“The aim of the education should be to teach us rather how to think, than what to think-rather to improve our minds, so as to enable us to think for ourselves, than to load the memory with thoughts of other men”, Bill Beattie.
The history of education according to Diefer Lenzen – the president of the Berlin University, began millions of years ago. As a Muslim we are aware of the importance of education and knowledge in our religion, Islam. The importance of education is for two reasons:
- l First, the training of the mind is not complete without education.
- l Second, education makes a person a right thinker and enables him/her to receive information according to set goals.
When the Quran began to reveal the first word of this verse was “Iqra” meaning “Read”. It is in fact the teachings of the Quran which motivate us to explore the world through Knowledge and self actualization.
Just recall the victory of “Badar” when seventy enemy literate soldiers were taken as prisoners. In order to benefit from their education and knowledge, the Prophet (SAW) declared that one prisoner would be responsible to educate and teach ten Medina children. This would serve as ransom and they would be set free – Subhan Allah. That was the thinking of our Prophet (SAW) about 1400 hundred years ago because he (SAW) knew that Islamic as well as external education is important for Muslims who had to start their new lives in this world. This gives a very clear idea that Islam is a broad and liberal religion based on logic, reasoning and necessity, not on rigidity and extreme behavior. This class established by our Prophet (SAW) was the first school in the history of Islam of which the teachers were non-Muslims.
Islam places great emphasis on learning of Science and knowledge without any bias and prejudice. The knowledge acquired by the mankind cannot be branded as Islamic or non-Islamic Knowledge.
Our Prophet removed all doubts and ambiguities when he said in a Hadis, “Seek knowledge even if you have to travel to China.” China was neither Christian nor Muslim. So, religion was never a barrier in acquiring knowledge.
One example of the necessity of knowledge and external education is about the City of Medina. The city had more date gardens as compared to Mecca, where there were less date trees. One day in Mecca, the Prophet (SAW) saw some people on the top of date trees busy in doing something. Prophet (SAW) asked what they were doing. He was told that they were pollinating the plants. Prophet (SAW) suggested not doing so. The following year the dates yield was considerably low. The Prophet (SAW) asked the reason for this; they told him (SAW) that dates in Mecca depended on the pollination process but since he (SAW) had suggested that they do otherwise, they had refrained. The Prophet (SAW) the told them to go on doing as they used to do previously. In this way the Prophet (SAW) separated scientific knowledge and learning of new things from religion. The process of pollination of dates begins from Mecca, then to Damascus, and then to Baghdad. Ultimately it reached Spain where it also flourished in the plantation of other fruits and vegetables. It is very unfortunate that we as Muslims reached the zenith of excellence in education and knowledge but we deviated from the path that was suggested by our Prophet (SAW) at the beginning of Islam.
This detraction and deviation from a liberal Islamic path led us to the blind alley of Terrorism, Fundamentalism and Rigidity. We as Muslims have to realize the importance of modern education, which was realized by the Jews, Christians and other non Muslims after World War II and now they are ruling the world. From the last half century, the research work, advancement in knowledge and publications on Science is mainly the domain of the Jews, Christians and non-Muslim authors.
Education system in Pakistan
Pakistan came into being about 62 years back, but unlike other developing countries which came into being at almost the same time, it was unable to develop a proper “Educational Policy” based on the true ideology and thinking of the country. Education in Pakistan is largely a provincial matter, although the “Ministry of Education” (MOE) oversees Pakistan’s entire education system. We in Pakistan do not know how many school systems and curriculum we are following. Different kinds of school systems have been established and flourish in our homeland like:
- English School System
- Government Schools
- Local Government Schools
- Semi Government Schools
- Private Schools
- Town Schools
- Mohallah Schools
- Academies
- Self Help Based Schools
- NGO run Schools
- Madrassas
- Sectarian Schools
- Technical Schools
As we lack direction as well as policy in education, there is still no designed and set curriculum in these Schools. All schools, except Government Schools are following whimsical curriculum. In Madrassas, the Mullah decides what curriculum and ideology the students would follow. There is lack of any check and balance in the system.
There is one academic curriculum and methodology in India, Malaysia and many other countries. They are following one set of education policy in all kinds of school systems.
But here in Pakistan there is no such system; even there are schools that are not getting prior permission before establishment. The worst ramification of our system is that it is now moving towards money and power oriented approach. Those who have power, money and resources get admission and opportunity in better and well reputed institutions. We are not considering the requirement of our human and intelligence resource. We are ignoring more than 70% of the population and their requirements. If we as a nation fail to find the answers to the following questions, I am afraid we have to be ready to face the worst consequences. We have now reached the point where the masses themselves will decide their destinations according to their own way.
- What is our education policy?
- Where is our national curriculum?
- Who will implement the educational policy?
- When will we change our educational policies?
- How will we involve our deprived population in education policies?
These are the questions for which we have to find answers otherwise we will be unable to determine the lines of terrorism and extremism.
Low Literacy Rates, Poverty & Terrorism
Low literacy rate, poverty and lack of justice nourish breeding grounds for menaces like unrest, revolt, terrorism, fundamentalism, conflicts and wars. Take the examples of old Egyptian history or European wars; these were also fought on above mentioned issues. In Pakistan this combination becomes more deadly because of our socio economic and political scenario. It is very unfortunate that since its birth and after the death of Quaid-e-Azam, we have faced leadership crises, and that too because of derailing of the democratic process time and again. It is pertinent that the slogan of “Roti (Food), Kapra (Clothing) and Makan (Shelter)” is still very popular in our country because the majority of the population is unable to meet its basic needs. According to Abraham Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs theory, nations that are unable to meet the physiological needs of their masses face serious consequences and revolts in the form of different anti-state activities.
The socio economic condition of our masses does not allow them to go for better opportunities in life. Their children are not getting basic education rather they are going for early child labour or to unknown “Madrassas”. These “Madrassas” take the responsibility for their upbringing according to their own nefarious designs. Many “Madrassas” in Pakistan are not registered and they indulge in illegal and criminal activities in poor and rural areas. About 21 years ago when I was working on a project of UNDP of our University Department of Demography, we started collecting data from our respondents from a village. No one was bothered about the questions; they were only interested in the amount we would pay them. I am amazed that the situation still persists, rather it has further deteriorated. People are handing over their young children due to resource constraint. The minds of young children are like a plain and empty canvas. The picture would be according to the colours and theme you use; picture of a monster or a rose. How cruel it is to leave such raw minds at the mercy of those factors which lead them to think in the negative direction. There are very organized elements which are abusing these minds against their own people under the garb of education. These culprits exploit their negative emotions and sentiments as their basic needs are not fulfilled. This leads them to become young terrorists and extremists. We have to seriously consider this aspect and take some serious measures against this known and unknown enemy.
What war we are fighting?
The seeds for the present situation we face were sown about two decades back by the establishment while adopting a faulty Afghan Policy. It is unfortunate that we don’t have any definite policies based on ground facts and education is not an exception. Our policies are not long term, but short lived and individual specific. Our poor masses always wait for some “Messiah” to come and change their lives and they are always betrayed in the end.
We are now facing a dangerous and long drawn war on terror. Our existence as a nation and solidarity is at stake. Our young officers and men are sacrificing their lives to save their motherland. Will this be enough to wipe out the so called Taliban from our western borders to achieve complete success? The answer is perhaps “NO”. No one knows who these Taliban are and what is their ideology?
Actually in Pakistan, in the absence of any definite education policy, we are producing two types of Taliban i.e. two extremes:
First extreme is those who have no ideology and follow the culture not in line with our religious faith and society. They are moving away from our history and belief. They are also at a dangerous extreme, a product of our education system. This class enjoys the powers to buy education and degrees to meet their desires. They are also as dangerous as the religious extremists.
The Second extreme is the product of our religious Madrassas. Their minds are poisoned by using their deprived feelings and emotions. Their teachers are those who themselves do not have a proper knowledge of religion; they think they are the right ones and others are “Kafar” (non believers). They spoil their students’ minds by exploiting their desires for basic needs.
These Madrassas have different sets of agenda and are under no control and check. How strange that the so-called schools where the young generation comes to read Quran are actually dumps of weapons and explosives. What happened recently in a small village near Mian Channo, where the house of a teacher – Master Riaz exploded and destroyed the entire village should be cause for concern. From where and for how long was that ‘teacher’ storing arms and ammunition for terrorist activities? Where were the watchful eyes of our Government and intelligence agencies that are enjoying all kinds of privileges at the cost of tax payers and foreign aid? This is just one example of this horrible phenomenon; one shudders to imagine how many other villages, towns and cities have fallen prey to this dangerous game against the very existence of our country. Don’t forget what happened in Lal Masjid (Red Mosque) and how irresponsibly the Government reacted. First they allowed those dumps of weapons and ammunition and then?
I hope and pray for the betterment and stability of our country. But with very honest and clear vision, the time has now come when we have to stop asking for more money for doing more, otherwise no one will come for our rescue.
