An Essay on

Modern Islamic Madressa System

Modern Science has outgrown beyond its self-demarcated boundaries. It is fast en

croaching into the intellectual territories that previously belonged exclusively
to metaphysics and religion where philosophers and religious scholars enjoyed t
heir exclusive and un-questionable authority. Science is challenging the validit
y of their beliefs and thoughts. Practically, in every sense of the word, scienc
e has become a religion per se with millions and millions of faithful adherents
and blind flag-followers who don’t even know that since long they have converted
to this new religion and submitted their souls to a new unseen, undefined god.
They believe in the validity of scientific discoveries more than they believe in
the truthfulness of religious teachings. A new Bible is being written, compiled
and preached under the guise of scientific theories. Human mind has been so con
ditioned and streamlined that it does not take anything seriously which is not s
cientific.
New scientific discoveries are immediately translated into new technologies that
give birth to new gadgets and these gadgets _ basically just playthings_ become
a part of our life without which we cannot imagine to live. Can you live _ and
breathe _ for a whole day without using your cell phone? Can you imagine a summe
r season without electricity?
Look around and try to find something which is not a product of science. How man
y things can you count? It is Science and Science everywhere. It has seeped dee
p into our bone marrows. Its existence is so real, so tangible that it has becom
e synonymous with the Whole Truth. That’s where the danger lies: human mind has
been trained to believe in the proposition that “ It is true if, and only if, it
is Science.” Everything else is Harry Potter or Kafka. We do proclaim our belie
f in religion but we tend to place the articles of Faith in those chambers of ou
r mind where mythology sits. We say we believe in the creation of Adam but in th
e heart of our hearts we KNOW that the creation of man started in the mud of the
oceans millions of years ago as a single-celled life form and then evolved and
diversified into various species of living things including man. We say Man is v
ice regent of God but we are told again and again that the abode of children of
Adam is but a tiny grain of sand in a vast desert. Earth is not the centre of th
e universe. Galileo, long ago relegated earth from its pivotal position as the c
entre of the whole universe to that of a mediocre planet revolving round a medio
cre sun in the corner of Milky Way while millions of such galaxies are roaming i
n THIS universe and there are still other universes parallel to this one. Compar
ed to the vastness of this system of mass and energy, Man does not exist, not to
speak of any regency.
These ideas about the nature, structure and mechanism of the universe are polar
apart from the fundamental teachings of religion and they are not taken as they
are_ just opinions of some brilliant scientists_ but unscrupulously taught and p
ropagated as the Laws of Nature, as if Nature takes dictation from Newton or Dar
win. These concepts are disseminated throughout the world without discrimination
of race or colour, creed or caste. Schools are their propagation centres and it
is very strange that the methodology and syllabus of all the schools throughout
the world is uniform. Students in the schools of South Africa are as well famil
iar with Newton’s Laws of Motion as are their counterparts in China. They are fo
llowers of a common religion_ the religion of science and technology.
This “Belief-Making Process” of modern science is very simple and deceptively in
nocent.
First of all they define knowledge as “the information received through so-calle
d five senses” which simply means human body_ something which cannot touch human
body through any of these senses is not REAL, it does not exist, it is just fan
tasy or superstition. In the early formative years when human mind is raw and mo
st receptive to new ideas and concepts, it is bombarded with all kinds of sensor
y perceptions: colours, sounds, shapes and names cleverly selected to be relevan
t to daily life which the targeted children can verify by their own experience.
The process is repeated again and again until everything else is filtered out: e
verything and anything that cannot be verified or measured or expressed empirica
lly. That’s why religion has no respectable place in modern school system.
Now is the time to wake up and reflect.
In a similar situation, at the end of the 11th century, it was Imam Ghazali who
fought back the onslaught of Greek Philosophy and successfully blew the cobweb
s away which had been haunting Muslim academia for a long time. But he, perhaps,
could not have done it single-handedly. Had there not been a very strong networ
k of Islamic Madressas and much-needed financial support from Nizam-ul-Mulk Tusi
, all his effort would have been a feeble voice in the wilderness. In Baghdad al
one, there were more than 100 centres of higher education including 6 full-fledg
ed medical universities. Moreover, there was no parallel system of education_as
we have today_ backed by state machinery and enjoying the patronage of the elite
. Ghazali was fortunate enough to have an audience: a regiment of brilliant scho
lars well-versed in logic, mathematics, philosophy and astronomy_ the physics of
that day. They understood Ghazali as well as Aristotle, Plato and Socrates. The
y absorbed his thoughts and ably transmitted them to the next generations. That’
s why we still know his name: Abu Hamid Muhammad ibn Muhammad at-Tusi al-Ghazali
.

We have no Ghazali today, and none of his stature. Nine hundred years have gone
by. While the other Camp has a long list of big names: Galileo, Copernicus, Kepl
er, Darwin, Newton, Einstein _ giant after giant, we are still looking up to the
skies for a Messiah to descend and save us from the Gog and Magog of today.
What shall we do?
In a similar situation Ghazali wrote his famous book “The Revival of Religious S
ciences” (Ihya-ul-Uloom) that was, in fact, an outline of curriculum for Islamic
schools. Some people think he initiated “Dars-e-Nizami” (sunniforum.org) which
is not correct historically but he did, in fact, lay down the basic principles.
It was Ibne Sina who wrote some teaching manuals for Madressa teachers. This is
what we can do today, in our humble capacity. In my opinion, it is the need of
the hour. We can take this small step that can prove to be a giant leap in the r
ight direction: develop a comprehensive course of studies for a Modern Islamic M
adressa System. I offer my humble services in this regard. My plan is to establi
sh a dedicated research centre, equipped with an electronic library, for the sol
e purpose of preparing an outline of courses for Islamic religious schools. I ne
ed your kind assistance. One day someone might take the next step.

Why should we do it?

Simply because we are duty bound to do something for the promotion of an Islamic
System of Education as we have invested a substantial portion of our lifetime,
efforts and energy in promoting the devilish system of Western education. For th
e last many years we have been mass-manufacturing the replica of Western Man.
We believe in the Day of Reckoning. On that day we will be asked what we have do
ne of the boon of our life. Are we ready to answer so many why’s of our life?
Why have we done what we have done?
Why are we doing what we are doing?
We are part of a parcel of well-planned global system of education which is inim
ical to the spirit of Islam. Do we really think that this is a service to Islam?
What is the compulsion?
Sir Syed Ahmad Khan might have some justification because in his days the classi
cal system of education was intact. And there was not a single “English” school
for Muslims. What justification do we have today when thousands of mushroom scho
ols are running on the same single track?
Could not we channelise our resources into something more constructive and benef
icial for the Umma?

Thanking you, I remain,

Sincerely Yours:
Habibullah Khan.
October 10, 2009.