Role of Madrasas in Modern Life of Muslims

Madrasa Education: Its Strength and Weakness is a brilliant work done on the subject. As the book deals with the history of madrasas through ages it discusses the burning issues like fundamentalism, terrorism, syllabus and curricula of madras, the author being a madras product himself was duly able to present the reality. This is, undoubtedly, a tremendous effort of the young author that beckons a brighter future for him. The book shall stand out be a new kind of vision throwing light on madrasas from a different angle.

This works aims to offer an insight into Daru’l Uloom Madrassah
education in the UK. It hopes to underline some of the contemporary issues that these
seminaries face in the modern western world, highlighting some of the negative
profiling they have been receiving from academic, Islamic scholarly, political and
media scrutiny and what kind of concerns have been raised in light of these criticisms.
The work also hopes to offer an insight into the development of Islamic education,
tracing the evolution of the Islamic educational seminaries through its course in
history and its various changes to the current period in contemporary Britain.
In relation to this, through the undertaking of an ethnographic study it hopes to bring
into perspective how education within these seminaries is deployed to train Muslim
leaders and Scholars for the Muslim community in the current Daru’l Uloom
seminary setting. The work will end by making an evaluation on whether the
education is perceived as satisfactory, or educational reform needs to take place in
order to meet the needs of 21st century Britain.

The 1857 revolt, which had forged an unshakable unity amongst Hindus and Muslims alike, was an important milestone in our freedom struggle - providing hope and inspiration for future generations of freedom lovers. All Hindus and Muslims were fighting under a single command and control for a single cause – FREEDOM from British tyranny. That shocked the British; they learnt that a unity among Indians would be irresistible in future.
Thus, the aftermath of the 1857 brought about dramatic changes in colonial rule as stated earlier. In addition to change of governance from proxy to direct British Rule, the British embarked on a furious policy of "Divide and Rule", fomenting religious hatred as never before. Resorting to rumors and falsehoods, they deliberately recast Indian history in highly communal colors and practised malicious communal politics to divide the Indian masses. Hateful history books portraying successful and pious Mughal rulers like Babar and Aurangzeb were compiled in that period of time.
All practicing Muslim rulers were shown as anti-Hindu and repressive against their citizens whereas those fond of Darbaris and lavish were given importance in the pages of Indian history, thus creating communalism and hate among Hindus and Muslims. Shuddhi Karan Movement by Arya Samaj, which later shaped into Bhartiya Hindu Shuddhi Mahasabha' (Indian Hindu Purification Council) in 1923 to work as what today the Sang Privar is doing in the name of Gharwapsi was also among the plots of ‘divide and rule’ conspiracy of British Raj in India. 
That legacy continues to plague the sub-continent till today. However, if more people become aware of the colonial roots of this divisive communal gulf - it is possible that some of the damage done to Hindu-Muslim unity could be reversed. If Hindus and Muslims could rejoin and collaborate in the spirit of 1857, the sub-continent may yet be able to unshackle itself from it's colonial past – say British and American hegemony this day.
Let's have a real recounting of our strength in India— the unity in diversity— and make meaningful salutations to all our heroes alike. Year 1857 was a time for united war against British tyrants and 2016, after 159 years, should bring real smiles to all the brave souls – ulama, Muslims, Hindu and Sikhs who gifted us the 'FREEDOM'.

The booklet is only a glimpse of the exemplary contributions and heroic struggle of Muslim Ulama in the freedom movement of India. It is simply an attempt at removing the cobweb from the valuable parts of Indian history - specially those parts that have suffered due to the prejudice, hatred and hypocrisy of our so-called intellectuals and historians.

            I had to go through various history books, to quote from reliable and authentic sources, in order to answer emails with questions pertaining to a book entitled ’World of Fatwas’, written by an Indian journalist, casting aspersions on patriotic spirits of Darul Uloom Deoband. Here on, the article is given the shape of a booklet, hoping this would benefit the serious students of history.
(M. Burhanuddin Qasmi)