Leap of faith

To reconcile the growing presence of science as a necessary part of the Indian madrassa
curriculum, many students interpret modern technological inventions as foretold in the Koran

The discussion group comprised madrassa graduates and some engineering students. Later on I caught up with one discussant from this group. A graduate of the Nadwatul Ulema in Lucknow, he came to university and had joined the Islamic Studies department. Nadwatul Ulema, a madrassa founded by Maulana Shibli Numani in 1894, firmly believed that the future of Indian Muslims lay in the hands of a new class of ulema (religious scholars) who, while being firmly grounded in Islamic traditionalism, would at the same time be conversant with the challenges of modern life. It was just in the fitness of things that a graduate of this madrassa sought to reconcile the two seemingly divergent traditions of science and religion, although in his own special way. His acquaintance with other students of the group was through the work of Tabligh.

Now, Tabligh Jamaat or the ‘Faith Movement’ founded by Maulana Muhammad Ilyas is perhaps the biggest translational Muslim movement in the world, based at its headquarters in Delhi. The Jamaat stresses the need for personal improvement of Muslims through the constant remembrance of god and works primarily among Muslims, when batches of Tablighis interact with ordinary Muslims to remind them of their duty towards Islam and god. Interestingly enough, in this case the most devoted members of the Tabligh were to be found among the engineering graduates!

My interaction with this young graduate of Nadwatul Ulema made me understand some of the anxieties and hopes that a student might have in coming to a new place, and then being exposed to alternative ways of thinking. The manner in which he had resolved this tension was through allocating primacy to scriptural sources (the Koran) over and above every observable phenomenon. This approach did not mean shutting out the world, not being able to talk about it, because of lack of knowledge. The positive thing about this approach is its active engagement with the here and now, the temporal, the ways of the world, so to speak.

This anxious restlessness, this desire to grapple with new technologies, the desire to understand its basis, is in itself a very modern activity, far removed as it is from the taken-for-granted attitude of non-modern sectors. It is perhaps too early to fathom the results of this new engagement of Islam with science. Nevertheless, it is a sign perhaps of an internal churning within Indian Muslims. The very fact that science is being explained Islamically points to its influence and impact on the occupants of the ‘non-modern’ sector. Everyday consumption of television images is bound to throw up a few questions about one’s relationship to the world and one’s role within it. What our Muslim students were doing was precisely the same: making sense of the changing world around them. Through religion, they seek to undo a lot of their own anxieties, the resolution of which intellectually satisfies them, till they are confronted with another set of questions.

In another setting, in a rural madrassa in North India I met students studying for their Fazilat degree, roughly equivalent to the higher secondary. Hailing from artisan families of North Bihar, they too were interested in talking about science. However, their articulation of the relationship between Islam and science differs slightly from the former group of university students. The university students’ understanding of science was predicated upon some familiarity with modern technological innovations as well as their functioning so as to relate it to what has already been said in the Koran. The madrassa students had no such familiarity. Their madrassa, like the majority of those in North India, did not have adequate resources to organise the teaching of science. The students’ understanding of ‘science’ therefore did not go beyond rudimentary information about Indian geography. Yet there was a marked enthusiasm to talk about science and how modern scientists have corrupted it!

These students argued that Muslims discovered all sciences. This assertion was backed by a long commentary on the Koran, which meant that since the Holy Book is the last word on everything in this world and beyond, it contains information about everything including science. They cited the names of Muslims like Ibn Sina (Avicenna) whom they argued was the greatest scientist because he laid the foundation of medicine. As a devout Muslim, he found solution to his problems in the Koran. Muslims of a later period forgot about this divine guidance and consequently could not progress. In fact, Christians and Jews read the Koran and that was why they made so many discoveries! These students also argued that some of the major scientists were all Muslims but their names were changed and hence we do not know them as Muslims anymore. They were convinced that Isaac Newton was a Muslim whose first name they pronounced as ‘Ishaq’ rather than Isaac. There were many other ‘Muslim scientists’ in their list whose names were changed by Jews and Christians. At least two students told me that it was their mission to prove that all major scientists were Muslims.

Apart from this conception that all major scientists were Muslims, the madrassa students shared the ‘science as technology’ understanding of the university students. Since god created earth and put human beings on it, he also gave hints so as to make their life comfortable. The objective of science therefore is to further such comfort. It has worked wonders by, among other things, reducing the time for Haj travel. It is, therefore, not surprising that most Islamic leaders today use the latest gadgets when they can afford to. The very fact that a relationship between science and Islam is being discussed in even such a traditional sector as that occupied by the madrassas is indicative of some deeper processes. From a time in the late 19th century, when Rashid Ahmad Gangohi opposed even the teaching of philosophy in the Deoband madrassa, to now, when ‘science and technology’ are everyday matters of discussion in madrassas – the traditional Muslim sector has indeed come a long way. It may be argued that this sector is increasingly feeling the pressures of ‘modernity’ and trying to come to terms with it.

Given the contemporary social and economic churning in Indian society, it can be safely said that as more and more of this traditional sector opens up and gets directly linked to market, most importantly through processes of migration, this debate on ‘Islam and science’ will only gain momentum. Although it is too early to see the direction that this ‘debate’ will take, one may discern that this understanding of science is not about the celebration of a critical individual. Rather, its sole concern is about improving the average Muslim’s day-to-day life. Science here is not about creative uncertainties, of ceaseless explorations, of being a method of critical awareness. Science here is all about livelihood and consumption.

Science as a utilisation concept

Such a conception of science is widely shared. Teachers and principals of various madrassas have argued that science is not anti-Islam, rather, it is a tool to show the glory of god. Every Muslim should study science but with an Islamic purpose: to prove that every word of the Koran is correct. However, if there is a contradiction between Koran and science, then one should endeavour to falsify the facts of science! This was even attempted by a leading 19th century scholar, Sayyid Riza Ahmad Khan, who in his own special way ‘proved’ that actually it was the sun that revolved round the earth and not vice versa. Madrassa scholars made a vital differentiation between ‘ilm’ and ‘fann’. By ‘ilm’ they meant religious knowledge, knowledge based on the Koran and Hadith. On the other hand, ‘fann’ or ‘hunar’ included other capitals required to lead a comfortable life. Fann did not only mean learning the crafts or trading skills, but also included scientific study of social and material reality, since they are all meant to earn a living. There was a distinct conception of something like core knowledge, the only truth that is already present in religious books. Other kinds of knowledge are considered additions to this core, without altering it or even attempting a synthesis between the two.

Such a utilitarian conception of science serves many purposes. Firstly, it renews the legitimacy of the ulema. More and more, the authority of the ulema is being questioned since they are no longer the sole transmitters of religious knowledge. Islam today is being increasingly accessed by ordinary, lay Muslims through print and television, which undermine the authority of the ulema whose legitimacy depends largely on personal transmission of religious knowledge. Technology provides them a wider and anonymous audience, making them more visible and ensuring that they do not fade from public memory. In a sense, therefore, the embrace of modern technology by the ulema is not only an attempt to remain relevant but also to arrest their declining influence among Muslims.

Secondly, it gives them a contemporary face. Recently, ulema and madrassas have come under criticism for not including modern subjects in the curriculum. The argument is that the dars-e-nizami, the curriculum taught in madrassas, does not equip students to earn a living in the modern world. And it is precisely for this reason that they want the introduction of science and other modern subjects in their syllabus.

It is rather ironic but true that both the ulema and their critics share the same utilitarian notion of science. It is perhaps under such pressure that madrassas are now keen to point out that Islam is not anti-science and that there is no harm in teaching science in madrassas. Apart from taking the winds of criticism out from the sails of its opponents, this position also gives the madrassas and ulema a very contemporary face, ready to change with changing times. How many madrassas will really promote the teaching of science within their sacred boundaries is, however, another matter.

Conclusion

By way of a conclusion it seems plausible to argue that contemporary debates about the introduction of modern subjects in madrassas do not appreciate the epistemological dichotomy of ilm and fann, which the madrassas practice. It was argued that science in madrassas is primarily a ‘skill’ to earn one’s livelihood. There is a fundamental religious core, the dissemination of which is their primary role. Science and other modern subjects are all welcome to the extent that they do not disturb this fundamental core that is considered to be true for all times to come. Far from being a critical methodology, science here becomes a tool for the further refinement of religion. All well meaning debates on madrassa reform will have to take this into consideration and perhaps develop a model through which religious and non-religious subjects can be integrated into a well knit whole.

If the object of reform is to produce a critical citizenry through ‘modern’ madrassa education then they should pay better attention to this problematic aspect of integrating two very different world views. The Indian government’s programme for the modernisation of madrassa education also suffers from the same lacuna. Far from suggesting ways to bring madrassa students into the educational mainstream, it gives sops to madrassas by way of some funds to arrange for teaching of modern subjects. Little thought is given to the purposes of introducing such subjects in madrassas and the results this might have. By simply making modern subjects an ‘add-on’ to the existing and unquestioned religious core, we are bound to create more Muslims who would be experts in arguing and perhaps also ‘proving’ that the basis of genetic engineering lies in the Koran!