What should Muslims in India do to improve their education levels and standards?

Hello everybody

Muslims in India are the most backward community in terms of education( I won't call SCs/STs as backwards because they at least have reservation quotas everywhere right from education to Govt jobs). Muslims don't have sensible and educated leaders who can listen to their plight and actually do something concrete. There are many reasons for the lack of education in Muslims in India.

The first and foremost is they themselves. Now please don't start saying that it is entirely the fault of the Govt of India that Indian Muslims are largely uneducated. Why I say Muslims themselves is due to the fact that they have this ideology embodied in their mind that " Hame to Khuda ke pass jana hai; Padhai karke kya hoga" (We all will return to the Almighty Lord, then why we should study).

The second reason is lack of visionary Muslim leaders. I don't say that there are no good Muslim leaders in India. The problem is about their vision. The primary vision of any Muslim leaders in India is about Muslim Human Rights and other political topics like common civil code, Babri Masjid. I don't say that these things are not important but we always miss out one of the most important building block of a community i.e. education in our leaders talk.

The third problem is too much orthodoxy in matters of religion which has resulted in the deprivation of education in females. Friends please understand one thing, don't completely trust maulanas and other clerics of muslim community. The reason is they initially try to hinder every initiative but then accept it as Islamic. I will give you an example - Some 15 years back if you would have gone and asked to a cleric about birth control then he would have surely said that it is unislamic and you are committing a grave sin. But now most of the clerics are accepting that
birth control measures are important and now they say that it is Islamic. How come a thing 15 years ago was unislamic and now Islamic.

The fourth problem is old educational system of Madrassas. I would agree to the fact that these are the institutions who give Muslims basic knowledge of Religion and more importantly they serve excellent educational opportunities for poor children. I don't have problem with Muslims learning Arabic or Islam (Well I feel its essential to some extent). But can this teaching help you come out of poverty??? Considering the clerics are paid 3000-4000 Rs per month(This is about Sunni Muslims, I don't have much information regarding other sects). In today's globalized world English has become very essential to earn good money. Students of Madrassas should not only be taught English, Religion but they should be motivated to get themselves into Engineering, Medicine, Science and other branches.

If you ask a Muslim that why is that Muslims are so educationally backward?? He would promptly answer- Govt Policies. As I stated earlier, I don't agree with this. Now the million dollar question arises that what should we do that Muslims in India become more educated?

First and foremost, its the duty of every educated Muslim to take the responsibility of atleast one child (Maybe amongst his relatives if he wishes so) and educate him in Good Schools(With that I mean Good English Medium Schools). If you see the development of other minority communities in India then you will realize that they were also not offered any support from the Govt, but they endeavored to make their community more and more educated.

Every educated Muslim must help his community not only by money but by his intellectual abilities too. A muslim can better understand the psychology of a fellow muslim and thus can act as a catalyst in changing their ideologies regarding education. Make people understand the value of education. If you are a good speaker then hold sessions with students of 10th and 12th class and motivate them. Pick 10 most brightest muslim students from the locality and train them to crack various competitive examinations like JMET, AIPMT, CAT etc.

Women education and rights are a big debatable issue amongst Muslims. My article is basically targeting intellectuals and so I presume I need not to explain importance of women education. Don't marry them off at an early age but let them study. Our target for 2020 should be that every Muslim woman wanting to be an Engineer or Doctor or a Management Graduate or a Scientist should be given a complete opportunity. This can be achieved only through
widespread awareness amongst Muslims.

Fourthly form Muslim NGOs and work only for the education of students. Funding may be a problem but then you are educated and its your responsibility to convince Muslim business leaders to fund your project. Open up Muslim Hostels and Colleges for facilitating quality and subsidized education for Muslim students.

Get yourself into Politics and this is one of the most important step because only then you will even be able to pressurize govt to channelize funds to these NGOs.

Lastly to finish this article, I would request all of you, Take an oath in the name of Allah that "I will try my best and make sure that coming generation of Muslim boys and Girls will not only be literate but will be intellectuals."

Go through this link to see summarized Sachar Report on conditions of Muslims of India.

I have many more ideas regarding "Improving Educational Standards amongst Muslims" and it will be shared in subsequent posts. Comments are welcomed whole heartedly even if you don't agree with me.

I am a Management student of Symbiosis Institute of Business Management, Pune.


Mohd Zubair Saifi
saifi.zubair@gmail.com