The Necessity of Teaching Science & Technology in our Madaris: Science & Sectarianism

 

In the name of Allah the most Beneficent and Merciful.

Science & Sectarianism

Sectarianism is a big issue in Pakistan, and I don’t want to go into its negative ramifications, we are all aware of it. I, along with few other people, started a yearlong software development course for ulema (graduates of our seminaries) in 2017. Details of this course are available at www.isdp.info  During these years I became acquainted with hundreds of ulema from all over Pakistan belonging to different sects and madaris (seminaries). The program requires a certain level of English and math. My initial presumption was that since these ulema deal with complex calculations involving laws of inheritance they will have the required math skills necessary for our program. But I was disappointed to find out that a good portion of them could not calculate the average of the two numbers.

This situation was very perplexing for me, especially when I look at ulema of past like Al-Biruni, Ibn al-Nafis, al-Khwarizmi, just to name a few. I discussed this with many knowledgeable people over the years. During these discussions it became clear to me that the madaris of the past where people like Al-Biruni, Ibn al-Nafis and al-Khwarizmi studied did not just teach Quran and hadith but also taught what we now call science and technology. For them there was no differentiation between what we call worldly knowledge and religious knowledge. For them the differentiation was ilm-nafay and everything else ( which we can call ilm-ghair nafay).

These madaris were funded by Muslim rulers of the time and as such did not have financial worries. Unfortunately, when Muslims lost political and military control the madaris lost the protective umbrella and were left to fend for themselves. When the British took power from Muslims in India we can clearly see their objectives in the famous quote of Macaulay on Education:  “We must at present do our best to form a class who may be interpreters between us and the millions whom we govern; a class of persons, Indian in blood and colour, but English in taste, in opinions, in morals, and in intellect.” It is in this background that the ulema of the time decided that they cannot confront the full might of the British empire. They don’t have the means to teach all the different subjects that they used to teach. Furthermore, as suggested by Macaulay, the British had established their own education system which produced people that they needed to run their government. As a result the ulema of that time limited themselves to the teaching of purely “deeni uloom” ( religious subjects). This is most clearly visible in the curriculum of Darul Uloom Deoband (founded on May 30, 1866). Even though an attempt was made later on to rectify the situation, it did not succeed.

This situation persisted even after we got independence from British. It is true that more than 50% madaris in Pakistan are intellectual children of Darul Uloom Deoband but this situation is not restricted to Deobandi madaris only, it is prevalent in all others also. By now you might be wondering as to what all of this has to do with the title of the essay, well it does.

You see when these madaris were teaching all subjects their teachers were not restricted to “religious” topics. They studied and produced scientific knowledge and technological innovations and, in the process, produced giants like Al-Biruni, Ibn al-Nafis, al-Khwarizmi etc. These giants tackled issues like radius of earth, circulation of blood in human body, algebra etc. But when the madaris restricted themselves to so called “religious” education only then consequently their inquiries were also restricted to topics like “how high above the ankle should the trousers be”, “should you say ameen loudly or not during prayer”, “should you recite Darood after prayer or not” etc etc. Since their inquiries were restricted to such topics they went into more and more hair splitting into these topics and hardened their positions on these issues. Furthermore, in order to keep their follower/doner base intact they transmitted these intellectual/ilmi topics into public domain. I am not saying that not studying Biology caused sectarianism, there are other factors also, like global political/military conflicts.

But on an intellectual level the self-imposed restriction of teaching religious subjects only has significantly contributed to the rise in sectarianism in our madaris. It is high time that the administrators of these madaris think about it seriously and take remedial steps. It is their religious obligation to strengthen the ummah instead of leading it into a sectarian wasteland.  I have been teaching at university level for quarter of a century and based upon that experience I don’t think that our universities can produce true leadership for ummah. Why you may ask, because like most of the universities in the world our universities are basically factories that mass produce technologically literate slaves for the global capitalist system. They don’t have the desire or the freedom to take a revolutionary step. But the administrators of our madaris have the freedom to do what they want to, it is the question of their desire.