A couple of days ago, I visited the leafy suburb of Chislehurst in Kent to see, or perhaps more keeping with the tradition, hear one of the most famous Indian hadith scholars of our time: Shaykh Yunus of Saharanpur. I had been advised by the venerable Shaykh Akram Nadwi to pay the Shaykh a visit.
The venue was Darul Uloom London, a relatively small madrasa, at its graduation ceremony – where about ten students graduated as ‘ulama’ this year. I use inverted commas as I am reminded of what Shaykh Abul-Hasan Ali al-Nadwi used to say at the graduation ceremonies of Nadwat al-Ulama. Graduates were not ulama, but rather they now had to tools to become ulama, that is if they spent their lives in the pursuit of knowledge.
When I hear such comments, I can’t help but think how those of us who have been studying sporadically for a few years compare with such graduates who have been through at least six years of intense and focussed studies, frequently under intellectual giants. If they cannot be called ulama, then what about us?
Anyway, that’s a side point. The point of this story is that while I was there, I made some remarks about the standards – I pray that these were made in the spirit of muhasaba (constructive criticism) rather than out of arrogance. But a brother commented on the fact that these institutions, with all their failings, were at least being able to produce about ten ‘ulama’ a year.
The reality for us is that our ‘more mainstream’ institutions are incomparable in this respect, and this is a massive failing on our part. This is not to say that we need to turn our organisations into purely scholarly institutions. That would clearly be going to the opposite extreme.
Our communities have needs, and by Allah’s grace, we’ve been doing some admirable work in trying to respond to them. At the same time, we need to seriously invest our time, energy and money into educational projects that will produce ulama of high quality who can help lead our communities in the future with their scholarship and pragmatism.
Insha-Allah, projects like the London East Academy are a step in the right direction. But there needs to be a conscious effort to highlight the importance of education (both Islamic and ‘secular’) at all levels of our community, and only then can we hope that we are moving in the right direction.
br Usama Abdullah,
I am sorry to say that this piece of work does not articulate well.
I hope that you and the team take this as a positive criticism inorder to maintain a quality standard. maintaining a qualty standard would enable better debating..
best regards.
Dear brother Musab,
Jazakum Allahu khayran for your comment. I think I speak for team when I say that perhaps a more substantive or otherwise detailed critique is needed if we are to improve on a post of this nature. I would appreciate if you were to provide such a critique of the post, as it’s unclear at the moment what I’m being asked to do.
Wa-Allah wali al-tawfiq
There is a management guru based in India called Yawar Baig who has in recent years become a student of knowledge, and refers particularly to Sh.Salman Nadwi.
He is developing something called the ‘Standard Bearers Academy’ (SBA) which is an institute that will produce high calibre scholars who are also professionals.
The SBA he hopes will produce:
- The Mufassir who is a cardiac surgeon
- The Muhaddith who is an industry head
- The Mufti who is an administrator
- The Haafiz who is a scientist
In his own words:
‘My dream is that one day; a graduate of this Academy will become a cardiac surgeon. And that when he is about to do the operation, he will ask Allah for His help as he knows that the cure is from Allah alone. That when he holds the scalpel to start the operation, his hand will be the hand about which Allah said in the Hadith Qudsi, “My slave comes so close to me with his obedience and nawaafil that I become the hand by which he holds.”
And it is my dream that it is a Friday and when the operation is over, this cardiac surgeon will go to the masjid, stand on the Minbar and deliver the Khutba. I ask Allah to give us the dedication, resources and energy to make this dream come true.’
br Usama Abdullah,
jazakallah khaire for the way you responded to me.
what do mean by the following:
“The reality for us is that our ‘more mainstream’ institutions are incomparable in this respect, and this is a massive failing on our part. This is not to say that we need to turn our organisations into purely scholarly institutions. That would clearly be going to the opposite extreme.”
What is the more mainstream institution?
Please tell me about the real achievement of London East Academy? What is the output to date and their contribution to the community?
I unfortunately feel that Kent produces a confused batch of graduates that do not know how to mix Islam and reality and contrubute towards the advancement of Islam in a solid way. I do not see them as developing into leaders in the community. I do not see them as coming out with a vision of where and how to take the muslim community. The local community and the global ummah vision ahead – they are not developed with this vision to lead.
A good education that is universal with memoristation of Quran and hadith does not lead to the proper community leaders that we need who thinks about the affaires of the ummah. A global vision for the muslim ummah needs to be developed within the students. The Quran and hadith need to be related to the reality and situation that the muslim ummah are facing around the world. I want to see the calibre of Salahuddin Ayubi in leadership. Those leaders who recognise the true advanced qualities of Islam that Allah (SWT) has perfected and do not feel ashamed and consider that Islam needs to be modernised and the shariah needs to be revisited.
Egypt is full highly educated but it does not solve the problem – they end up looking after themselves. Activists need to be developed with global visions.
al-salam alaykum brother Musab,
sorry for not getting back earlier. I’ve been travelling. The point made about the LEA was that it was a step in the right direction. I didn’t suggest that we’d produced scholars already, or that we had a remarkable level of ‘output’ as you put it. But it is undoubtedly a step. I’m personally involved with helping some of the new A-Level boys, many of whom have both the desire to go to great heights academically in Islamic scholarship, while remaining active in da’wa at a broad grassroots level. This is the sort of attitude that we hope to develop, and we can see things coming to fruition in the not so distant future, in sha Allah.
Institutions like the one in Kent may have shortfalls, but in terms of Islamic scholarship, they do have a lot to offer those of us who have little or no knowledge of that nature. It’s important for us to recognise that if all we do is criticise people for not being able to connect their islamic knowledge with reality, then we’re not helping the situation. We should rather ourselves be the generation who connect the two for them. We can take from their knowledge, and our awareness of the realities of the field. At the same time, I think we ourselves need to seriously bring into focus in our own minds that reality. Some of us have a very East London/Bengali/Whitechapel-centric view of the world, and I don’t think that deserves the grand title of ‘reality’. Rather it is only a part of reality, and people with such an outlook will, as far as I’m concerned, also not be able to provide the Muslims with any remarkable ‘vision’ for the future.
I think we’re both agreed on the fact that we need fiqh al-waqi’ [an deep understanding of the realities of the ground] along side the islamic knowledge that we hope to achieve by Allah’s grace.
wassalam
brother Usama,
jazakalla khair for your response. I wish you success ..
See link below for the audio lecture by Maulana Salman Nadwi Al Husaini, Ustadh-e Hadith at Darul Ulum Nadwatul Ulama, Lucknow, India. He delivered the speech to a large congregation of scholars at Islamic Dawah Academy, Leicester in June 2000. It is pertinent to the subject of Ulama – a contrast between the literal and the real, their role and responsibilities with reference to Quran, Hadith and Islamic history.
Al Ulamaa – 38:46 Minutes
http://sajjadnomaniuktour.info/salman_nadwi_leics.mp3
Assalamualykum
I think we should help the Darul Ulooms by providing teachers who can help with getting kids to lead in the community
Assalamualykum
I myself went to a Darul Uloom but did not complete the course. Most of my friends are Ulama and Huffaaz but I find that they are not prepeared for the outside world. I only know 2 people who graduated from Darul Uloom and went onto doing any work leading the community. One of whom moved to America so that’s one less person who can benefit this country.
Also when these young ulama do approach the Muslim leaders they turn a blind eye to any youngster who wants to help in making a difference.
The Darul Ulooms need better role models and the local communities need more educated leaders or leaders who want to make a difference.
Ameen
Asalaamualaikum, if we sent our children to Darul Ulooms rather than University we would not have this issue. The problem is that some people do not trust Allah and do not grasp the concept that the best profession in the world is to learn and teach the Quran. They want a Lawyer of a Doctor Son / Daughter rather than An Alim / Alima