JAWrATUL FALAH IN ITS HISTORICAL AND EDUCATIONAL PERSPECTIVE ABSTRACT THESIS Submitted for the Award of the Degree 11 1^ -j^ IN J // ISLAMIC BYSTUDIE ^ , S GHULAM NABI TELI Under the Supervision Of DR. OBAIDULLAH FAHAD Reader DEPARTMENT OF ISLAMIC STUDIES ALIGARH MUSLIM UNIVERSITY ALIGARH (INDIA) 2003 ^^^pa *r.'^/::-^ Abstract Madrasahs are the centres of Islamic learning in India. The system of madrasah education originated with the commencement of Muslim rule in the country and served the educational requirements of the medieval times as well as modern times to a large extent. Jami'atul Falah, Bilariaganj, Azamgarh, U.P., is a renowned reformist Islamic educational institution (madrasah), which has played a leading role in the development of Islamic learning, preservation of Islamic faith and beliefs and dissemination of Islamic teachings and practices. The services of its scholars particularly in the fields of Da'M'ah (Call) and education are quite remarkable and unparallel. Basically this is a reformist educational movement and a new experiment in the field of Islamic education and learning. The present study deals with ''Jami'atul Falah in its Historical and Educational Perspective". The thesis is divided into five chapters. Chapter 1^' is devoted to "Islamic Education in Medieval India". It is here pointed out that the Muslims with their arrival in India started the educational activities. The real history of Muslim education in India begins with the reign of Mahmud Ghaznavi. Almost all the Muslim rulers of Delhi Sultanate devoted their kind attention towards the upliftment of Islamic education. Ghaznavids, Ghaurids, Slave dynasty, Tughluqs, KhaljTs, Sayyids and LodTs, all Patronized the learning and learned men as per the best of their abilities. They opened madrasahs, maktabs and seminaries at different places, invited qualified and brilliant teachers from the different corners of the world and engaged them in the promotion of learning. Some of these rulers were themselves the learned and educated while as some were illiterate but they left no stone unturned in the field of education. During the sultanate period some cities like Agra, Delhi etc. became the cradles of learning and education. Education made remarkable advancement during the reign of Firoz Shah Tugluq (1351-88), who built as many as fifty madrasahs and endowed them all. Among these madrasahs Firoz Shahi Madrasah was the most famous. From the Sultanate we pass on to Mughals who by their advent in India unfolded a new chapter in the history of Muslim education. During the Mughal period education received a regular encouragement. All the members of Mughal dynasty from Babar down to Aurangzeb did a lot for the development of education. Never in the history of India did art and literature, science and philosophy, industry and commerce flourish as a whole as much as they did during the two hundred years of the Mughal rule. In Medieval India education was conducted in places of different kinds like, maktabs, madrasahs, mosques, monastries and in . the private houses of 'Ulama and scholars. But the main institutions were maktabs (for primary and elementary), madrasahs (for higher and secondary) and some private houses (for advanced studies). Mosques were used for educational purposes in addition to prayers. Libraries and literary societies were also founded in India during the period under review. These societies sprang up in different parts of Muslim India and became valuable aids to education in general. Medium of instructions was Persian and the Arabic was also compulsory on Muslim students. System of examination at primary level was very simple. In this stage i.e., primary amokhta (recapitulation) was in vogue while as at secondary and higher levels discussions and debates were serving the purpose of examinations. At primary stage syllabus was consisted on 3R's i.e., reading, writing and arithmetic. When children develop their sense of perception and acquisition, they were taught to recite holy Qiir'an and after its completion they were sent to study Persian and Arabic Books. At the secondary level most of the coursers in vogue were Persian and at the higher level all the subjects were taught through Arabic medium. The courses of studies comprised of both the optional and compulsory subjects. Arrangements for female and technical education was also available in medieval India. Mughals especially encouraged technical education, which was imparted in karkhanas. Although the decline of the Mughal and Muslim empire started just after the death of AlamgJr, yet the educational work was continued with great zeal and ardour. It was the time when the two eminent educational institutions, Madrasah Farangi Mahal and Madrasah Rahimia were established. The former served religion and Islamic culture for about three centuries and contributed a lot to Islamic learning. The later produced the men of high calibre who become revolutionary for reconstruction of Islamic thought. The 'Uliim-i-Hadlth spread throughout India from Madrasah Rahimia. One of the products of Madrasah Rahimia, Shah Waliullah brought about an important change in the educational system. He explicitly denied the value of ma'qiilat regarding those subjects as mere intellectual exercises and a source of confusion. The value by constraint of manquldt in bringing people closer to the central teaching of Islam was apparent. He wanted both the sources and his interpretations of them readily available to the educated class. Chapter II is concerned with "Islamic Education in Modern India" which was only an extension to medieval Indian Islamic education. With the decline of Mughal Empire, the British became a powerful political force in India. They posed a new challenge educational as well as cultural for Indian Muslims. The disastrous events of 1857 led to the termination of Mughal rule and the establishment of British rule in India. The Muslims were the worst sufferers. The British rulers had made every effort to ruin the educational, social, financial and religious fields of Muslims. They had closed down Muslim factories, discouraged their arts and industries and grabbed their lands. They shut down the madrasahs, impounded their endowments and properties. Besides, they openly supported the missionaries for the propagation of Christianity. They targeted and attacked on Islamic faith and the pious life of Prophet Muhammad (SAW). In this situation, some farsighted Muslim scholars who were in the vanguard of freedom struggle of 1857, decided to launch an educational movement, which could keep alive the link of the rising Muslim generations with their faith and also be conducive is the preservation of Islamic culture, religious and moral knowledge. With the endevour of these scholars Deoband seminary {Danil 'Uliim Deoband) was founded on May 30, 1866. Darul 'Ulfim flourished under the remarkable personality of Mawlana Muhammad Qasim Nanautavi, who was associated with it from the very beginning. The founder of Darul 'Uliim prepared a course of studies, which was based on Manqfilai, Ma'qillat and some modern sciences, largely similar to Dars-i- Nizami. On the other side. Sir Sayyid Ahmad Khan appeared at the scene at that very movement as the savior of Muslim nation. He considered new educational system i.e., English education essential for the existence of the Muslim Nation. He was very much perturbed by the poor economic, social, moral and educational conditions of Muslims. He was of the opinion to treat and eradicate this very disease of Muslims by only one diagnose of adopting western education. For the betterment of Muslim community he wrote pamphlets and books and delivered public speeches. So, he started Aligarh movement for the betterment of Muslim nation. Deoband stood for the continuance of traditional educational setup during the Muslim rule where as, Aligarh espoused the cause of new education introduced by the British. With the result, there remained a wide gap between the two educational movements i.e., secular Aligarh and religious Deoband. This caused some scholars to realize that there was an urgent need to combine both of these schools, i.e., traditional and modern knowledge. Only then they could hope to be able to defend their religion and culture and improve their miserable conditions. To achieve this objective they established an association of 'Ulama. (Nadwatal 'Ulama'), in 1982 and its educational centre, Danil 'Uliim Nadwatiil 'Ulama, in 1898. NadwatuI 'Ulama was more serious in academic activities such as framing a modified course of studies. In order to overhaul the prevailing ancient education in traditional madrasahs, amended the older and farfetched philosophical studies and incorporated the modern sciences. But it could not prove itself the synthesis of ancient and modern education through which required needs could be obtained. In the wake of the Non-Cooperation and Khilafat Movements Jamia Millia Islamia came into existence on 29"" October 1920. The main aim behind its establishment was the education of Muslims on the basis of Islam and Islamic civilization. It was intended at that time to establish self-financed and obviously self- controlled institution where the modern sciences and arts had to be taught through Urdu medium. But Jamia was upgraded to a central university, its authorities forgot all about it that basically it was an Islamic institution established for the preservation and upliftment of Islamic culture. Islam was exploded from the soul of Jamia by a collusive policy and only Islamia remained a part of its name. Besides, there are numberless institutions {madrasahs) throughout India, which are following Dars-i-Nizanu or adopting Nizamia pattern after some additions and alterations. All of these have played an important role in the promotion of Islamic learning. So many madrashas throughout the country are run by Ahl-i-Hadith sect, {Salafia Movement) too, in which education is imparted on the pattern of aslaf in the light of Qur'an and Sunnah. .\ large number of madrasahs are functioning from the very beginning in South India among them Jamia Darussalam Umarabad stands pre eminent where the courses of studies are some what different from Dars-i-Nizami.