Students at seminary set a new course

The old hostel for students at the Darul Uloom is being rebuilt with 8216;modern8217; civic facilities on the lines of an international university.

The old hostel for students at the Darul Uloom is being rebuilt with 8216;modern8217; civic facilities on the lines of an international university. The old infrastructure, an official in-charge of the construction says, has 8220;retired8221; 8212;and so have many beliefs that the Darul Uloom was criticised for, claim the seminary8217;s ulema.

Students and alumni alike have been at the helm of this change. In the past decade, alumni of the Darul Uloom have set up madrassas and schools that follow both Islamic studies and other curriculum. In the neighbouring district of Muzaffarnagar, as many as 3,500 students are studying in schools that are founded on the lines of madrassas but also follow either CBSE or Uttar Pradesh Education Board curriculum.

Says Nawaz Deobandi, comptroller of the Industrial Training Institute in Deoband, 8220;Employment opportunities are as important in today8217;s world as the need for Islamic studies. The seminary8217;s alumni realise this and a middle-ground between the two academic platforms is what parents and students are now looking for.8221;

The change has affected all quarters. Even the Muftis claim to be increasingly taking moderate stances on issues because of the need to be involved in the democratic system. 8220;The pressure to do so has grown because of the concerns of the alumni of the institute who have been running many madrassas for girls and other institutes outside of Darul Uloom,8221; says a Mufti.

Iffat Nadeem, who runs Mahad Ayesha, a madrassa for girls started by an alumni of Darul Uloom, says 8220;It is important for our girls to earn their livelihood. We encourage them to get admission in professional training institutes after they complete their studies here.8221;

Of the 1,000 girls at the madrassa, Nadeem says at least 40 per cent want to work. According to the Muftis, many girls from madrassas go on to join colleges and institutes run by madrassa alumni in cities such as Meerut, Muzaffarnagar and Aligarh.

This growing pressure from parents and students and emphasis on employment opportunities, professional training and 8216;modern8217; infrastructure is, in fact, responsible for making the seminary advise its clerics not to go against the 8220;law of the land8221; while issuing fatwas. 8220;In case of the fatwa against Salman Rushdie and on cow slaughter, our view has been to refrain from following the fatwa if it is against the law of the land,8221; says Mufti Habib-ur-rehman, Head of Darul Ifta, the department that issues fatwas.

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The change in Darul Uloom is best summed up by its vice-chancellor Maulana Marghoob-ur-Rehman.

8220;My grand-daughters are studying and working in Aligarh like many other girls from our institute. We are opening up to realise our position in the 8216;system8217; and want constructive cooperation from the government on this issue and we will follow with firmer steps.8221;