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Madrasah (, secular or religious (of any religion). It has been Loaned into various other languages. It is variously Transliterated as '''''madrasah''''', '''''madarasaa''''', '''''medresa''''', '''''madrassa''''', etc. In common English usage the word "madrasah" has been erroneously taken to refer to an Islamic religious school.Definition of ''madrasah'' at Wiktionary.org DEFINITION The word ''madrasah'' is derived regularly from the Triconsonantal root د-ر-س (d-r-s), which relates to "learning" or "teaching," through the ''wazn'' (form/stem) (مفعل(ة ''mafʻal(a)'', meaning "a place where X is done"; therefore, "madrasah" literally means "a place where learning/teaching is done". The word is also present as a Loanword with the same innocuous meaning in many Arabic-influenced languages such as Urdu , Hindi , Persian , Turkish , Kurdish , Indonesian , Malay and Bosnian .1 In the Arabic language, the word مدرسة implies no sense other than that which the word ''school'' represents in the English language, such as private, public or parochial school, as well as for any primary or secondary school whether Muslim , non-Muslim or Secular . Unlike the understanding of the word ''school'' in British English, the word ''madrasah'' is like the term "school" in American English in that it can refer to a university-level or post-graduate Islamic school. The correct Arabic word for a university, however, is ''''. The Hebrew Cognate ''midrasha'' also connotes the meaning of a place of learning. There are some madrasah-like institutions also in North America and in Europe. ]] A typical Islamic school usually offers two courses of study: a '' Hifz '' course; that is memorisation of the Qur'an (the person who commits the entire Qur'an to memory is called a Hafiz ); and an 'alim course leading the candidate to become an accepted scholar in the community. A regular curriculum includes courses in Arabic , Tafsir (Qur'anic interpretation), Shari'ah (Islamic law), Hadith (recorded sayings and deeds of Prophet Muhammad ), Mantiq (logic), and Muslim History . Depending on the educational demands, some madrasahs also offer additional advanced courses in Arabic Literature , English and other foreign languages, as well as science and world history. People of all ages attend, and many often move on to becoming Imam s. The certificate of an ''‘alim'' for example, requires approximately twelve years of study. A good number of the Huffaz (plural of hafiz) are the product of the madrasahs. The madrasahs also resemble colleges, where people take evening classes and reside in dormitories. An important function of the madrasahs is to admit orphans and poor children in order to provide them with education and training. Madrasahs may enroll female students; however, they study separately from the men. There are examples of all-female madrasahs. In South Africa , the madrasahs also play an important socio-cultural role in giving after-school religious instruction to Muslim children who attend government or private non-religious schools. However, increasing numbers of more affluent Muslim children attend full-fledged private ''Islamic Schools'' which combine secular and religious education. Among Muslims of Indian origin, madrasahs also used to provide instruction in Urdu , although this is far less common today than it used to be. HISTORY . It is now a modern school with Mosque , and has plans for further expansions]] Madrasahs did not exist in the early period of Islam. Their formation can probably be traced to the early Islamic custom of meeting in mosques to discuss religious issues. At this early stage, people seeking religious knowledge tended to gather around certain more knowledgable Muslims; these informal teachers later became known as the Shaykhs ; and these shaykhs began to hold regular religious education sessions called '' Majalis ''. Established in 859 , Jami'at Al-Qarawiyyin (located in Al-Qarawiyyin Mosque) in the city of Fas (Fez), is considered the oldest madrasah in the Muslim world. During the late Abbasid period, the Seljuk vizier Nizam Al-Mulk created the first major official academic institution known in history as the Madrasah Nizamiyyah , based on the informal ''majalis'' (sessions of the shaykhs). Al-Mulk, who would later be murdered by the Assassins ( Hashshashin ), created a system of state madrasahs (in his time they were called, the Nizamiyyahs, named after him) in various Abbasid cities at the end of the 11th century. During the rule of the . Not only was the madrasah a potent symbol of status but it was an effective means of transmitting wealth and status to their descendants. Especially during the Mamluk period, when only former slaves could assume power, the sons of the ruling Mamluk elite were unable to inherit. Guaranteed positions within the new madrasahs thus allowed them to maintain status. Madrasahs built in this period include the Mosque-Madrasah Of Sultan Hasan in Cairo . MADRASAHS IN SOUTH ASIA Madrasahs in India , India . This Mosque dates back to the 1700s and is where Tipu Sultan used to pray.]] In and Christians . BBC News: Narapatipara High Madrassa Madrasahs in Pakistan See Also: Madrassas in Pakistan There are more than 10,000 madrasahs currently (as of 1998?) operating in Pakistan. FrontPage Magazine: Can Pakistan Reform? It is estimated that one to two million children are enrolled in madrasahs. FrontPage Magazine: Can Pakistan Reform? Some media reports say that only 0.3 percent of Pakistani school age children are enrolled in traditional madrasahs. This is according to Pakistan's 1998 Population Census The World Bank Group . The 1998 Population Census found only 150,000 children. Orphans, migrants, and part-time students may explain the discrepancy. Regardless, percentage wise, the madrasah enrollment is relatively insignificant. There has been considerable intellectual disagreement about the linkages of madrasahs to conflict in Pakistan. A study conducted in 2005 by Saleem Ali for the United States Institute of Peace attempts to clarify some of these concerns by providing a detailed empirical comparison of rural and urban madrasahs (currently this study is being updpated and expanded as a book (expected to be completed in 2007), though an earlier draft is available online Pakistani Madrassahs: A Balanced View . The project also included a web video on such schools titled Children of Faith. Children of Faith Video by Dr. Saleem Ali, Ph.D. CRITICISM Due to administrative mishandling, radical political indoctrination of students and adoption of a more conservative view of the simple teachings of Islam, especially in certain Muslim countries such as Pakistan, madrasahs nowadays are frequently deemed as ideological and political training grounds for hatred against The West . In Pakistan in particular, the heavy emphasis on religious teachings to the exclusion of more economically viable subject areas has been criticized. It is important to remember that while these political and ideological biases exist on a school-by-school basis, the word ''madrasah'' literally means "school" and does not imply a political affiliation. There are also many allegations and documented cases of physical abuse in madrasahs, especially in the UK, such as corporal punishment, beatings and other such practices The Muslim Parliament of Great Britain: Novice imams must be vetted, Muslim leaders say ; such criticisms are usually limited to western countries, as practices such as these are an established pedagogic norm in many nations like Pakistan, Bangladesh or Nigeria. REFERENCES SEE ALSO
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