Since the conquest of Sindh by Arabs and their commerical

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1 To evaluate the continuity of madrasa system of education in India and the changes brought about therein with the passage of time, is an uphill tast. Similarly, to analyse the impact of colonialism on Indian Islamic madrasas is also not an easy task. It calls for a careful perusal of the circumstances under which the madrasa system toiled and struggled for its survival. Islam, like any other religion of the world has laid emphasis on acquiring knowledge. Ignorance is the most disgusting and abominabe feature in Islam. It came to the world where eloquence and rhetorics were in vogue and highly appreciated. Prophet (SAW) himself was armed with the latest weapons of the time to withstand the existing phenomenon. The first revelation to the prophet stressed on reading. The holy scripture "Ouran" means reading. The holy Ouran contains a complete surah named "AI Oalam" And the foremost thing is that all the essential stationary items that we use in today's modern world have already been described by the Ouran. Invariably, the Ouran and the traditions of the prophet attributed much significance to studies and researches. With the advent of Islam the seats of learning started coming to exist in the society whether in the form of Dar-e-Arqam, or a platform called "Suffa" in the Masjid-e-Nabavi (Prophet's Mosque). 338

2 The religious seminaries were set up wherever the Muslims stepped in. These seminaries were not in separate buildings in the intial phase. They were operated somewhere in the premises of the mosques. And it is not a matter of surprise, as all the ancient religions operated their seminaries inside their places of worship. This is very true in today's world also. These religious seminaries in the Muslim world, were isolated from the mosques during Abbasids, due to various reasons. Before the establishment of formal madrasas the duty has been discharged in the book-shops, in the literary salons, residences of the teachers, remote rural areas which were called "Badiya". Despite the isolation of madrasas from the mosques primary education was imparted in Masjid, and were called after another name "Kuttab or Maktab, and it is still in vogue in the Muslim society. On the question of aims and objectives of education in Islam the Muslim educationists Unanimously agree that the education is not to cramp the pupil's mind with facts but to prepare them for a life of purity and sincerity. The commitment for preparation is completely based on ethical and moral values which are of immense significance, for it insists on the indoctrination of the pupils on the line of belief and faith right from the very inception. The madrasa education neither aims at the upliftment of the individual alone nor it aims only af the social developments. The aims and objectives of madrasa education balances the above two streams. Islam neither 339

3 reflects the individual aspiration nor it puts aside the wills and wihses of the society. The aims and objectives of madrasa education have never been static and stagnant. They have been changing regularly right from the day one in consonance with the requirememt of the period. During the Muslim rule the a1ms and objectives of madrasa education were to preserve the religious heritage and prepare the students to execute the day-to-day's works with efficiency and occuracy. With the decline of the Muslim rule and growing influence of colonial master, to oust the imperalist power had become one of the prime motives. And after independence the madrasas are struggling for the preservation of the religious identity of the Muslims. No matter, all along madrasa education revolved around spiritual values. They maintained their distance from the material values in all the stages. Thus, spiritualism is the only aim of madrasa education that had never been put aside at any point of time in the human history. Well before the military conquest of India the Muslims had already devleoped a well-defined education system. The institution named madrasa provided the state with suitable recruits for various positions. Besides madrasas, there were Maktabs to provide primary education to the Muslim children. These Maktabs administered generally by local people played a key role in the field of education. Since the conquest of Sindh by Arabs and their commerical 340

4 contacts with the south India, madrasas played a pivotal role in the socio-cultural reform of the nation. These instituions initially were set up by the rulers and financed by the state ex-chequer. However, with the passage of time it has got attention of the afflunet people and the Ulemas contributed a lot to the spread of madrasas in every nook and cornor of the country. That is why we find that most of the madrasas were named after their founders. And some times, madrasas were also set up for reward in the life after death. Thus, private madrasas were much more in number than those run by the state. The private madrasas used to run without any official interference. The madrasa curriculum has also been undergoing radical changes. The madrasas running under the Arab rulers used Arabic as the medium of instruction and most of the books included in the curriculum were based on those books which were taught in Damascus and Baghdad at that time. With the change of guard in 1206 madrasa syllabus also changed, as the rulers now were from central Asia. The difference of taste between the two systems - Arabs and Turko-Afghans became evident in the madrasa curriculum. During the whole Turko-Afghan and Mughal period the medium of instruction remained Persian and books though having Arabic names used to be in Persian language. Most of the disciplines like grammar, rhetoric, logic etc used to be in Persian language with Arabic examples. In the first stage that is the regime of the Arabs ( ) Ouranic exegesis and traditions 341

5 were the order of the time. With the advent of Turk-Afghans much significance was attached to jurisprudence. And during the reign of Sikandar Lodi Madrasa sy!iabus underwent further changes. Now the syllabus started drifting away from revealed sciences to rational sciences. The advent of great scholars like Abdullah and Azizullah to India, during Sikandar Lodi's regime proved to be boon for the rational sciences. The base of rational sciences further got strenghtened with the commencement of the great genius of the time Mr. Fathullah Shirazi during the era of Akbar, the great Mughal ruler. The establishment of madrasa at Firangi Mahal and the formation of Dars-e-Nizami (Nizami curriculum) by Mulla Mohd. Nizamuddin Sahalvi further strengthened the base of rational sciences. But the emergence of Shah waliullah and Sheikh Abdul Haq Muhaddith Dehlavi established a balance between the rational sciences and the revealed sciences. The revealsed.r~ that had been pushed to the corner in madras a ~~U& for many centuries staged a come back. After the indendence of the country in 1947 madrasa sy!iabus started moving towards the modern disciplines. Gradually, almost all madrasas are heading towards a-volta face in their syllabi. Most of them are tyring to link up their syllabi with the modern system of education. But these attempts are being made by madrasa authorities themselves without any interference of the Government. Nineteenth century India witnessed the dash of two different 342

6 cultures. The old socio-educational system was being replaced by the new one. New concept of life started striking the human minds. One section of the Muslim community was st uck to traditional system of education and was ready to sacrifice anything for the preservation of that system, while the other section was hypnotized by western culture and civilization. Both the sections were adamant about their approach and were not ready to budge even an inch. Meanwhile, a third section emerged that championed the cause of synthesis between the two syste~. They advocated to link up the traditional system of education with the modern system to save the utility and relevance of the earlier one. On one hand we have Sir Syed, Deputy Nazir Ahmad and Khawaja Altaf Husain Hali who were the admirers of western learnings. They invited the Muslim community through their speeches and mind-buggling writings towards western science and technology. They tried to establish the superiority of the western culture vis-a-vis oriental culture to attract the community towards western leanring. On the other, we have Allama Shibli who talks about the superiority of oriental learning. Dr. Allama Iqbal, Maulana Abul Kalam Azad, Maulana Mohammad Ali Jauhar and Maulana Manazir Ahsan Geelani talked about the synthesis of the two systems. Dr. Allama Iqbal did not confine his criticism to madrasa but he targetted the western learning on equal footing. Categorically he pointed out the shortcomings of western system of education. Maulana Abul Kalam 343

7 Azad who himself has been a product of madrasa did not deny the relevance and utility of madrasa education but opined that it is high time to link up this system with the modern one. Jamia Millia lslamia is a living witness to the three-pronged educational ideas of Maulana Mohammad Ali Jauhar. And last but not the least the ulemas of Deoband resisted and opposed any move that leads to synthesis between the two systems. Their resistance to such move may be contented in a particular historic juncture. But at the same time, we can not overlook the initiative for the establishment of Jamia Millia lslamia taken by Sheikhui-Hind Maulana Mahmudul Hasan, the rector of Darul Uloom, Deoband. During the colonial India oriental seats of learning, especially madrasas received a setback. With the introduction of modern system of education madrasas r.rpushed to the wall. Besides, Lord Macaulay's hostile and arrogant attitude towards oriental learning blackened the prospect of madrasa education. And the biased and discriminatory policy followed by Education Board run by colonial masters further darkened the prospects of madrasa graduates. All sorts of employment, big and small were snatched away from Muslims and bestowed on men of other religions, especially the Hindus. The colonial masters publicly singled out Muslims for exclusion from offical posts. The replacement of Persian with English as an offical language also damaged the interests of the Muslims, as the last resort for bread and butter 344

8 was also snatched away from them. All these above and other similar measures were taken to punish the Muslims for their hectic involvement in the first fight for independence in Nevertheless, even in the given odd circumstances madrasas continued to render their services to the nation and the community. They fought the colonial power even under the hanging swords. They continued their efforts untill India received independence. Since independence madrasas have been great victims of respective government policies. They are being targetted as centres of militancy and terrorism and branded as lsi's bastions. Frequently they are being raided, students and teachers are being tortured by the polic~of the intelligence services. The mentally suspicious government floated an idea to modernise the madrasa education which was welcomed by a handful progressive Muslims but, by an dlarge, rejected by the Ulema community. The rejection by the Ulema community is based on valid reasons in view of the past experiences and observations. A large section among the Muslims hold the view that modernization of madrasa is not a big issue that needs government initiatives. The madrasa authorities have already been pre-occupied with the reorientation of their programme for decades. They are least interested in financial aids from the government which.1 ultimately will lead to the state intervention. 345

9 The incorporation of modern disciplines in madrasa curriculum is already happening without financial assistance of the government. Islam is always open to any kind of disciplines that benefits the human being without making any line of demarcation. But the content should be formulated as per essence of madrasas. And the essence of madrasas lies in the spiritualism and not materilism at any cost. Thus, any change that may hamper the very spiritual fabric of madras as can not be entertained. This study clearly suggested that madrasa has never opposed the study of modern disciplines rather it realised their practical values without which scientific development may not be possible. As far as the introduction of these disciplines in madrasa is concerned, madrasa authorities are seized of the matter and it is happening gradually. 346