PM Modi endorses book on Muslim education

THE BOOK CONTAINS A VARIETY OF ESSAYS BY MUSLIM SCHOLARS ON ISSUES RELATING TO EDUCATION AND MUSLIMS

NEW DELHI: A book on Muslim education released by Prime Minister Narendra Modi some days ago defends madrasas as sites of religious education, saying that learning alone can enhance the understanding of other religions and foster peace and diversity.

Calling for their modernisation, the book also seeks to examine whether the curricula in the madrasas highlighted indigenous Islamic learning in science and maths. The book, published by Shipra Publications, has been edited by former NCERT director JS Rajput.

Modi’s endorsement is being seen as an attempt to reach out to Muslims. Defending madrasas, Rajput, in an introduction to the volume, writes, “There is no reason to be apologetic on religious education as is being imparted in madrasas… As the Constitution assures equal respect for all religions, it does not debar children from learning about the basics of their religion and also of all other religions of the people of India, particularly the commonalities among them.”

He says that youngsters learn about other religions through hearsay, leading to misinformation. “It remains a fact that learning about other religions has totally vanished from the curriculum of secular education,” Rajput further writes.

In support of greater engagement between Muslims and other communities, Rajput calls for the spread of knowledge about Muslim contributions to science and technology.

“The madrasa curricula could be examined whether these contain details of indigenous knowledge in sciences and mathematics that is the distinct contribution of the Islamic civilisation,” he writes.

The volume contains a variety of essays by different Muslim scholars on a range of issues relating to education and Muslims.