[UrUROFlS]

There was colonial assault on Muslim lands by the inheritors of crusaders in which they liquidated many a Muslim (if not Islamic) Empires - Mughal, Ottoman, Sokoto.

The post colonial period is of economic colonialism - continuation of colonialism by other means.

One consequence of this political situation is increasing constriction of educational, social, cultural, economic and political space of Muslims.

How to reclaim that territory, not the physical but educational, social, economic and political, is the big question that faces the Ummah today.

What should be done in the education sector?

This thread was inspired by the following comment in another thread:

i dont doubt their sincerity but they are fixing a dam breach with a scotch tape. the best they can do in their term is:
a) introduce actual islamic education alongside secular education in schools and colleges.
b) take steps to eradicate central banking and usury.
this will hit the liberal/secularists hard and pave way for a more islamic government in future.

The highlighted statement is the one that concerns us.
Here brother MH16388 is suggesting that the newly elected Egyptian President should introduce Islamic education along side secular education.

Humble suggestion on part of yours truly is that we Muslims have to go a step further.

We Muslims have to go for wholesome education of our children in which separation of secular and religious education is at the level of specialization only.

Yours truly does not know about the education system in Egypt but expects the situation to be a mirror of that in India for the situation have far too many similarities. Both countries were former Muslim Empires (if not Islamic). Both were sacked by the British. If we, in India, had Jamaluddin Afghani, Sir Syed, Shibli Nomani and Maulana Maududi (talking about a certain streams only) then they too had Jamaluddin Afghani, Muhammed Abduh, Rashid Rida and Hasan Al-Banna and Syed Qutb.

So the educational situation too is likely to be the same. ( I shall insert the nuance that perhaps is not crucial but is firmly there on the periphery of the present topic. In India we have the appearance and rise of Deoband, may Allah (SWT) protect this blessing till the end times. In Egypt we have decline and disintegration of Al-Azhar - the institution that gave the modern university structure to the world including Europe.)

And the educational situation is either the same or worse in other Muslim countries.

So what is this whole some education?

It is complete integration of modern and religious education.

We can amplify on these points but for an OP it is already long and other brothers and sisters can take over from here.

[Qxkmsxsx]

Some how I clearly see that secular education makes us completely dunyawi (oriented to dunya) running behind the dunya all the time ripping apart moral values from the hearts. This inclination towards dunya makes people so blind that humanity is not saved. It makes one too competitive of dunya and one lives a heedless life of akhirah. If not for little deen, I would have gone more worst and arrogant . Naudhubillah!
It would be good if we muslims build schools and colleges where we have some secular education combined with moral teaching of islam. The impact should be so left in the hearts of Muslim children that whatever one learns, that should be for akhirat and to pelase Allah SWT only. In this way, the generation won't go morally corrupt inshaaAllah and they will work for the benefit of Muslim ummah and akhirah which will make us excel in both deen and dunya as there will be special help of Allah SWT in this case.
Till then I think it is better i go for homeschooling for children where parents can take responsibility of teaching children all by themselves. Allahu alam

[PhotoSHOPadob]

May I ask a question, and I will tell you why I am asking?

Are there any comprehensive Islamic curriculum for schools?

What I mean by that is, for example, in the US there exist several companies, such as Abeka, that make curriculum for schools (or homeschoolers can use it). If you want, google Abeka and you can see what I mean.

The reason I ask about comprehensive curriculum, is because curriculum such as the Abeka curriculum (also alpha omega curriculum, etc. they provide bible verses and biblical lessons across the board as an integral part of all subjects of education. All subjects become centered around the Bible.

I wondered if there are curriculum companies like that who produce Islamic curriculum to be used in schools.

[UrUROFlS]

May I ask a question, and I will tell you why I am asking?

Are there any comprehensive Islamic curriculum for schools?

What I mean by that is, for example, in the US there exist several companies, such as Abeka, that make curriculum for schools (or homeschoolers can use it). If you want, google Abeka and you can see what I mean.

The reason I ask about comprehensive curriculum, is because curriculum such as the Abeka curriculum (also alpha omega curriculum, etc. they provide bible verses and biblical lessons across the board as an integral part of all subjects of education. All subjects become centered around the Bible.

I wondered if there are curriculum companies like that who produce Islamic curriculum to be used in schools.

Please have a look at this effort.

[drgshmcm]

We just need to learn Tawheed and basic Fiqh generally. Muslims have lost the idea that only Allah is the Doer of Everything.

Most Muslims shun religious education because they believe the life of their children will be difficult unless they have a education in some worldly craft.

Schools should not be compulsory or state funded, they should be voluntary and paid for through charitable endowments (Waqfs), and the carriculum can be anything the local people feel should be taught to their children.

[PhotoSHOPadob]

Please have a look at this effort.

Thank you, Maripat. It looks like a really good program.

Are there any that are comprehensive, though, covering all subjects? The curriculum on that site looks like it covers a wide variety, but I don't see all things, such as, I don't see Math. (Unless it is there and I am missing it.) The Christian curriculum companies cover all subjects that you would find in a typical school, but they incorporate Christian lessons, principles, Bible verses, etc. into them.

[Thunderzee]

Salaam Pouring Rain:

Mathematics can be taught with curriculum that is already available on the market. When choosing math curriculum, I stayed away from abeka and saxon math. What Christian curriculum offers parents is structure and ease and a sense of belonging to a wider community rather than tackling homeschooling alone. I know homeschooling in the US has undergone some important shifts where the landscape is no longer just about homeschooler (read Christian) vs. non-homeschooler/state but there are groups now within the homeschooling community that are strengthened by money and resources that aren't as available for those outside the fold and in this landscape one sees the more established (and in a sense older) Christian groups on one side and the rest of us on the other. The downside to all of this is that where homeschooling was (and still is to some degree) a push against state mandated curriculum, we now have groups who push curriculum within the homeschool community, driving a wedge between them and others. They lobby for their interests and help make curriculum that fits their worldview but this does not solve the problem for the rest of the homeschoolers. Those of us who homeschool may be familiar with curriculum fairs and all sorts of bells and whistles (curriculum and tools) to help educate our children and it adds up $$$$. I guess what I'm trying to say is that Christian groups need less state funding than other groups who piece together their curriculum which not only adds to frustration (sometimes) but also can add up ($) quite quickly. Homeschoolers need to stay on top of their state/provincial legislation relating to education. Homeschoolers need to keep it simple and not be taken in by all the fancy, colourful gadgets out there. Homeschoolers need to get in touch with others and form communities where they can exchange tools/curriculum and even help each other teach various skills they have. It would be nice to have affordable Islamic curriculum (especially since state funding can be $0 or, like my province, up to $1500 per school year)... but I still don't think math is the area where Islamic curriculum is needed.

[Thunderzee]

By way of example, Abeka and Saxon are available through our schoolboard's resource centre at no extra cost to us (other than a refundable textbook fee). Likewise, other useful math resources are also available at no extra cost. What is not available is Islamic curriculum in areas such as history, theology, science, language etc. So, parents who want to teach these subjects to their children using Islamic resources must, for the most part, pay for them. While some get reimbursed for the resources, others don't. But also, those who get reimbursed, are at a disadvantage since their Christian counterparts get resources free of charge and can use their funding for other resources.

So, I totally agree that making these types of curriculum available to school boards (and this is no simple task) is really important - if for nothing more than to give Muslim parents more options and make it easier for them to deliver instruction; but also, having these resources available in resource centres makes it possible for non-Muslim parents to also pick them up for their children which can be fantastic if also paired with dawah efforts.

PouringRain... big hug for bringing this up!

[BTW: it is pouring rain here, alhamdulillah... with a little flooding and all!]

[Xcqjwarl]

I made a thread about something relevant to the OP of Shaykh Maripat. Let me add that here.

I have been thinking about an issue the last few year and i would like to know the opinions of members about it.

How relevant our madrassah system is in this age? Is it good enough to be allowed to continue as it is right now or do we need some reformation in it? Secular education vs Islamic education is a topic which has been widely discussed ever since the time of Sir Sayyed Ahmed khan. Sir Sayyed Ahmed khan lived in an age when the scientific revolution combined with the social enlightenment had taken a grip over the popular imagination in the west and its effects were reflected on the subcontinent for the first time. Sir Sayyed Ahmad khan can be taken as the first reaction (or first victim of) to the western enlightment. It was Sir Sayyed Ahmad khan who opted for deistic doctrines to bring science and Islam out of the "conflict" (he thought that there was). His doctrines included the rejection of anything which collided with scientific determinism or for which the physical laws (which he thought be the only laws governing the whole of the reality) had no explaination. The first causalities of his re-interpretation of Islam were miracles and angels, he denied the former and renamed the later as natural laws. Sir Sayyed then established the Muslim anglo-oriental college which would later become the Muslim Ali Garh university.

The reaction against this was obvious. The Ulama did Takfeer of Sir Sayyed and reportedly started to advice Muslims not to get their children admitted in MAO college. This was the start of rivalry between the secular education and Islamic education. The graduates of MAO college would be called Misters and the graduates of Islamic madrassahs would be known as Mullahs. This division of MR and Mullah and the rivalry is still there , though the terminologies have changes , the scenario has changed and the tones have changed on both sides. The secular education has gained very much acceptability and almost no one rejects or castigates it now in the Islamic circles. The madrassahs have been unfortunate not to gain that much acceptability till now and it seems hard in future as well. The Misters oppose them with the full threshold of their throats and many more words have been added to the vocabulary of the modernists which did not exist in the era of Sir Sayyed . The word "Mullah" is used and taken in negative sense now. The various issues related to 9/11 and "terrorism" have added to the pains of madrassahs.

So where do we stand now? Should we do some kind of reformation in our madrassah system to make it compatible with the age or they are fine as they are? The second issue is that should we conclude that Madrassahs teach Islam and schools teach science so one can visit the both and their is no need to induce any scientific educational system in madrassahs and hence no need for the unification of both OR science has taken a grip over our daily lives to such an extent that Islam must say something about it and it is trivial to separate Islamic and scientific education so they must take place together? The third issue is that these are the graduates of universities who acquire vital roles in various countries not the graduates of madrassahs so we must bring worldly educated "Mullahs" to take a hold on the policy making institutes or otherwsie the secularists would keep on ruling?

[PhotoSHOPadob]

Acacia, thanks for your reply. (And I wish it would pour rain here as well! Send some my way!) The reason I bought up comprehensive curriculum is because Maripat was asking about wholesome education and the integration of secular and religious instruction. I wondered if there are any Muslim comprehensive curriculum that offer an integration in a similar manner that Christian curriculum do. I actually wasn't intending to make this about homeschooling, which was why I mentioned Abeka, because their curriculum is actually designed for classroom instruction, even though it is available to homeschoolers. But speaking of homeschooling, that is wonderful that you are able to gain curriculum free of charge for homeschooling. Here, we must purchase all our own curriculum and materials.

If there is no comprehensive Islamic curriculum, I think it would certainly be something beneficial for someone to invest in creating. A curriculum that could be used both in classroom instruction or adapted to homeschooling needs. Something comprehensive enough that a school could order one curriculum to cover all the subjects, and students would receive a top rate education, with religious teachings integral.

[nancywind]

I made a thread about something relevant to the OP of Shaykh Maripat. Let me add that here.

I have been thinking about an issue the last few year and i would like to know the opinions of members about it.

How relevant our madrassah system is in this age? Is it good enough to be allowed to continue as it is right now or do we need some reformation in it? Secular education vs Islamic education is a topic which has been widely discussed ever since the time of Sir Sayyed Ahmed khan. Sir Sayyed Ahmed khan lived in an age when the scientific revolution combined with the social enlightenment had taken a grip over the popular imagination in the west and its effects were reflected on the subcontinent for the first time. Sir Sayyed Ahmad khan can be taken as the first reaction (or first victim of) to the western enlightment. It was Sir Sayyed Ahmad khan who opted for deistic doctrines to bring science and Islam out of the "conflict" (he thought that there was). His doctrines included the rejection of anything which collided with scientific determinism or for which the physical laws (which he thought be the only laws governing the whole of the reality) had no explaination. The first causalities of his re-interpretation of Islam were miracles and angels, he denied the former and renamed the later as natural laws. Sir Sayyed then established the Muslim anglo-oriental college which would later become the Muslim Ali Garh university.

The reaction against this was obvious. The Ulama did Takfeer of Sir Sayyed and reportedly started to advice Muslims not to get their children admitted in MAO college. This was the start of rivalry between the secular education and Islamic education. The graduates of MAO college would be called Misters and the graduates of Islamic madrassahs would be known as Mullahs. This division of MR and Mullah and the rivalry is still there , though the terminologies have changes , the scenario has changed and the tones have changed on both sides. The secular education has gained very much acceptability and almost no one rejects or castigates it now in the Islamic circles. The madrassahs have been unfortunate not to gain that much acceptability till now and it seems hard in future as well. The Misters oppose them with the full threshold of their throats and many more words have been added to the vocabulary of the modernists which did not exist in the era of Sir Sayyed . The word "Mullah" is used and taken in negative sense now. The various issues related to 9/11 and "terrorism" have added to the pains of madrassahs.

So where do we stand now? Should we do some kind of reformation in our madrassah system to make it compatible with the age or they are fine as they are? The second issue is that should we conclude that Madrassahs teach Islam and schools teach science so one can visit the both and their is no need to induce any scientific educational system in madrassahs and hence no need for the unification of both OR science has taken a grip over our daily lives to such an extent that Islam must say something about it and it is trivial to separate Islamic and scientific education so they must take place together? The third issue is that these are the graduates of universities who acquire vital roles in various countries not the graduates of madrassahs so we must bring worldly educated "Mullahs" to take a hold on the policy making institutes or otherwsie the secularists would keep on ruling?

The basic problem with our Ummah is that they are still not sure whether learning science, math etc are benefical or not? Whenever we have any discussion about learning science and math, we have some people up in arms about how detached these educated folks get from Allah (swt) - IMO this is indeed a very flawed conclusion. Most of these educated people are detached because they have no deeni foundation, and our Ulemas have not tried to bring these two streams together. What every Madrassah should have are two streams (specialization), one stream should only focus on deeni education, while the other stream let those who want to explore science etc to get that education along with deeni-lite education.

We have to stop looking down at science, math, geography etc (note I did not use secular keyword as it brings severe response from some folks) and must try and provide every Muslim kids with such education. There are a lot of places in Quran Shareef where Allah (swt) talked about scientific things such as where Allah (swt) mentions about the expanding of universe, or iron, etc, how are we going to understand completely when we have no foundation about the subject? Why did Allah (swt) created Aqal - just to acquire deeni knowledge or to acquire other knowledge as well so that we can serve its creation better?

To understand some of the peoples perspective better I want to ask a question here - whether Allah (swt) created us to just have deeni taleem and he place science, math, geography, etc as a distraction and test (though even deeni knowldge can be a source of test)?

[Thunderzee]

Acacia, thanks for your reply. (And I wish it would pour rain here as well! Send some my way!) The reason I bought up comprehensive curriculum is because Maripat was asking about wholesome education and the integration of secular and religious instruction. I wondered if there are any Muslim comprehensive curriculum that offer an integration in a similar manner that Christian curriculum do. I actually wasn't intending to make this about homeschooling, which was why I mentioned Abeka, because their curriculum is actually designed for classroom instruction, even though it is available to homeschoolers. But speaking of homeschooling, that is wonderful that you are able to gain curriculum free of charge for homeschooling. Here, we must purchase all our own curriculum and materials.

If there is no comprehensive Islamic curriculum, I think it would certainly be something beneficial for someone to invest in creating. A curriculum that could be used both in classroom instruction or adapted to homeschooling needs. Something comprehensive enough that a school could order one curriculum to cover all the subjects, and students would receive a top rate education, with religious teachings integral.

I don't know what happened there but my brain somehow connected this thread with another I read around the same time on the topic of homeschooling so... they got clumped together... sorry about that. Having said that, it is still relevant and in the regular public system where I'm located Abeka is not used; don't know what they use in the Catholic system. Here, Abeka is more a relevant issue for homeschoolers than anyone else (I had my son in public school throughout elementary school and never heard of Abeka until we started homeschooling). Outside of homeschooling, I can't see Islamic curriculum being available/used in the public system here at this time (Insha'Allah one day, soon); not sure what they use in Islamic schools though one Islamic school in my province follows the curriculum standards set by the minister of Education (this does allow for flexibility in resources used so it is possible that Islamic resources are used there).

And for this reason - for the use of homeschoolers at the very least - I agree with you that Islamic curriculum should be (and likely is being) invested in and packaged.

[Edit: The rain is totally out of my hands dear May Allah (SWT) bless your area with rain too. Ameen.]

[drgshmcm]

How about teaching the seven liberal arts known as the Trivium and Quadrivium obviously tailored to Islam.

[Thunderzee]

I hadn't heard of these terms before. Looked them up and it looks like they are more or less in line with some of the traditional schooling methods followed by some homeschoolers. I suppose the music/harmony component (numbers in time) can be covered via natural tunes like birdsong, waves etc.

[Xcqjwarl]

The basic problem with our Ummah is that they are still not sure whether learning science, math etc are benefical or not? Whenever we have any discussion about learning science and math, we have some people up in arms about how detached these educated folks get from Allah (swt) - IMO this is indeed a very flawed conclusion. Most of these educated people are detached because they have no deeni foundation, and our Ulemas have not tried to bring these two streams together. What every Madrassah should have are two streams (specialization), one stream should only focus on deeni education, while the other stream let those who want to explore science etc to get that education along with deeni-lite education.

We have to stop looking down at science, math, geography etc (note I did not use secular keyword as it brings severe response from some folks) and must try and provide every Muslim kids with such education. There are a lot of places in Quran Shareef where Allah (swt) talked about scientific things such as where Allah (swt) mentions about the expanding of universe, or iron, etc, how are we going to understand completely when we have no foundation about the subject? Why did Allah (swt) created Aqal - just to acquire deeni knowledge or to acquire other knowledge as well so that we can serve its creation better?

To understand some of the peoples perspective better I want to ask a question here - whether Allah (swt) created us to just have deeni taleem and he place science, math, geography, etc as a distraction and test (though even deeni knowldge can be a source of test)?

True brother. If by Ummah one means the collective body of Muslims then they have accepted the secular education. Almost every rich and poor is sending his kids to the school and not getting the kids educated has become a social stigma. These are only the circles of our Madrassahs in which secular education is still an alien and there is a general unacceptability of it there. Secular education is taken as a threat.

Science inflames a sense of religiosity with in a person i think. I think it was Neils Bohar who said "All my efforts to look out in the universe are nothing more than to look for who is looking at us". Secondly , We Muslims are better candidates for scientific inventions as we have been commanded to serve the humanity. There is Thawab associated with it for us so who else should care for science more than us? It can be asserted without any exaggeration that the foundation stones of the natural sciences were laid by the Muslims. Unfortunately we have left the post vacant for others and they are using science as a weapon against Islam and Muslims.

[UrUROFlS]

Salaam Pouring Rain:

Mathematics can be taught with curriculum that is already available on the market. When choosing math curriculum, I stayed away from abeka and saxon math. What Christian curriculum offers parents is structure and ease and a sense of belonging to a wider community rather than tackling homeschooling alone. I know homeschooling in the US has undergone some important shifts where the landscape is no longer just about homeschooler (read Christian) vs. non-homeschooler/state but there are groups now within the homeschooling community that are strengthened by money and resources that aren't as available for those outside the fold and in this landscape one sees the more established (and in a sense older) Christian groups on one side and the rest of us on the other. The downside to all of this is that where homeschooling was (and still is to some degree) a push against state mandated curriculum, we now have groups who push curriculum within the homeschool community, driving a wedge between them and others. They lobby for their interests and help make curriculum that fits their worldview but this does not solve the problem for the rest of the homeschoolers. Those of us who homeschool may be familiar with curriculum fairs and all sorts of bells and whistles (curriculum and tools) to help educate our children and it adds up $$$$. I guess what I'm trying to say is that Christian groups need less state funding than other groups who piece together their curriculum which not only adds to frustration (sometimes) but also can add up ($) quite quickly. Homeschoolers need to stay on top of their state/provincial legislation relating to education. Homeschoolers need to keep it simple and not be taken in by all the fancy, colourful gadgets out there. Homeschoolers need to get in touch with others and form communities where they can exchange tools/curriculum and even help each other teach various skills they have. It would be nice to have affordable Islamic curriculum (especially since state funding can be $0 or, like my province, up to $1500 per school year)... but I still don't think math is the area where Islamic curriculum is needed.

Unconsciously or subconsciously some times we in the Indian subcontinent end up talking about local matters in global terms. The same is the case of my OP. Indeed the problem of wholesome education of Muslim children has to be solved globally so that is very much a goal. In the mean time we can muse about the solution the context of the Indian subcontinent. Here home schooling was the only schooling till some time ago and the situation changed after British arrival and by now home schooling has disappeared from the scene. So in India we do not have any home schooling vs public schooling debate. In fact that there is a home schooling versus public schooling debate in the US is minimally known around here. So thanks again for the run down on that.

My concern is the present thread is about the integration of religious and secular education - in the context of Indian subcontinent and universally too it should not be any different. At present we have Madarsa education where there are a few strokes of modern topics like geometry but by and large it is cut-off from those branches of knowledge that have given enormous power, strength and advantage to the western society that, perhaps subconsciously or unconsciously, maintains the crusading attitude. On the other hand we have modern education institutions, either managed by Muslims but mostly not, where the education secular in the sense of anti-religious because the left/communist/socialist combine monopolized the intelligentsia. Of course we must have lapsed some where to give them a walk over but this realization does not solve the problem. So these institution churn out educated people who are mostly Macaulian. Lord Macaulay was the British civil servant and educationist and his assignment was to solve a specific problem - by 1857 the British had completely subjugated India and then the problem was how to keep the things that way, that is how to keep the hold of British Empire on India. Macaulay's solution was simple - educate Indians in a manner that their skin remains what it is but their mentality is of white people. We managed to send the British back but the education system designed and built by them still keep churning out the sons and daughters of Macaulay. Of course British ideal has been conveniently replaced by the American ideal but the story of the so called modern education remains the same - to disdain your own culture and religion and to take it as undesirable burden. Lack of confidence and self hatred is the result and the religious education is considered as getting left behind and the religiously educated person is not to be taken seriously and religion might not be the opium of the masses but it certainly is considered a poor choice.

Now a lot of water has flowed down the rivers after independence from the British in 1947. Most of this time was lost by us Muslims in either simply remaining scared of majority for no fault of ours - some of our brothers took their share in the form of a new state called Pakistan. What was required was to immediately start worrying about equity for Muslims in independent India but that was not to be the case. In the meantime anti-Muslim forced have been hard at work and managed to infiltrate all the powerful institutions of India, police, bureaucracy, education and even military. Urdu, because it came in to existence after arrival of Islam in India, has been very thoroughly neutralized. Physical resources are out of reach of Muslims and hence they can not compete with the official education system.

In spite of that Muslims have managed to establish many educational institutions. Most of them are just exactly the same as the rest of the left oriented institutions - the secular institutions. Then there are few which are really Islamic in the sense that the morning prayer of the school ends with one Islamic supplication. Then there are some fundamentalist Muslim schools where they have the temerity to introduce one Islamic subject - theology, that is one paper, per year for three years. (Sorry of the sarcasm - it should not be there.) People say that there are some institutions who are better than that but I suppose I got to his the road before I shoot my mouth on that.

Coming to individual subjects - I agree with you Mathematics is one subject of which our religious establishment should not be scared at all of. But who will tell them. But again that is not my objective - to introduce modern topics in Madarsa.

There one more aspect that is relevant but I shall leave that for later time, IA.

[UrUROFlS]

I made a thread about something relevant to the OP of Shaykh Maripat. Let me add that here.

I have been thinking about an issue the last few year and i would like to know the opinions of members about it.

How relevant our madrassah system is in this age? Is it good enough to be allowed to continue as it is right now or do we need some reformation in it? Secular education vs Islamic education is a topic which has been widely discussed ever since the time of Sir Sayyed Ahmed khan. Sir Sayyed Ahmed khan lived in an age when the scientific revolution combined with the social enlightenment had taken a grip over the popular imagination in the west and its effects were reflected on the subcontinent for the first time. Sir Sayyed Ahmad khan can be taken as the first reaction (or first victim of) to the western enlightment. It was Sir Sayyed Ahmad khan who opted for deistic doctrines to bring science and Islam out of the "conflict" (he thought that there was). His doctrines included the rejection of anything which collided with scientific determinism or for which the physical laws (which he thought be the only laws governing the whole of the reality) had no explaination. The first causalities of his re-interpretation of Islam were miracles and angels, he denied the former and renamed the later as natural laws. Sir Sayyed then established the Muslim anglo-oriental college which would later become the Muslim Ali Garh university.

The reaction against this was obvious. The Ulama did Takfeer of Sir Sayyed and reportedly started to advice Muslims not to get their children admitted in MAO college. This was the start of rivalry between the secular education and Islamic education. The graduates of MAO college would be called Misters and the graduates of Islamic madrassahs would be known as Mullahs. This division of MR and Mullah and the rivalry is still there , though the terminologies have changes , the scenario has changed and the tones have changed on both sides. The secular education has gained very much acceptability and almost no one rejects or castigates it now in the Islamic circles. The madrassahs have been unfortunate not to gain that much acceptability till now and it seems hard in future as well. The Misters oppose them with the full threshold of their throats and many more words have been added to the vocabulary of the modernists which did not exist in the era of Sir Sayyed . The word "Mullah" is used and taken in negative sense now. The various issues related to 9/11 and "terrorism" have added to the pains of madrassahs.

So where do we stand now? Should we do some kind of reformation in our madrassah system to make it compatible with the age or they are fine as they are? The second issue is that should we conclude that Madrassahs teach Islam and schools teach science so one can visit the both and their is no need to induce any scientific educational system in madrassahs and hence no need for the unification of both OR science has taken a grip over our daily lives to such an extent that Islam must say something about it and it is trivial to separate Islamic and scientific education so they must take place together? The third issue is that these are the graduates of universities who acquire vital roles in various countries not the graduates of madrassahs so we must bring worldly educated "Mullahs" to take a hold on the policy making institutes or otherwsie the secularists would keep on ruling?

You will be surprised to know that we stand exactly at the same point where we started some one and half a century ago.



I'll, IA, amplify on that a little later but please, you and MH16388 and any one else who is interested and I really mean every one, take time to click on the Yahoo discussion groups linked on my blog Armchair linked below. AMUNetwork is the best of them and you have to apply for membership before you can read the messages. Kindly apply for membership there by asserting that you are a well-wisher of AMU, that you are.
You shall become aware of an aspect that is amongst most painful for yours truly.

[UrUROFlS]

Unfortunately we have left the post vacant for others and they are using science as a weapon against Islam and Muslims.

Exactly my thoughts again - if you leave even a single border post vacant the enemy is sure to occupy it.

And for others I would like to assert that the thread is about integration of religious and and secular education into one wholesome education in which religious education separates only at the level of higher specialization and the Mullah is not looked down upon. The other crucial desire is that the person who opts for specialization in secular sciences does not turn out to be supra-religion.

[formobilagsw]

Exactly my thoughts again - if you leave even a single border post vacant the enemy is sure to occupy it.

And for others I would like to assert that the thread is about integration of religious and and secular education into one wholesome education in which religious education separates only at the level of higher specialization and the Mullah is not looked down upon. The other crucial desire is that the person who opts for specialization in secular sciences does not turn out to be supra-religion.

What is the percentage of muslim population who are in religious education. My guess is, it is less than 2%. Is it correct to say that we are behind others just because these 2% haven't learned science. What is happening to other 98%.

[formobilagsw]

Assalamu alaykum
Quote Originally Posted by
dr.ati
Unfortunately we have left the post vacant for others and they are using science as a weapon against Islam and Muslims. Assalamu alaykum

Doctor sahib. The worst tragedy of ummah is that it has consumed sedatives of living in (selfish) luxuries offered by the west. So that the west can sell their products to them. And then blackmail the ummah of withdrawing their products.