Madrasas in Pakistan: An Interview with a Pakistani
Deobandi Scholar
Yoginder Sikand
Maulana Zahid ul-Rashidi is a leading Pakistani
Deobandi scholar. In this interview with Yoginder
Sikand he talks about madrasas in Pakistan today.
Q: Could you tell us something about yourself and your
background?
A: I was born in a village in Gujranwala, Punjab, in
1948. My father, Maulana Muhammad Sarfaraz Khan, was a
graduate of the Dar ul-Ulum, Deoband, where he had
studied under the renowned scholar Maulana Husain
Ahmad Madni. He taught at various madrasas in Pakistan
for nearly 60 years, and wrote around 50 books. He is,
by God's grace, still alive and is considered to be a
leading representative of the Deobandi school of
thought in Pakistan.
I began my education by memorizing the Quran and
learning basic Arabic grammar under the instruction of
my father and other teachers, and then went on to
study the dars-i nizami, the curriculum in most South
Asian madrasas, at the Madrasa Nusrat ul-'Ulum in
Gujranwala, completing the final year, which was
devoted to the study of Hadith, the traditions of the
Prophet, in 1970. Since then I have been serving as a
khatib (preacher) at the Markazi Jamia Masjid in
Gujranwala. I am also engaged in teaching and writing.
I teach at the Madrasa Anwar ul-Ulum at the central
mosque in Gujranwala and am the principal of the
Madrasa Nusrat ul-Ulum as well.
Q: You are also associated with a number of Pakistani
religious and political organizations. What has been
your own role in these groups?
A: At the political level, I am associated with the
Jamiat-i Ulama-i Islam Pakistan, a leading largely
Deobandi political party, and for around 25 years I
have occupied various positions in the organization at
both the provincial as well as central levels. I
served for many years as assistant to Maulana Mufti
Mahmud, leader of this party, but now my association
with the party is simply that of an ordinary worker. I
have distanced myself from electoral politics and now
am devoted to scholarly and intellectual pursuits
about Islam, including the many problems facing the
Muslim community.
For this purpose we have set up an educational centre
in Gujranwala called the Al-Sharia Academy, where we
are trying to experiment with combining religious and
modern education. Besides this, I write a daily column
for the 'Pakistan' (Lahore) and a weekly column for
the 'Nawa-i Haq' (Islamabad) which deal basically with
current affairs. We also bring out a journal called
Al-Sharia, of which I am the editor. It has a web
edition, which can be accessed on www.alsharia.org.
Q: What are your views about the ongoing debates about
madrasa reforms in Pakistan?
A: I have myself been trying to promote reforms in the
Pakistani madrasas for quite a while now. I have
written several articles on this subject in numerous
magazines and newspapers. My own stand is that the
present structure of the madrasas should be preserved,
and their autonomy and independence should not be
tampered with. However, for their part, the madrasas
should, based on a proper understanding of
contemporary demands, make such changes in their
syllabus and teaching methods that would enable them
to understand the needs and challenges of the times at
a global level and represent Islam in today's terms.
Q: How do you look at the present madrasa syllabus,
its strengths and weaknesses?
A: I think the biggest strength of the present
syllabus is that it enables the student to connect
solidly to the past and to preserve the Islamic
tradition. Its biggest weakness, however, is that it
does not provide the student with an adequate
understanding of today's conditions and demands. In
this regard I would like to refer to the work of the
Nadwat ul-Ulama in Lucknow, India, where modern
subjects have, to an extent, been integrated into the
madrasa syllabus. Such institutions need to be set up
in Pakistan as well. We tried to do this in Gujranwala
a few years ago. We started working on the Shah
Waliullah University, which was planned on the model
of the Nadwat ul-Ulama, but we failed to proceed
because of a lack of understanding among those who
were behind the project.
Q: Madrasas, particularly in Pakistan, are said to
actively promote sectarianism and sectarian conflict.
How do you react to this charge?
A: I think that as far as the question of sectarianism
is concerned, the situation with the madrasas is not
at all encouraging. Students are trained to rebut
other sects through fierce polemics, but this is
really destructive. I feel that instead of this, each
madrasa should familiarize its students with the
beliefs and proofs of the sect that it is associated
with, as well as the basic beliefs of other sects, and
train them to dialogue, rather than violently
denounce, the other sects. Sectarian differences
cannot be eliminated. However, if a culture of
tolerance is created, and if dialogue and
understanding take the place of polemics, the
destructiveness of sectarianism can be considerably
reduced.
Q: How has Saudi and other Arab financial assistance
impacted on inter-sectarian relations in Pakistan?
A: The financial aid that is given by Saudi Arabia and
other Arab countries has increasingly been influenced
by sectarian concerns, and the harm that has come out
of this is obvious. It has led to stirring up
sectarian hatred and has also led to reservations
about the Saudi Arabian government.
Q: Some Pakistani Sunni groups, including the radical
Deobandi Sipah-i Sahaba, consider the Shias as kafirs,
branding them as what they call 'enemies of Islam'.
How do you, as a leading Deobandi scholar yourself,
look at this?
A: I have always differed with the extremist stance of
the Sipah-i Sahaba, and have also written about this
in several of my articles. I tried to explain my
position on the issue in my meetings with several
Sipah-i Sahaba leaders, including Maulana Haq Nawaz
Jhangvi, Maulana Zia ur-Rahman Faruqi and Maulana Azam
Tariq. For my part, I do agree with the consensus of
the Sunni 'ulama about some what are called ghali or
'extreme' Shias. However, I do not support, on this
basis, the launching of a movement denouncing all
Shias as kafirs, forcibly suppressing them and
creating an environment of conflict. My own position
is that, considering the question of beliefs and
history, and preserving our differences and distance,
we can still tolerate our differences and try to
present our case through logical proofs.
Q: Several radical Islamists consider all non-Muslims
as, somehow, 'enemies of Islam', and this is reflected
in the teaching in some madrasas as well. How do you
react to this?
A: To consider all non-Muslims as enemies and to seek
to mobilize against them in that way is wrong and is
also not pragmatic. Many non-Muslims all over the
world are willing to listen to what Islam is all
about, but we have not bothered to do anything in this
regard. Many non-Muslims share similar concerns with
Muslims, including opposition to imperialist forces,
but we have failed to reach out to them. The number of
non-Muslims who are seriously anti-Islam is relatively
much less, but because they control, in large measure,
the leverages of power, the economy, culture and the
mass media, they appear to us to be everywhere, while
this is not actually the case. Muslim intellectuals
must seriously look into this and revise their
understandings. For this it is essential to promote
intellectual awakening and serious research.
Sukhia Sab Sansar Khaye Aur Soye
Dukhia Das Kabir Jagey Aur Roye
The world is 'happy', eating and sleeping
The forlorn Kabir Das is awake and weeping
------------------------------------
*****************************************
Sign the Petition : Release the Arrested University Teachers Immediately : An Appeal to the Caretaker Government of Bangladesh
http://www.mukto-mona.com/human_rights/university_teachers_arrest.htm
*****************************************
Daily Star publishes an interview with Mukto-Mona
http://www.mukto-mona.com/news/daily_star/daily_star_MM.pdf
*****************************************
MM site is blocked in Islamic countries such as UAE. Members of those theocratic states, kindly use any proxy (such as http://proxy.org/) to access mukto-mona.
*****************************************
Mukto-Mona Celebrates 5th Anniversary
http://www.mukto-mona.com/Special_Event_/5_yrs_anniv/index.htm
*****************************************
Mukto-Mona Celebrates Earth Day:
http://www.mukto-mona.com/Special_Event_/Earth_day2006/index.htm
*****************************************
Kansat Uprising : A Special Page from Mukto-Mona
http://www.mukto-mona.com/human_rights/kansat2006/members/
*****************************************
MM Project : Grand assembly of local freedom fighters at Raumari
http://www.mukto-mona.com/project/Roumari/freedom_fighters_union300306.htm
*****************************************
German Bangla Radio Interviews Mukto-Mona Members:
http://www.mukto-mona.com/Special_Event_/Darwin_day/german_radio/
Mukto-Mona Celebrates Darwin Day:
http://www.mukto-mona.com/Special_Event_/Darwin_day/index.htm
*****************************************
Some FAQ's about Mukto-Mona:
http://www.mukto-mona.com/new_site/mukto-mona/faq_mm.htm
****************************************************
VISIT MUKTO-MONA WEB-SITE : http://www.mukto-mona.com/
****************************************************
"I disapprove of what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it".
-Beatrice Hall [pseudonym: S.G. Tallentyre], 190Yahoo! Groups Links
<*> To visit your group on the web, go to:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/mukto-mona/
<*> Your email settings:
Individual Email | Traditional
<*> To change settings online go to:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/mukto-mona/join
(Yahoo! ID required)
<*> To change settings via email:
mailto:mukto-mona-digest@yahoogroups.com
mailto:mukto-mona-fullfeatured@yahoogroups.com
<*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to:
mukto-mona-unsubscribe@yahoogroups.com
<*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to: