RELIGIOUS EDUCATION IN MADRASAS' — Role And Importance

RELIGIOUS EDUCATION IN MADRASAS' Role and Importance I N the early period of Islam, wherever Muslims spread, they established large centres of learning in the form of madrasas'. This opened up a new chapter in the history of humankind, inspired by Islamic teachings, for the Quran stresses education for all. If the Quran is studied with an open mind, it is evident that it places great emphasis on knowledge and education. It can be claimed, without any exaggeration, that the Quran was the first book to remove restrictions on the acquisition of knowledge beyond a narrow class of priests and to make it available to all. It was thus the first to present the concept of mass education. The Quran was the first book to remove restrictions on the acquisition of knowledge beyond a narrow class of priests and to make it available to all. The first revelation to the Prophet, in the year 610 C.E., was the instruction to ‘read’ (iqra). It is said that the Angel Gabriel asked him to ‘read’, but he replied that he did not know how to do so. The Angel Gabriel asked him to read a second time, and again he gave the same reply. When the Angel Gabriel instructed him the third time, he recited the Quranic verse that the Angel Gabriel had delivered as the first divine revelation to him. In this respect, Islamic culture can be termed as an ‘iqra culture’ or what can be called an ‘educational culture’. This makes education and learning an integral and central part of Islamic culture. The Madrasa Movement in Nineteenth Century Colonial India After the British captured India, for a while Muslim leaders believed that the British must first be ousted from the country, and that only after that would Muslims have the chance of engaging in any religious work. The Revolt of 1857 was a product of this thinking, but it failed in its objectives. This led the ulema or Islamic scholars to realize that it was pointless to seek to counter the British through military means. The only practical way out, they came to realise, was to avoid conflict and confrontation, and to engage, using peaceful means, in constructive activity, focussing particularly on the education of the community.