In the previous article, we looked upon the importance of Islamic (Madarsa) education, education drivers, quality of education, education objectives, different models of Islamic education, the role of madrasas, and the challenges and threats facing Islamic educational institutions. 

Let’s take a look at some of the considerations to address the underlying challenges.

Recommendations

The discussion in the previous article shows that Islamic education at madrasas both elementary and higher levels is not satisfactory. There are numerous challenges facing Islamic education. Below are some of the recommendations to be considered to address the challenges related to the system, curriculum, and teaching methods. 

Introducing Modern Disciplines 

Three main arguments are used to support the introduction of modern disciplines in Islamic education centers. First, it is said that it is consistent with the Islamic notion of knowledge as all-encompassing, including both ‘ibadat (worship) and mu’amilat (social relations, worldly pursuits). Second, it is asserted that adopting modern disciplines is necessary for Muslims to flourish in both this world and the next. The third reason is that it is considered necessary for the ulema to remain relevant for Muslim society ad be able to play the roles Islam has envisaged for them to invite humanity to the Devine message of Islam, the syllabus ought to be revised considerably. 

The madrassa curriculum needs to be significantly changed in accordance with changing context. The syllabus used in Islamic institutions was prepared in and for a certain historical period/context, so it must change to remain relevant in the changed context. This is essentially required to prepare the students to play a larger role in society in general and the role that Islam has envisioned for them as the leaders of the community in particular.

Reformists maintain that the knowledge in Islam is one whole, and the distinction between dini (religious) and duniyavi (worldly) knowledge, which many current ulema seem to have accepted, has no sanction in the Quran.¹ 

It is urged that as Islam is all-encompassing in its scope and offers guidance for everything from worshiping the Almighty to personal issues and state matters, it is incumbent upon Muslims to acquire knowledge of all modern sciences along with Shari’a. 

It is believed that introducing contemporary subjects into Islamic educational institutes will lead to real-world benefits for Muslims. Thus, a renowned author from Jamaat-e-Islami claims,

“To keep Muslims ahead of other communities, it is necessary to have worldly power, which is possible only through acquiring scientific and technical education.”² 

The introduction of moderns disciplines into Islamic educational institutes will open more opportunities for the students to study the sciences/subjects according to their interests outside the traditional ones and stand the chance to contribute immensely to their community and become a part of the national education mainstream, additionally, they will be able to impress on the non-Muslims that Islam has the perfect solution for all the problems humanity is facing at the moment, and this can potentially inspire other communities to accept the truth the Islam is inviting toward.

Help Bridge the Gaps

The reformists argue that teaching “modern” subjects in Islamic institutes will also help bridge the gap between the ulema and the modern educated Muslims, who are becoming increasingly the easy target of alien ideologies. One of the benefits of introducing modern courses in Islamic institutes’ curricula, is that it will attract students from rich families and thus will not be depending on students from poor families. This will certainly help correct the image of the institution as being purely religious-centered.

Create Two Streams of Education

It is also being suggested to create two streams of education in the madrassas. The first stream is for students who just need to acquire minimal religious education and then intend to join regular schools. Such students will only be taught basic religious subjects with modern disciplines. The second stream would be exclusively for students who intend to gain mastery in religious sciences and become professional ulema. The emphasis in this stream will be on shari’i subjects, and providing education on modern disciplines to enable them to interpret Islam in the light of modern needs and emerge as successful Islamic preachers.³

Improve the Quality of Education

What is required for a good education? It requires a conducive environment, an easy curriculum, and qualified teachers. Students must take an active and involved role in order to receive a quality education. For the benefit of the students, the school environment must be healthy, secure, and cooperative. Parents are comfortable sending their kids to school. The qualified teacher in schools should employ child-centered teaching pedagogies. Teachers should assist students during the teaching-learning process. All students have the right to a high-quality education.

Two key standards for quality education are as follows:

1. To determine the learners’ rational development and perceptual abilities. 

2. Citizenship behavior and beliefs.

To evaluate the teaching and learning processes in the classroom, quality education must set clear objectives. Teachers must make an effort to give students a quality education and often evaluate their progress. The amount and quality of student learning from teachers can be used to define education quality. How much value does education have for students? The curriculum is strengthened, and the quality of education is also improved by teachers’ teaching abilities. Effective learning and high-quality education require informative techniques. A good education demonstrates thorough and healthy learning. The nation’s ability to survive effectively rests on its educational system. A high-quality education develops students’ capacities, valuable skills, appropriate attitudes, and values. The student who possesses the aforementioned attributes will be strong and successful in their practical life and able to live a happy and content life. Additionally, it aids in the development of secure, safe, and healthy social interactions.

The management of the school is in charge of fulfilling the requirements for teaching and overseeing the teaching-learning process. A good educational system treats all students equally, regardless of their educational and cultural backgrounds. The inner and outward efficiency of the schools is increased when students are interested in accomplishing the learning objectives. The goals of a good education are compelling. All events and activities taking place in the schools are measured. To preserve the high caliber of education, the teaching-learning process is regularly assessed. Different educational initiatives should be closely monitored. The teaching, learning, and assessment strategies used in the classroom have an impact on the quality of education. Good classroom management helps to raise the standard of instruction. Students learning processes get stronger if all the conditions necessary to carry out educational cycles are met. Disciplines are important for the quality of education; if schools care about them, students will follow them in life as well.

Parents Counselling

To address this underlying problem within the Muslim community, both parents and teachers have a vital role to play. Parents can act as role models of their ancestors and educational institutions can try to infuse the Islamic spirit into the mind of children and teach them about the glorious history of Muslims and their remarkable achievements in all spheres of knowledge.  

Parent-teacher meetings should be called regularly with the aim to educate parents on the importance of Islamiat teaching and the importance of training (Tarbiyah) at home. Parents should be made aware that their kids are the future of the nation. They need to learn that Islamic education is not optional, rather it is a must to have for all the children to succeed in both lives. It must be clear in the mind of guardians and authorities that fostering an Islamic environment at home and school is essential. Hence, the efforts to create an Islamic atmosphere in educational institutions should receive adequate support. Children who grow up in an Islamic atmosphere will quickly adopt Islamic attitudes. 

Improving the Competence of Educators

The success of educational institutions solely depends on the teachers. The teachers should be highly educated and well-qualified to teach the subjects. Heads of educational institutions have a role in imparting the quality of Islamic religious education by providing the proper training to teaching staff to increase their competencies. If the teachers are not adequately qualified, the quality of education will be compromised. There has to be a well-defined program to provide required training for every teacher without exception to develop educators’ competence.

Create a Conducive Environment

Environments in educational institutions that are favorable are a sign that activities are consistently running smoothly for high-quality learning processes. Building a madrasa climate is an important matter. It plays a significant role in improving the quality of Islamic religious education. Students can concentrate actively on their studies if they are pleased and have a supportive environment. Their enthusiasm for work will be awakened. A conductive environment ensures that the placement is carried out with fairness, transparency, and proper communication with all relevant parties. Qualified leaders have a vital role in establishing harmonious cooperation, morale, interest in educational growth, and a pleasant working environment.

Teachers have a role in creating a conducive environment by acting as a role model for students. Islamic virtues must be learned by observation and imitating the elders; they cannot simply be taught. Students should not only learn the theories rather they must also be taught how to apply Islamic values. This must be demonstrated by the teachers.

A conducive environment creates enthusiasm for carrying out tasks for everyone in the madrasa.

Reform in Teaching Methods

The world is changing constantly. Technological advancement has impacted almost all sectors including education. New techniques are being introduced to deliver tasks easily and efficiently. It is therefore imperative for educational institutions to adapt to the changes by introducing new teaching techniques/styles, and cutting-edge, successful models.

There is a strong need to begin exercising reason or critical thought and not just focus on finishing the entire sections of the book. There has to be a serious effort to cultivate an environment where debate takes place, dialogue, and critical reflection are strongly encouraged, and the teaching is student-centered, action-oriented, and classroom instruction. 

Define Vision, Mission, and Goals

The vision, mission, and goals of educational institutions should be clear to all the relevant stakeholders e.g., madrasa heads, teachers, students, guardians, and well-wishers, and all should show a unifying commitment. The strategy should be developed, objectives defined, and targets and KPIs set. The heads of madrasas should determine a tool to help monitor the performance of the institution. Transparency is key to success in achieving the desired result. A handbook can be produced consisting of all the important information, policies, direction, and guidance to all madrasa residents, it will help them maintain discipline and strive for the progress of madrasas in realizing goals and expectations.

Communication

Communication is vital in ensuring that all the relevant stakeholders are informed and consulted. Two-way communication is important for the success of the business. A communication plan must be developed to provide a guiding principle for all internal and external communications. Transparency is key to facilitating communication effectively. A decision should not be taken without consultation with the relevant stakeholders and keeping their interests and concerns into account. Authorities will find it easy to enforce a policy that is properly communicated with all stakeholders.

Create a Sustainable Source of Income

There must be a reliable and sustainable source of income so Islamic institutions can survive even without support from community funds. Some schools prefer to seek support from the state agencies. However, State support does not come without adverse consequences and states often exercise pressure to fulfill their invested interests. The middle path is to establish a sustainable source to generate the income to run the business to lower the dependency on the community’s well-off people and thus deter the pressure from states.

Meet the Official Requirements

The enmity and hatred of states against Islam and Muslims is an open secret now, especially in India. This often led the state agencies to deliberately create issues to target Islamic institutions.  Maintaining the proper documentation and registration of madrasas is becoming a must to do action to avoid harassment by state agencies. Madrasa authorities must ensure that all the paperwork is complete and ready to be presented to agencies when asked. The concern is being voiced that if school authorities do not wake up to maintain the necessary documentation/registration and authorization, they are likely to face difficulties and in the worst case, it may lead to the closure of the institution.

Build a Unified Platform

Given the mounting challenges facing Islamic institutions across India, it seems to be appropriate to have a centralized committee/board to oversee all the madrasas and have the plan and resources to support the institutions from the academic level to combat the conspiracies of states. The committee will have two core objectives, one related to education and the other related to administrative affairs. It will have the experts to provide the proper guidance and support to meet these objectives. An annual meeting/seminar can be held where the representatives from all the madrasas will be required to attend and present their scorecard, issues, challenges, and the support needed. The committee will then study the reports, analyze them, and provide recommendations. There will be a dedicated team to track the actions to be implemented jointly by the committee and the madrasas authorities. The committee will be responsible for representing the madrasas in all matters to government institutions/agencies. The committee will also develop an award and recognition program for the outstanding performance of Islamic institutions. 

Benchmarking

Benchmarking helps businesses/institutions to measure themselves against internal and external standards and best practices. Madrasas can use benchmarking to measure their internal progress and performance against the best and most distinguished institutions. It will help in improving performance and productivity through efficiency which eventually results in reducing costs. It provides an opportunity to know what others are doing and thus be able to adapt competitors’ best practices. 

Eliminate Misconceptions About Islam

Inspired by the prevailing perception and common trend, the guardians and heads of Islamic educational centers are shifting their focus from Islamic to non-Islamic concepts driven by alien ideologies. This perception must be corrected.  Efforts must be made on the part of Muslim scholars and intellectuals to chart out a well-studied and thought-out plan to combat the conspiracies to defame Islam. There is a dire need to create awareness among Muslims about Islamic principles and values. The masses need to be educated on how important it is for us Muslims to acknowledge our creator and so the need for an education model based on the basic elements of Akidah al-Tawheed.  Academic institutions hold the key to helping prepare the present generation to enable them to understand the problem the Muslim society is facing and address them.

A sincere effort needs to be put in place to remove the false misconceptions about Islam that are supposedly stated to be one of the greatest challenges facing the Muslim community. And it is perhaps a primary reason attributed to the distortions in ideological vision, cultural motivation, intellectual approach, and educational discourse for Muslims. 

Apart from the above points, there are certain considerations to improve the quality of education and address the other challenges facing Islamic institutions. They are exclusively for teachers and students. 

What needs to be done on the part of teachers:

• Curiosity is the driver of learning. Teachers can play a greater role to arouse curiosity among students for learning.
• Teachers need to upgrade themselves and learn new teaching methods and techniques to be able to apply them in class effectively. 
• Preparation is the key to a successful delivery in the classroom. Teachers should know that attending classes without preparation is merely a waste of time and energy.
• Students do not only require to learn from textbooks but also need to learn other useful skills.  And it is the responsibility of the teacher to ensure that students are getting the opportunity to learn those skills they need to have to utilize in practical life.
• Written and verbal communication skills are the most sought out skills students must have. It is the duty of the teachers to help students learn these skills by facilitating group discussion and debate and using other appropriate means to develop and enhance these skills.
• Teachers are required to constantly improve their knowledge of the subject so they can talk confidently and share updated information.
• It is also important for the teachers to be aware of what’s happening around locally/nationally and internationally and can facilitate a discussion on the current issues involving the students in the debate.
• Teachers can inculcate in the students the habit of hardworking and staying committed to achieving the targets.
• Teachers should ensure that the learning in the classroom is connected with the real world to demonstrate the value of the subject.
• It is also the duty of the teachers to help students discover their own aptitudes, skill, and passions. Though it is a difficult task, it is imperative in helping students define their future goals.

What needs to be done on the part of students:

• Setting goals is key for students to strive in the right direction. If the goal and objective are not clear, it will be difficult for the students to stay focused, and chances are that their effort will go in vain.
• Students need to learn how to plan. planning is crucial to achieving the target easily and timely. This skill should be developed in the students from a very early stage.
• Rather than focusing on completing the entire portion. It is far more important to stress greatly on developing the skills and competencies in the subject.
• This is the era of specialization. One cannot gain mastery in every discipline. Hence it is ideal to determine the areas of interest and direct all the efforts toward achieving them.
• Students in Islamic institutions generally feel an inferiority complex. It is important for the students to understand that what they are learning in Islamic sciences is worthy and not less valuable than other modern subjects and in fact more important to learn them before embarking on the journey of learning modern sciences.
• Learning is a never-ending process. Students need to understand that learning does not end after they graduate, but it continues till life. Real learning begins when they step into the practical world and apply their learnings.
• Time is crucial. Students need to learn how to manage their time and utilize it in learning and developing. Once the time is gone, it cannot be reversed.
• Language plays a key role in bridging the gaps between communities. Learning a foreign language has its own importance. Students need to get motivated to learn foreign languages (especially, Arabic, English, Chinese, Japanese, Korean, German, French, Italian, Turkish, Bahasa Indonesia, Malay, Russian, and Spanish). Professor Dr. Muhammad Hamidullah, a personality widely known across the Islamic world for his immense contribution to the dissemination of Islamic teachings, has competency in 22 languages. 
• Passion for learning is one of the success factors. Students need to be guided to find passion in learning. Once it is achieved, the whole journey will be easy.
• Students need to be encouraged to read. Reading habit is threatened by social media. Students are being distracted with their involvement in social media and it is affecting their ability to read with undivided attention.

Conclusion

This article has underlined the need to evaluate many social, cultural, and political-historical variables in order to comprehend challenges related to Islamic education at educational institutions. The current situation of Islamic education is strongly correlated with regional and global trends. Islamic education is linked with the problems of development, modernization, and globalization to a great extent, just like other institutions in the Muslim world. It has also given rise to the possibility that Islamic educational institutions are open to advancement and modernization. Despite many negative aspects related to that education, many Islamic educational institutions have shown a willingness and capacity to adapt to the demands of the modern world. However, addressing the challenges facing Islamic education requires collective efforts from all stakeholders. Only goodwill is not sufficient to make any significant change.  

More importantly, those in charge of Islamic education and those who still view it with fear and suspicion are required to change the manner.  As long as its importance and necessity are acknowledged, such transformation is feasible. Islamic education has undoubtedly drawn many Muslims to cope with and work toward realizing it. Some of the objectives of Islamic education have been attained. However, it’s important to continue the efforts to enhance already accomplished feats. The heads of institutions must rise to the challenges and develop a treatment plan to address the emerging challenges and threats. Islamic education could play a key role to promote peaceful and safe living for all mankind, regardless of their ethnicity or religious beliefs. 

References:

1. Sayyed Abul Hasan ‘Ali Nadwi, ‘Ilm Ka Muqam Aur Ahl-i-‘ilm Ki Zimmedariyan (The place of knowledge and the responsibilities of the intellectuals) (Lucknow: Majlis Tahqiqat-o-Nashriyat ul-Islam, 1997), 7.
2. Sultan Ahmad Islahi, Madaris Mai Scienci Ta’lim (Scientific education in the madrassas) (Delhi: Markazi Maktaba-i-Islami, 1990), 6.
3. Aftab Ahmad, “Madaris-i-‘Arabiya Ka Nisab Aur Waqt Ki Zarurat” (The syllabus of the Arabic schools and the needs of the times), in ‘Arabi Islami Madaris, 144.