banned. Curriculum revision has to be properly carried out. It is the authority and the right of the state to make the curriculum of educational institutes. The madrassas have to be registered and the state should have authority over the hiring and firing of the staff. Moreover, the complete overhauling of the curriculum of regular schools has to be undertaken. ‘Peace and tolerance’ should be taught as a separate subject just to mould the minds of young children along the lines of acceptability and tolerance, making them aware of the true picture of Islam. Chapters on peace should be related or taught in line with Islam so the masses can accept such a change. More emphasis should be laid on the topics of tolerance, education and the true meaning of jihad and ‘jihad bin nafs’ (jihad within oneself) should be strengthened. A universal curriculum should also be established, which would be acceptable to all the sects in the country. Within the religious schools’ curriculum, the subject should be taught as well and the importance of education in Islam should be strengthened, emphasising the role played by Muslim scholars and scientists.

Uniformity in education and removing divisions on a religious and sectarian basis are the needs of the hour. The madrassas not only widen a certain kind of ideology to students, they also spread it in society, to the families and extended families of these students, and this has to be stopped otherwise immoral subjects like intolerance and unacceptability will rule our society. Moreover madrassas have to be modernised so that they do not seem alien to the majority of the people in Pakistan, which is only possible when madrassa education does not fall prey to the extremist elements.

[1st of all you will need to pass a land reform law, not only pass it but implement it. 2nd, government needs to reduce/remove modern day slavery, Feudalism has to be abolished if the country is to prosper for all, and in peace.

3rd, Madrassa are running for centuries (with pretty much with the same curriculum) without having problems, care to read the history???

If you have to blame someone, blame Zia-ul-Haq who gave strength to mujaheddin to fight the Soviet, and after the war there was nothing done to rehabilitate these freedom fighters.

We are seeing that our religion has been hijacked by few extremist organizations/groups who are working under foreign agenda, and they have nothing to do with Islam. We didn’t see this kind of behavior or extremism prior to 1978]

Please see my blog
http://www.paklinks.com/gs/blogs/ngenius/68499-pakistans-balkanization.html
Pakistan has some fundamental issues that Pakistan need to resolve as soon as possible.

Pakistan’s main problem is self grown Extremism.

Solution: Saudi style Islamic Shura system, all the madaris, masajid, Imambargahs, Jamat Khanas, Mandirs, Churches and Gurdwaras should be under the supervision of religious affairs.
Islamic seminaries (Madaris)- should implement South Africa Seminaries curriculum or ministry of religious affairs should sit with Ulema deen and build a educational system/Curriculum for Madressas throughout the Pakistan.

Abolish medieval feudal system of Pakistan (“Feudalism has to be abolished if the country is to prosper for all, and in peace.”)
Unity, internal cohesion and political stability (“Internal cohesion and political stability are the products of a participatory political process that is broad-based, transparent and fair, offering equal opportunities to new aspirants to political power and influence.”) De-concentration of power to strengthening internal cohesion and moderating dissent.

4a. Social Justice and Equal Opportunity: Reform political and social life, promoting socio-economic justice for ordinary people as well as provincial rights & Economic development policies. Freedom from sectarianism

4b. Decentralization of Authority from Power to the People, Community-based Economics and Economic Justice. *(Develop the country so we don’t have to beg West for AID.) *Create 16 smaller “Super districts” instead of 4 provinces.

5a. Develop Education system similar to South Korea. We need to build 50, 000 schools and 5,000 colleges and universities.

5b. Political Education process: Educated/ internship for those recently graduated with political science degree. Educating the Politicians of tomorrow.

 			 				Pakistan need politician institutes which can help create better  politicians: politicians who are more capable of understanding the  technical advice, understanding the policy areas, which they govern

As a major political party MQM/PPP should focus on water distribution among provinces, building of new dams for water storage and electricity generation, and demand for a new and more acceptable formula for distribution of taxes between the federal government and provinces.
Respect for Diversity: In last 60+ years Pakistan government hasn’t solved internal incoherence, they have alienated minorities like Balochi & Sindhi and Mohajir. Political Parties should work to promote harmony between different ethnic groups in Pakistan.

8a. Improvement of Financial system on City, State and Country level, reduced corruption.

8b. Stop Corruption, stupidity and greed.
No Corrupted Politician should be allowed to run for government office. MQM, PPP and PML-N need a new political leader/Party head. There should be no permanent party leader, party should selected for 2 years term and can’t be selected for more then 3 terms.

 			 				Mufti, Islamic Scholars must give FATWA against corruption and  corrupted Leaders. Why give Fatwa against Ahmedi, Hindu and Christan  when they don't effect the lives of Pakistani. Ahmedi, Christian and  Hindus are peace loving Pakistani. But the corrupted politician have  destroyed lives of millions of Pakistani.

Utilizing E-government technology, cut-overheard, developing new policies to improve over all political process. improved government office efficiency and administration.