RELIGIOUS EDUCATION IN MADRASAS' — Role And Importance

This wise strategy was also adopted by the madrasa movement. The 19th century ulema who led this movement could have thought of first removing the major hurdle that they faced — British rule — by seeking to militarily destroy it and also by uprooting the British system of education, in the belief that only after this could they establish a system of education of their choice. Had our ulema thought in this way, the movement that they launched would have died out shortly after it was spawned, and it would have produced no positive results for the community — as was the case of numerous violent movements before this. However, God provided the ulema with the vision to adopt the right course. They avoided the useless path of destruction and focused all their energies on constructive activities, using entirely peaceful means, mainly by setting up madrasas' and other related institutions. These institutions were able to sustain themselves in the long-run and to expand vastly in number. They had a very positive impact on society, which could not have been produced by short-lived violent movements. The Missionary Role of the Madrasas' Ideally, Islamic madrasas' should prepare scholars who, once they graduate, should engage in dawah, communicating the message of God to others, besides providing religious guidance to Muslims. This is what madrasas' used to do in the past. However, over time, this dawah orientation of the madrasas' was overtaken by a polemical approach. Because of this, madrasas' have become ineffective in doing any practical work as far as dawah is concerned. Every year, our madrasas' produce thousands of graduates, but they are not in a position to fulfil the requirements of dawah. Madrasa students are trained to engage in some sort of missionary work, but this training is entirely on polemical lines, not on the lines of dawah or invitation to the faith, as correctly understood. Consequently, madrasa graduates can become good polemicists, but not good missionaries. The past was an age of polemics, a product of the ‘age of the sword’. He who was victorious on the battlefield was regarded as successful, while the one who was defeated was regarded as having failed. It was in that particular milieu that religious polemics emerged. Fiery polemics were a common phenomenon in the past. But this is the age of scientific exploration and investigation, not polemics. Hence,