Explosive issue: Islamic varsity urged to train clerics on modern lines

Senators, religious scholar suggest streamlining accreditation system.

ISLAMABAD:

Senators on Tuesday urged International Islamic University Islamabad (IIUI) to come up with a systematic programme to train clerics and other people related to madrassah administration on modern lines to curb the menace of militancy and intolerance in the country.

The senators float the suggestion during a meeting of the Senate Standing Committee on Education and Training at IIUI, while Rector Masoom Yasinzai was giving a presentation.

Senator Jaffar Iqbal said if the university was doing work in Islamic finance and Sharia Law, why are short courses not arranged for seminary staff who were still unaware of modern terms like ijtihad (interpreting religious text and codes in line with modern needs), jurisprudence and spreading messages of peace in the contemporary world.



The rector said they were working on such lines for the people of Khyber-Puktunkhwa, Azad Jammu Kashmir and northern Punjab, but committee chair Abdul Nabi Bangash added that the area of focus-should be South Punjab.

Senator Ilyas Bilour also stated that area was a hub of orthodoxy and fundamentalism.

The rector replied they had the issues of accommodation and management but they would make efforts for it.  Senator Jaffar Iqbal suggested that IIUI should play its role and suggested that a committee should be established to set the minimum benchmark for imams of mosques.

“In rural areas, especially in Punjab, mosque imams are mostly illiterate and people follow them blindly. These should be the target,” said Bangash.

Acting HEC Chairperson Imtiaz Hussain Gilani commented that such decision might have repercussions and the government should also focus on addressing the school dropout rate that compels children to join madrassas.

IIUI Director General Shariah Academy Dr Muhammad Tahir Mansoori also suggested that there should be a centralised system for fatwas, which are presently being produced without any authentication and formal body.



The rector informed the senators that over 2,000 students from different countries were studying in the varsity and it has produced 27,000 graduates till date.

Funds Release for HEC

Earlier, the government released Rs 2.9 billion for the Higher Education Commission out of the recurring budget pending from the previous fiscal year, but under the heads for the current year.

After Bangash asked the additional finance secretary what was the reason for this, the officer replied that they had reached an agreement with the HEC and the remaining amount from the previous fiscal year would be released in May. They said the money was because the previous government had announced a 20 % salary raise. The HEC chief suggested that the salaries of varsity professors should be raised at the same time as government employees.

The chairman of the senate body accepted the suggestion and said it would be included in the committees’ recommendations for parliament.

Bangash also expressed his dissatisfaction about the transfer of the director general of Pakistan Manpower Institute to Ministry of Interior. He asked the ministry of education and training secretary why the move went ahead when there was no replacement available.

Published in The Express Tribune, January 29^th, 2014.