Modern Education in Madrasas: A Study of Madrasas in Hyderabad Tarique A. Akhon A dissertation submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the Degree of B.A. in Social Sciences Tata Institute of Social Sciences Hyderabad 2015 i Contents List of Tables………………………………………………………………………….. iii Acknowledgements…………………………………………………………………… iv Declaration and Certificate……………………………………………………………. v Synopsis……………………………………………………………………………….. 1 1. CHAPTER 1- INTRODUCTION…………………………………………………… 2 2. CHAPTER 2 – METHODOLOGY……………………………………………………5 2.1 Sample design……………………………………………………………………... 5 2.1.1 Number and Types of Madrasas……………………………………………. 5 2.1.2 Objectives and Sampling categories……………………………………….. 6 2.1.3 Table showing the demography of the participants………………………... 6 2.2 Methods of data collection, research tools and field-work schedule…………….. 7 2.3 Methods of data analysis…………………………………………………………. 9 2.4 Ethical dimension…………………………………………………………………. 13 3. CHAPTER 2 – LITERATURE REVIEW……………………………………………. 15 3.1 Importance of education in Islam…………………………………………………. 15 3.2 History of Madrasas in India………………………………………………………. 16 3.3 Modern education in Madrasas……………………………………………………. 18 3.3.1 Inclusion of modern subjects in Madrasas………………………………… 19 3.3.2 Modernization of Madrasas……………………………………………….. 21 ii 3.4 Language and Madrasas…………………………………………………………… 24 4. CHAPTER 4 – ANALYSIS AND FINDINGS…………………………………………………………………………….. 28 4.1 Infrastructure of the Madrasas……………………………………………………... 28 4.2 Modern education in Madrasas…………………………………………………….. 29 4.3 Admission criteria………………………………………………………………….. 31 4.4 Lifestyles of the students…………………………………………………………… 32 4.5 Future of the Madrasa graduates…………………………………………………... 33 4.6 Misunderstandings of the people regarding the Madrasas………………………….. 34 4.7 Madrasa modernization programs………………………………………………...… 35 5. CHAPTER 5 – CONCLUSION, DISCUSSION AND SUGGESTIONS……………………………………………………………………..…. 40 Appendix………………………………………………………………………………… 42 i. Consent form ii. Interview Schedule / Questionnaire References iii List of Tables: 1) Demographic details of the participants………………………………………………. 6 2) Derived Themes……………………………………………………………………….. 9 iv DECLARATION I, Tarique Abdullah Akhon, hereby declare that this dissertation entitled ‘Modern Education in Madrasas – A Study of Madrasas in Hyderabad’ is the outcome of my own study undertaken under the guidance of Dr. Murali Krishna, Assistant Professor of Education, School of Education, Tata Institute of Social Sciences, Hyderabad. It has not previously formed the basis for the award of any degree, diploma, or certificate of this Institute or of any other institute or university. I have duly acknowledged all the sources used by me in the preparation of this dissertation. 25th of March 2015 Tarique A. Akhon B.A. 6th Semester Tata Institute of Social Sciences, Hyderabad CERTIFICATE This is to certify that the dissertation entitled ‘Modern Education in Madrasas – A Study of Madrasas in Hydearabad’ is the record of the original work done by Tarique Abdullah Akhon under my guidance and supervision. The results of the research presented in this dissertation have not previously formed the basis for the award of any degree, diploma, or certificate of this Institute or any other institute or university. 25th of March 2015 Dr. Murali Krishna Assistant Professor School of Education Tata Institute of Social Sciences, Hyderabad v Acknowledgements I would like to express my gratitude to Dr. Murali Krishna, my research guide, for his continuous support. Without him, this research would not have been possible. I also thank other professors from the school of education of Tata Institute of Social Sciences, Hyderabad, who helped and supported me in various ways. I thank Ms. Shambhavi Sharma for her assistance with methodology and the various discussions that we had regarding the topic of the dissertation. I thank Mr. Aditya Sinha for assistance with the formatting of the dissertation. I would also like to thank Mr. Muhammad Owais, Mr. Imraan Farooqui, Mr. Muhammad Sa’ad, Mr. Anas Qarni and others for helping me find the samples. The mistakes in my dissertation, whatsoever, shall remain of my own. vi SYNOPSIS Whenever the question of inclusion of modern subjects in madrasas is raised, there are several issues such as: What is the need to include modern subjects in madrasas when their goal is to impart religious education? Why are the people so much concerned about the syllabus of madrasas when it consists of less than 5% of the Muslim population? If included, what subjects should be included? Will the students not be overburdened by studying both the modern and religious education parallel? Will the standard of modern subjects taught in these madrasas at par with those taught in secular schools? How will inclusion of modern subjects in madrasas help in the future of the madrasa graduates? These are a few questions I have tried to answer through this paper. 1 CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION Madrasas have been a very important part of the education system. (Niyazi, 2002). There are thousands of madrasas and maktabs in the country, the exact numbers yet to be known. Madrasas have played an undeniably important role in educating the lowest of the economic strata of the Muslim community, especially in India. (Alam A., 2014). However, with the rising Islamophobia, especially after 9/11, education in madrasas is being questioned, as many people like Bandyopadhy believe it to be the “breeding grounds of terrorism”. (Niyazi, 2002). This accusation led to a push in the study among the academicians about what happens in madrasas and what actually is taught there. They, however, could not establish the above accusation to be true, but it led to a different dimension of studies regarding madrasas– modern education in madrasas. These scholars were concerned about the lack of knowledge of the madrasa students in secular subjects. Since secular subjects mean modern subjects of a time, I will be using the word ‘secular’ subjects and ‘modern’ subjects interchangeably. Though, the question of modern education in madrasas has been there since a long time now, these studies looked into the necessity of imparting modern education in madrasas. People, since the colonial period, like Sir Syed Ahmed Khan, have been talking about giving modern education to the Muslim children through modern educational institutions as well as through including modern subjects in madrasas, but the need for the inclusion of modern subjects has been increasing after the studies conducted on madrasas after 9/11. The need for the inclusion of modern subjects in madrasas can also be connected to the increasing globalization. Globalization has led to a market which needs people who are educated in a way that is appropriate for the market, a way in which the market absorbs the people. If a child is educated otherwise, his knowledge is not much valued. This does not happen to only those who have been educated in institutions like madrasas, but also those who are self educated in the very things that these markets search. So, a person is accepted respectably in a market if 1) He/she has the knowledge needed 2 by the market. 2) He/she has gone through the system of education that is influenced by globalization. Now, as for the madrasas, both these aspects are absent. Their knowledge is spiritual and religious, and the system of education in madrasas is very different from those of the secular schools, the ones that are needed by the globalised world. Because the students of madrasas are educated in religious and spiritual education, they do not find a way to be absorbed in the globalised market. So, modernization of madrasas has two important benefits for the government: 1) if they aid these madrasas in order to modernize them, they can keep the madrasas under surveillance and control. 2) They can get more human resource which can be absorbed in the market. While for the students of madrasas, their benefits are: 1) they get to have knowledge about religious as well secular subjects. 2) They have wider job opportunities. However, the negative impacts on the madrasa students would be: 1) they will be overburdened by the number of subjects they need to study. 2) The reason for which a child is admitted to a madrasas, to get spiritual/religious knowledge, might be overshadowed by the modern subjects. Thus, the aim of my study is to examine the curriculum of modern subjects (Modern here means the subjects other than the Islamic studies like Quran and Ahadith) that would include English language, Mathematics, Sciences and other subjects. I have also looked upon the standpoint view of various scholars, Muslims and non-Muslims who talk about modern education in madrasas and modernization of madrasas. These two terms shall be further discussed below. However, some of the scholars like M. Khalili Qasmi and Shah Waliullah believe that Madrasas, since they are meant to impart religious education, should provide only religious education. While others like Sir Syed Ahmed Khan and Moulana Wahiduddin Khan argue that they should have a competent curriculum of the secular subjects as well, since, after passing out from the madrasas, the students will find it useful when they become a part of the outside world. The scholars who are against imparting secular education in the Madrasas believe that the essence of Islamic education would not remain in the talibs (students), if the 3 secular education gets mixed with the religious one. They believe that if modernity creeps