The Madrasa Education System needs to be upgraded - A conversation with Shah Abdul Hannan

We are noticing a certain difference in the thought process and mindset between those educated in the general education system and those educated in the madrasa system. What could be the reason for this?

Here, I want to highlight two things. Both the English-educated and the madrasa-educated have their own mistakes. The mistake of the English-educated people is that they don't learn Arabic. For example, I don't know Arabic like the scholars do. Although I took a two-year course, which helped me a lot, I also learned Urdu at a young age, making it easier for me to understand the thought processes of scholars across India. English-educated individuals should be more attentive to learning Arabic. On the other hand, the mistake of madrasa-educated people lies in their education system. Especially in the Qawmi madrasa system, I don't think it meets the demands of the current time, era, and Islam.

I want to clarify this with two points. First, why do students from Dhaka University lead Bangladesh today and not those from Jamea Kamrangirchar or Jamea Lalbagh? The answer is that these madrasas do not provide the knowledge necessary to lead the world. To run the world, you need computer science, economics, BBA, MBA, and public administration. In other words, the education needed to manage worldly affairs is not provided in madrasas, which naturally hinders the development of leadership.

This is their own fault. What do they do? They offer a Dawra degree, teach some Arabic, and some Hadith. What they should have done— and I proposed this in an essay— is open more advanced Dawra programs if they want to play a significant role. A Jamea or university is not just a place to grant a degree; it’s a place to teach a wide range of subjects. Harvard University teaches over a hundred subjects. At least include economics in Qawmi madrasas. If you don't reorganize the curriculum to align with the modern world, leadership won't emerge.

We need to think about what is being upgraded. For example, when we read an economics book, we don't read a book from a hundred years ago but the current one. Similarly, other than the Quran and the sayings of the Prophet (PBUH), we should study the latest books in every subject. The older commentaries (tafsir) should be brought into the course as references, but the current commentaries should be studied. Similarly, in jurisprudence (fiqh), the latest works should be the main focus, and older ones should be used as references. But they are not doing this.

They also have a reluctance toward learning English. The reality is that English is a global language. So, learning this language benefits us the most. They [foreign powers] don't want us to learn English, but we should learn it so that we can defeat them using their own language. Yet, they refuse to learn English. And it's not just English— they don't even learn Bengali properly. They don’t understand the internet, and for them, computer science is just about typing.

The biggest issue is that many of them believe that everyone will come to them, but they are following the opposite path of the Prophet (PBUH). The Prophet (PBUH) went to everyone, walking around Makkah and even going to Ta'if to invite people. Yet, many of our scholars don't do this. As I was saying, I have never seen our scholars approach the teachers of Dhaka University.

They need to create that opportunity for themselves.

Why are they not going [to them]? They have to create the opportunity for themselves. Don’t they have friends at Dhaka University? They are raising a different issue. There was a time when the entire Indian subcontinent had a unified education system. It was only after the British arrived that the education system split into two. The British wanted to eliminate Islam. To protect their existence, the Qawmi madrasas were established at that time. This generation is not fully accepting madrasa education.

It’s true that there was once a unified education system, and it should happen again. I am saying this again—it must happen, but until that time comes, the education system must be upgraded in the way I mentioned. If I build a house, won’t I plaster it? Won’t I decorate it? Until the education system becomes unified, we need to reform our system. A unified education system seems a long way off, and I think it will be very difficult. It depends on political change. Until then, why isn’t the system being upgraded?

The government supports Dhaka University, but it doesn’t support Qawmi madrasas.

We need to understand that we cannot rely on the government.

What do you think about the backwardness of the scholars (ulama)?

I feel they are not trying to understand the problems of modern civilization. Do you think they are not advancing because of arrogance?

I don't know if there is such arrogance, but there may not be. If it exists, it's among others, because there is no place for arrogance in Islam. We know from the Hadith that anyone with even a speck of arrogance in their heart will not enter Paradise. I think their education on modern topics is very limited. If they thought about it, they would consider what the modern world is thinking, where today’s problems lie, and what challenges I need to face today. Today, I am not dealing with the Mu'tazilites or the Ash'aris; today, I am dealing with Marx, Hegel, and Kant. But they are not considering this.

So, I think it would be a major achievement if the ulama in this country upgraded madrasa education.

Speaking of education, a question arises: how beneficial is it for the country if several different education systems exist simultaneously?

I don't have much old knowledge on this, but I don’t think it’s entirely impossible. Two or three different education systems can exist. For example, in some European countries, homeopathy and allopathic medical systems are taught separately.

That’s fine. But what I mean is, isn't our current education system increasing the distance between people? English-educated people call madrasa students "backward mullahs," while madrasa students call them "rods of hell." This gap—can it not be avoided?

You are right. But I am saying that it’s not impossible to have two or three types of education systems. If each system is correct, there’s no issue, but bridging the gap will be difficult, as we discussed earlier. It will take time to close this gap. I support the idea of a unified system. We need great scholars to shape the education system based on our traditions and culture. Where are those scholars? Have our scholars written five advanced books in the past 50 years? How many books like Maulana Akram Khan’s Mostofa Charit have been written? How many books like Yusuf Al-Qaradawi’s Zakat have been written in this country? How many books like Muhammad Al-Ghazali’s Aqidat al-Islam have been produced here? Other than Akram Khan's Mostofa Charit, I haven’t seen any. Scholars may be angry at me, but why? Great books like those from Al-Azhar, by Yusuf Al-Qaradawi, Muhammad Al-Ghazali, Sayyid Qutb, and Hasan Al-Banna, have emerged from other places—why aren’t they emerging from here? Why aren’t we producing intellectuals like Allama Iqbal or Maulana Maududi?

We have to admit that Saudi Arabia has brought its education system very close to Islam. That’s a huge achievement. In Pakistan’s school curriculum, Islam has a strong place, even though there are many issues there. But their school curriculum has been largely Islamized. Egypt’s Islamic curriculum is also quite Islamic, and the same goes for Malaysia. We are one of the unfortunate, poor countries where we haven’t been able to achieve this. The governments in Bangladesh have not been Islamic, and they still aren’t. So what’s the point of demanding it? Islamic political parties are too focused on politics and haven’t done deep work in these areas.
Has any party done anything?

I don't think any party has done deep, impactful work. Some have done things—for example, I know of a party that runs 7-800 schools. However, they follow the government curriculum, which doesn't reflect any distinctive features. Here, they could have followed the school system of Al-Azhar, which has 1,000 schools.

Additionally, he proposed the following suggestions for the advancement of Qawmi madrasa education:

In this article, I will try to propose some ideas for improving the standard of the madrasas known as Qawmi madrasas. Since the establishment of the Deoband madrasa in the 19th century, this system of madrasas has spread, especially across the subcontinent. However, there has been no significant reform in this system since then. Students who graduate from these madrasas typically work in other madrasas or take on roles as mosque imams. They generally have no place in the country’s industrial, commercial, banking, or administrative sectors, or if they do, it’s very limited.

I am not aware of what kind of reforms the directors of Qawmi madrasas are considering for their madrasa courses. I also don't know if there are any reports on this matter. If there are, they should be acted upon appropriately.

In this article, I am offering some suggestions to make the Qawmi madrasa system more beneficial for Islam. It is necessary for the sake of Islam that madrasa-educated students can meet the needs of all levels of society. They should be able to become bankers, administrators, and economists in addition to imams and madrasa teachers.

Most of the larger madrasas are referred to as jamia, which means university. The essence of a jamia or university is that all necessary subjects should be taught there. Not all students need to learn everything, but some students should specialize in specific subjects. In this context, if we add just two more dawrah courses to the current dawrah degrees in all the jamias, the madrasa students could become administrators and officials in all economic institutions. These two subjects are Economics (Iqtisad) and Public Administration.

Currently, madrasas teach four subjects: Tafsir, Hadith, Fiqh, and Adab. Although it may not be possible to open dawrah courses in every subject, it is very feasible to open dawrah courses in these two new subjects. As a result, these students will be able to enter the administration across the country and contribute to the Islamization of the entire nation.

Islamic economics has already become a new science, and there has been a lot of work in Public Administration. In this context, I am proposing to open two new dawrah courses in Qawmi madrasas. This will require some changes to the course plan in the lower classes. In the 11th/12th grades of Qawmi madrasas, two papers in Economics and Public Administration should be added, and students can choose either subject. At the BA level in the madrasa system, there should be two papers on Economics/Public Administration, which will be optional. Both subjects cannot be taken together. Only those who take Economics or Public Administration at this stage will be eligible to study these subjects at the dawrah level.

Other necessary changes include strengthening Arabic language education. Bengali language education must be fully integrated so that madrasa students can become renowned writers in the country. English should also be appropriately included at all levels so that they can serve not only at the national level but also at the international level, benefiting both the country and Islam.

Additionally, it would be very beneficial if modern works on Tafsir, Hadith, and Fiqh are included in their dawrah courses. All their courses need to be reviewed, with some old books being replaced by newer ones. This will allow their courses to meet the needs of Islam and society in this era.

The Arabic taught in our madrasas does not make students proficient in the language. They are not fully able to speak or write in Arabic. Modern methods of teaching Arabic should be adopted.

Interview conducted by: Galib Hasan

Source: Madrasa Education Memorandum

Author: Former Secretary and Chairman, Islami Bank Bangladesh Ltd.