person who leaves his home to earn for himself and his family or goes out to acquire

Knowledge is engaged in worship till he reaches back to his home.

- None can grasp the message of revelation except men of understanding and those
firmly grounded in knowledge, (iii, 7, 8, vi.io5; xxii, 54; xxivp 6).

- Allah bears witness that there is no God but He, and the angles and the men
endowed with knowledge, established in righteousness (iii, 16).

- Lack of true knowledge leads people to revile the true God (VI, 108) «,

- Whosoever has been given knowledge has indeed been given abundant good (ii,
269).
- Only those people will be promoted to suitable ranks and degrees who have faith
and are possessed of knowledge (iviii, ii) and only those who have knowledge
really fear God and tread the path of righteousness (xxxv, 28).

- Say, 'are those who possess knowledge and those who do not possess knowledge,
on equal footing? ‘(Xxxix, 9)

- And say, О m y Lord, increase m e in knowledge (xx, 114).

- It is He who taught with the pen and He gave knowledge of what man was
ignorant.
Hadith

- He dies not who seeks knowledge.

- Seeking after knowledge is obligatory for every Muslim„

- Seek knowledge even though in China.

- He, who leaves his home in search of knowledge, walks in the path of Allah.

- A word of wisdom is like the lost treasure of a believer who has got the best right
to secure it wherever he might have found it.

- To be present in a circle of learned men is better than prostrating oneself in

prayer a thousand times or visiting a thousand sick persons and attend a thousand
funerals.

- Acquire knowledge, he who acquires it in the way of Allah performs an act of

piety; he who speaks of it praises the Lord; he who seeks it adores
God; he who dispenses instruction in it bestows alms; he who imparts it to the
deserving persons performs an act of devotion.

- A father can confer on his children nothing more valuable than the gift of
education, it is better that a man should secure a good education for his children
than he should leave a treasure of gold and silver for them.

- The ink of scholar is more holy than the blood of martyr.

- Seek knowledge from the cradle to the grave.

- Should the day come wherein I increase not in knowledge wherewith to draw
nearer to God, let the dawn of that day be accursed.

In the early days of Islam, the first teaching place of the Muslims was the house of
Arqam in Mecca, a companion of the Holy Prophet. Those who embraced Islam in the beginning
received education privately in a house and later when the Prophet migrated along with his
companions to Madina and built a Mosque, known after him as the Mosque of the Prophet, it
was used both as a place of worship and for instruction to his companions. The Holy Prophet
paid special attention to the education and used to sit in the Mosque at a place which came to be
known Sal-Suffa'. Those who attended these lessons were called 'companions of al-Suffa'. After
education in the Mosque the followers used to go far and near places to spread the message of
Islam. Persons who possessed knowledge were sent to adjoining countries as emissaries.

THE ROLE OF THE MOSQUE IN EDUCATION

 The boarding and lodging expenditure of those who came from outside were borne by the
community.
In Madina there were 9 such Mosques including the Mosque of the Prophet where education was
imparted. There were 20 other Mosques in other parts of Arabia which were used at that time for
education purposes. For female education, the wives of the Prophet, three of whom were
educated, played a significant role. Muslim women used to get lessons from the wives of the
Prophet. Every Muslim was also supposed to convey to others whatever he had learnt about the
teachings of Islam by word of mouth. The importance of education in Islam could be judged
from the fact that during the lifetime of the Prophet "the teaching of reading and writing was
accepted from non-Muslims as ransom for their liberation from captivity". In the words of
Hisham Nashabi, "It is a remarkable fact that the mosque, as an educational institution, was the
first and most effective instrument to assist the transition of Arab society from a primitive stage
in which the oral tradition was a dominant characteristic, to a developed stage, based on the
written tradition".—' The deep-rooted oral tradition of pre-Islamic days, instead of being
abandoned was systematically institutionalized.
The human memory was used to narrate the events mentioned in the Holy Quran and also
memorize the Holy Quran by heart.
The Prophet was, therefore, the first teacher of the believers, for it was through him that the
revealed word of God was transmitted to the Muslims. As such he was the highest example of
human perfection. The manner in which he discharged his functions as a teacher influenced the
whole course of Muslim education. The practice that was established during his lifetime
continued to be performed in the same spirit by the first four Caliphs. Later on, when the City
State of Madina grew into a large country, the political centre under the Umayyad was shifted
from Madina to Kufa. The political and administrative requirements must have necessitated the
composition of a service structure consisting of educated persons and persons trained in state-
craft. However, much is not known about the educational progress during the first century of the
Hijrah (Muslim calendar which is based on lunar movement), except that the Mosque served as
the main educational institution.

During the second century of the hirjrah due to Arab conquests outside Arab lands, there
emerged the need to learn Arabic for the Muslims of non-Arab origin and also for performing the
official duties. Thus the teaching and writing of Arabic language was introduced in the
curriculum in the Mosque. It was in this century that the Muslims developed the basis of Islamic
theology and scholars like al-Hasan-al-Basri introduced the subject of Kalam (ilm al-Kalam) in
the Mosque in Basrah. "Thus, the mosque as a house of learning became confirmed and the
different sciences revolving mainly around religious themes constituted the major part of the
curriculum. The heyday of the mosque as an educational institution extended roughly between
the beginning of the second and the end of the third century of hijrah. . . This period coincided
with the appearance of the great Muslim legists and theologians - - Imam Malik b. Anas, Imam
Abu Hanifa, Imam Ahmad b. Hanbal and Imam al-Shafi'i, to mention only the most prominent.
 OTHER INSTITUTIONS O F LEARNING
Alongside the Mosque, another type of educational institution developed during these
two centuries.
This was called 'kuttab' and was used for elementary education. Similar institutions were said to
be in existence in the pre-Islamic era but they got a boost on account of the need for more
educated persons. The Kuttab was not of a uniform type. In some Kuttabs, reading, writing and
arithmetic was taught, in some only the Quran while in still others it was both. In addition,
education was also being imparted by the religious scholars at their homes. According to Hishan
Nashabi, the shops of the paper merchants which were called 'warraqun' were also used for
educational purposes for many years.
During the third and fourth centuries of the Islamic calendar, two new educational
institutions of higher learning came into being. These were called Par al-Hikmah and Par al-Ilm.
They were established outside the Mosque and in these institutions greater attention was given to
those subjects which were not prominent in the Mosque curriculum. These were a sort of
research academies of the Greek style and teaching in these institutions was of secondary
importance. Due to increased influence of non-Arabs during the Abbasid period, the main
function of the Dar al-Hikmah was to translate books from Greek and Sanskrit into Arabic. It is
said that generally Dar al-Hikmah was established around the library and that there have been
many such institutions in other cities of Iraq besides the famous Par al-Hikmah of Baghdad. It is
also said that the idea of Dar al-Hikmah was derived from the Persian rulers while the idea of
Dar al-Ilm was derived from the pre-Islamic Egypt. There was probably a Dar al-Ilm at Baghdad
but the most renowned one was the one founded by the Fatmid Caliph al-Hakim bi-Amri'llah in
the year 495 of hijrah.
In the fifth century of the hijrah, under the patronage of Saljuq rulers another institution
for education was sponsored by the State. This was called 'Madrassah'. The State exercised
control over these Madrassahs to some extent. It may be mentioned that the Saljuqs did not
interfere with the tradition of Mosque as a place for learning. They supplemented educational
activity by spreading Madrassahs in Persia and Iraq. The first such Madrassah was established at
Nishapur in Persia. Some more Madrassahs were established during the period of Malikshah.
The most famous of these Madrassahs was founded by Wazier Nizam ul Mulk at Baghdad which
in the history of Muslim education is known as Madrassah Nizamiah. This was established
during the years 457 to 459 hijrah. Many such institutions were built by Nizam ul Mulk in Iraq.
They were replicated in most of the Muslim countries. The significance of Madrassah lies in the
fact that the State accepted the responsibility to educate people at such a large scale. During
these centuries’ differences of views among the scholars surfaced. For ensuring stronger
ideological or intellectual identity, the Caliph al-Mustansir built al-Madrassah al-Mustansiryyah
in the year 631 hijrah. This grand Madrassah had scholars from all the four Sunni schools of
thought. The Caliph himself took a keen interest in this institution and provided maximum
facilities to all the scholars and even to the students. This included free boarding and lodging.
Establishment of these Madrassahs did not mean that other educational institutions such as the
Mosque, the Kuttab and private teaching by scholars at their homes had been dispensed with.
These institutions continued playing their role side by side with the Madrassah, Dar al-Hikmah
and Dar al-Ilm. It may also be made clear that the curriculum of the Mosque did not exclude the
teaching of medicine.Medicine was considered a part of philosophy (in Arabic hikmah). The
teaching of medicine was however, done separately as well. Bimaristan, a Persian version of
hospital was an institution which performed functions of treating the patients and teaching the
students. Bimaristan was like the present day hospital attached with the medical college or the
medical university. The system of imparting education in medicine along with the Islamic
jurisprudence (fiqah), logic (mantaq) and the Quaran and the Sumían has been practiced until
recently. In the South-Asian sub-continent in a number of Islamic institutions (Dar ul Uloom, or
Jamia Islamia) these subjects were being taught. One might find many such surviving institutions
in India, Pakistan and Bangladesh. In Pakistan their number is estimated to be 1, 200 in which
58, 000 students are receiving education in religious subjects like Ha dit h, Tafseer and Fiqah. In
most of these institutions 'Dars-e-Nizamiyah' - a curriculum designed by the Madrassah
Nizamiyah of Baghdad is followed with slight modifications. A large number of these
institutions exist in Bangladesh and surprisingly they impart education in Urdu. A serious
thought is being given to enhance the level and prestige of these institutions in Pakistan —.
These institutions are mainly concerned with the preparation of religious scholars who could take
up the responsibility as Imams of the Mosque.
A similar institution, Jamia Ashrafia in Lahore has recently introduced formal education side by
side with the religious education.
In the Muslim world there existed another institution which commanded a. great
influence amongst the people in certain areas and groups and this was the institution of mystics
or Sufis. Though no formal education was imparted, the followers felt that they were being
educated by their spiritual leader. They thought that through the attention (or concentration of
will power) of the Sufi and by remaining close to him (halqa or zawiyah) they would be able to
ordain their lives. Some of these Sufis were great religious scholars. To name a few of the most
prominent, one may mention Syed Abdul Qadir Jilani of Bahgdad, Sted Ali Hajveri of Lahore,
Salim Chisti and Nizam ud Din of Delhi. They had a large following and disciples liked to
follow the footsteps of the spiritual leader.
One who is aware of the rôle played by these orders like Chistia, Naqashbandia, Qadiria,
Suhrawardia, Nizamia etc. in the South-Asian sub-continent,, would know that it was through the
teachings of these sufis and their orders that Islam had been introduced and a large number of
non-Muslims had embraced Islam.
In conclusion, one might say that "The maktab was the equivalent of the primary school, the
madrassah was the intermediate stage and the mosque was the apex of the system. It was, and
still is, the university of Muslim education. The most famous of these mosque universities is Al-
Azhar of Cairo.
"Muslim educators unanimously agree that the purpose of education is not to cram the
pupil's minds with facts but to prepare them for a life of purity and sincerity. The total
commitment to character building based on the ideals of Islamic ethnics is the highest goal of
Islamic education.

The structure of education

Provincial governments can make laws concerning education. Important matters like the
education policy, planning and curriculum are bing taken care of by the Federal government for
the purpose of uniformity and equity among the Provinces. The Provincial governments are
solely responsible for all matters concerning implementation of education policy and
organization and management of the educational set up. They are also responsible for the
recurrent budget, while the finances for the development are provided by the Federal
government.
The recurrent or 'non-development' budget consists of the salary component and
contingent expenditure on stationery, electricity, water rates, rent etc.
It also includes the expenditure on new posts created as a result of opening of new institutions
under the development schemes. But in the case of projects financed by an outside agency or
pilot programmes, the salary component is met out of the development budget. In case of
continuation of the project, the posts are included in the recurrent budget.
At the Federal level, there is a Ministry of Education headed by the Minister for
Education, and the highest senior officer in charge of the Ministry is the Education Secretary.
The same way, the Provincial Education Department is headed by the Minister for Education and
the civil servant responsible to look after the activities of the Department is called the Education
Secretary. For the administration of education, the Province of Punjab for instance, is organised
on Divisional basis; there are five Divisional Directorates with one Directorate of Public
Instruction at Provincial level to co-ordinate the activities of the five Divisional Directorates of
Education. On the side of Technical Education, there is another Directorate. The Divisional
Directorates have District Education Officers working under them to look after the schools in the
Districts. In larger Districts, there are female District Education Officers as well. Under the DEO
' s , there are Deputy District Education Officers and Assistant Education Officers. For college
administration, one Deputy Director and one Assistant Director are attached with each
Directorate, as the number of colleges is relatively small.

THE ROLE OF MOSQUE SCHOOLS IN UNIVERSAILIZING

PRIMARY EDUCATION

Earlier attempts: The Maktab scheme of Bahawalpur

It is not for the first time that the educationists in Pakistan have thought of making use of the
mosque to promote the cause of education. One earlier experiment to revive the time-honoured
function of the mosque as a seat of learning was conducted in the former State of Bahawalpur in
1953. This was a Princely State under British India which subsequently acceded to Pakistan and
now forms part of the Province of the Punjab.
The Constitution of Islamic Republic of Pakistan (Part III, Directive Principles of State Policy,
Article 25) makes a specific mention about the mosque as a seat of learning. Under the heading
'Promotion of Islamic Principles' it is stated that:
1. Steps shall be taken to enable the Muslims of Pakistan individually and collectively to order
their lives in accordance with the Holy Quran and Sunnah.
2. The State shall endeavour in respect of the Muslims of Pakistan;
(a) To provide facilities whereby they m a y be enabled to understand the meaning of life
according to the Holy Q u r a n and Sunnah.
(b) To m a k e the teaching of the Holy Q u r a n compulsory.
(c) To promote unity and the observance of Islamic moral standards and
(d) To secure the proper organization for Zakat, Wakfs and M o s q u e s.
3. To bridge the gulf between the 'religious' and mundane w a y s of teaching and to popularize
the (Religion, Reading, Writing, Arithmetic) as the fundamentals of our Basic Education.
4. To evolve the Islamic pattern of life in its natural surroundings and give the students Islamic
traits of character developed in a mosque because "the strength of Islam has not been the sword
or army nearly so much as the Mosque and school".
5. To make the Mosque a community Centre for Social, Moral and economical betterment of the
rural life by encouraging the villagers to set up Maktib, libraries, health clinics, rural clubs and
social uplift societies on a co-operative basis.
In the light of these guiding principles, in the three districts of Bahawalpur, Bahawalnagar and
Rahimyar Khan, the former State Government had decided to revive the traditional pattern and
make mosques a seat of learning to combat the rampant illiteracy. This scheme was given the
name of Maktab Scheme. Detailed rules were framed for the opening and the supervision of
these Maktabs.
These Maktabs were opened mainly in villages where there were no schools and co-
educational institutions, both for boys and girls for the first five classes. But separate Maktabs
could be opened for girls if an educated woman was available in the village and was willing to
teach. In order to run these Maktabs, village or Mohallah committees were formed which
included the senior person of the village Patwari (lowest official of the Revenue Department in
the village) or the Municipal Commissioner of the Mohallah and the Headmaster of the
neighbouring village or Mohallah. These committees were given the name of "Taleemi
Committees". According to a paper published by Chulam-e-Shabbir Bokhari
"Maktab Scheme - a successful step towards mass education", this experiment in the now
Bahawalpur Division of the Punjab yielded encouraging results. In the first 15 months about 60
thousand boys and girls of school-going age got admission into Maktabs. These Maktabs were
given some amount by the Government as grant-in-aid while major expenditure was borne by the
"Taleemi Committees". They collected funds called 'Masjidana' for financing Maktabs which
were established in mosques. The Government, according to Bokhari, took up the responsibility
of supervising 1, 000 Maktabs and arranged in-service training for the "Moallim Imams' as they
were called.
The Maktab scheme started in the Bahawalpur Division was extended to other parts of
the then West Pakistan in 1966-67 on the following lines:
(i) The scheme should be started in villages without schools only.
(ii) The scheme should supplement and not supplant the existing facilities of primary education.
(iii) The Union Council should be put into the overall control of the mosque schools in its
jurisdiction. The salary of the Imam-Teachers should be fixed by the Union Council according to
qualification in each case.
(iv) The mosque school should provide only first and second primary classes. However, the third
primary class may be added where the teacher has necessary qualifications.
(v) The decision to provide the third primary class should be taken by the Deputy Commissioner
on the recommendation of the Education Officers.
(vi) The District Inspector of schools should provide the overall supervision of the institution.
(vii) When after passing out a student applied for regular admission to the nearby school, the
Headmaster of the school may give an admission test to the applicant.
(viii) The mosque school should be given grant-in-aid keeping in view the total enrolment and
the number of students graduating.
(ix) The mosque school should follow the same syllabi and prescribed for the regular primary
schools.
(x) The mosque school should admit both boys and girls. In villages this practice is already in
vogue.
(xi) The scheme may be introduced as a pilot project
On the dissolution of the Province of West Pakistan and re-creation of the old Province of the
Punjab since 1972, the scheme continued functioning in the Districts as mentioned above.
Details are, however, not available about the increase or decrease in enrolment or the success of
these Maktabs, nor has there been an evaluation report about their functioning. The main point
that emerges is that the number of these Maktabs did not show any increase. This could be
ascribed to the indifference of the educationist, who favoured the formal institutions, or the lack
of supervision by the officials. Even for the formal schools there has been ineffective supervision
because of the inadequacy of the staff. Moreover, as a result of re-organisation, the supervisory
or inspection staff was assigned certain administrative functions as well. Obviously due to this
increase of work, lesser number of staff and dislocation of records, the Maktab scheme became
dormant.
After the enforcement of the New Education Policy in 1978 the programme has again been
highlighted.
Until now these Maktabs had been functioning as single-teacher schools with a Moallim Imam.
But in view of the recommendations in the Education Policy, they are now to be converted into
two-teacher schools by providing additional posts for teachers.
The role of the Mosque schools under the New Education Policy:
As part of the New Education Policy, it has been decided to open 5, 000 Mosque schools
throughout the country during the current Plan period. The Province of Punjab has been allocated
2, 000 Mosque schools to be set up during this period. The government has recognised that the
mosque has traditionally been a centre of learning in Muslim society; educational institutions
established in the mosque used to be owned and supervised by the community itself in the past.
In most of the mosques even now children of both sexes go to study the Holy Quran and
Islamiat. During the past two centuries of colonial rule these centres of learning have been
suppressed, strangulated, or mutated. But in all the villages in the country there exist mosques
with a solid structure which in most cases is better than the houses in the village. The size and
the number of mosques usually correspond to the size of the village population, and as such
mosques tend to have sufficient space to run a village primary school. Generally these mosques
are well kept and well provided with facilities like covered space, floor mats, drinking water etc.
Mosques are usually not used for prayer from the early hours of the day to about 1 or 2 p. m . ,
and are again available between 2 to 3 or 5 p. m and from5 p. m onwards.
According to the Education Policy, the Mosque schools will be organised on the basis of
a unit of 20-30 students. The teaching programme will be so arranged that it would not clash
with the prayer hours. In these Mosque schools the same curriculum will be taught as in other
formal schools but with the addition of teaching of the Holy Quran. The teaching programme
will comparatively be of shorter duration so that the children may get time to help their parents
in the daily work. The Mosque schools will not be closed for the summer vacation and in this
way the work load will be reduced and the loss of instructional time avoided. In addition to the
Imam of the Mosque who will be teaching the Holy Quran and Islamiat, one Primary Trained
Teacher (PTC) will be provided in each Mosque school who will be teaching other subjects. At
present most of the Primary schools in rural areas are two-teacher schools and the same facility
will be available in the Mosque schools.
In urban as well as rural areas of the Province most of the mosques are teaching the Holy Quran
and Islamiat. This is being done free of charge, although parents of the students may if they like
give some money to the Imam or the mosque for conducting such classes. Since the Arabic
alphabet is more or less the same as that of the national language (with the exception of few
additional letters) of Pakistan, the child who learns to read the Holy Quran can also read the
Urdu language.
Urdu is widely spoken and understood throughout the country. In some of the mosques,
particularly in cities, some enthusiastic Imams go a little further and teach the children the art of
writing in Urdu script and some basic calculations. Whether in these mosques some prescribed
course is followed and whether they have more than one level of study is a matter of great
interest. The Bureau of Education in the Punjab, therefore, which is responsible for the
collection and publication of educational statistics, has recently devised a questionnaire to collect
information about the type and levels of education already being provided in the mosques which
are said to be numbering over 90, 000. Information is also being collected with regard to the
facilities, such as free boarding and lodging of the students, number of classes and the staff and
the financing of these mosque institutions.
While the scheme for Mosque schools was being discussed, apprehensions were expressed in
certain quarters with regard to violation of the sanctity of the Mosque by using it for education.
Every person entering the Mosque is supposed to be clean or should have done ablution (Arabic
words Taharat and Wadu which is necessary before offering prayer). However, this objection
was mainly on account of ignorance on the part of certain vested interests. They were perhaps
not aware of the historical role of the Mosque in the Muslim system of education. Even now a
large number of children in most of the Muslim countries go to the Mosque to learn the Holy
Quran and this is one place where the parents do not object to co-education. While learning the
Holy Quran the child learns about the Islamic concept of cleanliness. The same is the case in
Pakistan. It has not been possible for the Education Department to introduce co-education
throughout the Province at primary level. The more conservative parents are adamant in not
allowing their daughters to study in a mixed school. Hence, in many villages there are separate
schools in existence for boys and girls and at places the meager enrolment does not justify their
separate existence. In the 2 6, 000 villages of the Punjab, there are 34, 000 primary schools
functioning and there are very few villages where there is no school. A lot of resources could
have been saved if there had been no such social barrier. But in the case of Mosque schools, the
parents are willing to send their daughters as has already been experimented in the Bahawalpur
Division.
In addition to the wholesome role in respect of co-education, the Mosque school will be more
economical and cost-effective than conventional primary education. The Imam of the mosque
will be given a honorarium for the help he will provide in teaching the students. But his status as
head of the Mosque and his place in the village community will be duly ensured. According to
Education Policy twenty sets of textbooks and copies of the Holy Quran will be provided in each
Mosque school for lessons to the students. The most important feature of this programme is that
students qualifying from the Mosque schools will be eligible for admission to Secondary schools
in the formal system.
They will also be transferable to the formal system at any stage. It is also intended to make use of
the Mosque for the education of out-of-school youth and adults. Out-of-school youth of the age-
group 10-15 who normally work during day time in the fields or lend a helping hand to their
parents in other