http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=2010\10\18\story_18-10-2010_pg3_4
Monday, October 18, 2010 VIEW: Rationalising the Islamiat courses - I -Elf Habib Zia followed an inherently futile fundamentalist notion that a cloying lip service to Islam with a lot of reading, reciting and learning of scriptures would regenerate an era of piety, plenty and progress and the fabled Muslim splendour. Quranic verses, as a result, were introduced even into mathematics and natural sciences The growing intolerance, extremism, and irrationality which, to a large extent, have triggered the tempest of the Taliban, al Qaeda and kindred terrorist organisations, have inevitably necessitated revamping of the Islamiat courses and the tenor of their instruction. Indeed, a real and lasting success against terrorism, as agreed by almost all enlightened analysts and strategists, can only be secured by moulding the youth's mind and aspirations. Most of these bloodthirsty organisations, devastating the lives, property and the prospects of peace, progress and a symbiotic interaction in essentially unavoidable pluralistic polities, claim to be crusading for the imposition of a weird obscurantist version of Islam. So the futility, irrelevance and the disastrous impact of this mindset have to be exposed and remedied through interesting, inspiring and mature media movement and infusing a realistic, futuristic insight by altering the curricula, courses and the mode of instruction for the younger learners. The mission has become even more pressing, as Pakistan, unfortunately, is not only bracing the blitz of this violent mindset but is also being blamed for incubation, breeding, harbouring and exporting some of its most monstrous and mutated brands. Elimination of this mindset is even more imperative as this curse, unleashed by the unethical, expedient, and selfish motives of General Ziaul Haq, the country's most diabolical dictator, has foisted an authoritarian and obscurantist thought process and intensified the asphyxiating and manipulative grip of the establishment on the national resources and institutions. It has thwarted some extremely essential democratic priorities like civilian supremacy and a fairer distribution of the resources for popular welfare and development. Zia, in fact, followed an inherently futile fundamentalist notion that a cloying lip service to Islam with a lot of reading, reciting and learning of scriptures would regenerate an era of piety, plenty and progress and the fabled Muslim splendour. Quranic verses, as a result, were introduced even into mathematics and natural sciences and Islamic studies was mandated for the graduate and professional levels. But the promised outpouring of piety, progress and bounty somehow became even more elusive and the country instead slid into a vicious spiral of sectarian and ethnic strife. Islamiat courses became even more copious and cumbersome during the Nawaz days. Nudged, reportedly, to a large extent by his Abba ji, extensive segments of scriptures were introduced and children were required to translate these verses and furnish and explicate the meaning of every word in them. Nawaz, in his zeal to bolster Zia's policies, pursued a quixotic path to turn every school kid into an intellectual giant, proficient in classic Arabic to translate the Holy Quran, to memorise its substantial parts and study, simultaneously, several other subjects as well. The learning of Islamiat was thus bracketed with the learning of classic Arabic and a massive memory work. Reaction of the teenagers to this behemoth burden was quite obvious, as there were reports that the students in some schools had collectively prayed for their deliverance from Nawaz and the ordeal he had subjected them to. We would never know how far the supplications by these tender souls spurred his ouster, but the burden of Islamiat courses has never since been rationalised. General Musharraf, the fourth dictator, after about seven years of incubation, fielded another set of curricula which characteristically failed in vision, perspective, content and direction. Musharraf, ironically, like a fatuous farmer, anxious to pick sweet water melons from the bitter gourds (toombas) sown by him, wanted the emergence of enlightened moderation from his dictatorship. Most of his pronouncements for moderation, however, were made during his marathon international trips and meant more to melt the western donors. Practically, General Qazi, his agent on education, created several chaotic situations, igniting even angry protests by some of his arbitrary edicts about the introduction of prayer procedures. Khyber Pakhtunkhwa declined to follow these changes and Balochistan also balked at their adoption. Actually, only a genuine democratic dispensation devoted to the mantra of dialogue, debate and consensus-building can foster an effective policy to promote the quintessential concepts of tolerance, care and love for humanity, contributing to a cordial coexistence of disparate cultures. The basic objectives and principles for formulating these courses, the themes and treatment in the text books to be based on them as well as the material and the guidance to be included in the instructor's manuals and co-curricular aids thus must be settled at the national level. Some rudimentary proposals in this context are being ventured here. The studies must strive to groom the students with the spirit and ideals of Islam and a harmonious and peaceful life, interaction and cooperation in a rapidly evolving and an inevitably unavoidable pluralistic world. For this, a mindset to appreciate and respect the diversity of faith, culture and customs has to be subtly and imperceptibly imbibed. All Islamic primers, thus must, at the very outset, set a sort of preamble or introduction, narrating the appearance of various religions including the evolution of Islam. It must also succinctly and lucidly emphasise the steadfast devotion of the devout followers of different religions to their belief, rituals and practices, their passion for its sanctity, superiority and dominance and the zeal to fight and sacrifice their lives and assets for its defence, glory and dominance. It should reveal how religious intolerance and wars ravaged life, humanity, civilisations and cultures. However, exasperated with this spiral of death, devastation and turbulence, the world gradually realised the futility of fighting for religious differences or dissent and the beauty and bliss of mutual respect and coexistence. The world now has over 20 major religions. Islam is one of the five principal religions, followed by about one-fifth of the world and 97 percent of the population in Pakistan. The narrative, then, inspiring the need to learn about the belief and principles of Islam should smoothly canter down to them. (To be continued) The writer is an academic and freelance columnist. He can be reached at [email protected] [Non-text portions of this message have been removed] ------------------------------------ Post message: [email protected] Subscribe : [email protected] Unsubscribe : [email protected] List owner : [email protected] Homepage : http://proletar.8m.com/Yahoo! 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