RELIGIOUS EDUCATION IN MADRASAS' — Role And Importance

the place of polemics has been taken by serious dialogue. This shift demands that madrasas' suitably modify their approach and system. They must prepare their students for scientific discussions, instead of heated polemics. The crucial difference between polemics and dialogue is that in the former case, the other party is regarded as an enemy. There is no concern for the welfare of the other party in the polemicist’s heart. He seeks more to defeat him than to improve or reform him. And this is why polemics generally become a sort of battle, characterised by hardhitting arguments bereft of gentleness. Indeed, often the polemicist is not concerned with what is right and what is wrong: his only concern, like that of a skilled lawyer, is to defeat his opponent. It was due to the setting up and expansion of madrasas' that today Muslims in India can be said to have a vast and strong non-political religious and communitarian foundation. This, however, is not in accordance with the practice of the prophets. In contrast to the polemicist, the aim of the ideal missionary of Islam is to appeal to the heart of man. Hence, it is very necessary to institute necessary changes in the madrasas' in this regard so that their approach comes to be based on the Quranic principle of conveying the divine message, instead of engaging in polemics. Madrasas' and the Transmission of Islamic Learning Through the medium of madrasas', the tradition of Islamic learning is carried on and transmitted to future generations. This is one of the major contributions of the madrasa system, and it is indispensable for the community to stay alive. The case of Muslims in medieval Spain is instructive in this regard. It is often thought that in 1492, when the 800-year-old Muslim political rule in Spain came to an end, the Muslims of the country were also wiped out — that they were all killed or forced to flee. But in actual fact, even after Muslim rule ended, several thousand Muslims remained in the country. What happened was not that Muslims suddenly disappeared from Spain, but, rather, that the tradition of Islamic learning and its transmission to the future generations was destroyed. It is a matter of