Rahbar-e-Banat

There is no girls-only educational center for Muslim girls. Existing schools and madrasas provide education to boys and girls, both. Unfortunately, both sit in the same classroom (even in higher classes) – yes, even madrasas do the same. Girls must be educated, as they form the core of our society’s culture. Mother’s lap is not just the first school for each one of us, it also leaves a permanent impression on our personality. Illiteracy among women may be the main reason for the degradation of our culture and our value system. We send our daughters and sisters to another family, as an ambassador of our culture. It’s like exporting our culture to another household. What should we export? The values do not get inculcated in a day, and we are responsible for the habits of our girls. If our upbringing and education can make them true ambassadors of Islam, Jannah will become easily accessible to us. On the other hand, if our upbringing and education take them in the opposite direction, we would be the source of destruction for our society. The choice is ours! That’s why they say, “Teach a boy and you teach only a man; teach a girl and you teach an entire family”.

Deeni Ta’aleem is inclusive and comprehensive, as every education and training is deeni, and there is no other type of education in Islam. The types we know may be sub-sections, but placing them parallel to deeni ta’aleem is a fallacy. So, asri (contemporary) Taaleem (education) may be considered as a subdivision within the spectrum of the deeni (Islamic) educational system. So, this madrasa will provide holistic education by including in its curriculum science along with Islam, Arabic English, Urdu, and Hindi. The vocational training center will, Insha-Allah, be established soon to enhance the skills of those whose parents wish their children to acquire these. The ultimate goal is to take this institution to the highest levels (college, jaamia, university, and so on) where research facilities can also be provided, insha-Allah. As of now, we just intend to make a humble beginning with primary education – the first baby step.

This is not just going to be another institution, but as explained above, a girls’ education center – one of its kind in the area. Boys and girls of the area go to no educational institution at all, and if they go, they go to government schools or madrasas, which do not care for quality education. Pulling away poor children from their homes is, in fact, pulling away an earning hand. If quality education is not provided, the whole family is being cheated along with the child’s future being ruined. There is a need to impart quality education which really serves the purpose of educational empowerment. There is an even greater need to impart education to the girls, that’s why this institution has been conceived.

Your suggestions can make this project more beneficial for the target students and for the community, as a whole. Please take 2 minutes to submit your suggestions, by clicking here, or writing to school@biharanjuman.org

Maulana Waris Mazhari (editor of the Urdu monthly magazine ‘Tarjuman Dar ul-Uloom’, the official organ of the Deoband Madrasa’s Graduates’ Association):

Personally, I believe that Muslim women should receive an equal education as Muslim boys. There is nothing in Islam that prohibits this. Why shouldn’t we have Muslim women engineers, doctors, journalists, lawyers, and social workers? We need Muslim women in all these sorts of occupations. They need to have a presence in all necessary social sectors. A woman can be a good Muslim, a good wife, a good mother, and a good professional at the same time. Such a woman can provide a good role model for others to emulate. To deny Muslim women this possibility, ironically in the name of Islam, would mean only to further reinforce ultra-secularism, in the sense of hostility to, or absence of, religion in the public sphere.