Islamic Religious Institutes

Islamic Religious Institutes

The English media, after a silence of about one and a half year, have once again started their full onslaught against the Dini Madaris (Institutes of Islamic learning). The opponents of these institutes perhaps hope that the military government would carry out the work, which the civilian government could not accomplish. In Pakistan, they want to repeat what happened to the religious institutes in Turkey, Egypt and Algeria. Nawaz Sharif, who was affected by the plan of the enemies of Islam, also accused the Taliban of terrorism. Everyone knows that the Taliban were graduates of Dini Madaris. If the enemies of Islam think that they can convince the present military government of targeting the religious institutes, they are dearly mistaken because our army protects the beliefs and ideologies of the country just as it safeguards the borders. An example of the evil propaganda perpetrated against religious institutes I s the article by the well-known columnist. Ameenah jailani in the daily newspaper Dawn, 17 October 1999. She wrote that terrorism, sectarian killings and Madaris are all related to the Taliban. Someone has to confront them. Why did Nawaz Sharif take so long to tackle this ‘problem’? If this issue has been overlooked all this time, it does mot mean that it should be discarded now. According to a 1997 government survey, one hundred madras were giving military training to their students. Terrorists who are brainwashed are prepared every year from these institutes in different guises. Thousands of youth are made into terrorists and are sent to fight and be killed. This can be proved from the fact that in 1997, all the terrorists that were arrested by authorities for murder were ex-student of religious institutes. Each one of them knew the consequences of being arrested by all of them said that if they got another life, they would do the same thing as the reward for it was jannah. The above lines summarize what the article in Sawn had.
Response: - It is our responsibility to apprize the entire ummah of the reality so that this evil plan can be stifled. If drops of water continue dripping at one spot, they create a hole. The print media is a very powerful tool of propagation. We should not be negligent of this treacherous plot, but also to expose the positive aspects of religious institutes. The following facts need to be highlighted because the print media contains such incidents on a regular basis. (1)Till today, no incident of terrorism has ever occurred in any religious institutes. On the contrary, incidents of violence occur daily at college and university campuses. The members of armed student organizations kill one another mercilessly. They even go to the extent of killing professors, principals and their families. (2)No weapon was ever found in any religious institute whereas many weapons are recovered on a regular basis from colleges, universities and their hostels. (3)There has never been a fight between the students of one school of thought with those of another. Accusing the Madaris of acts of terrorism is merely an accusation without any truth behind the matter. On the contrary, this accusation has been proven against the students of universities and colleges who form student bodies. It is impossible to continue with the affairs of education without the deployment of the security forces and rangers at a respected institute lime the Karachi University. One will not find the students of Madaris wandering around aimlessly. They have not been found interfering with girls whereas this is a daily occurrence at colleges and universities. (4)The students of Dini Madaris have never been found with intoxicating substances like heroin, alcohol etc. This curse is spreading like wildfire among college and university students. The reason for this is the lack of moral and religious training. (5)The graduates of Dini Madaris have not been found involved in dealings of bribery and looting whereas the elite from the universities have not left a stone unturned in looting the country. Most of the ministers of previous governments have looted millions of rupees, how many have escaped and how many are imprisoned. However, not one religious leader has been arrested for such acts. The reason for this is that selfishness and egoism is taught at secular western establishments. On the contrary, serving humanity and sacrifice is taught at religious institutes. It is impossible to even think of looting the country for religious students. They would be prepared to sacrifice their valuable lives for their country. (6)The enemies of Islam present the participation of religious students in the jihad of Afghanistan and Kashmir as terrorism whereas this participation could not have occurred without the indication of the government. This is not terrorism but pure loyalty. Russia, the super power at the time, had reached Spin Bulduk on the border of Pakistan and the Russians drank wine and arrogantly exclaimed that now they were about to capture Pakistan. At the time, it was this loyal group of religious students that confronted the enemy and sacrificed their lives to save Pakistan. Where was the columnist of Dawn in this hour of need? (7)The students of Madaris respect the law, honors their elders and serve their parents. These traits are rarely found in the college and university students are turning towards the Madaris The Madaris do not have sufficient space to accommodate them whereas there are thousands of Madaris. (8)The most important point is that the word of Allah and the religion of Islam upon whose name this country was founded, is taught at religious institutes. Islam is the pivotal principle on which the constitution of this country is based. In colleges, beside a handful, most of the other organizations spread hatred and are based on language or provincial lines. They propagate openly to fragment the nation whereas the slogan at the time Pakistan was founded was La ilaha illallah. This country was established on the kalimah. Qaid Azam Muhammad Ali Jinnah had the flag of western Pakistan hoisted by Allamah Zafar Ahmad Uthmani while Allamah Zafar Ahmad Uthmani hoisted it in East Pakistan when Qaid Azam announced the independence of Pakistan. There are countless positive aspects of Dini Madaris. However, there has been much negligence in countering the propaganda against these institutes. This has resulted in wrong perceptions in the minds of the educated and ruling classes. All praises are due to Allah that our Dini Madaris have capabilities as well as means. If these institutes continue turning a blind eye to the adverse propaganda and the treacherous plots being hatched against them, it will have dire consequences. The students of Dini Madaris are always prepared to assist the armed forces to safeguard Pakistan. The example of this is the jihad of Kashmir. Thousands of students have been martyred. No columnist or editor of Dawn or any other newspaper for that matter has given his life. (9)The Dini Madaris have always combated terrorism. Only the lessons of brotherhood and mutual love are delivered at these institutes. Accordingly, students from every province of the country study at these institutes. They do not have partisanship with any province. On the contrary, students of other provinces are not tolerated in colleges and universities. Those who accuse the religious institutes of terrorism are unaware of the reality and lack understanding. Or they are the agents of a foreign agency. After death their eyes will open as to who the real terrorists were and who is successful in the world and the hereafter. Are the ones who follow Allah and His Messenger successful or those who adopt the ways of the Jews. (10) The poor student is fleeced at colleges and universities in the name of fees and funds. Their parents are also fleeced. However the students of Dini Madaris ate supported. Fees are overlooked while education, find and medical care at these institutes are free. One is honored and respected at religious institutes. One is given the garb of Iman here. Thousands of education students of colleges and universities go begging from door to door. They cannot find jobs. But you will not find one Qari or Hafiz or Alim doing nothing. Together with religious subjects, secular subjects are also taught at religious institutes. Education up to matric can be achieved together with the religious education. The opponents of Dini Madaris is will perish on earth because Islam and the religious institutes which are forts of Islam will remain till the Day of Judgment if Allah wills. This religion has come to survive till the Day of Judgment. They day these saints and religious ones perish, it will be the end of the world andQiyamah will take place. (11) Today the students of Dini Madaris and the religious public are called fundamentalists. This is also a creation of the west so that the world knows that fundamentalists are the legitimate offspring of their fathers. Their foundations are strong. The people of Europe regard the questioning about who their fathers are as abusive. In their passports, instead of their fathers, the name of their mothers are mentioned. No one knows his/her accrual farther. The lineage of fundamentalists is linked to the father. In their passport, the name of the father is inserted in the space of ‘son of’. religious people should be proud that even their enemies and invalid children which no modern school is prepared to accept. In fact, such children cannot even walk in front of such school because they cannot afford the fees. Such students are forced to turn towards the Madaris. There, the education, boarding, food, medical care and sleeping facilities are all for free. Glory to Allah who has created so many avenues for His Din. These children are thus cared for in the world while at the same time their hereafter is also prepared. In our Madaris, admission remains open for orphans and invalids throughout the year. Is there any modern school in the world that does this? The Cry of a Pious Child to his Father Listen to the plea of a child studying at a modern school.A child studying at a modern school, one day returned home and began pleading with his father as follows: O beloved father, why do you send me to this modern school? I do not like this school at all. Father: What is the reason? Son: Listen to my whole narrative. My Urdu teacher is a great poet but he drinks wine. He calls himself a Muslim. He also says that the Russian astronauts searched for Allah all over the sky but could not find Him. He does not fear the wrath of Allah at all. Father: La Houla wa la quwwata illa billah. Son: I still have more to narrate. The English teacher believes that Isa (E.I) is the son of Allah. He mocks Rasulullah Sallalaho Alaihi Wassallam. Must I tell you more? The science teacher says that we are the offspring of apes. He says that Darwin has proven this theory. Dad, are you the offspring of a monkey? The History teacher claims that the Muslim conquerors were plunderers and robbers, the drama teacher wants me to act the part of a drunkard. Beloved father, you desire that I become a doctor. Sometimes you wish that I become an engineer. Do you think that this will embellish my uture? But this is not the only future. There I one more future which will remain perpetually, namely the hereafter. Success in the hereafter requires one to be a Muslim by body and mind. You have to be concerned about that as well. You hould search for the antidote for the school. Every Muslim should ponder over the plea of this child. How can his environment be improved? Even in today’s times, those college and university students who have some contact with the Madaris and the saints have good religious inclinations. They are drowned in the love of Rasulullah Sallalaho Alaihi Wassallam from head to toe. May Allah grant us all correct understanding, Amin. (13) All praises are due to Allah that even in this era, the students of religious institutes number more than twenty thousand. There are seven thousand Madras affiliated toWafaqul Madaris (a national body). Approximately three hundred thousand students write the Wafaqul Madaris examinations. The remainders write there examinations in their own institutes. In this way, only the Deobandi school of thought students number in excess of nine hundred thousand. The Barelwi and Ahle Hadith students are excluded from this number. The total number of students (Of all schools of thought) is 1500,000. The graduates of the past twenty-five years number in the hundreds of thousands. May Allah allow these institutes to progress even further and protect them from all kinds of evils and dissension Amin. FORTUNE HAS DECREASED ANOTHER MOMENT IN ONE’S LIFE Another year has passed. The child has moved closer to youth while the youth have slipped a year closer to old age. Death and the grave have come a year closer to all: children, the youth and the elderly. Those alive and those who passed away have moved a year closed to Qiyamah and the day of Reckoning. One year has decreased from the opportunity of life granted t one. ‘Time has passed’ is an oft-quoted statement. Have you ever pondered what it really implies? And where does this time go to? The answer is not difficult for a Muslim. He has been told from the beginning that everything returns to Allah. every year, month, week, day, hour and minute return to Him and is stored in the unseen. when we call Qiyamat is a return of that time. Whatever time was spent in this world and which was stored in the unseen as a trust, will once again be brought out. The form of everything that happened in the past will be mirrored in the present. Are you prepared to face that time? Today you are partaking of the wealth of others unjustly. You are mocking the Din of Allah and you are happy about the sly plans that you make. You perpetrate sins in the company of all kinds of people. You are given respite to commit evil in the darkness of the night. You eat the wealth of the government in the daylight. You expose your oppression in the privacy of your home. You show off in front of people. All these acts of yours are being taken by the camera of time. What will be your condition when this register is opened and the whole scene is exposed before you? Reform because you have the opportunity to reform. Wake up for you have slept for too long. Cry for you have laughed for too long. Achieve for you have lost out for too long. If your past year has been spent in negligence, then take a lesson from it. Make a firm intention in the heart that if you are alive, you will not waste this year of your life. ‘O Allah, we have wronged ourselves. And if you do not forgive us and have mercy on us, we will be at a loss.’
(14) The claimants to human rights, the west and those Muslims who are educated and indoctrinated by them, accuse those Muslims who are connected to Deen, who uphold the precepts of Islam. Of failing in the department of fulfilling women’s rights. That they are responsible for the floundering and collapse of a sound social fiber. The fact of the matter is, the extent to which Islam bas afforded women rights, cannot even be dreamed of let alone be conceived by those who are irreligious. The west in their intoxication with lust, eroticism and sensuality have oppressed women to such an extent that they have even denuded them of their clothing while themselves donning immaculate three-piece suits. Women in the west have even been denuded of their sleeves. In place of trousers wherewith to cover their legs, they have been made to wear literally nothing but underwear. They desire that the Muslims too, become shameless and unprincipled like them. Islam has in reality kept women’s rights in mind to the ultimate degree. Muslim women in their homes are veritable rulers. Every individual within the family looks upon her with love, respect and honour. A woman, being someone’s mother, someone’s paternal aunt, someone’s maternal or grandmother paternal grandmother, is asked by all her male counterparts with great conviction, to pass her hand over their heads as a source of blessing, to make Dua, to supplicate on their behalf for they consider her supplication as worthy of quick acceptance in the court of Allah. They are complete rulers with in the home environment and are consulted whenever any major decision has to be taken. The husband goes out to earn while the wife spends. The cooking that she does is but because of the fact that she takes great relish in preparing sumptuous meals for her near and dear ones. Whereas in Europe and America, in every country indoctrinated by the west the condition of an aged woman merits great pity in that she is consigned to a poultry farm (old age home) and is visited on the occasion of Christmas and presented with a cake as a sign of well wishing by her children. This is the sum total of human rights in the west pertaining to ones own parents, to the mother who bore one with great difficulty and sacrificed her sleep nights on end to see to one’s comfort. It is well known that in a nudist colony people shed their clothes. By chance a pious person happened to stumble into such a nudist colony. All the inhabitants made a ruckus, an uproar saying, “a clothed fundamentalist has entered. Get rid of him. Drive him out of our colony.” The virtuous person replied, “It is impossible for me to remain in a place Like this. I beseech Allah alone to guide you. ”One among the nudists said to him, “Don’t you see, my child is afraid and has begun crying on seeing your bearded face?” The saintly person replied, “It is not because of my beard that the child is afraid. The fact of the matter is that up to now the child was under the impression that he has two mothers, considering the fact that both parents’ cheeks are smooth. It is for the first time that the child is seeing a father, a bearded man. It is but natural for a child to be more in awe of the father than the mother. Even in the jungle is this witnessed. When the lion stalks, all the other animals begin to run helter skelter. “ Allah Ta’ala has made the Muslims lions, in that the entire social environment is subject to treading in the footfalls of Allah’s beloved messenger Sallalaho Alaihi Wassallam and not to be effected by the habits and tendencies of the age we live in.” (15) The new government in Pakistan has initiated a fact finding mission to determine and identify those individuals who have looted the country and to return those monies to the state where it rightfully belongs. We pray that the government is successful in this endeavor. Pleasing it is to state that not a single pious, a single religiously inclined individual is involved therein while every other individual is perturbed at the impending implications. Each one of them is pondering what is to happen on the morrow? We beseech Allah Ta’ala to unfold the reality upon each of us as to the implications of being questioned on the Day of Judgment as well. Very detailed indeed, will be the questioning, the fact finding on the day. Where and how did one earn ones livelihood? Where and how did one spend it? Did one earn by permissible or impermissible means? Where and how did one utilize one’s youth. Did one perform one’ salaah? Did one keep all one’s fasts? Did one discharge one’s Zakaah? Did one perform one’s Haj? Did one participate in jihad? Every detail will one be questioned about in thorough detail. We beseech Allah Ta’ala to save us from such detailed questioning on the day of Qiyamah and grant us the Taufeeq to diligently prepare for that day. Remember well that this world will inevitably come to an end while the hereafter, wherein we will have to reside, is eternal. (16) Another point to bear in mind is the function and purpose, the actual object of the press and journalism as a whole. If one is to ponder deeply, the actual function and purpose of journalism and the press is to enhance and further the cause of humanitarianism, of altruism but on the contrary, it is the very vehicle whose work this was that is relegating it to oblivion and enhancing the base and vile side of humankind. All this is dome ion the name of sensationalism which in turn is motivated by the profit margin. Not news worthy, not worthy of bold print is it considered to mention those three individuals who through the goodness of their hearts decided to support some orphans, to get them married at their expense. If it is mentioned at all, it will occupy some obscure space on the middle pages. Yes! If on the contrary, three hoodlums were to set off with some poor woman, beat, bash and rape her, this comfortably finds itself mentioned in bold print and on the front page to boot. Every sordid detail will be furnished to further incite some sickly soul to further incite some sickly soul to follow suit. “Any government or person that oppose the establishment of Dini Madaris (religious institutes) is in fact, in conflict with Allah Ta’ala. Allah Ta’ala has announced in the Holy Quran that “we have revealed the Quran and we are its protectors.” Hence, whosoever plans to annihilate primary Madaris or higher centers of learning is in direct conflict with Allah Ta’ala. History bears testimony that all those who opposed religious institutions were totally destroyed. Therefore, any person or government tat sought felicity and perpetually should aid and assist religious institutions.”