One should not underestimate the prestige, for a Muslim, of receiving a solid Islamic education. "It is the pride of every family to have a Hafiz" is repeatedly told.

But it is also true that for many Muslims in India, madarsa education is their only alternative to no education at all ... Supported as they are by endowments from rich patrons and local donations of clothes, food and cash. madarsas offer a cheaper education than the local government school. Board and lodging is provided at a minimal rate. Tuition is entirely free.

For this reason, madarsas arc often looked down upon by urban Muslims - even comparatively poor urban Muslims - as the repository of orphans and destitute ..

For many of the students of Delhi's more prestigious madarsas, there is ... the rigorous eight years of training for a mufti qualification, which ... is apparently. "100 per cent guarantee" of a subsequent post as a madarsa teacher But for pupils of the smaller schools, life books a-lot bleaker. Not least because for many of them, their aspirations go beyond the religious. A substantial number of the teenage boys I met wanted to become, not religious leaches, but government "officers"

... Government schools are not designed to teach religion. The problem, nowadays, is that madarsas have not shown. much inclination to teach anything but ..

... Defensiveness ... has also given rise to the charge of fundamentalism from certain quarters.

Acolytes of the madarsa system are adamant that "Indian citizens have rights to their fundamental rights"; and that this form of education is "against terrorist activities, and for love, peace and humanity".

Surprisingly, perhaps, the state Education Department tends to agree "Fundamentalism is not the issue", says Union Secretary for Education, M.K. Kaw, "These institutions should be encouraged, for they provide a good education for those rooted within their own cultures. But as with the Sanskrit schools, our concern has been to ittempt to bring them into the mainstream". Under the plan "Modernization of Madarsa Education", the Government has, since 1993, been offering financial assistance to these and other "minority" education bodies for the funding of science, mathematies, social sciences, Hindi and English teaching.

But what do the madarsas themselves make of such initiatives? In general, the issue of secular education seemed to raise many hackles ...

Educationalists such a s Siraj Hussain, the new Vice- Chancellor of Jamia Hamdard University, New Delhi, respond to these entrenched attitudes by pushing for change from within. Hussain, who has just completed (a) new, broad-ranging primary level syllabus for madarsas in UP, is an advocate of higher secular education for madarsa students, and he is keen to see a rise in the number of admission of madarsa students to university courses. At present, Jamia Millia in New Delhi admits madarsa students for Arabic Studies, while the Unani Medicine Degree at Jamia Hamdard has a madarsa reservation of 10 places out of the fifty available.

Hussain concedes that a "certain class of educated" Muslim would never dream of giving its progeny a  madarsa education. But like M.K. Kaw, he insists that madarsas are a valuable educational commodity: "They alone are responsible for raising literacy rates amongst poor Indian Muslims".

The future of Islamic education ... lies in striking a balance between the sacred and the secular. (Source: The Pioneer, 10 September, 2000)

List of Reputed Madarsas in India

Darul Uloom, Deoband, 1866

Mazaheral Uloom, Saharanpur, 1866

Madarsa Baqyatus Salehat, Vellore, Tamilnadu, 1883

Jamia Mazharul Uloom, Banaras, 1893

Darul Uloom Nadwatul Ulema, Lucknow, 1894

Madarsa Ameenia, Delhi, 1897

Darul Uloom Khalilia Nizamia, Tonk, 1899

Jamia Arabia Hayatul Uloom, Mubarakpur, 1899

Madarsa-tui Islah. Sarai Mir, Azamgarh, 1909

Jamia Darus Salam, Umarabad, 1924

Police Census of Madarsas in Gujarat Text of Secret Police Circular

Subject: Information about Madarsas Ref: Letter No. D-1-8 M.A./79/2000 received from IGP, Intelligence, Gujarat, Ahmedabad.

Jai Bharat. This is to state with reference to the above that as the information pertaining to Kuchh district has been called for as above about Madarsas, you should submit the same in the following proforma very secretly, police station and area-wise.

If' any differenee is found between your information and that received from LIB field stations, action will be faken against the concerned may be noted.

Time limit must be observed as this information is to be submitted within 8 days.

1.Sr. No.

2.Name of Police Station

3.Name of Madarsa

4.When the Madarsa was established

5.Name of Manager, individual or organisation

6.Name of Teaching Moulvi and his Address

7.No. of Students

8. Source of Income

9. Is it getting foreign aid ?. If so, the name of the country and aiding organisation

10. Remarks.