The Sacrifices of Madrasa Scholars

God while devoting oneself to the task of building the future of the community. Above all, this mission relied on public donations for its operation. Regarding donations, Maulana Muhammad Ali Jauhar (d. 1931) rightly remarked, “Asking for donations is akin to making oneself a servant in the eyes of others.” Running a madrasa through donations was perhaps the greatest sacrifice these scholars had to make. Yet, they endured all these hardships for the sake of God and continued this immensely challenging educational campaign. The truth is, if thousands of scholars had not stood up one after the other for this mission, and if they had not persisted despite every sacrifice, this initiative would have remained merely a theoretical idea and would have not become a reality. These scholars sat on humble mats of contentment, teaching the children of the community about religion, while society looked down upon them with disdain rather than offering respect. This sentiment is captured in the words of a renowned Muslim poet in these two lines: “If the work of children ends with the madrasa and the mullah, The cry of ‘La ilaha illallah’ will be choked forever.” This illustrates the heart-wrenching circumstances in which Islamic scholars carried out their educational mission. It is worth noting that, in the Indian subcontinent, the educational mission was, for various reasons, run on the principle of free education. This principle made the work of the madrasa even more challenging.