Making A Difference

Ilm By Rote

In the atmosphere of suspicion Muslims in Britain have to live with post-7/7, madrassas but naturally fall next under unsparing scrutiny

Advertisement

Ilm By Rote
info_icon
deeniyat
The Independent
info_icon

The overwhelming majority of young Muslims led through a madrassa education will clearly not head the militant way. But, as Bonney points out, "that there is, and has always been, a connection between religion and politics is clear". And there is little doubt either that it is among the madrassa products that terrorist groups are likely to search for recruits, given their religious and political grounding. To the more angry among them, Lahore and Rawalpindi can begin to appear the Oxford and Cambridge of the world of madrassas.

Extremism is only the extreme end of the problem. There's the everyday issue of how much education a child can cope with in a single day. "Some younger girls get tired by the end of the day, you'll see them yawning," says Patel. "But most find the Quran easy, because it is a miracle of Allah. And so, after a long day at school, it is not stressful."

Nor is madrassa education stopping the children from doing well at school, hesays. "Their hard work is not going waste, it helps them do the national curriculum better. It increases their talent to learn more at day school." Not necessarily so, the overall pattern suggests. Pakistani and Bangladeshi children are by far the lowest performing at school. There are no studies to indicate whether this could at least in part be due to time spent at madrassas. But several teachers think it could.

"These madrassas are disrupting the education of children, and parents do not realise under what pressure they are putting their children," says a primary school teacher in Leicester. "When are children going to do the work that will give them the competitive edge? What they are learning at madrassas will not help them in school results or in their careers." On the contrary, the influence of madrassas shows through at day school. A report by Sir Herman Ouseley, former chairman of the Commission of Racial Equality, showed that the two subjects in which Pakistani students around Bradford did well at regular school were religious studies and religious education. Arabic is offered in the national curriculum, but it's not likely to take anyone nearer a job.

"I discussed the under-achievement of a child with one father," the teacher said. "He told me the children should have both educations, our education and your education. I talked about time, and he said they will find the time."

Patel says children are told they must take national education seriously "to earn one's bread, be successful and have a decent life. You cannot rely on social security all the time. But it is important to be successful both in this life and the life after. If you neglect Islamic education, you will not be successful in the life after. The deeds of this life will mean reward by the garden or punishment by fire. So both are important, and we teach this concept at the madrassa".

The young are in any case being drawn more and more to madrassa education, he said. "Why 90 per cent, at least 97 per cent children come to the madrassa." Next term, he says, his madrassa is beginning a Saturday morning class for senior students.

All regular schools now have compulsory courses in citizenship. By day, Muslim children learn what it is to be a good British citizen, and in the evening what it is to be a good Muslim. The results are not always a happy combination of both. After the 2001 riots in north England, the local authority in Bradford introduced an "enhanced citizenship curriculum". Institutions in Birmingham and Leicester have developed programmes to develop more links between madrassas and regular schools. If you cannot bring madrassas mainstream, you can take a little of the mainstream to the madrassas, or try to. For children finding their way through both, the choice is difficult and sometimes dangerous.

Advertisement

Tags

    Advertisement

    Advertisement

    Advertisement

    Advertisement

    Advertisement

    Advertisement