Book contents
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- Acknowledgement
- Introduction: Behind the Walls: Re-Appraising the Role and Importance of Madrasas in the World Today
- 1 Voices for Reform in the Indian Madrasas
- 2 Change and Stagnation in Islamic Education: The Dar al-ᒼUlum of Deoband after the Split in 1982
- 3 ‘Inside and Outside’ in a Girls’ Madrasa in New Delhi
- 4 Between Pakistan and Qom: Shiᒼi Women’s Madrasas and New Transnational Networks
- 5 The Uncertain Fate of Southeast Asian Students in the Madrasas of Pakistan
- 6 Muslim Education in China: Chinese Madrasas and Linkages to Islamic Schools Abroad
- 7 From Pondok to Parliament: The Role Played by the Religious Schools of Malaysia in the Development of the Pan-Malaysian Islamic Party (PAS)
- 8 Traditionalist and Islamist Pesantrens in Contemporary Indonesia
- 9 The Salafi Madrasas of Indonesia
- Contributors
- Glossary
- Acronyms and Names of Organisations, Movements and Institutions
- Maps
- Index
1 - Voices for Reform in the Indian Madrasas
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 19 January 2021
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- Acknowledgement
- Introduction: Behind the Walls: Re-Appraising the Role and Importance of Madrasas in the World Today
- 1 Voices for Reform in the Indian Madrasas
- 2 Change and Stagnation in Islamic Education: The Dar al-ᒼUlum of Deoband after the Split in 1982
- 3 ‘Inside and Outside’ in a Girls’ Madrasa in New Delhi
- 4 Between Pakistan and Qom: Shiᒼi Women’s Madrasas and New Transnational Networks
- 5 The Uncertain Fate of Southeast Asian Students in the Madrasas of Pakistan
- 6 Muslim Education in China: Chinese Madrasas and Linkages to Islamic Schools Abroad
- 7 From Pondok to Parliament: The Role Played by the Religious Schools of Malaysia in the Development of the Pan-Malaysian Islamic Party (PAS)
- 8 Traditionalist and Islamist Pesantrens in Contemporary Indonesia
- 9 The Salafi Madrasas of Indonesia
- Contributors
- Glossary
- Acronyms and Names of Organisations, Movements and Institutions
- Maps
- Index
Summary
Introduction
Reforming the madrasas has today emerged as a major concern for many. Governments, such as those of India, Pakistan and countries in the West, particularly the US, are now eagerly seeking to bring about changes in the madrasa system, in the belief that ‘unreformed’ madrasas are rapidly emerging as major training grounds for ‘terrorists’. In addition, many Muslims, including numerous ulama themselves, are also in the forefront of demands for change in the madrasa system. The different actors in this complex political game have widely different understandings of reform, each reflecting their own particular agendas. This article seeks to examine the different ways in which reform of the madrasas in contemporary India is imagined and advocated by a range of actors, including different sections of the ulama, Muslim social activists, Hindu nationalists and the Indian state. It also looks at state policies vis-à-vis the madrasas in recent years.
Imagining ‘Reform’
While discussing the question of madrasa reform, it is pertinent to keep in mind the role that the ulama and many Muslims actually envisage for the madrasas. Arguments for madrasa reform often miss the point that, as many Muslims see it, the madrasa is not meant to be an institution for the general education of Muslims, training them for the job market. Rather, the madrasa is regarded as a specialised institution providing Muslims specifically with a ‘religious’ education and transmitting the Islamic scholarly tradition. This being the case, it would make sense to judge the performance of the madrasas not according to any external criterion, but, rather, in terms of the goals that the ulama of the madrasas and the students who study there set themselves. As the former head of the Deoband madrasa, India's largest Islamic seminary, the late Qari Muhammad Tayyib, insisted:
When people criticise the madrasa syllabus, they forget that the aim of the madrasa is different from that of a modern school … The only way to pass judgement on the madrasas is to see how far they have been able to achieve their own aims, such as inculcating piety, promoting religious knowledge, control over the base self (tahzib-i nafs) and service of others. Therefore, no suggestion for reform of the syllabus which goes against these aims is acceptable.
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- The Madrasa in AsiaPolitical Activism and Transnational Linkages, pp. 31 - 70Publisher: Amsterdam University PressPrint publication year: 2008
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