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Safar 1423                                    Volume 1,  No. 1                                    April 2002

New Delhi: As allegations of madrasas being breeding grounds for terrorism haunt the country, Delhi government is planning to set up a board to run these religious institutions and impart formal education. The move, which will involve teaching subjects like mathematics and science in madrasas, is aimed at enabling the students of the madrasas to come into the mainstream education after initial Islamic studies, Delhi Food Minister and Waqf Board Chairman Haroon Yusuf said. He said as per the proposed move, the government would also give aid to madrasas and have an audit of funds of these institutions conducted to clear apprehensions over their misuse.
About 1,000 madrasas are believed to be functional in the capital and of them only Madrasa Aliya is run by The Delhi Waqf Board.
The government proposes to set up a Madrasa Board which would run all these religious institutions after registering these.
"At present students at madrasas are imparted teachings in Qur’an. The move proposes that formal education be given alongside the shariah lessons so that a student intending to take up formal education at some stage in life does not face any problem," Yusuf said. A tie-up could be arranged with formal schools so that pupils from madrasas get admissions in these later, he said (PTI). #

OUR COMMENT
The Indian Government intends regulating age-old madresas and interfering in their educational systems by introducing the following:

a) Registration of madresas
b) Providing financial aid
c) Auditing its income and funds
d) Introducing secular studies in the madresas
e) This "madresa board" will be run by modernist elements

The above is but perpetuation of the American/Western Kufr policy of secularizing our pure Islamic centers of learning, with a view to diminishing the Deeni temperament prevalent in these madresas. This does not bode well for the future of these madaaris, which were always kept free from secular policies.

A KUFR POLICY TO DOMINATE

Such a policy was implemented in Turkey with disastrous effects, is currently being pursued in Afghanistan and Pakistan, and now in the Indian Capital New Delhi. The idea is to bring these madresa under the control of the State so that it can dictate its policies and, in their minds, ‘ensure that the madresas remain free from the terrorist element.’ Alas, even our Muslim brethren have been hoodwinked by the American coined adage of "the war on terror." This policy will give way to the invasion of our madresas by security and State personal.

THE DEOBAND MADRESA

Many years ago, the Indian government initiated a similar move against the world-renowned Doeband Madresa which was founded by Hazrat Moulana Qasasim Nanotwi (RA). The Hindu State pressed for a revamp of the syllabus and the introduction of secular education. However, the pious and God-fearing Ulema in Deoband at the time, all of whom had since departed this Dunya, totally rejected this proposal. They vehemently opposed the imparting of secular and Islamic education under one roof. They suggested alternate methods to the State proposals, but ensured that the basic spirituality of Deeni education remained untouched and unadulterated. Had these pious souls not fought tooth and nail to keep out worldly sciences from the purely Deeni institution, today we would have witnessed a mangled version of madresa education, and a crop of students totally bereft of proper, genuine Deeni education. May Allah reward those great Ulema abundantly for their efforts. Muslims should also pray that these western orchestrated campaigns of modernizing the ancient madresa system must fail dismally – Ameen.

In a future issue, Insha-Allah, we will devote a brief article to the history of Deoband.

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Rasoolullah sallallahu alayhi wasallam said: This knowledge (of Deen) will be born in every successive generation by the righteous among them; they shall defend it (the Knowledge) from the interpolation of extremists, the false claims of people gone astray, and the wrong interpretations of the ignorant." (Mishkatul-Masabeeh)