When Mohammed Afzal graduated from Darul-Uloom, he thought he had seen the last of Deoband. He was headed, after all, for the big cities of Mumbai and Delhi. With his madarsa training in hadith and fiqh, he hoped to make a mark and spread the Deobandi word. But 9/11 changed the world. Afzal’s too.
He’s back in Darul-Uloom, doing what was until now considered the unthinkable here: He’s teaching English to those who have completed eight years in learning the hadith and fiqh in Arabic.
‘‘We realise there’s a huge gap between the intelligentsia here and the intelligentsia outside. There’s a disconnect. People think madarsa education has little or no relevance. Since all this has a lot to do with English, both spoken and written, I am going to teach them that and bridge the gap,’’ says Afzal.
It’s a challenge he happily accepts. ‘‘There’s distrust, suspicion outside when you say you are from Deoband. What we need to do is go out and tell the world that don’t simply judge the car by its driver, go by the quality of the car.’’
Afzal is one of the two teaching English at Darul-Uloom, introduced last year. Spread over two years, it’s designed for those who have done five years of primary education and eight of Arabic study of hadith, fiqh and other subjects to do with logic and Islamic jurisprudence.
Every boy at Darul-Uloom knows Afzal, ready to take you to his room which, like most hostel rooms, is a mess: on the floor lie English newspapers, dictionaries and books he hopes will help him in his mission.
Two courtyards away is another room with more proof of winds of change sweeping one of Islam’s hallowed seminaries: in batches, 51 students are being guided through a new world which opens only to Windows 98, MS DOS, PageMaker and what-have-you.
Abdul Hakim’s eyes light up when you tell him you’ve been to Banskandi, his home in Cachar district. ‘‘My family doesn’t know what a computer is. When I graduate, I will go back to Banskandi and improve the madarsa there.’’
Darul-Uloom’s computer department has 12 PCs, one with an Internet connection, and, like all institutes, a Computer Director.
Abdus Salam Qasmi, the man in charge, plans to launch an advanced course next year: ‘‘As of now, what we offer is a course spread over nine months. It’s a good start and we are encouraged by the students’ response. It will hold them in good stead when they step out of Darul-Uloom.’’ Little Deoband realises it’s changed outside—and it needs to be better prepared.