A post-graduate Islamic seminary called Islami Academy is changing the definition of a traditional Islamic curriculum by including subjects such as Indian history, Indian culture, and comparative religion. The latter course focuses on the majority religion of India, Hinduism. According to Islami Academy's director, Abdul Haq Ansari, "The idea was to have a very scientific and holistic curriculum in the study of religion."
In order for the madrasa's students to be able to study ancient Hindu texts, they are given Sanskrit instruction by a teacher provided by the Indian government (Hindustan Times).
2 comments:
Salam alaekum.
I am a student at Islami Academy. Our coursework also includes Western and Eastern philosophy, sociology, history, and modern Islamic thought - but I guess that doesn't make great news.
Also, students are encouraged to pursue master's degrees at mainstream universities during their senior years. Two of our regular instructors are Maulanas with PhDs in 'secular' disciplines. We have 4 visiting instructors. All of them are renowned experts in their fields.
Contrary to popular belief, ours is not the first/only Madrassa of its kind. Other attempts, such as Jamia Islamia Shantapuram, Darul Huda, etc. are worthy of praise.
Wa'alaykum assalam, Saif.
Thanks a lot for your input. You're right: madrasas do often get short shrift.
To be fair, though, I did mention the fact that history is part of your curriculum. :)
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