Case for radical reforms
STRUGGLING TO BE HEARD — South Asian Muslim Voices: Yoginder Sikand; Global Media Publications, J-51-A, AFE, Jamia Nagar, New Delhi-110025.
Rs. 395.
DO THE 35,000-odd madrasas in India, most of them following centuries-old syllabi, antiquated teaching methods and insular mentality, need to change? Of course they do, but unfortunately the voices seeking reform come mostly from Hindutva outfits, and in a strident tone that dubs them terrorist organisations or jihad factories. Not surprisingly this is interpreted as an attack on Islam, particularly by those with a vested interest in maintaining the status quo in our madrasas.
Inter-faith dialogue
Against this background this book, a compilation of interviews with prominent Islamic scholars in India, who demand "radical reforms" in madrasas and stress the need for an inter-faith dialogue between Islam and other religions, fills a niche.
Also including interviews with Pakistani scholars, the book strives to dispel the notion of Islam "as a bloodthirsty and violent" religion that is gaining currency in the western world.
In the preface, Sikand reiterates the feeling in the Islamic world that after the collapse of the Soviet Union and communism, Islam had become the "new enemy" of the western world, particularly the U.S., posing a major threat. Muslim intellectuals like Zafrul Islam Khan, editor of Milli Gazette and Muslim India, rubbish the allegation that Indian madrasas are involved in terrorist activities.
He wonders how the arrest of a maulvi or a madrasa student for some offence could justify the branding of all madrasas as centres for spreading terror. Scholar after scholar flays the madrasas for using an outdated syllabus — mostly the dars-I-nizami, developed in the 18th Century A.D. and for training clerks and officials for the Mughal state.
Need for modernisation
They call for radical reforms in modernising the syllabus and introducing science, technology and other subjects to better prepare the students for jobs in sectors like IT, manufacturing, services sector and journalism, "instead of churning out vast number of maulvis," of which only some could be absorbed into the system.
Mohammad Aslam Parvaiz, editor of the Urdu journal, Science makes a plea to improve the quality of science education in Urdu schools, which made science appear "drab, boring or simply too complicated for most students to comprehend. There is also a paucity of texts and supporting popular science literature available in Urdu."
He argues that students without a grounding in "scientific attitude will blindly believe" all that they are told. There are no two opinions on the urgent need for educated Muslims to ask some questions of their leaders.
Intrepretation of Koran
One such relevant and tough question is raised by Waris Mazhari, editor of the Urdu monthly Tarjuman Dar ul-Ulum and a graduate of the Deoband Madrasa. Scathing in his criticism of a mosque being built at the Deoband Madrasa at a cost of Rs. 15 to 20 crores, he says that the Prophet and his companions prayed in simple structures "often made of mud and earth. How can anyone justify such lavish expenditure on building palatial mosques, especially since the vast majority of the Muslim community lives in abject poverty?"
Liberal and educated Muslims who find questions on issues such as inter-faith dialogue or age old clichés often brushed aside, mostly by Muslim clergy who silence them by bringing the Koran into the picture, will welcome passages of Sikand's book that reiterate the need for a proper interpretation of the Koran.
On the emphasis in the Koran to gain "ilm" (knowledge) both of God and his creation, and the need to promote inter-religious dialogue, Maulana Wahiduddin Khan, one of the few Muslim ulema engaged in inter-faith dialogue, says the latter "is a binding duty, according to the Koran. The early Muslim travelled to various countries to preach Islam, but also in search of knowledge, interacting and openly discussing with people of other religions."
Some early Muslims who came to India studied Sanskrit and translated Sanskrit texts into Arabic. "When Spain was under Muslim rule, many Christians would come there to study even the Bible from Muslim scholars," he adds.
Other interesting voices include that of Siddiq Hassan Abdullah from Kerala, who talks about how Islam came to Kerala through close trade links with the Arab world and not through conquerors and hence the cordial relations between Hindus and Muslims in Kerala; Hamid Naseem Rafiabadi from Kashmir University, who says that Muslim intellectuals have failed to promote a dialogue between Islam and other religions because their "thoroughly westernised" education system gives them little knowledge of Islam and the legacy of their ancestors.
Gender inequality
The only feminist voice in the book is of Asma Barlas, one of the first to enter Pakistan's foreign service — even though she resists the feminist label — who welcomes the setting up of girls' madrasas in South Asia, but worries that education here "often ends up justifying existing sexual hierarchies and inequalities."
She says that as "gender inequality among Muslims is formulated in law" there is a need to "rethink certain legal strictures (such as those that legalise sexual inequality) as a way to bring about justice and equality."
A fascinating interview is with a Sufi custodian of the Miya Mir shrine in Lahore, who tells the author how many Sufis consider Baba Nanak to be a true Muslim in the sense "Muslim" means one who subjects himself to the will of God. And, how Miya Mir came to be the one who laid the foundation stone for the Golden Temple in Amritsar. Writers and publishers need to seek out more such voices from Muslim scholars in the sub-continent.
RASHEEDA BHAGAT
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