Madrassas in Pakistan
Encyclopedia
Madrassas in Pakistan are Islamic seminaries in Pakistan
that teach mostly Islamic subjects leading to graduation as a cleric (maulvi, maulana or mulla). There are five major governing bodies of Pakistani Madrassas and their corresponding schools of thought are: Tanzim-ul-Madaras (Barelwi
), Wafaq-ul-Madaras (Deobandi
), Wafaq-ul-Madaras (Shia), Wafaq-ul-Madaras (Ahle Hadith
) and Rabita-ul-Madaris (Jamaat-e-Islami
)
rose as colleges of learning in the Islamic world in the 11th century, though there were institutions of learning earlier. They catered not only to the religious establishment, though that was the dominant influence over them, but also the secular one. To the latter they supplied physicians, administrative officials, judges and teachers.
In 1947 there were only 189 madrassas in Pakistan. In 2002 the country had 10,000-13,000 unregistered madrassas with an estimated 1.7 to 1.9 million students. A 2008 estimate puts this figure at "over 40,000".
Most madrassas in Pakistan cater to the dominant Sunni
sect,having maximum Deobandi
schools, with an estimated 4-10% madrassas serving the minority Shia population.
s (seminary boards) in Pakistan, represents
AhleSunnat (Barelwi), Deobandi
, Ahl-e Hadith
, Shia and Jamaat-e-Islami
schools of thought. Maulana Saleem Ullah Khan is the president of Ittehad Tanzimat Madaris-e-Deeniya Pakistan.
(1977–1988). The expansion was due both to the growth of Pakistan's population and active government programmes geared towards promoting a specific culture and ideology. A number of the madrassas have been used as indoctrination and training centers for Jihad
. Extremist elements sought to eradicate the indigenous culture originally taught in the madaris in Pakistan. During the Soviet occupation of Afghanistan, Afghan government officials often supported terrorist activities in various madrassa schools in northern Pakistan.
curriculum, the students read books in Urdu
as part of comparative religion
or training in the beliefs of the sub-sect (maslak). These texts are taught in a manner in order to promote understanding of differences and similarities as they exist, with the stated goal of sectarian harmony. Subjects such as Western ideologies — capitalism, individualism, freedom, feminism, socialism, democracy, human rights are discussed in the context of how they relate to Muslim thought and identity prevalent in the schools.
on the United States
, American television commentators widely associated madrassas with violence. Former Pakistani president Gen. Musharraf
tried to introduce an element of nominal control as an overture to American pressure, which by and large failed. Two laws were passed: one to create state-controlled madrassas (model: Dini Madaris, 2001); the other to register and control them (2002). The first had moderate success, as some religious institutions registered in 2003 with the Pakistan Madrasah Education Board created by this law. However, the three alternative institutions it created suffer from organizational difficulties. The second measure proved unpopular with the madrassas, but the government has restricted some access of foreign students to the madaris education system.
's charity wing, Jamaat-ud-Dawa, travelled to Saudi Arabia seeking donations for new schools at vastly inflated costs – then siphoned off the excess money to fund militant operations.
Pakistan
Pakistan , officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan is a sovereign state in South Asia. It has a coastline along the Arabian Sea and the Gulf of Oman in the south and is bordered by Afghanistan and Iran in the west, India in the east and China in the far northeast. In the north, Tajikistan...
that teach mostly Islamic subjects leading to graduation as a cleric (maulvi, maulana or mulla). There are five major governing bodies of Pakistani Madrassas and their corresponding schools of thought are: Tanzim-ul-Madaras (Barelwi
Barelwi
Barelvi is a term used for the movement of Sufi , Sunni Islam originating in the Indian subcontinent.The Movement is known as Ahle Sunnat movement to its followers....
), Wafaq-ul-Madaras (Deobandi
Deobandi
Deobandi is a movement of Sunni Islam. The movement began at Darul Uloom Deoband in Deoband, India, where its foundation was laid on 30 May 1866.-History:...
), Wafaq-ul-Madaras (Shia), Wafaq-ul-Madaras (Ahle Hadith
Ahle Hadith
Ahl al-Hadith or , is a term that has been used to refer to many Islamic movements that emphasize the use of hadith in Islam...
) and Rabita-ul-Madaris (Jamaat-e-Islami
Jamaat-e-Islami
This article is about Jamaat-e-Islami Pakistan. For other organizations of similar name see Jamaat-e-Islami The Jamaat-e-Islami , is a Pro-Muslim political party in Pakistan...
)
History
The madarisMadrasah
Madrasah is the Arabic word for any type of educational institution, whether secular or religious...
rose as colleges of learning in the Islamic world in the 11th century, though there were institutions of learning earlier. They catered not only to the religious establishment, though that was the dominant influence over them, but also the secular one. To the latter they supplied physicians, administrative officials, judges and teachers.
In 1947 there were only 189 madrassas in Pakistan. In 2002 the country had 10,000-13,000 unregistered madrassas with an estimated 1.7 to 1.9 million students. A 2008 estimate puts this figure at "over 40,000".
Most madrassas in Pakistan cater to the dominant Sunni
Sunni Islam
Sunni Islam is the largest branch of Islam. Sunni Muslims are referred to in Arabic as ʾAhl ūs-Sunnah wa āl-Ǧamāʿah or ʾAhl ūs-Sunnah for short; in English, they are known as Sunni Muslims, Sunnis or Sunnites....
sect,having maximum Deobandi
Deobandi
Deobandi is a movement of Sunni Islam. The movement began at Darul Uloom Deoband in Deoband, India, where its foundation was laid on 30 May 1866.-History:...
schools, with an estimated 4-10% madrassas serving the minority Shia population.
Ittehad Tanzimat Madaris-e-Deeniya
Ittehad Tanzimat Madaris-e-Deeniya, a federation of the five WaqfWaqf
A waqf also spelled wakf formally known as wakf-alal-aulad is an inalienable religious endowment in Islamic law, typically denoting a building or plot of land for Muslim religious or charitable purposes. The donated assets are held by a charitable trust...
s (seminary boards) in Pakistan, represents
AhleSunnat (Barelwi), Deobandi
Deobandi
Deobandi is a movement of Sunni Islam. The movement began at Darul Uloom Deoband in Deoband, India, where its foundation was laid on 30 May 1866.-History:...
, Ahl-e Hadith
Ahle Hadith
Ahl al-Hadith or , is a term that has been used to refer to many Islamic movements that emphasize the use of hadith in Islam...
, Shia and Jamaat-e-Islami
Jamaat-e-Islami
This article is about Jamaat-e-Islami Pakistan. For other organizations of similar name see Jamaat-e-Islami The Jamaat-e-Islami , is a Pro-Muslim political party in Pakistan...
schools of thought. Maulana Saleem Ullah Khan is the president of Ittehad Tanzimat Madaris-e-Deeniya Pakistan.
Expansion of Madrassas
The Madaris were few in number when Pakistan was founded, but expanded greatly in number during the rule of the dictator General Zia-ul-HaqMuhammad Zia-ul-Haq
General Muhammad Zia-ul-Haq , was the 4th Chief Martial Law Administrator and the sixth President of Pakistan from July 1977 to his death in August 1988...
(1977–1988). The expansion was due both to the growth of Pakistan's population and active government programmes geared towards promoting a specific culture and ideology. A number of the madrassas have been used as indoctrination and training centers for Jihad
Jihad
Jihad , an Islamic term, is a religious duty of Muslims. In Arabic, the word jihād translates as a noun meaning "struggle". Jihad appears 41 times in the Quran and frequently in the idiomatic expression "striving in the way of God ". A person engaged in jihad is called a mujahid; the plural is...
. Extremist elements sought to eradicate the indigenous culture originally taught in the madaris in Pakistan. During the Soviet occupation of Afghanistan, Afghan government officials often supported terrorist activities in various madrassa schools in northern Pakistan.
Comparative studies
In addition to the South Asian Dars-i-NizamiDars-i-Nizami
Dars-i Nizami is a study curriculum used in a large portion of Islamic religious school in South Asia. It was standardized Mullah Nizamuddin Sehalvi at Firangi Mahal, a famous seminary belonging to a family of Islamic scholars in Lucknow, India.The Dars-i-Nizami system orginated from early 18th...
curriculum, the students read books in Urdu
Urdu
Urdu is a register of the Hindustani language that is identified with Muslims in South Asia. It belongs to the Indo-European family. Urdu is the national language and lingua franca of Pakistan. It is also widely spoken in some regions of India, where it is one of the 22 scheduled languages and an...
as part of comparative religion
Comparative religion
Comparative religion is a field of religious studies that analyzes the similarities and differences of themes, myths, rituals and concepts among the world's religions...
or training in the beliefs of the sub-sect (maslak). These texts are taught in a manner in order to promote understanding of differences and similarities as they exist, with the stated goal of sectarian harmony. Subjects such as Western ideologies — capitalism, individualism, freedom, feminism, socialism, democracy, human rights are discussed in the context of how they relate to Muslim thought and identity prevalent in the schools.
Madrassas and violence
After the September 11, 2001 attacksSeptember 11, 2001 attacks
The September 11 attacks The September 11 attacks The September 11 attacks (also referred to as September 11, September 11th or 9/119/11 is pronounced "nine eleven". The slash is not part of the pronunciation...
on the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
, American television commentators widely associated madrassas with violence. Former Pakistani president Gen. Musharraf
Pervez Musharraf
Pervez Musharraf , is a retired four-star general who served as the 13th Chief of Army Staff and tenth President of Pakistan as well as tenth Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Committee. Musharraf headed and led an administrative military government from October 1999 till August 2007. He ruled...
tried to introduce an element of nominal control as an overture to American pressure, which by and large failed. Two laws were passed: one to create state-controlled madrassas (model: Dini Madaris, 2001); the other to register and control them (2002). The first had moderate success, as some religious institutions registered in 2003 with the Pakistan Madrasah Education Board created by this law. However, the three alternative institutions it created suffer from organizational difficulties. The second measure proved unpopular with the madrassas, but the government has restricted some access of foreign students to the madaris education system.
Madrassas and terrorism funding
Pakistani madrassas have been used to recruit jihadists and as a pretext to finance terrorism. For example, officials with the Lashkar-e-TaibaLashkar-e-Taiba
Lashkar-e-Taiba – also transliterated as Lashkar-i-Tayyaba, Lashkar-e-Tayyaba, Lashkar-e-Tayyiba, Lashkar-i-Taiba, Lashkar Taiba or LeT – is one of the largest and most active militant Islamist terrorist organizations in South Asia, operating mainly from Pakistan.It was founded by Hafiz Muhammad...
's charity wing, Jamaat-ud-Dawa, travelled to Saudi Arabia seeking donations for new schools at vastly inflated costs – then siphoned off the excess money to fund militant operations.
See also
- Al Jamiatul AshrafiaAl Jamiatul AshrafiaAl Jamiatul Ashrafia is the largest Islamic seminary of Sunni Barelwi Muslims of India. It is also known among AhleSunnah Circles as Oxford of Barelwis. It is located in Mubarakpur, in the north Indian state of Uttar Pradesh.-History:...
- Manzar-e-IslamManzar-e-IslamMadrasa Manzar-e-Islam is the first Islamic seminary of the Barelvi movement. It was founded in 1904 in Bareilly, India by Ahmed Raza Khan Barelvi....
- Al-Jame-atul-IslamiaAl-Jame-atul-IslamiaAl-Jame-atul Islamia is one of the largest and most reputable Islamic seminaries of the Ahle sunnah wal jamah Muslims in India. It is located in Raunahi near Lucknow, in the north Indian state of Uttar Pradesh in India.-History:...
- Jamia Naeemia
- Jamiatur RazaJamiatur RazaMarkazuddrasatal Islami Jamiatur Raza is an Islamic university located near Bareilly in India. It was established by Akhtar Raza Khan in 2000.-Shariah Council of India:...
- Darul Ulum Naeemia
Additional reading
- Ali, Saleem H. 2009. "Islam and Education: Conflict and Conformity in Pakistan's Madrassas." Oxford University Press.
- Candland, Christopher .2005. ‘Pakistan’s Recent Experience in Reforming Islamic Education’. In Hathaway, Robert. M (ed) .2005. Education Reform in Pakistan: Building for the Future Washington D.C: Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars. pp. 151–165.
- Hartung, Jan-Peter and Reifeld, Helmut.2006. Islamic Education, Diversity and National Identity New Delhi: Sage.
- Makdisi, George .1981. The Rise of Colleges: Institutions of Learning in Islam and the West Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press.
- Rahman, Tariq .2004. Denizens of Alien Worlds: A Study of Education, Inequality and Polarization in Pakistan Karachi: Oxford University Press. Chapter 5.
- Robinson, Francis. 2002. The Ulama of Farangi Mahal and Islamic Culture in South Asia Lahore: Ferozsons.