PKKH Exclusive | By Dr A. A. Siddiqui [1]
Another flavor of a failed leadership now comes to an end, with the Islamic Republic of Pakistan looking forward to the Elections, 2013 in a few months to come. With almost every field nearly collapsing during this disastrous regime, the education in Pakistan has suffered considerably more, not in apparent stats and figures, but in purpose and outcome.
Education can be defined as the process of learning, to improve the understanding of life to make it easier for survival. Along the years, unfortunately, the meaning of Education has drastically shifted, from the process of learning to the process of memorizing, in a way that has blocked mindsets from understanding how life changes and how it can be made better.
Being an Islamic Republic, the importance of education in Pakistan should have been as decreed by the Islamic law; that is compulsory for both men and women.
The first verses, with which Islam is revealed:
Recite in the name of your Lord who created -
Created man from a clinging substance.
Recite, and your Lord is the most Generous -
Who taught by the pen -
Taught man that which he knew not.
[Al-Qur’an Chapter 96, verses 1-5]
The very first revelations marking the issuance of this religion, mention the words; recitation, teaching, use of the pen; therefore marking the importance of learning and educating in its manifesto.
Historically, several events related to the Muslim Civilization revolve around the necessity of education, and how it has affected those in power. The ultimate fall of the Mughal Empire also speaks of the lack of religious education causing deterioration in public and strategic matter and eventually laying the grounds for opportunists to win over their kings.
Pakistan’s foundation laid for the sake of a separate nation for Muslims was a breakthrough from the era of the British rule over the Subcontinent. Islam was the motive as well as the requirement, for the Muslims of that time to demand a separate homeland, where they could practice freely and their kids would go to schools that teach the Qur’an and not Catholicism.
The ideology was held on to when Pakistan was founded, and the first constitution was laid. In December 1947, the primary outline of education was presented. Nationalism was emphasized upon in comparison to ethnicity, and a syllabus that supported Islamic values was proposed. Hence, Arabic was the second language being taught since secondary school, for better understanding of the Qur’an and Hadith. To preserve Islamic literature, even Persian was available to be taught in higher classes. As an option of other languages, provincial languages were not given a name, to avoid ethnic diversity between the masses.
This outclass structure of education was not only simple, but also fore-sought the development of Pakistan as a strong Muslim nation; one that was lacking; a nation, the absence of which was much felt in the two world wars that brought the Muslim nations to a collapse.
But there were certain entities sulking in animosity, sensing the pace at which Pakistan was rising, causing this country to face war in less than two decades of its foundation.
When the first war struck, the bonds of language and belief had held the people together, and no blow was strong enough to break this nation. Slapped in the face with failure, this strong shield of union did not go unnoticed by the adversary.
Hence, the next blow came, not upon the defense system, but on the unity of the people. What followed was the sudden change of events; the first strike coming from the East, demanding a change in the language policy. This debate rapidly gained heat, and within a few years, a tragedy struck the nation, where Pakistan witnessed the loss of a major portion; in the name of ethnicity.
This dark era in the fate of Pakistan did not last long, however the blow to education was not repaired. In 1972, Z. A. Bhutto called for the Nationalization of all institutions. However, his stance proved to be an error; lack of supervision led to disorganization and mayhem within the education sector, causing adverse effects that were not anticipated. Granting the students the rights to mingle in politics gave them a gateway to divide themselves into several groups and to put forth immature demands. This led the academic sector to collapse completely.
Hence, the purpose of getting education for the sake of the benefit of the nation was transformed into the sake of self-benefit, bringing rise to ethnic division as well as sectarian differences. Arabic lost its value and Sindhi was introduced in secondary schools; bringing the process of understanding the Qur’an to a halt.
In his book, Denizens of Alien Worlds: A Study of Education, Inequality and Polarization in Pakistan, Dr. Tariq Rahman criticizes the initial selection of nationalism over ethnicity, also claiming that the process of “Islamizing Education” endorsed intolerance and militancy among the generation. Ironically, he forgets that in the post war scenario, none of these two policies were maintained, that led to insignificant discrepancies surfacing among the masses, causing the unwanted apprehension between provinces that we face today.
Removing Arabic grammar from secondary schools was a blunder; the outcome of which we witness at present in the forms of several religious groups, too inclined within their own selves to worry about the deteriorating condition of Islam day by day. The rise of religious intolerance has since then been falsely imposed upon religion itself, instead of fixing the lack of religious education, which is the absolute solution.
The pre-Islamic period is a stark example of ignorance; where even learned, wealthy Arabs were drowned in the lowest forms of inhumanity. Girls were buried alive, or sold away as slaves. Women had no right to divorce, whereas men could marry whoever they wanted to. Corruption was at the rise and there was absolutely no concept of honesty. Through this era, Islam brought rights to women and slaves, and issued strict litigations for the violators. Education was made compulsory, regardless of gender, for the benefit of the society and the Ummah as a whole.
It is tragic to witness Islam being dragged about mercilessly by ignorant antagonists, backed by the actions of equally ignorant extremists. The frustrating part being the fact that there has been a thorough decline in religious education since the past two decades, which has not helped in this fight against terrorism but has, in fact, only made it worse. Anarchy is on the loose today, as the masses continue to witness catastrophes one after another, unable to search a way out. How is a way out even possible, when the very little bit of Islamic teachings left in primary school syllabi are criticized in the name of “minority rights”?
Topped with the sour garnish of biased stories by the mainstream media that continues to feed this fallacious picture of Islam to the common people, the ultimate dish isn’t even presentable enough to be accepted. Blinded by the smell of money, the media has lost the purpose of spreading accurate information, and is too occupied with the task of spreading hate and a pathetic display of lies about a religion so pure.
Today, the lost ideology calls out once again, in desperation. There is a dire need for revising the educational policies and reviving the lost teachings of Islam from educational institutions. This is where conscience and perception breeds, and the youth of today do not need to fall in slumber reading Shakespeare’s sonnets, instead they need to wake up and witness the world through the eyes of Shah Waliullah.
[1] Dr. A. A. Siddique, pharmacist/ freelance writer; interests: religion/human psychology; blogs at http://wwe.deadpoetsanctuary.wordpress.com/
Source: http://www.pakistankakhudahafiz.com/2013/03/17/opinion-education-without-religionreal-cause-of-deterioration/#.UUaBFheG1sE
