Interview

39-year old Maulana Tariq Rasheed Firangi Mahali is a ninth generation direct descendant of Mulla Nizamuddin Firangi Mahali, who framed what is known after him as the dars-e nizami, the basic syllabus that continues to be followed by the vast majority of Islamic madrasas in South Asia even today. A graduate of the Nadwat ul-Ulema madrasa in Lucknow, he is presently Director of the Islamic Society of Greater


Orlando, Florida, in the United States. In this interview with Yoginder Sikand, he talks about his family's scholarly tradition.


YS: Could you briefly describe your family's tradition of Islamic scholarship?

TR: We trace our descent from a companion of the Prophet Muhammad, Hazrat Abu Ayub Ansari , in whose house in Medina the Prophet stayed following his migration from Mecca. Our family has, over the centuries, produced leading Islamic scholars. In the early eighteenth century, the Mughal Emperor granted Mulla Qutubuddin, one of our ancestors, a mansion in Lucknow, the Firangi Mahal, which was earlier used by a European or Firangi merchant, and hence its name. Mulla Nizamuddin, son of Mulla Qutubuddin, prepared an outline for studies, which came to be known after him as the dars-e nizami or the 'Syllabus of Nizamuddin'. This was, for its time, a very relevant syllabus, and soon became so popular all across India that almost all the madrasas that were later established adopted its pattern. Even today most madrasas in South Asia claim to follow the dars-e nizami and so are called Nizami madrasas.


YS: What was so special about the dars-e nizami?

TR: For its times, the dars-e nizami provided a well-rounded education. It included subjects such as Mathematics, Astronomy, Medicine, Philosophy, Logic, Geography, Literature, Chemistry and so on, as well as the Qur'an, the Prophetic Traditions or Hadith, Islamic Jurisprudence or Fiqh and Sufism. Those who passed through this course of study went on to assume a variety of careers, not just as imams and qazis, but also as bureaucrats in the courts of various princely states. And this is why even Shia and Hindu students studied with the ulema of the Firangi Mahal family. It was not like today, when, in a climate of increasing sectarianism and narrow-mindedness, madrasas are associated with one sect or the other, and often play a key role in fanning inter-sectarian conflicts. They are now unwilling to tolerate each other. What a contrast this is to the ecumenism that characteristic of the early ulema of Firangi Mahal!


The dars-e nizami, as Mulla Nizamuddin developed it, was not intended to be a hide-bound, fixed and unchanging syllabus, as it is sometimes made out to be today by some maulvis. This is evident from the fact that although Mulla Nizamuddin authored several books, he did not include even one of these in the syllabus that he framed. The syllabus was flexible enough to allow for the inclusion of new or better books.


YS: Some traditionalist ulema argue that the dars-e nizami does not need any change. They claim that it produced good scholars in the past and so can do so today, too. As a descendant of Mulla Nizamuddin and one who knows the tradition well, how do you react to this argument?

TR: I strongly disagree with this argument. It reflects a very strange mentality. So rigid are those who argue this way that they easily brand anyone who calls for change as an 'apostate' or an 'agent' of this or other 'un-Islamic' power. Mulla Nizamuddin did not certainly intend that the syllabus he formulated should remain unchanged forever. The point is that the ulema must be kept abreast with contemporary developments, which is not possible if one argues that the dars-e nizami should remain unchanged. How can you be considered to be a real scholar, an alim, if you study books written 800 or 500 years ago, which is the case with the dars-e nizami, and totally leave out modern books? Of course, the Qur'an and Hadith texts and so on remain the same. They cannot be changed. But the dars-e nizami is overloaded with books on antiquated Greek logic and philosophy, or what are called ulum-e aqaliya or 'rational sciences', much of which is quite irrelevant now. They should be replaced by modern 'rational' subjects, such as English and social sciences, so that would-be ulema know about the present world.


Some ulema might feel that including English in the madrasa syllabus will cause their students to be attracted to the delights of the world and to stray from the path of the faith, but I do not think so. English is now the global language of communication, and if the ulema are to address the younger generation or people of other faiths they must know the language.


YS: The 'mainstream' media often depicts the ulema in a very negative light. Ulema such as yourself are rarely, if ever, mentioned by the media. Why is this so?

TR: Yes, unfortunately, there is this tendency on the part of large sections of the 'mainstream' media to portray the ulema as if they were some archaic, monstrous creatures. Part of the reason lies in deeply-rooted historical prejudices. And then there are weird people in every community, and the media often picks on some weird mullah who issues some sensational and irrational fatwas and presents him as speaking for all the ulema, which is, of course, not the case. So, part of the fault also lies with such mullahs. I feel that one way to solve this problem is to encourage what is known as collective ijtihad, through which ulema and experts in various 'secular' branches of learning work together to provide proper responses to people's questions. Only then can the problem of outlandish fatwas, which have given the whole class of ulema such a bad name, be put an end to.


I strongly think that reforms in the curriculum and methods of teaching are essential to help madrasas relate better to others, including non-Muslims, the media and the government, and also to counter misunderstandings that many people have about them. Only then will people realise that madrasas are constructive, not destructive, institutions. For that we also need to encourage tolerance for other points of view, for other understandings of Islam and for other religions and their adherents.


(Maulana Tariq Rasheed can be contacted on imamtariq@ gmail.com) (Yoginder Sikand - email: ysikand@gmail.com-www.madrasareforms.blogspot. com)

This blog aims to broaden the debate on madrasas in India (and South Asia, more generally), by focussing, in particular, on the voices of reformist Indian ulema. Contrary to media depictions, a large number of Indian ulema are indeed in favour of certain reforms in the madrasas so as to make them serve their task as centres of Islamic instruction and guidance more effectively.


These voices are rarely, if ever, heard in the so-called ‘mainstream’ press, one reason being that many of these ulema write and speak Urdu, not English. This blog seeks to provide a platform for their voices to be heard beyond their restricted audience.

Anas reported that he heard the Prophet (Pbuh), saying that Allah says, “O son of Adam, whatever you asked Me and expected from Me I forgave respecting that which you owned to Me and I don’t care (how great this was). O Son of Adam, even if your sins pile up to the sky and then you seek My forgiveness I will forgive you, and O son of Adam, even if your have an earthful of sins but you meet Me without associating any other thing with Me I will forgive you.”


Abdullah bin Abbas said, “If one supplicates without fail for forgiveness from Allah, He finds a way out for him to get out of every distress and difficulty, and gives him sustenance through ways utterly unthought of.