Madrassas don't preach jihad, says Pakistani official

PESHAWAR: Almost 1,405 foreign students of 56 different countries studying in Madaris of Pakistan would be deported to their countries of origin shortly.Among those students 42 belonged to America, four to Canada, 23 to England, 81 to Afghanistan, over 20 to France and an unaccounted number to Malaysia, Indonesia, Sri Lanka and Thailand, Federal Interior Minister Aftab Ahmad Khan Sherpao said on Sunday. Sherpao explained that 2,500 refugee students were exempted from this decision. Many foreign students are either without visas or their visas have expired. "A list of these students is already being prepared and will be provided to 12,400 Madaris in the country," he added.ExemptionThe Minister said this decision would not apply to those foreign students "studying in our regular educational institutions," under bilateral agreements. Answering a question, the Interior Minister said, so far no country has contacted officially regarding the decision to send back these students to their countries."We are doing this to preserve our national solidarity as we want to finish terrorism, extremism and sectarianism from our land," he added.Sherpao said to register all the Madaris, "we are consulting the Wafaq-ul-Madaris Board". Afghan RefugesSherpao said that 3.2 million Afghan refuges are still residing in different camps and cities, including sensitive areas like Waziristan, Bajaur and Kurram agencies.After South and North Waziristan, "we want that refugees in Bajaur and Kurram agencies should voluntarily repatriate to Afghanistan". The interior minister admired the decision of Supreme Court regarding the Hasba Bill.

madris in the light of "Ahadees" n Quran

Islamic institutes in Pakistan concentrate a lot on teaching their students the religious book called Quran and that is all they emphasize on. However, what they forget in teaching only Quran is that in Quran itself it is stated that one should have all required knowledge to walk in line with the other entire nation. Prophet Muhammad (S.W) said:

“People are mines, like mines of gold and silver; the more excellent of them in the days of Ignorance are the more excellent of them in Islam when they attain knowledge."[10] (M-Msh. 2:l.).


Mostly Quran is being taught in these institutes and because of which a stereotypical image of Islamic institutes have been made by the outsiders that they produce terrorists. Quran or Islam does not state anywhere that non-Muslims should be killed in the name of Islam. Hadith are any authentic statements given by the last messenger of Allah; however the authenticity has to be confirmed therefore one hadith which states:
"If anyone insults me, then any Muslim who hears this must kill him immediately."
Some terrorists believe that based on this hadith they have the right to kill anyone. However what the Holy Prophet actually said was:

"Religion is very easy and whoever overburdens himself in his religion will not be able to continue in that way. So you should not be extremists, but try to be near to perfection and receive the good tidings that you will be rewarded." Sahih Bukhari, Volume 1, Book 2, Number 38

Therefore blaming the fact that madrassas produce terrorists would be wrong however there has been a general perception that madrassas are responsible for producing extremists. Media has played a vital role in creating this image.

RELIGIOUS EDUCATION AND VIOLENCE IN PAKISTAN

College For centuries, Islamic schools have preserved and transmitted knowledge, not only knowledge of Islam, but also knowledge of languages, literatures, reasoning, rhetoric, and natural sciences.Madaris were established at about the same time – in the 6th century of the Muslim calendar/11th century of the Christian calendar – as the Christian seminaries that grew into modern Western universities.Madaris have long been vital to Muslim societies as places to transmit religious learning. Pakistani madaris were once known throughout the Muslim world for their well-preserved Hanafi teachings. Today, they are better known, among ordinary Pakistanis, as places where ones'children may get an ethical education, in a disciplined environment,with low-cost accommodations and meals, and improved employment prospects.Outside Pakistan, madaris are known today as breeding groundsfor violence. The image, is as misleading as it is simple, but is not without cause. In September 1996, Taliban [madaris students], mainly Afghan refugees from Jamiat-i-Ulema madaris in Pakistan's North West Frontier Province, marched on Kabul, toppled the governmentof Afghanistan, and imposed their version of shariah [Islamic law] onthe people living under their control. The Taliban used violence toenforce a shariah that banned women's formal education, paid work,and appearance in public without a male relative companion, and mandated a schedule of daily prayer and specific (bearded) appearancefor men. The rules of public, and private, life that the Taliban apparently learned in their madaris were strict and unforgiving.The Pakistani madaris has been transformed from a place topreserve Islamic knowledge from Western influence and the colonial politics of the day to a place to mobilize for political influence.Colonial practices fostered suspicions between ulema and governmentas recently as two generations ago. Government mistreatment o freligious activists after independence – such as arbitrary arrest and detention and prohibitions on political parties and religious associations – has sustained the mutual suspicions between governments and religious boarding schools, but only since the 1980s2have madaris advocated and been involved in organized violence.

Challenging myths about madrasah*

Religious schools (madaris)* in Pakistan have drawn considerable international attention. There are concerns that at least some of these institutions foster religious extremism and terrorism. But reliable data about madaris in Pakistan are scarce, especially concerning levels of enrolment and reasons for choosing madaris.

In 2004 CIET analysed madarsah enrolment data collected from 53,960 households in Pakistan. They did this at the same time as a more general survey about views, use and experience of public services. They also explored parents’ reasons for choosing to send children to madaris in 853 community focus groups.This allowed them to examine some of the beliefs and myths about madarsah enrolment in Pakistan on the basis of a large representative national sample. Findings from this study have been published in Cockcroft, A., et al., Challenging the myths about madaris in Pakistan: A national household survey of enrolment and reasons for choosing religious schools.
In 2004, 2.6% of all children (3.8% of school-going children) aged 5-9 years attended a madarsah, with a small increase between 2002 and 2004. CIET examined five commonly held beliefs about madaris in Pakistan:

Myth 1. Only the poorest families send their children to madaris.
The findings suggest that poverty does not necessarily push towards choosing a madarsah. Many
Madarsah enrolment among school-going children aged 5-9 yearsgovernment schools in Pakistan now offer incentives to students, including free oil or flour, free books, free uniforms, and stipends for girl students. Thus poor families may find as much support from the local government school as from the local madarsah.

Myth 2. Madaris are mostly for boys.
There was no difference by sex of the child. Girls were better represented in madaris than in other Pakistani schools.

Myth 3. Madaris are an urban phenomenon.
The findings show variability among Pakistan's four provinces. There was higher urban madarsah enrolment in Sindh and Balochistan. However, in Punjab there was little difference in madarsah enrolment between urban and rural sites. And in Northwest Frontier Province, with the lowest proportion of urban dwellers, there was more madarsah enrolment in rural sites.

* taken from CIETinternational

Madrassa...“center of learning”

Islam is the second largest religion in the world after Christianity and its origin dates back to the 7th century. With Prophet Muhammad (S.W) as the last messenger of Allah the religion was completed. The word Islam means “submission” referring to the total submission of one’s self to God. There are around 1.4 billion adherents spread around the globe known as Muslims.

The Quran is considered by Muslims to be the literal, undistorted word of God, and is the central religious text of Islam. Muslims believe that the verses of the Quran were revealed to Muhammad by God through the Angel Gabriel on numerous occasions between the years 610 and his death on July 6, 632.

"Read in the name of thy Lord Who created; He created man from a clot. Read and thy Lord is most Honorable, Who taught to write with the pen. Taught man what he knew not" (96:1-5).

An Islamic institute is a place where primarily Islam is taught and they are more popularly known as Madrassas. The word “Madrassa” means “center of learning” in Arabic. Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) laid the foundation of first Islamic institute 1400 years ago, when he preached Islam at Dar-ul-Arqam. Since then the Islamic institutes have spread all over the world, teaching and preaching Quran and Islam. In subcontinent, renowned Muslim scholars established their Islamic institutes in different regions. In Pakistan, at independence there were 245, or even fewer, Madrassas in Pakistan. In April 2002, Dr. Mahmood Ahmed Ghazi, the Minister of Religious Affairs, put the figure at 10,000, with 1.7 million students.