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The truth behind madrassas
Madrassas need to be monitored since a very large number promote an extremist mindset.
It is known that tens of thousands of seminaries operate across the country; their number continues to increase as poverty and the desperation of parents rise. PHOTO: FILE
According to a report in this newspaper, a madrassa based on the outskirts of Lahore has been placed under close intelligence scrutiny. The reasons given mention presence of a number of foreigners at the institute, including 30 from Afghanistan and three from Burma. Nearly 500 of the other pupils are said to be from outside Punjab, mainly from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. There may be other reasons to suspect what is happening at the seminary. What is welcome is that the intelligence authorities appear to have take some notice of the unusual make-up of students at the premises.
This, of course, is just one madrassa. We do not know how many others may be running with the purpose of pursuing a particular jihadi or militant ideology. It is known that tens of thousands of seminaries operate across the country; their number continues to increase as poverty and the desperation of parents rise. It is true, as Maulana Fazlur Rehman stated recently during a rally in Karachi that not all these madrassas are responsible for spreading terrorism. But the point is that a very large number promotes an extremist mindset that feeds in to the thinking of groups such as the Taliban. It is for this reason that we need to keep a very close eye on seminaries operating in cities and towns across our country. In some ways, it is ironic that the JUI-F chief, who had so fervently defended madrassas, is the patron-in-chief of the institution which has now been placed under watch.
It is also ironic that this seminary, based in the Raiwind area, as we are told is affiliated with the Wafaqul Madaris. One would have thought that the central body regulating madrassas would adopt more caution in those it chooses to register. The situation leaves open the question of what is happening at the majority of madrassas which are unregulated and unrecorded in any way. Pakistan has come to be seen as a world centre of militant training. Somehow, for the sake of our country, we need to change this image.
Published in The Express Tribune, February 1st, 2012.
Reader Comments (24)
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The name ‘Wafaq ul Madaris’ now sounds like a big joke. Wafaq Ul Madaris’ efficiency in screening and monitoring the Madrassahs is easily equitable to CDMA’s efficiency in disaster management. Both are only set up to consume valuable money of the taxpayers.
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We are allowing the future of pakistan to be a combination of suicide bombers and extremists if we dont shut every single one of them down
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So, what’s wrong if there are students from abroad? Don’t Pakistani students go abroad to study?
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Not only few but all of the Madrassas are spreading extremism and hatred, all of them should be Banned for the sake of better future of not only of Pakistan but of the whole Region
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Why do you criticsize?they learn hadiths and many things.if they becoming a hafiz they are doing a good job.they will get rewardedRecommend
“Pakistan has come to be seen as a world centre of militant training. Somehow, for the sake of our country, we need to change this image.”
More important than changing the image should be the change of approach by Pak ie not to spawn terrorists and terrorism as instruments of state policy, not to distinguish between state and nonstate actors etc. The image will rectify itself automatically.
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Madrassa’s provide free boarding, lodging, education and food to millions of children from poor families. Can the Government replace them?
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@mohammad: why do not you send your children in these institutions!Recommend
If these madressas are banned, from where will these people get religious education? Do we have any other choice? we all know how much religious education is taught in schools.
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@Ali if I had children I would send them.they would have corrected me if I’m doing right or wrong.to strive knowledge Allah will make your way into jannat easilyRecommend
There are modern schools that can be found today that not only teach religion but sectarianism in the name of religion. If modern schools can do that, its not hard to imagine what would the madrassahs might be teaching. Refer to the following article
http://blogs.tribune.com.pk/story/9979/our-poisoned-education-shia-clothes-and-sunni-textbooks/
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@Sana Iqbal, how many madrassas have you studied in to find out the facts and details or is this is just another one of the one sided biased opinions ?
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@Truth:
FYI quite a few. Moreover, have had direct interaction with people being taught by them within my acquaintances (including Family & Friends) and have been subjected to social discrimination on a personal level because I refused to agree with their ideologies.
Oh & BTW one of the maulvis from one of such madrassahs was hired to teach me and my siblings Quran at my place when I was a kid. Thanks to my Grandma (May her soul rest in peace) that he was kicked out of the house after being caught in a brutal beating session. Probably someone forgot to tell him that girls are ‘na-mehram’ for him to touch and he cant give them physical beatings.
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Like all other secular private & public institutions, madrssas vary in their quality of education & enlightenment of their pupils. All are not secterian, some are well known internationally as a best one for islamic studies. They do have some negative effects on society but that must be analysed by being neutral. Its a biased opnion.
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If u guys dont want to see madrassa in pakistan then shame on u guys first go to turkey and
other countries and look it how those doing with out islamic education i will say we need to teach those unfurtunate poor children a world subjects like Math, English, Science and world history with the Quran & Hadith (pbuh).
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@Ali Tanoli:
No need to get so emotional Ali. No one is asking to close down the Madrassahs in the country. All we are asking that they should be properly monitored and regulated and their students should be registered. What so wrong about that? Why people get so insecured about monitoring and registration of Madrassahs.
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Shame on us that now we want to bann the Madrassa who are giving the real education which we all need. How many of us recite Quran pak and says prayer while sitting al night on the computer and internet. Atleast they are doing much more better that us.
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why only regulate the madressah? what about the schools? dont they need to be regulated to?
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@Sana Iqbal, If we are talking about physical beatings then our schools are not behind this. I think you must be already aware of numerous incidents in which students were subject to this brutality. But this does not stop here w.r.t. physical stand-offs, our colleges and universities have student gangs usually politically supported which regularly make these institutes battle-grounds, any report / analysis / blog regarding them ?
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Well, Pakistan can take pride in playing its part furthering global education. Seriously, folks; you are missing the class issue. Not all Islamic students can go to the lush campus of the International Islamic University in Isloo.
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@Truth:
Thank you for recommending me a good topic. Very soon :-)
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@Sana Iqbal, you are welcome !!
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It is not the matter of modern school or secular education. If one want to become lawyer he or she can go to law school. For business and managment, one can join MBA program and being Medicinal doctor, you can go medical school. If my car needs repair, I can go motor mechanic or bodyshops. But why not one to madraasah to seek Islamic knowledge. There are very distinguished ulemas who are specialist in jurisprudence, theology and sufism.
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actually I don’t thing that . Any militant centre out of the reach of government . This may whit propaganda . Hair I would like to add one more thing any militant centre running in country should not be known with madrasas . Its respectable name for muslim / religious education. That’s why some lightthinker going to put the name of madrasas. I am very much shay to say that. Islamic democratic country has fail to define their islamic education centre in pakistanRecommend