‘Islam and terrorism’ now in madrassa course

[ghulam muhammed]

‘Islam and terrorism’ now in madrassa course

BAREILLY: After a recent fatwa barred recitation of burial prayers for anyone associated with terrorism, Dargah Aala Hazrat here introduced a specialization within the Hadith course, titled 'Islam and terrorism'. This course, meant for graduate students, will offer them the chance to compare the original text from the Quran with translations offered by terrorist groups in a bid to show how religious texts are misused.

Clerics will guide students to see how original extracts from Quran and Hadith (references to Quran penned by noted religious leaders of the Prophet's era) have been mangled by terrorist groups. Regular workshops will be organised to show students of Jamia Razviya Manazar-E-Islam madrassa how religion is abused to spread terrorism and influence young and impressionable students. This course will be open only to Fazil (graduate) students of the madrassa.

At Jamia Razviya Manazar-E-Islam madrassa, run by the Dargah Aala Hazrat, clerics wish to focus on terrorism in the new academic session. "Many terrorists groups, including IS, al-Qaida and Taliban have published misleading extracts from Hadith. Through this, they try to lure youngsters to join their groups. The original texts of religious books are in Arabic. These groups fool young people by misquoting religious texts while offering a translation. In this specialisation course, we will compare original extracts with the ones published by terrorist organizations to make students aware of the true message of Islam, and demonstrate how it is being corrupted," said Mufti Mohammed Saleem Noori, senior teacher and head of this specialization course.

Eight students are currently enrolled for the Fazil degree (graduation) course which began on Wednesday. The madrassa is open to taking in more students. Clerics have also decided to conduct regular workshops on 'Islam and terrorism' for students not enrolled in this course, to spread awareness of this important issue.

Set up in 1904, Manjar-E-Islam was formed by Aala Hazrat Imam Ahmed Raza Khan, the founder of the Barelvi movement. There are 1,200 students enrolled here at present.

"In the name of Islam, organizations are spreading terrorism. This throws Islam in poor light. We want to spread the original message of Islam through our madrassa," said Hazrat Subhan Raza Khan alias Subhani Miyan, chairperson, dargah Aala Hazrat.

Mufti Ahsan Raza Qadri, the head of this madrassa, said, "The responsibility of madrassa students has increased in today's time. They have to face many challenges, including being strong enough to resist the lure of terrorist organizations. We want our students to be prepared to counter the propaganda of these organisations."

Mohd Ibrahim, a student who is studying the new course said he wanted to be able to spread the true message of Islam. His classmate Mohd Qamar Raza said the course would help clear misconceptions that terrorists have managed to spread about the faith.

On Eid this year, clerics of Dargah Aala Hazrat announced that if any man with a history of terrorist activity died, the 'namaz-e-janaza' would not be read during his burial services. This prayer is an important part of the last rites in Islam.

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