New Delhi: The Markazi Taleemi Board, Jamaat-e-Islami Hind organized a one-day workshop on “Codification of the Curriculum of Deeni Madrasas (Islamic Schools) of India”. The first session of the workshop was presided over by the President of Jamaat-e-Islami Hind, Syed Saadatullah Hussaini.

Speaking on the occasion, the JIH President said, “The curriculum of the Deeni Madrasas in the country is currently under debate. There are three reasons for this debate. The first is the cultural changes that our present age is going through. The increment in knowledge has grown at an astonishing speed. These cultural changes are also linked to religious knowledge and religious guidance. How should the education system be in these conditions? The second reason is the conditions in the country and the Muslim community. The nature of the challenges has changed. Western civilization and the political and social approach being adopted in our country are on the verge of destroying our cultural foundations. These conditions also require a new approach to religious education. The third reason is the legal and political requirements, the pressure of which is being felt by madrasas. These reasons are certainly important, but I think the real reason for revision in the curriculum of Deeni Madrasas is directly related to the objectives of the madrasas and our real religious needs. Today, there is a great need for scholars who do intellectual work who can guide and lead, and who reform society. Also, one important front where a lot of work needs to be done is the domain of inviting people to Islam. For this, scholars have to acquire the skills of Islamic interpretation in different languages. Today there is a dire need for a system that meets the demands of the times.”

The inaugural speech was presented by Syed Tanveer Ahmed, Secretary of the Markazi Taleemi Board and the welcome speech was delivered by Dr. Salman Asad, Rector Jamiatus Swalehat, Rampur. The second session was held under the chairmanship of Markazi Talimi Board Chairman Professor Salim Engineer in which Dr. Badrul Islam, Mujtaba Farooq, Maulana Tahir Madani, Yahya Nomani, Dr. Haziq Nadvi Mysuri, and Dr. Naseem Ali Grah. Besides these names, the Joint Director of IOS Dr. Shuaib Raza, and Islamic scholars from all over India including intellectuals and education experts from all over the country participated and expressed their views.

Dr. Salman Asad said in his keynote speech, “The challenges faced by Islamic schools include curriculum, teaching style, stages of education, legal restrictions, and teacher training”. He also presented measures to meet all these challenges.

Syed Tanveer Ahmed welcomed the participants and said “Jamaat-e-Islami Hind has been giving importance to education since its establishment. It gives primary importance to knowledge in achieving its goals and has been recognizing the role and position of Islamic schools. He said that today in the world, western countries are leading in the field of knowledge while Islam should be leading it. Islamic Madrasas can play an important role in this.

Prof. Saleem Engineer said “The ‘codification of the curriculum of Islamic Madrasas has been discussed for a long time, now it needs to be implemented.”
It is our responsibility to prepare the batch of scholars according to the new requirements. Therefore, we should think about it in a new way and consider the need to renew the Madrasa system.

The first session was moderated by Maulana Inamullah Falahi and the second session was moderated by Dr. Ataur Rahman.