Madrasa Education in Southern Assam an Analytical study

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CHAPTER-1
INTRODUCTION

1.1 BACKGROUND OF THE RESEARCH
Education means to amplify mystic qualities of an individual in social context. An educated
man is supposed to behave accurately with others and exertion towards the establishment
of peace in individual, social and global life
1
. Right or wrong can easily be distinguished
by an educated man and he can adjust himself with the changing conditions of the time .
Madrasahs
2
are the flag bearers of Islamic education, and are considered as the
custodians of Islamic tradition, culture, values and morals. Dealing with madrasahs in
both complex and challenging because of the influence, they yield and sentimental
affiliation of general public towards Islam, in which Madrasahs claim to be the sole
custodian. Duality of their standpoint that is specious openness and considered effort to
keep veil, the real intentions make the research further complex. The fact that they have
been able to successfully thwart the efforts of the government, have given them another
lease of life, Madrasahs are there to stay. They also perform some social welfare functions.
Today Madrasah education system in Southern Assam is going towards despondent
day to day and Muslims of Assam are not getting proper Islamic education as per this age .
And Madrasahs students are still trap in crap by not using updated syllabus and modern
tools because ancestors did not use that or modern preachers and scholars included that all
in the list of forbiddances, and by avoiding the mind propelling medium to express one`s
ideology and thoughts I mean films and television shows etc. Madrasahs students and
young generation of Islam escaping this all modern opportunities because some scholars
and preachers of Islam compelled them all that taking advantages of like these tools is an
enough sin, and that will lead them to hell etc. To vanish this darkness, we have to step

1
MC Henry, (1996) Encyclopedia of Islam, (Leiden: E.J .Brill, Brill Academic, Vol.23,).
2
A place where learning and studying taking place in Muslims community.

2

forward with the modern world by taking advantages of their new updated syllabus and
updated education system in the allowed pattern of Islam.
However, researcher believes in a change in the system because Madrasahs in
Assam are not on a major introduction of modern and technological subjects and their
syllabus is traditional .They believe that these subjects are already taught in the universities,
and the introduction of these advanced subjects would deviate the Madrasah from its
mission, which is to prepare human beings for eternal world. These subjects are
materialistic in nature and prepare for this contemporary world only. However, they do not
feel that contemporary islamic study is a significant element of contemporary life, so the
use of themodern syllabus can be beneficial for the preaching of Islam. English and Arabic
languages should be introduced in Madrassahs to spread the message of Islam to other
religions. Islamic education can be suggestively promoted if Madrasah education is
reformed under the ideology of the Madrasah. Therefore, it is necessary to revisit Madrasah
education in Southern Assam.

1.2 STATEMENT OF THE PRO BLEM
This research deals with the major problems which are facing the students of Southern
Assam Madrasahs, and the obstacles which prevent Madrasah managements to upgrade its
education system into a modern and forwarded education system. This research also deals
with a huge problem of orthodoxi which is the major reason for Muslims’s backwardness.
And it also discusses on the pattern of the syllabus in Southern Assam Madrasahs. It also
discusses the hardships of Madrasahs students specially because of what reasons Southern
Assam Madrasahs students and it`s alumni are not able to face the contemporary world .
And the reasons why they are not receiving a well-salaried job or why they are not counting
in the list of mainstream employers. And in the meantime, this research also deals with the
solutions for this all problems. And it also deals with another major problem that the
Muslim population outside of Madrasahs and Jamias are need some instructors and

3

scholars who are good in religiously and other fields too, they are rarely getting like these
Ulamas.
1.3 QUESTIONS OF THE RESEARCH
1. What is the historical context of Madrasah in Southern Assam?
2. What are the present problems in Southern Assam Madrasahs?
3. How to solve these prevailing problems?
4. How do the government and non-government agencies contribute towards the
development of Madrasah in Southern Assam?

1.4 OBJECTIVES OF THE RESEARCH
1. To understand the historical context of Madrasah in Southern Assam.
2. To identify the present problems in Southern Assam Madrasahs.
3. To find out the solutions to the prevailing problems in Southern Assam.
4. To study the contributions of government & non-government agencies towards the
development of Madrasah System of Education in Southern Assam.

1.5 SIGNIFICANCE OF THE RESEARCH
This research is really important to remind Assamese and Bengali Muslims specially
Madrasah students and managements who are became the victims of Islamic scholars and
preacher`s compulsion, that they are not stepping forward with the modern world. And also
to remind them that they are living in past and darkness, nothing is going to happen if they
are not avoiding being an orthodox, and if they are dreaming a huge revolution by living
in past the dream will remain only as a daydream. And to encourage all Madrasah students
to take advantages of Modern age and tools to express their thoughts and ideology, and to
stop enlarging circle of forbiddance which Islam really don’t want, and to stop
romanticizing Islam and fooling others. And this research is also important to know the
reasons why Madrasah students are very backward, why they cannot face the modern

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world? And it is also important to know the roles of scholars and Madrasah teachers to
adopt the darkness of Madrasah.
1.6 RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
The study has been carried out by applying quantitative and qualitative methods using
primary and secondary data .Primary data has been collected through quantitative and
qualitative method .Quantitative techniques involved a sample survey of 14 Madrasah
students from both Aliya and Qaumia Madrasahs. For this purpose, a structured
questionnaire was used to collect regarding motivation for Madrasah education, socio-
economic background, career prospects and plans, worldview and mutual perceptions and
finally, view on modernization of Madrasahs. Before conducting a sample survey, a series
of qualitative surveys were undertaken: Key people’s interview, Madrasah related
individuals, focused group discussion with Madrasah student as well as interaction with
students .And strategic policies, while experts concentrated mainly on curriculum related
issues. Secondary data was mainly collected through consultation of official documents
counting education commission reports, Madrasah education reforms reports, published
materials and research reports .Websites widely browsed to access a variety of information
from sources like newspapers, journals, and research.
1.7 LITERATURE REVIEW
1. Development of Madrasah Education in Assam since Independence with Special
Reference to Barak Valley Region
3
on 2008 by this is a thesis of PhD by A.Q. Suhail Ahmed
Choudhury, in this thesis he discussed on modern education system comparing to Madrasah
education system .And the reasons why Madrasah education system is so old and backward.
With discussing on the reasons of Madrasah`s backwardness he mentioned that this is a
political play in India. The previous government might not want to improve Madrasah

3
A .Q. Suhail Ahmed Choudhury, Development of Madrasah Education in Assam Since Independence with
Special Reference to Barak Valley Regionon, 2008, departmentof Education, Aligarh Muslim University.

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education system because of their hatred about Islam and Muslims.Secondly even most of
Muslim veterans and scholars don’t want to upgrade Madrasah`s education system because
they have a fear of losing their control on the students of Madrasahs. As I mentioned above
that current condition of Madrasah in Southern Assam is not as it was before, therefore it
needs to revisit towards current Madrasah education system in Assam South.
2. Should Madrasah be linked to Mainstream Education system?
4
By Rumani saikia
Phukan, 2014.This is an article by Rumania Saikia Phukan, on discussing opinions of
different people about the title of the article. In this article he mentioned the advantages of
Madrasah for a Muslim child, how it helps him to build his personality, and it helps him to
learn the Quran and basic teachings of Islam which includes hadiths of Prophet
Muhammad (pbuh). And also he mentioned the demerits and drawbacks of Madrasah in
this contemporary world. Mainly he mentioned the opinion of vice chancellor of Jamia
Millia Talat Ahmed about this issue, at last he concluded his article by mentioning some
points which should be done to improve education system of Madrasahs .But this research
has a long gap from 2014 to 2020 and there are numerous new prevailing problems so for
this new prevailing problems there should be new solutions as per the problems and time.
3. Modernity and Madrasah by Arshad Alam
5
, July 25 2015, this is an article of Indian
express newspaper by Arshad Alam, in this article he discussed on modern education
system comparing to Madrasah education system. And the reasons why Madrasah
education system is so old and backward. With discussing on the reasons of Madrasah’s
backwardness he mentioned that this is a political play in Assam. The present central
government may not pay attention to improve Madrasah education system because of their
hatred about Islam and Muslims. Secondly even most of Muslim veterans and scholars
don’t want to upgrade Madrasah`s education system because they have a fear of losing their

4
Rumania Saikia Phukan, Should Madrasah be linked to mainstream education system? 2014, Milli Gaget.
5
Arshad Alam, Modernity and Madrasah, 2015, Indian express newspaper.

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control on the students of Madrasahs. This study has been done on specific problems and
now problems are growing up so for the growing up problems is research is not applicable.
4. Madrasah and Darul Uloom Education System, 1983, by Shaikh Adam Usman, in his
article, highlighted different aspects of the Madrasah system. He referred Madrasah
curriculum as insufficient towards coping up with the modem explosion of knowledge. He
also provided good suggestions towards making the Madrasah pass outs to become self-
dependent
6
.

6
Shaikh, Adam Usman, Madrasah and Darul Uloom Education System, 1983, System publisher Debond.

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CHAPTER-2
HISTORICAL CONTEXT OF MADRASAH

2.1 INTRODUCTION
In this chapter, the study deals with the meaning and definition of Madrasah and purpose
as well as historical context of Assam Madrasahs in brief and also a short introduction of
Assam Madrasah board is given. From when the Madrasah education system has been
started in Southern Assam.And also it deals with the challenges and the aims of Madrasah
in Southern Assam. This chapter deals with various classifications of Muslims in Assam .
And this chapter illustrates what is the reality of Madrasah in Southern Assam? And upon
what purpose Madrasah had created in Assam .And also this chapter deals with major
syllabus structure of Madrasah in Southern Assam, and a brief introduction of Southern
Assam means Barak valley.
2.2 THE MEANING AND DEFINITION OF MADRASAH
Madrasah is an Arabic word for any kind of educational institution, secular or religious
whether for elementary instruction or higher learning. The word is variously transliterated
Madrasah, Madrassa, Madraza, Madreze etc
7
.In the west, the word usually refers to a
specific type of religious school or college for the study of the Islamic religion. The word
Madrasah is derived from the tri-consonantal Semitic root D-R-Swhich means to learn,
study. Therefore, Madrasah literally means a place where learning and studying are done.
In the Arabic language, the word Madrasah simply means the same as school does in the
English language, whether that is private, public, or parochial school as well as for any
primary or secondary school whether Muslim, non-Muslim, or secular. However, in

7
Jeffrey. NT PG. (2005), Micropaedia, The Encyclopedia Britannica, (Vol.7. pp.522-56) Chicago:
Encyclopedia Britannica.

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English, the term Madrasah usually specifies to the specifically Islamic institutions. People
of all ages attend, and many often move on to becoming imams.
The certificate of an A’lim, for example, requires approximately fourteen years of
study. A good number of the ḥuffāẓas
8
are the product of the madaris. The Madaris also
look like colleges, where people take evening classes and reside in dormitories. An
important function of the Madaris is to admit orphans and poor children in order to provide
them with education and training. Madaris may enroll female students; however, they study
discretely from the boys or men. Madrasah was the cradle of new inventions may new
civilization during the middle ages. In our country too, the contribution of Madrasah
towards educational and political revival cannot be denied. It was the springboard of
freedom movement. It was the abode of intellectuals, poets, writers and revolutionaries .
Every education system has its own history. The history is a kind of mirror for it. As such
it is felt to throw light on the path trodden by Madrasah over the period. Lots of likenesses
could be traced in Indian guru Kul system and Madrasah education system where the Guru
and disciple relation is holy. These were the midpoints of many scientific innovations too.
Those reviewing the history of Madrasah education of those days and contemporary
learning will find lots of gap in it. Madrasahs were the precursor of modern civilization.
Spain of middle ages is the living proof. It was an example for the world in medical science,
astronomy, chemistry and other technological fields. Madrasahs achieved revolution in
educational domain which the modern universities would not think of its impact was felt
in India and especially in Assam. Thus, Madrasahs were the centers of scientific
innovations and acted as laboratories for scientific subjects. It was a center of exchange of
scholarship and renowned scholars from across the world. It also remained an inspiration
for many of the world renowned architectural building. For example, the architect of Gol
Gumbuz Yakub Dabul learned the architecture from one of these Madrasahs. Not only that,

8
Hafizia: Name of the Madrasa in which memorization of the is taught,

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Burdamajlis, Daf, qawwali, Mushaira
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and to a whole lot of cultural forms were born from
these Madrasahs.While the Madrasah initiated the new renewal and forerunner of
inventions, it is regrettable for having secluded the institutions today as the mere provider
of religious teachings. It wouldn’t be an exaggeration if I say that it has lost its pristine
glory and its true status. I just want to find out the reasons why the current Madrasah
education in Assam is very old and no useful according to this age
10
.
2.3 HISTORICAL CONTEXT OF MADRASAH IN SOUTHERN ASSAM
In Assam, from the days of Ikhtiyaruddin Bakhtiyar Khilji, that is from 1206-07 A.D.,
Muslims started settling down there. Along with their settlement, they managed to build
up Mosques 85 and Madrasahs. The historical events reveal that right from the Mughal
dynasty, the systematic education system was thought and its result came out in the
establishment of Maktabs and Madrasahs which are continuing till today. During the
British period, Muslims were encouraged to migrate to Assam. These migrated Muslims
had to face a lot of problems such as diseases like Kalazar, Malaria etc. As well as the wild
animals in the dense forests. Their contribution towards making the hilly and jungle areas
available for habitation is beyond description. Thus, gradually, their population increased
to a great extent. With the increase in population the number of Madrasahs also increased.
The settlers felt the need of institutions to educate their children. This resulted in the
establishment of Madrasahs at every place where it was needed. Though they were started
in an unsystematic manner in the beginning but gradually the process of rectifying the
system started to gain importance.In 1934, these Madrasahs were brought under a single
umbrella with the establishment of State Madrasah Education Board, Assam and All Assam
Tanzim Madaris Qawmiya in 1955
11
. These Madrasahs can be categorized into two types.

9
Mushaira: Cultural program of North India in which poems and fiction are recited.
10
Jeffrey. NT PG. (2008), Micropaedia, The Encyclopedia Britannica, (Vol.9. pp.522-56) Chicago:
Encyclopedia Britannica.
11
Choudhury,.75

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One is Government Madrasahs run by the Government of Assam and the other is non-
Government Madrasahs running on public donation by private agencies.
The Madrasah education system in Assam can be discussed under the two following
headings:
a) Government Madrasahs;
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b) Non-Government Madrasahs.
2.3.1 Government Madrasah
The British government felt the necessity to educate the local youths of Assam so that they
can be employed in at least the clerical posts in different offices in Assam. For this a school
was needed to be set up to give instruction to the local youths. Different proposals had been
made and after long discussions, the British Government, with the assistance of General
Committee of Public instructions, recommended the establishment of a school at Guwahati.
This resulted in establishment of Guwahati English School. Later on, the name was
changed to Guwahati Zilla School. This school was the pioneer of the Department of
Mohammedan Education in Assam .Inspired by the Calcutta Alia Madrasah, initially
Madrasahs were started in Assam. Later on, these Madrasahs came to be known as Junior,
Senior and Title Madrasahs.
In the beginning of the 20 century, at least a dozen of such Madrasahs were opened
in several parts of Assam and these were running on public donations and support to
systematize and supervise these Madrasahs, in 1934, State Madrasah Education Board,
Assam was established. Its first office was established at the Sylhet Government Madrasah
of the undivided India, and its first Secretary was Abu Naseb Mohammad, the Principal of
the same Madrasah.Later on, the Government shifted its office to Shillong. Again it was

12
Mazumder, A.H., "A Brief History of Education in Islam with note on Indian Perspective, Aan Nadwa,
North-East India Emarat-e-Sharia and Nadwa-tu-Tamir Silchar, 2003, p.l.

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shifted twice to Nagaon and reshifted to Shillong. Finally, when Meghalaya was declared
a separate state with Shillongits headquarters, in 1973; the Madrasah Board was shifted to
Guwahati and is there till date. Sahabuddin Ahmed, Maulana Arzan Ali Mazumder, Sayyed
Shamsul Hooda, Sayed Habibul Haque and many others held the post of the secretary that
were responsible both for administrative and academic development of the Madrasahs.
During the British period, this Madrasah Board was attached to English Education Board
and Secretary of Middle English Board took the extra charge of looking after the Madrasah
Board.In 1945, a post of Assistant Inspector was created to look after the Madrasah
education affairs .In 1965-66, the then Chief Minister late Bimala Prashad Chaliha and
Education Minister late Debokanta Barua gave deficit grant to 9 such Senior Madrasahs.
The teachers working in such Madarsas were getting salary from the Government.
Katariharia Senior Madrasah, Deorail Senior Madrasah, Asimia Senior Madrasah were
notable among them, in 1984, the post of Assistant Inspector was upgraded as Deputy
Director Madarsa Board
13
.
2.3.2 The Madrasahs award the following certificates:
a) Alim
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, a) Fazil equivalent to Bachelor's Degree and, c) Title, i.e., Mumtazul
Muhaddithin (equivalent to Master's Degree) Scholars passing out of the Senior Madrasahs
are awarded Graduate Degree and scholars passing out of the Title Madrasahs are awarded
the Master's Degree. Here starts the blooming period of Madrasah Education. Madrasahs
were set up in every corner of Assam and people donated lands for the purpose of
establishing Madrasahs and this was the main reason why maximum Madrasahs nowadays
are running on donated lands. Apart from donating lands for the Madrasahs, people also
helped financially in the establishment of Madrasahs. They started sending their children
in large numbers, which enhanced the enrolment of the Madrasah. Later on, Government
released deficit grant to 65 more Senior Madrasahs. In 1968, these Madrasahs under the

13
Bandyo payday, Madrasah Education and The Condition of Indian Muslims, Economic and Political
Weekly, 2000, Vol. 37, P.137.
14
Alim: Alim is a name of degree which is given by Madrasah and its equivalent to intermediate.

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Old Scheme were upgraded to cope up with the present time. General subjects like English,
Hindi, Mathematics, Social Studies and Science were introduced under the new "Re-
organized Madrasah Education Curriculum", due to which in 1977 after passing out Fazil
examination, Guwahati and Dibrugarh Universities recognized the Fazil examination
equivalent to Metric examination. This scheme helped the Madrasah products to a great
extent. Now days they get direct admission to senior secondary school and, thus, they can
join the general education system. After passing out of senior secondary school
examination, different disciplines of higher education are open to them. Consequently, in
these days, the Madrasah products are pursuing studies in different disciplines of higher
education. In 1993, the ex-Deputy Director, Sayyed Habibul Haque worked hard to bring
more and more Madrasahs under the scheme of deficit grant in aid. During his period, 25
Madrasahs came under the deficit scheme. In 1995, the then Chief Minister of Assam, Sri
Hiteshwar Saikia brought 74 Madrasahs under provincialisation scheme with effect from
15th August 1994, Now, the teachers are at level with government teachers regarding salary
and other service benefits at high school level. The Senior Madrasahs were provincialized
under Assam Madrasah Education (Provincialisation) (Act, 1995,62). It was the first Act
to govern Madrasah Education System.Before that no such Act was passed. Nowa days,
there are more than 200 such Senior Madrasahs, Title Madrasahs and Arabic colleges in
Assam. The Senior Madrasahs had a major problem at the primary level. This level of
education is important since it develops the competence in students to perform better in
further education. This level of education is suffering due to neglect from different
government as well as non-government agencies of education. Due to lack of proper
educational facilities, the educational performance of the students at this level is not up to
the mark. To overcome this problem, several Pre-Senior Madrasahs had been set up as
feeder institutions with effect from 1 January 1996. They are just like upper Primary
schools, working in independent and secular way, where besides Arabic and Urdu, secular
subjects are also taught .Nowadays, there are more than 400 such institutions. Again in
1995, a demand for separate Directorate of Madrasah Education was made. Though the

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then Chief Minister late Hiteshwar Saikia made an unofficial announcement for the
creation of Directorate of Madrasah Education, in an AAMTEAs
15
meeting at Rupahi
Senior Madrasah, but it could not be introduced due to one or the other reasons. In 1999,
under the scheme of Central Government, Madrasah Board opened the Multimedia
Computerized Calligraphy Training Centerat Hatigaon, Guwahati. Under the supervision
of "National Council for the Promotion of Urdu Language", with the help of 6 computer
systems, 62 students were trained in the center. Among them 25 came from Madrasahs
ultimately, it was in 2005, Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi announced the up-gradation of 70
years old Madrasah Board to separate Directorate of Madrasah Education while delivering
his speech on the occasion of Independence Day.Finally, on 3 October 2005 the decision
of a Separate Directorate of Madrasah Education was taken in the State Cabinet meeting
and it was passed under a Government notification
16
.
2.3.3 Non-Government Madrasahs
Non-Government Madrasahs, popularly known as Qaumi or Khariji Madrasah, follow the
curriculum of Dar-ul-Uloom Deobond with slight modification according to local needs.
The subjects taught are Tafsir, Hadith, Fiqh, Usui (principle of Islamic law) Montique
(logic), Hikmat (philosophy), Adab (Arabic, Persian and Urdu literature), Tarikh (History)
and English language and literature. This type of curricula continued till the middle of
1960 .However, there seemed to be a need to revise the traditional pattern of Madrasah
education. In 1968, the Madrasah Board initiated for revision of the old syllabi.
Non-Government Madrasahs are working in a systematic manner. They are
working under the guidance of either the Azad Deeni Shiksha Board, established in 1937
or the All Assam Tanzim Madaris Qawmiya, established in 1955. Both the organizations

15
AAMTEA :All Assam Madrasah Teachers and Employees Association, formed 2015, it works for the
welfare of teachers and employees and their development.
16
Al-Aman, A .Q, Development of Madrasah in Assam, Raizar Batari, Department of Information and Public
Relation, 2005, Volume-II, B Government of Assam, Dispur, Guwahati, p.11.

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have the same aim and objectives that is to establish and run non-government Madrasahs.
The Tanzeem Board was initially started with a few Madrasahs in South Nagaon and its
name was Dakhin Purb (South-East) Nagaon Zilla Tanzeem Madaris. Gradually, it covered
whole of the Assam and its name was changed to "All Assam Tanzim Madaris Qawmiya”in
1982 in its meeting of Working Committee. It governs in total, 432 Madrasahs, among
them 33 are Madrasah for the girls generally named as Banath Madrasah, 126 are Hafizia
Madrasah and 273 are Madrasah-e Arabia. Its main aim is to link and bring all the
Madrasahs under the same banner. Its duties are manifold starting from conducting
examinations to awarding certificates and rewards to the talented students. It conducts
seminars and counselling programs to make the students self-confident. Now a day, it is
aiming at introduction of computer literacy programs for the talented.
The Non-Government Madrasahs are governed and run on public donations. They
serve the purposes like, imparting Islamic Education to the students and providing food
and shelter to the poor students of a large number of Muslims.Instruction is provided by
able and qualified teachers who are paid a very low salary. However, there is a tradition of
sacrifice of teachers for the sake of religious education. The system is working because of
the efforts of the teachers, financers and administrators of the Non-Government
Madrasahs. Another feature of these Madrasahs is that almost all of them follow not only
the curricula of Darul-Uloom Deobond, but also the values of Nationalism, Secularism and
Patriotism. Keeping the main character of Madrasah Education intact, more and more
changes are being suggested and it is hoped that necessary changes will be made according
to the need of the time and this system of education will come at par with the general
education by following the pattern of education going on in Bangladesh where Public
Services in both Civil and Police departments, are available to the Madrasah Graduates,
such facility may be provided to them in Assam too
17
.

17
Dutta, Promatha Nath, Glimpses into the History of Assam, Dutta and Sons, 1986, Shillong, Meghalaya,
P.68

15

2.4 MADRASAHIN SOUTHEERN ASSAM :AIMS AND CHALLENGES
From the beginning of Islamic era, it was the aim of the Madrasah system to teach Islamic
subjects, for example the education of the Holy Qur’an, Hadith, Islamic Jurisprudence,
Arabic Literature, and Islamic History. Madrasah created thousands of the Muslim youth
who were having strong knowledge about the Islam. The one of the main aim of the
Madrasah was to produce such youth who can store the education of Qur’an and Hadith
thereby to preach this among the people. Certainly, it is accepted notion that these
Madrasah products played a very vital role in our society. They highlighted that there is no
way-out but Islam. They sturdily believe that Islam is the way of rescue in this world as
well as at the Day of Judgment. In addition, Madrasahs and the product of these institutions
are the real guardians, leaders, and real preachers of our Muslim society. This Islamic
educational set up wants to create a society based on justice, peace, tolerance, world
brotherhood, and equality. There is no difference between the one man and other, but if
one is having more spirituality or is nearer to God because of his pious activities.
There would be no overemphasis in mentioning this truth that if Islam and Muslim
civilization is alive across the globe, it’s because of these Madrasahs and its products. These
Madrasahs are the main tools which transmit and transfer the Prophets teaching to the
present generations and upcoming one. These institutions are the main channels of
Da’wah
18
. Another main aim is to lay the foundation stone of that society where nobody’s
rule is acceptable, except the almighty Allah. This whole society which will be directed by
the values of the Holy Qur’an and Hadith is called Muslim society. As the world belongs
to Allah, so the rule should be also by Him. Madrasahs have for centuries served as centers
of Islamic education. They have played a key role in the development of Islamic thought
and in the formation and progress of Muslim communities. It would not be wrong to say
that there is no aspect of Muslim life and society that has remained outside their purview.

18
Da’wah: Its is an Arabic word which means preaching of Islam.

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For centuries, Madrasahs were the Centre of thought and intellectualism in Muslim
communities, and influenced all sections of society. Madrasahs produced religious scholars
and guides as well as leaders in various secular or worldly fields, including traders,
administrators, and judges.
There is no doubt in saying that Madrasah students are getting a catena of
information regarding the Islam, but it’s also a truth that they found themselves in troubled
and uninteresting situations when they came out from these institutions towards
universities or colleges where they face numerous problems because of having very less
insight about the modern subjects and modern technologies. Though these new universities
and colleges change their outlook by providing them worldly knowledge but they are not
in a better position to grasp up the worldly subjects as other students are grasping. Not only
this but their real hindrances and challenges are coming when they want to participate in
national level tests, they are not at in position to crack these tests due to lack of modern
subjects such as the science, mathematics, and other computer knowledge which they
should already read, but its irony that did not get such avenues in Madrasahs where they
would have been taught. This is the major interferences of the Madrasahs system which are
prevalent in Southern Assam .In a very few Madrasahs, there are modern subjects’majority
of the Madrasahs lacks modern subjects and technology. This caused a frustration among
the products of Madrasahs.A successful Muslim could support Islam more than that who
are not successful. When the students who are coming out from these Madrasahs, they are
not getting good jobs, this badly affects career. It’s very important to mention here that
without having a modern outlook and insight, these Madrasah products become the so
called peregrinators
19
.
One more major problem which Madrasahs are facing nowadays is governmental
support and recognition. This is very important to point out here that if these Madrasah
institutions will be recognized, they will get a lot of funds whereby they can have a good

19
Peregrinators: One who travels about.

17

infrastructure. Madrasahs infrastructure is not good even they don’t have the sophisticated
and well build class rooms. They don’t have the good teachers to whom they can have for
teaching due to lack of funding. So, when the Madrasah system will have recognition with
the government of Assam, then, these institutions will not have any problem as far as the
maintenance and infrastructure problem is concerned. For this purpose, the Muslim learned
society should be ready to change their attitude and mentality for the advancement of their
community. They have to come out from their traditional attitude and think about benefits
which other communities are seeking from the globalization and through modernity.
Whenever there is debate or dialogue going to happen or anything will be written for the
purpose of reformation and upgrading of the Madrasah system, it creates joyful atmosphere
among the intellectual classes of the Muslim society but, in the meanwhile, it creates a
negative and hatred atmosphere among the orthodox Muslims.Why don’t people change
their attitude? Although, by modernizing their education system neither, it’s going to harm
neither them nor they will lose their authority but through the process of reform their
backward conditions can be enhanced and improved. Ignorance among the Muslim society
is one of the major hindrances which prevent Muslims to follow orthogonality and forget
about the modern and scientific subjects. The whole Muslim Ummah is in ugly situations.
Somehow and somewhere the community is responsible of their marginalization and loss.
Its looks very easy to slander the image of the others, but why don’t Muslim civil society
those are well educated, for instance, Ulamas of Madrasahs and other educated persons
among the Muslim community take any step to stabilize themselves.
This age is the postmodern world but Muslims are still living in dark ages. It was
the best quality of our Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) who allowed Muslims to receive
knowledge if they have to visit China. But it’s regretful that so called Muslims forgot the
teaching of Prophet. It’s illusion that if one will claim that I will do nothing and God will
be my sole protector positive change is always fruitful for any societies that want to remove
their pathetic conditions and are ready to see their bright future. To be agnostic or atheist
is not going to sort out our problems but a positive change is needed in Madrasahs, where

18

Muslim subaltern children’s who are economically backward are enrolled. A major section
of Muslims is there. So, only religious education is not going to sort out the problems of
Muslims, but the combination of both is the real loophole of their problems. The need of
us is freedom from orthogonality in which the majority of Assamese and Bengali Muslims
Ummah is living
20
.
2.5 CLASSIFICATION OF THE MUSLIMS OF ASSAM
The entire Muslim population of Assam can be classified into four major categories. These
are as follows:
2.5.1 The Assamese Muslims
Asamiya Musalman native or indigenous Muslims, Goriya are the first category of the
Muslims of Assam. Their mother tongue is Assamese. This category of Muslims is
scattered in all the districts of the Brahmaputra valley and they were the first settler of
Muslims in Assam.
2.5.2 The Neo-Assamese Muslims
Neo-Assamese Muslims is known as second category of the Muslims in Assam.In Assam,
they are also known as Bhatiya Musalman, Muslims of downstream Muslims migrated
from Rangpur, Sylhet and the Mymensing districts of East Bengal or present Bangladesh,
the Muslims of river basin the farming Muslims and Miya Musalman. These Muslims are
comparatively new entrants in the emerging Assamese society and numerically they are
the single largest group among the Muslims of Assam.The demographic strength of the
Neo-Asamiya Muslims would be roughly about 18 percent of the total population of
Assam. This category of Muslims migrated into Assam from the later part of the 19th
century to the first half of the 20th century.Besides this, a small portion of this kind who
entered into Assam after independence also led to the gradual growth of this Muslims

20
Choudhury.85

19

population.This Muslims have made determined efforts to assimilate into the larger
Assamese society by adopting the Assamese language as their mother tongue
21
.
2.5.3 The Muslims of the Barak valley
The third category of Muslims live in the present district of Cachar, Karimganj and
Hailakandi in the Barak valley which is geographically separated from mainland Assam or
the Brahmaputra valley. The erstwhile Cachar district of Barak valley is now
predominately a Bengali speaking region. The Muslims started settling down in Cachar,
particularly in Badarpur area much earlier than 1745, even before the shifting of capital to
the plain are. Besides, the Muslims settlement in the western part of Badarpur began from
the first half of 14th century. Upendra Guha says in his Kacharer It ribritta that during the
reign of Kachari King, most of the well-known persons were belonged to Muslim
community. In fact, since 18th century the Muslims migrated to Cachar or Barak valley
from the neighboring districts of East Bengal which was a long and continuous process but
their migration was more intensive during the British Colonial period. They gradually
assimilated and integrated with the indigenous people and the language of this area,
Muslims is Bengali like other community of this locality
22
.
2.5.4 The Bihari or North-Indian Muslims living in Assam
The last category of Bihari or North-Indian Muslims who migrated to Assam in search of
livelihood during the later periods of British colonialism and after independence, mainly
from the state of Bihar and Uttar Pradesh.They are mainly engaged in the occupations of
butchers, barbers, tailors, carpenters, washer-men, quilt-makers etc. Another profession
has recently arisen- that of rethreading, vulcanizing and mending of automobile tires and
tubes and some of this group opened various sort of shops like restaurants, grocery,
stationary etc. Their mother tongue is either Hindi or Urdu. This group of Muslims in

21
Barua, B.K., A cultural History of Assam, Bina Library, 1969, Vol.-I, 2nd edition, Guwahati, P.56.
22
Dutta, Promatha Nath, Glimpses into the History of Assam, Dutta and Sons, 1986, Shillong,
Meghalaya.P.17.

20

Assam has, so far, been assimilated neither with the original Assamese Muslims nor with
the larger Assamese society.Thus, the Muslims of Assam are four distinct historically
evolved group of community who attributed to form a broader Assamese society
23
.
2.6 SOUTH ASSAMAT A GLANCE
There are two parts in Assan one is Southern Assam and other one is Northern Assam
North, and Barak Velley is located in Sothern Assam. The Barak Valley region in the
southern part of the Indian province of Assam houses a large number of Muslims. These
Muslims are converts from local Bengali speaking people divided into various groups and
sub-groups. Being a heterogeneous group of people they are divided into two broad
divisions of Ashraf and Atraf, like to upper and lower caste Hindus. The term Barak valley,
ascribed to the southern part of Assam, is of very recent origin. It is not more than 26 years
old. This area was a part of the erstwhile Surma Valley which included the districts of
Sylhet and Cachar across which the river Surma, a branch of river Barak flows.
Cachar was a native kingdom of the Cachari Kings, annexed to the British empire
of India in 1832 and put under the administrative jurisdiction of Bengal.In 1874, when a
separate administrative province was created with the then administrative area of Assam,
three more districts, namely Sylhet, Goalpara and Cachar were annexed with it for revenue
purpose. The two Surma Valley districts that is Sylhet and Cachar had not only common
geographical features, but linguistic and cultural features also. The hilly area of Cachar
district known as North Cachar, was made a separate district, later on, in 1953 .The term
Surma Valley, however, lost its relevance after new arrangement was made after partition,
by changing the geography of Cachar by 'including 42 police stations of the Sylhet district
as a result of the referendum in Sylhet and a map drawn by Mr. Redcliff, popularly known
as Redcliff Award. Cachar district was again divided into three districts by giving the status
of districts to Karimganj in 1986 and Hailakandi in 1989 .The term Barak Valley was

23
Journal of Humanities and Social Science (IOSR-JHSS) Volume 19, Issue 1, Ver. XI (Feb. 2014), PP 96-
100 e-ISSN: 2279-0837, p-ISSN: 2279-0845.

21

started firstly after a few years of partition but it was not popularly used nor given official
status by the Government. After the creation of Karimganj and Hailakandi districts, it
became prominent and gradually received the official status.
The current Barak Valley of the State of Assam is a location created by natural
boundaries and has a unique geographical entity containing linguistic cultural attributes
distinctly different from that of Brahmaputra Valley and its adjacent hilly areas. In details
it was created by natural boundaries and apportionment caused by the Radcliff Award that
divided the district of Sylhet of Surma Valley of the British period in 1947 following a
referendum in Sylhet along with the partition of India. The Valley is bounded by the high
mountains of North Cachar Hills district on the north, the Angami Naga Hills and Manipur
state on the east and the hills of Mizoram and Tripura on the south
24
.
The river system of the valley has played a remarkable role in this region. The main
river Barak originates from the Angami Naga Hills, a high range mountain making the
northern boundary of Manipur state. Descending from the high mountains to the plain of
Jiribam it takes zigzag course across the Cachar district and a small portion of Hailakandi
district to reach Badarpur in Karimganj district flowing again west and near Bhanga it
divides itself into two and the mainstream assumes the name 'Kushiara' which enters
Bangladesh in downstream touching Karimganj town and flowing for some distance as the
boundary between Karimganj district of India and Sylhet district of Bangladesh. The other
branch of Barak that originates near Bhanga flows northwards and meets the original
course of Surma in Jaintia Pargana by assuming the name of Surma. The Surma taking the
main streams of Barak in its downward flow takes the name Dhaleshwari and flows to the
old course of the Brahmaputra near Bhairab Bazar. During its long course of 800 KM, the
River Barak with its different names and branches in downstream receives various
tributaries from N.C. Hills, Mizoram and Tripura. But on the other hand the Surma receives
a plenty number of small rivers from the Khasi, Jaintia and Barail Hills and ultimately
meets the mainstream of Barak before merging with Meghna.The most noteworthy feature

24
Barua, B.K., A cultural History of Assam, Bina Library, 1969, Vol.-I, 2nd edition, Guwahati-P.88.

22

of the Barak Valley is that it is a small geographical unit of different social strata, economic
classes and ethnic, cultural, religious and linguistic entailers and identities.The most
fascinating feature of this particular valley populated by about 3 million human beings who
posses ’different religious identities. Muslims are about 45 %of the total population, but
they come of Bengali, Manipuri and Hindi speaking linguistic groups overwhelming
majority of the Muslims are linguistically Bengalis.
2.7 MUSLIMS IN SOTHERN ASSAM
In the pre-partition period, in Barak Valley the Muslim population was marginally more
than the Hindus. For different reasons, it decreased after partition, but still, the Muslims
constitute the single majority among the three million people of whom about 99 %are of
Bengali origin, having close affinity with their Hindu counterpart. Both the communities
migrated from East Bengal, especially Sylhet during the rule of Cachari kings .A large
number of the Hindus, however, migrated after partition as a result of the communal riots
in ear St while East Pakistan
25
.

25
Bazlur Rahman, Muslims in Assam, The Milli Gazette, Print Issue, Aug 18, 2012, P.19.

23

CHAPTER-3
EDUCATION SYSTEM OF MADRASAH
IN SOUTHERN ASSAM

3.1 INTRODUCTION
In this chapter, the study deals with the major syllabi of Madrasahs in Southern Assam, by
discussing on the historical context about the syllabi of Sothern Assam Madrasahs. And it
discusses about the role of Madrasah education in empowerment of Southern Assam’s
Muslims. It illuminates a light on the efforts of the government and scholars to modernize
Madrasah education system in Southern Assam, by explaining the schemes and
contributions of government and other positive efforts from the scholars .And this chapter
deals with various aspects of government and non-government agencies in Southern
Assam to evaluate their contributions towards the development of Madrasah in Southern
Assam.
3.2 MADRASAH SYLLABUS STRUCTURE
As it was already stated that Southern Assam is popularly known as Barak Valley named
after the river Barak which tides across the region from east to the west. The valley entails
of three districts, viz., Cachar, Karimganj and Hailakandi. Of them, the latter two districts
have a Muslim majority while the first one has 40 %Muslim population. The valley has a
long history of Islam and Muslim life .A large part of the valley came under the rule of the
Turkish rulers of Bengal from the early 14th century. Karimganj continued to be ruled by
the Afghans. The Mughals overpowered the Afghans and annexed the territory to their
empire. The dominance of Muslim elite finally over with the arrival of the British rule in
Bengal. The inhabited portion of Cachar and Hailakandi was ruled by Tippera, Koches,
and later by the Dimasas. In 1947 when plebiscite was held in Sylhet, Karimganj remained

24

with India.The official language of the valley is Bengali while the majority of people speak
Sylheti, a dialect of the Bengali.
The Madrasah education system in in Southern Assam is very old. The first familiar
Madrasah of the region was established in the early 14th century by Shah Zia Uddin, a
close disciple of Hazrat Shah Jalal, the famous Sufi of Bengal and Assam. It was built at
Badarpur in the present Karimganj district. The main purpose of the Madrasah was to train
Muslims particularly newly-converted ones in Islamic principles. But unfortunately with
the passage of time, the Madrasah building and the adjacent Masjid disappeared due to the
erosion of the river Barak. Similarly, during the rule of the Mughals these kinds of
Madrasahs were found there .The modern Madrasah system developed in Barak Valley
proximately after the establishment of the Darul Uloom Deoband. In 1873, imitating
Deoband, a similar Madrasah was established in Karimganj. It was and is still known as
Darul Uloom Baghbari. It is considered as the eldest Madrasah of undivided Surma-Barak
valley which included the present Sylhet division of Bangladesh. Twenty-five years after
the establishment of Darul Uloom Baghbari, Darul Uloom Bashkandi came into existence
in 1897. Now it is the largest Qaumi Madrasah of the North East India. It also lodgings
around five hundred orphan students from west Assam. The modern Madrasah system
developed in Barak Valley instantly after the establishment of the Darul Uloom Deoband.
In 1873, imitating Deoband, a similar Madrasah was established in Karimganj. It was and
is still known as Darul Uloom Baghbar. It is considered as the oldest Madrasah of
undivided Surma-Barak valley which included the present Sylhet division of Bangladesh.
Twenty-five years after the formation of Darul Uloom Baghbari, Darul Uloom Bashkandi
came into existence in 1897. Now it is the largest Qaumi Madrasah of the North East
India.It also shelters approximately five hundred orphan students from west Assam. From
the opening of early 20th century, government-affiliated middle M.E Madrasahs and high
Madrasahs were established across Assam. Batarash Madrasah built in 1924located in the
suburb of Karimganj town is the oldest such Madrasah in south Assam. Karimganj High

25

Madrasah, established two years later is another very old institution of this kind. It has
produced innumerable graduates, settled in different fields of this M.Es. And High
Madrasahs have been imparting general education mainly while religious education is
given only to an extent. Thus, we see that from the early colonial times, various types of
Madrasahs developed in Assam. The post-independent Assam witnessed the activities of
the state govt. And community-based organizations. Different types of initiatives have so
far been taken to modernize Madrasah education in a better way. As a part of the new
policy, Assam State Madrasah Education Board was formed. Recently, for the smooth
functioning of this body, a separate Directorate was created. Maulana Abdul Jalil
Choudhury, a state legislature member from Indian National Congress, and a freedom
fighter, took active part in the provincialisation of the large numbers of “Qaumi Madrah
26
”
These Madrasahs are now categorized as 'Title', 'Senior' and 'Pre-Senior' Madrasahs. He
even disassociated himself from the long-time bond of Jamiat Ulama-e Hind because of
the latter's opposition to provincialisation of these Madrasahs. He formed a socio-religious
outfit Nadwat-ut-Taamir based in North-East India. Deorail Title Madrasah, Hailakandi
Title Madrasah, Asimganj Title Madrasah are leading provincialized. Madrasahs of the
valley. However, three large Madrasahs, viz., Darul Uloom Bashkandi and Baghbari, and
Bhanga Sharif continue to function independently. Besides, Maktabs and Hafizia
Madrasahs have been established in South Assam since a long time
27
.
Nowadays, Madrasahs of south Assam can be divided largely into two classes:
Govt-affiliated Madrasahs and non-Government or Qaumi Madrasahs as it was stated
above. Government-run Madrasahs are mainly of two types, firstly the Middle English
Madrasahs and the High Madrasah; the former imparts education of the Middle School

26
Qaumi: It’s kind of Madrasah in Assam.
27
Dr. Muhammad Basheer k, Future of Indian Madrasah in the globalized world January, D.K. Trust, Delhi,
2013, PP.98.

26

level while the latter offers education of the High School level. These schools-cum-
Madrasahs have been functioning since the end of the first quarter of the 20th century. They
mainly impart general education while religious subjects are taught in these institutions
only in name. The second type of govt Madrasahs are of the three-tier set up: Title
Madrasahs, Senior Madrasahs and Pre-Senior Madrasahs. As already mentioned, these
institutions advanced in the post-independence period. Religious education is the core of
the curriculum in these Madrasahs while general education is given only partial
importance . The career growth of the M. Es. And High Madrasahs is good, almost the
same as of the High Schools. They have no problem in higher education and neither there
is any special need to change their syllabus or course curriculum. Their problem is common
to that of state-run schools
28
.
Here it is imperative for us to discuss the provincialized Madrasahs such as Title,
Senior and Pr-Senior. The total time required to achieve the highest degree in these
Madrasahs is very long and the course curriculum is also outdated and not systematic. Pre-
Senior is the primary one which can be compared to middle school. In this level Urdu,
Arabic, Hindi, Assamese and Bengali are taught as subjects along with a little bit of Islamic
subjects. After this level, students are promoted to the Senior Madrasah level which has a
minimum of seven years ’study period Fazil Marif M.M
29
is the final examination of the
senior Madrasahs, F.M .is usually compared with the graduation level exam of general
education, Guwahati and Dibrugarh universities accept F.M .as a graduate level course and
on the basis of it, one can secure admission in the M.A Arabic programs of both these
universities.However, Assam University which falls in south Assam does not consider
F.M .as a graduate level course. Jamia Hamdard in Delhi allows F.M. as eligible for its
B.U.M .Scours.Normally, in Assam, F.M degree is treated as a matriculation level exam.
So F.M-passed students who want to join degree level courses, first have to pass Higher

28
Chaudhary 103.
29
F.M .Fazil Maruf

27

Secondary examination from any government school/board .In this way, if any student
wants to join any higher education course in general education system, he has to spend two
more years after spending an additional four years in senior Madrsah .اIn senior level
Madrasah the major subjects taught are Arabic literature, which entails of prose, poetry,
rhetoric, grammar; Quranic translation and interpretation; commentary of Hadith in
addition to Islamic jurisprudence and logic. Arabic literature, which is taught in senior
Madrasahs, has a classical pattern that includes mostly pre-Islamic Arab culture and
literary works. So even after spending ten years in Pre- and senior levels, students of these
Madrasahs are unable to write or speak modern Arabic language
30
.
Title Madrasahs have a minimum of two years course for M.M . The subjects of the
M.M. course are Hadith, Tafsir and Tarikh which is taught in the M.M. course consists
entirely of Islamic history. M.M is considered equivalent to M .A in the appointments in
Senior Secondary School’s Arabic posts and Senior Madrasahs teaching posts. However,
the absence of specialization in M.M like M.M in Tafsir or M.M in Hadith, students gaining
M.M degrees are less specialized. Most of the provincialized Madrasahs do not have
boarding facilities for students. Non-government or Qaumi Madrasahs which are
numerically much higher than the govt. Madrasahs are found everywhere in the valley,
even in remote areas where government educational set up is almost non-existent. These
Madrasahs are three types: Alimiya and Fazilat Madrasahs, exclusive Hafizia Madrasahs
and Mahalla-centric Maktabas. There are more than twenty Senior, Three Title and many
Pre-Senior Madrasahs functioning in the valley. With this background one needs to
examine the future prospect of the whole issue and may be lay down a possible action plan
too.In Aliya and Fazil Madrasahs, a series of Islamic subjects such as Quranic Commentary
(Tafsir), Hadith
31
, Islamic Jurisprudence, basics of Islamic History along with Urdu and
Arabic are taught.These institutions do not have specialization unlike a Madrasah such as

30
Ali Ahmed Kasim, The Muslim of Assam, 2010, EBHP Publisher Guwahati, P. 56.
31
Hadith (Prophet’s sayings)

28

Darul Uloom Deoband. Darul Uloom Bashkandi or Darul Uloom Bhanga Sharif has been
following the same age-old system of education. If one wants to get specialized in a field
such as Islamic Jurisprudence, on completion of which students are awarded with Mufti
degree, or for a specialized degree on Tafsir or Quranic interpretation, one has to go all the
way to Darul Uloom Deoband. My interaction with students revealed that students of those
Madrasahs desperately want specialization in the above subjects in their own institutions.
Many of them finish their education unspecialized because they think that they won’t be
able to bear the expenses of studying in a distant place like U.P. The official medium of
teaching in these Madrasahs is Urdu which is not the mother tongue of any local student.
It is ironical that they study Arabic language and literature through Urdu books whereas
their teachers teach them in Sylheti Bangla
32
, and again their medium of examination is
Urdu. This creates a complete mess in the over-all quality and vitality of teaching and the
atmosphere of education. However, we know that Qur’an was revealed in Arabic, Hadiths
were narrated in Arabic and the base of Islamic jurisprudence or Sharia was also written in
Arabic. The timing needed to obtain the final degrees of this Madrasahs, A’limat and
Fazilat, is very long. Students attain the age of around 25 years when they finally achieve
these degrees. After that, if one wants to pursue general education, he has to take fresh
admission in the lower classes in the general education. That makes higher education for a
Qaumi Madrasah student a far-fetched dream. Many students who pass from these
Madrasahs are immediately appointed in the same or similar Madrasahs without any sort
of proper training in teaching. This ultimately results in a negative impact on the quality of
education. These Madrasahs are run by community members through charity and
donations. Students are also engaged in fund mobilization. Every year students spend more
than fifteen days in fund collection. Hafizia
33
is imparted both in the Aliya and exclusive
Hafizia Madrasahs. The exclusive Hafizia Madrasahs are those where only Quran
memorization course is conducted. Some of those Hafizia Madrasahs have now unlocked

32
Sylheti Bangla :Local dialect of Bengali language in Southern Assam.
33
Hafizia: Madrasah of memorizing of the holy Quran.

29

their doors to girl students also but classes are held completely separately in a different
building. But in Qaumi and Senior Madrasahs, there is no room for girl students.
3.3 MAKTAB PROVIDES THE PRIMARY ISLAMIC KNOWLEDGE TO
MUSLIM CHILDREN
Due to the efforts of Nadwat-utTaamir, Jamiat-e Ulema and of late Ahle Sunnatwal
Jamaat
34
, maktabas became an integral part of rural Muslims villages. These organizations
try to shape the mindset of the children in their own narrow sectarian outlook. This is one
of the major drawbacks of these Madrasahs.Urdu as a language is taught in maktabs but
teaching and examinations are conducted in Bengali. Maktabs are usually attached with
local masjids but many of them function separately. Children up to 12 years of age attend
makatabs. The timing of the maktab is from 6 to 9 am. Some people feel that maktabs
actually kill very precious time of students for if one spends his whole morning in the
maktabs where is the time for full preparation of his general education? However, there is
no gender constraint in these maktabs.
Most of these three kinds of Qaumi Madrasahs do not have recreation conveniences .These
Madrasahs do not even feel the necessity of physical exercise in the form of sports. Some
of them even impose restrictions on some sports events. As a result, the physical and mental
growth of students do not take place. The infrastructure or teaching equipment of most of
the Qaumi Madrasahs is not sound. Salaries of the teachers of these Madrasahs are very
poor and negligible. As a result, good-quality teaching cannot be expected in these
Madrasahs because teachers have to look for other options for a stable financial position,
which obviously disturbs their concentration on teaching. Again, subjects like
Mathematics, History or English are not part of the Qaumi Madrasah education syste. Lack
of knowledge of these areas makes students of these Madrasahs ignorant about the day to
day happenings in the world, and they remain incompetent in the present world as far as
professional excellence is concerned .Most of the students of these Madrasahs, especially

34
Ahle Sunnatwal Jamaat: It is a group of Muslims Community in Assam, India.

30

in Qaumi ones, are from financially weak Muslim families, which is a common
phenomenon across South Asia because most of the Madrasahs provide free lodging and
food to their students. So poor parents feel it is convenient to send their children to Qaumi
Madrasahs which at least can mitigate some burden from their shoulders. But it is not
money alone that pushes poor parents to admit their children into Madrasahs. Religiosity
of people also pushes them towards Madrasahs. That is why a considerable number of
students in reputed Madrasahs are found to be hailing from wealthy families
35
.
South Assam has a large number of financially stable Muslim population but most
of them are very loyal to the advices of Ulama and imams. So they donate more and more
to the Madrasahs for the benefit in the Hereafte. Generally, rich Muslims think donation to
schools and colleges is simply a social work and it has nothing to do with Islam. So they
are neither very passionate to popularize general education nor very kind towards donation
to schools and colleges. That is why the number of institutions runs by the Muslim
community. If we systemize the existing large resources available in the shape of
Madrasahs we will not only serve the cause of the Muslim families but also the whole
humanity. A Madrasahs is found in every four to five kilometers or less than that in
southern Assam. If Government agencies and NGOs
36
convince Madrasah management
bodies for the utilization of their infrastructures like buildings for vocational training of
Madrasah students and peripheral community members, benefits will accumulate to the
whole region .After long discussions with community members, intellectuals and students,
following are some more steps required for the improvement of Madrasah education and
its effectiveness, especially in South Assam or Barak Valley. A state-level council for
educational research and training on the pattern of N.C.E.R.T is necessary. Eminent
Muslim and non-Muslim academicians, senior and experienced prominent Madrasah
teachers can be taken as members of the Council. The Council should write and translate

35
Al-Aman, A.Q .Development of Madrasah in Assam ,Chaudhoory, Department of Information and Public
Relation, Government of Assam, 2005. Volume-II, B Dispur, Guwahati, p.12
36
NGOs: Non-government Organizations.

31

books mentioned in the syllabus and publish them. It should also decide the length of the
syllabus at least for the government Madrasahs and give advice to the state for necessary
steps for the enhancement of Madrasah education.
3.4 SYLLABUS STRUCTURE
At present-day, it is hard to determine any uniformity in the Madrasah syllabus and
curriculum of Southern Assam. There are considerable differences in the subjects taught
and books arranged. Subjects being taught can be divided into various categories:
a) Languages and literature, a) Contemporary learning, c) Commentary and discourse, d)
Law and jurisprudence.
Among the languages taught are Urdu, Persian, Arabic and also Hindi and English. The
subjects of modern learning include:
a) Mathematics, b) General Sciences, c) Hygiene, d) Geography, e) History, f)
Economics, g) Political Science and, h) Philosophy
In the third category i.e., commentary and discourse
a) Sarf-o-Naho, b) Mantiq, c) Falsafa, d) Balaghat, e) Hayyat, f) Tafseer-e-Quran,
andg) The art of manazirah are taught.
The fourth category i.e., Islamic law and Jurisprudence, consists of:
a) Fiqh, b) Usool-e Fiqh, c) Hadith, e) Usool-e Hadith, f) Aqeeda, etc
As it was mentioned that Madrasahs are divided into three categories in Southern
Assam namely; Maktab, Madrasahs and Jamia. Maktabs are primary level institutions that
provide basic education in Quran, hadith and some secular subjects. Madrasahs provide
education up till senior secondary level. The products of Madrasahs of this level come to
gain degrees of a’lim. Jamias are institutions of higher learning that issue degrees of post-
graduation level. However, every Madrasah follows its own pattern. Neither is there any

32

uniformity with regards to subjects taught, books recommended or even emphasis; Further,
there is no uniformity with regard to number of years required to be put in at various level
to earn a degree.
3.5. A VIEW ON EXISTING MADRASAH EDUCATION SYSTEM IN SOUTHERN
ASSAM
At this time, there are four types of Islamic educational institutions prevailing all over
Southern Assam Maktabs, Madrasahs, Jamia and Darul Qur’an. However, in common all
are called as Madrasah.
3.5.1 Maktab :When a child grows he goes to Maktab
37
where he is taught basic Islamic
principles with fundamentals of Math, Geography, Science, Social Science, Qur’an, Urdu,
Hindi, English and regional language. It is, generally, of 5-year course. The child could
pass simply the course up to twelve of his age. After that, some students go either to high
school or to Madrasah. In states like UP, Bihar, Bengal the system is the same. However,
in some other states there is morning and evening maktabs where the school going boys
and girls go and learn Qur’an, Urdu and basic theory books. In Kerala, Assam, and coastal
area of Karnataka, there is a good system where maktabs work outside of normal school
hours. They operate between seven am and nine am within the morning and between half
dozen and eight pm within the evening. The Muslims of locality run mostly the maktabs.
They bear the expenses of management and remuneration that is paid to lecturers. Usually,
the lecturers at maktabs are poorly paid since most of them are native and not extremely
educated. Maktabs offer education both boys and girls simultaneously
38
.
3.5.2 Madrasah: It recommends that a building and boarding rooms wherever Muslim
students having passed Maktab course ar schooled Aa’limiat course. This course is mostly

37
Maktab: Name of Elementary School in Muslims community.
38
Al-Aman, A.Q .Development of Madrasah in Assam ,Chaudhoory, Department of Information and Public
Relation, Government of Assam, 2005. Volume-II, B Dispur, Guwahati, p.131.

33

of eight years whereas some Madrasahs have shortened one year. Every Madrasah doesn't
have the 8-year course, however ordinarily, Madrasahs have 3 or 4 or 5 or 6 or 7-year
course then they sent the students to complete graduation to big Madrasahs like Darul
Uloom Bashkandi, Aljamia Al Arabiyatul Senior Madrasah, Asimgang senior Madrasah,
and others. Because the ultimate year of this course that is referred to as, Daura-e-Hadithis
schooled in only a few Madrasahs of Assam South. In the first year of Madrasah, the
student is taught Urdu language for having better knowledge of Urdu. Urdu is commonly
the medium of Madrasah education especially in north Indian states whether the Madrasah
is in Gujrat, Bengal, Assam or Rajasthan.
3.5.3 Jamia :The term Jamia
39
is essentially an equivalent word word for university.
Though there are several Madrasahs, which are named as Jamia, but in fact, only some
Madrasahs of the country deserve to be called as Jamia. A Madrasah that enjoys Daura-e-
Hadith course along with specialization courses like Arabic literature course, Tafseer
course, Islamic Studies course and Tajweed are in Jamia. Many people do not care and
name their maktabs and Madrasahs with Jamia that sometimes creates problem.
3.5.4 Darul Qur’an: There are some other Madrasahs made especially for Hifzand
Tajweed.These Madrasahs ar referred to as Darul Qur’an
40
or Daruttahfiz etc.There is no
mounted length for Hifz. It depends on the student. Nevertheless, the Tajweed course
earning the art of reciting the Glorious Qur’an in ten different waysis of 3 years. There are
some short-term courses in Tajweed in which the student learns the rules and regulations
of pronouncing and articulating the Glorious Qur’an. Madrasahs in Assam South, mostly,
run by donations from Muslim community and even some receive foreign donations.
Madrasahs operate from Shawwal to Ramadan.
41
There are open for 10 months.
They ob-serve very less holidays; only on Friday in a week, on 26th January, 15 August

39
Jamia: It is an Arabic term which means University.
40
Darul Qur’an: Madrasahs made especially for Hifzand Tajweed.
41
Ramadan :Name of the months in Arabic .

34

and 10 leave on Eid-ul -Adha
42
.They observe massive vacation from late of Shaban to the
1/2 Shawwal; nearly 40-45 days. It is not so that during the vacation day Madrasahs are
closed at all, many Madrasahs have a good number of students who do not go home and
students who precede time to hunt enrollment within the several Madrasahs.
Therefore, it will not be out of place to say that Madrasahs serve as orphan ages
also where poor and orphans get education be-sides everything they need. Between these
lengths the lecturers, some students, in several Madrasahs, and donation collectors come
into being to gather donations for next year. Furthermore, there is no uniformity in the
number of years it takes to prepare students for various degrees. The number of Madrasahs
in India Madrasahs, but as there have been no studies, which have surveyed all the
Madrasahs in the country and collected the information, the exact number of Madrasahs is
shrouded in mystery. Another reason for controversy regarding the number of Madrasahs
is that there is no standard definition of what constitutes a Madrasah in India. They defy
any specific pattern in terms of the education, infrastructure, number of intakes and
funding, but in common, all are called Madrasah. According to Home Ministry sources,
there are 721 Madrasahs catering to over 120,000 children in Assam
43
.

42
Eid-ul -Adha: It’s a name of Festival of Muslims Community.
43
Al-Aman, A.Q. Development of Madrasah in Assam ,Choudhury, Department of Information and Public
Relation, Government of Assam, 2005. Volume-II, B Dispur, Guwahati, p.155.

35

CHAPTER-4
CONTRIBUTIONS OF GOVERNMENT AND NON -GOVERNMENT
AGENCIES
4.1 INRODUCTION
In this chapter, the study deals with historical context of Madrasah with the contribution of
Government and private enterprises towards the development of Madrasah in Sothern
Assam .And this chapter deals with the various aspects of their contributions means their
funding and attempting to improve quality of Madrasah students in Southern Assam as
well as this chapter deals with the structure Madrasah administration means Madrasah
Board structure and educational body to run Madrasah weather it is government Madrasah
education Board or non-government Madrasah education Board.
4.2 HISTORICAL CONTEXT OF MADRASAH DEVELOPMENT IN
SOUTHERNASAAM
Development of Madrasahs education has always been attached to the persons or group of
persons with eagerness and enthusiasm towards the Islamic education. Hence, the credit
always goes to private enterprises. In early Islamic period, too, the Islamic education was
imparted by the individuals and the group of individuals. There was no Government agency
to undertake the responsibilities to impart education to Muslims. However, during the later
period of Islam, apart form the private enterprises, government agencies were developed
and they took the responsibility of imparting education to the people .In India, the system
of Islamic education started along with the advent of Muslim rulers. The individual sultans
took initiatives to establish the institutions of Islamic education. They provided huge
amount of funds from the royal treasury to run these institutions. Efficient and poor
students were given scholarships as well as facilities of free food and lodging.

36

During the period of Mughal emperors, we find that both Private and Government
enterprises contributed towards the development of Madrasah education. However, the
individuals had to face a lot of hardships towards the development Islamic education.
Though the rulers always supported to such individuals. With the advent of British rule in
India, the Madrasah system of education got a set back. In this critical juncture, the Ulama
had to face all the hardships for the survival of Madrasahs. There was no support from the
Government agencies.
As far as the contribution of Government and Private Enterprises in the
development of Madrasah Education in Southern Assam is concerned, it can be traced back
during the period of Ikhtiyar Uddin Bakhtiyar Khilji in13 century A.D. But Madrasah
Education was very much lacking in its nourishment. It was simply because of the fact that
Assam remained cornered during the reign of the Muslims as well as during the days of the
British Government. It was full of jungles and was considered as a land of deadly diseases
like Malaria and Black Fever and habitation for the wild animals. Muslims started to settle
in Assam in large number in the post-independence period. Before independence, the
settlement process was slow. They basically migrated from Eastern Bengal, having Bengali
origin. With the passage of time, they sacrificed their mother tongue and accepted
Assamese as language of communication .Though a large number of people got their
identity as Assamese but a good number of people till today remain with their original
identity that is Bengali identity. The three districts of Barak Valley Cachar, Hailakandi and
Karimganj have single majority of Bengali people. Reports show that the areas dominated
by Bengali Muslims have larger number of Madrasahs in average .These Madrasahs had
started to grow up from 19 centuries onwards and are continuing till today. Here, the
contribution of private individuals and organizations is unmeasurable. Along with the
whole of Indian subcontinent, specially, the Northern part, Assam took part in the uprising
of 1857 against the British Administration.The result was that the British Administration
targeted the Madrasahs and the people who were attached with them. In that critical
juncture, the Ulama and the Muslims remained steadfast in their mission. They started to

37

establish the Madrasahs, challenging the Government for which they had to face a lot of
hardships. In spite of all the hardships, the development of Madrasahs was continuing,
though with a slow pace. The pace increased when the situation became stable and the
Government stopped resisting the establishment and running the Madrasahs directly. The
situation was changing completely as the people were coming in groups to help those
individuals who were taking initiatives for the establishment and run of the Madrasahs.
They assisted in all respects, ethically, emotionally and economically
44
.
The people donated their lands for the establishment of Madrasahs .Besides all
these, the people were also sending their children to those Madrasahs to get Islamic
Education and this enhanced the enrolment in Madrasahs. The private enterprises along
with the enthusiastic individuals were working hard to raise the consciousness among the
Muslims through organizing discussions, seminars and counseling programmes. They were
united in the mission for the progress of the Madrasah education. Gradually, the Madrasah
education system started to make its base strong and step-by-step it took hold of a good
number of Muslim students of the society. As days passed on, the Madrasah education
system became more systematic and came in the mainstream of educational system. With
the declining of British atrocities, the Muslims made their best efforts to make Madrasah
education system flourish. During thirties of the twentieth century, the Madrasah system
of education came to be systematic in Assam.With the establishment of Assam State
Madrasah Board in 1934 at the Sylhet Government Madrasah, the interference of the
Government started with the establishment of the Board, the Government made an attempt
to bring all the Madrasahs of the North-Esteem part of the undivided India under a single
umbrella. Later on, another non-Government organization namely Azad Deeni Shiksha
Board was established in 1937 which is serving even today as a Non-Government
organization, with a very small number of Madrasahs under it in the districts of Barak
Valley, especially in Hailakandi district. In 1955, the bigger Non-Government

44
Dutta, Promatha Nath, Glimpses into the History of Assam, Dutta and Sons, Shillong, 1986, Meghalaya,
p,39.

38

organization, the All Assam Tanzim Madaris Qawmiya was founded to look after all the
Non-Government Madrasahs in Assam
45
. Looking at the contribution of both the
Government and private enterprises controlling the Madrasah education system, it can be
said that from the very beginning, they started to capitalize side by side, but their bigger
contribution started to enhance during the last decade of the 20 century, though the
development had already started with the independence of India in 1947.
4.3 Contribution of the Private Enterprises
The private agencies are also not lagging behind to contribute for the development of the
Madrasah system of education in Assam, especially in the Barak Valley Region. They are
working in full swing for the advancement of the Non-Government Madrasahs.The
Nongovernment agencies have a good number of Madrasahs under them. The All Assam
Tanzim Madaris Qawmiya alone have more then400 Madrasahs under it. The Azad Deeni
Siksha Board is having about 50 such Madrasahs working only in Barak Valley Region
and especially in the district of Hailakandi; both agencies are running on public help and
support. The income comes from the public donations.
The All Assam Tanzim Madaris Qawmiya, right from its establishment in 1955,
took great interest for the development of Madrasah education in Assam including the
Barak Valley Region. It was conducting examinations and awarding the degrees right from
the beginning. A good number of qualitative scholars are still coming out of these
Madrasahs. People opine that more efficient Islamic scholars are coming out of these
Madrasahs than the Madrasahs run by Government agencies. But in comparison to
Government Madrasahs, the development of Non-Government Madrasahs is a bit slow,
specially, due to financial problems. These Non-Government Madrasahs are, sometimes
called orphanages as they are working for the education of Muslims by spending money
on the students from their own sources. The residential Madrasahs are providing food and

45
Barua, B.K., Madrasah History of Assam, Bina Library, 1986, Guwahati, p.45.

39

lodging free of cost to the students. The Board does not help them financially. But it was
and is still working very sincerely for the academic development of the Non-Govermment
Madrasahs. New Madrasahs are coming into existence and the Board was taking the
responsibility on its own shoulder. Nowadays, effort is being made to bring the Madrasahs
in the mainstream of formal system of education.
The All Assam Tanzim Madaris Qawmiya has a distinct administrative set up given below:
ADMINISTRATIVE SET UP OF ALL ASSAM TANZIM MADARIS QAWMIYA
(MAJLIS-E-MUNTAZIMA / MAJLIS-E-AMILA)
1. PRESIDENT2. GENERALSECRETARY 3. ASSISTANT GENERAL SECRETARY
17SEVENTEEN MEMBERS FROM THE MAJIS -E- THE MAJIS-E-MUNTAZIMA
a) HEADMASTERS b) ACCOUNTANT c) CLERK
SECRETARIES OF THE MADRASAHS
The administrative set up indicates that the All Assam Tanzim Madaris Qawmiya, is run
through the following two committees: MAJLIS-E-MUNTAZIMA
46
and MAJLIS-E-
AMILA
47
. The president of the Majlis-e-Muntazima presides over the meetings held, at
least, twice in a year.The Managing Committee has one general secretary, two assistant
general secretaries, one accountant and one clerk. Apart from this, all the headmasters and
the secretaries of all the Madrasahs run under the All Assam Tanzim Madaris Qawmiya
are members of this Committee. The Executive Committee is consisting of 17 members
selected from the Managing Committee. One third of the total members of the Committee

46
Majlis-e-Muntazima: Managing Committee.
47
Majlis-e-Amila: Executive Committee.

40

must be Aalim.The president and general secretary of the Managing Committee is also the
president and General Secretary of the Executive Committee
48
.
As per as the Government enterprise that is the State Madrasah Education Board,
Assam, the All Assam Tanzim Madsiris Qawmiya also improved its position towards
contributing to the Madrasah education in the last decade of the 20 century. Earlier, it was
working slowly and it is found that, in the period between 1955 to 1965, a good number of
Madrasahs came under it. During the decades that is 1965-1975 and 1975 -1985 it got
lesser number of Madrasahs under it. The situation improved after 1985 and is improving
till date. The Board holds its consultative meeting every year to look after the proceeding
from the previous year. The agenda of the meeting includes the implementation of the
passed resolutions in the previous meeting, audit of accounts of the last year, and the
approval of the budget for next year etc. It also takes decision about examination and
inspection. The inspection team is formed in the meeting. It consists of 10-15 members
selected from the Board as well as from different Madrasahs. The report of the previous
going-over is also submitted in the meeting. The whole process of inspection of the total
Madrasahs takes a time of 3 to 4 months. The inspection team has to make inspection in
the following areas
49
:
a) Inspection team has to look after the academic aspect of the Madrasah;
b) It has to inspect that the syllabus is being taught thoroughly within the stipulated time;
c) The teaching load of the teachers is taken under special consideration.
d) The discipline, the cultural as well as spiritual development of the students of the
concerned Madrasah is one of the important items of inspection.

48
Dr. Muhammad basheer k, Future of Indian Madrasah in the globalized world, Azam ghar muktab
publisher, Uttar Pradesh, 2013., p.34.
49
Mazumder, A.H., Madrasa Education; An Overview, New Honzo M Kamaluddin Ahmed, Humanity
Foundation, Silchar, 2005, p.36

41

e) The surrounding of the Madrasah building is also being inspected
f) The office records like registers and the books of accounts are properly inspected to
ensure that the funds collected are properly utilized.
In the Board meetings, different resolutions are passed for the upliftment of the
Board, keeping all the Khariji or Non-Government Madrasahs under the consideration. In
2001, the Board took a decision to introduce the syllabi of Dar-ul-Ullom, Deobond, in its
consultative meeting. Earlier to this, a similar syllabus was going on in those Madrasahs,
but it was not up to the mark. Now with the introduction of the new syllabi, the standard of
teaching and learning has been much improved. Consequently, the products of such
Madrasahs are well equipped to get admission in other pioneer institutions like Darul-
Uloom, Deobond and Nadvat-al-Ulema, Lucknow for higher studies. 126 Apart from this,
the Board is in the process of introducing the vocational courses to make the students
economically self-dependent. Under this programe, large number of Madrasahs specially
in Barak Valley Region have taken up the programe of vocational education as the part of
the curriculum. They have weekly training programes in their respective Madrasahs where
the students get training in tailoring, typing etc. But all the Madrasahs could not introduce
vocational training due to financial constraints. Some Madrasahs, which are finically
stable, have started computer-training programe in their Madrasahs. The Board is sincere
to introduce vocational education as part of Madrasah education system. It is expected that
it would be implemented properly in the later days to come. In April 11, 2005, the Board
held a seminar for the development of Madrasah education and to take remedial measures
to overcome the existing problems.
50
It was held at Nilba .Discussions were made for the
progress of Madrasah education in different areas.
As far as conducting of examinations is concerned, the Board is conducting
common examination up to the fifth standard. The examination papers are set by the Board

50
Census of Assam, 2001, Ministry of Home Affairs, Govt. of India.

42

and it conducts the common examination in both Barak Valley and the Brahmaputra Valley
Regions. Answer books are examined in the Board's office at Nilbagan. Board itself from
its own fund bears the whole examination expenditures, though a very meager amount is
collected from the Madrasahs. The Board itself declares the results of the said
examinations. In another development, the Board held another seminar on 13th November
2006 to upgrade the standard of teaching and learning process. Thus, it can be said that, the
All Assam Tanzim Madaris Qawmiya and the Azad Deeni Shiksha Board have done a lot
in the past and is also working till today for the upliftment of the Madrasah system of
education in Assam. The Muslims should extend their help and support to strengthen these
Madrasah organizations so that they may undertake their task effectively. If these Boards
get the required support, as discussed above, the Madrasah education institutions would
become the forerunner institutions for educating the Muslim masses. Thus, it can be said
that both the government and private enterprises contributed a lot in the past and are
contributing till today for the development of Madrasah system of education in Assam.
Their contribution to develop the Madrasah education in Assam, especially in Barak Valley
region will always be appreciated. The society must provide sufficient help and support in
all respects to make both the enterprises strong and flourish.
4.4 CONTRIBUTION OF THE GOVERNMENT ENTERPRISE
The Government enterprise that is the State Madrasah Education Board, Assam, was
working on its own in the beginning and was concentrating, specially, for its own stability
and systematization. Side by side, the Board was working for increasing the number of
Madrasahs. The Madrasahs were running on their own and were financially in an awkward
position. This was going on until 1965 when the Government gave the order of deficit
grant-inaid to 9 such Madrasahs. Among these, 4 Madrasahs were situated in the Barak
Valley Region Two Madrasahs were in Karimganj district and one in Hialakandi and
Cachar district of the present day. With this, the burden of such Madrasahs had lessened a
bit. The teachers also started taking more interest in teaching and proper counseling, which
increased the Madrasah enrolment. This is the start of the golden period for the Madrasahs.

43

To bring the matter to the notice of the Government, proper justification of the subject was
the ultimate need of the time. The Government enterprise, that is the State Madrasah
Education Board, Assam, worked in different directions right after the first scheme of
deficit grant-in-aid. The justification needed was to show the utility of such a system for
the society. The Board contributed towards the 114 development of the Madrasahs and
brought the desired changes in the curriculum.
In 1968, the Madrasahs under the old scheme were taken under a new scheme of
curriculum. Modem subjects like English, Hindi, MIL,
51
Mathematics and Science etc.
were introduced under new scheme. The scheme worked immediately with the fabulous
result of the award of Metric evaluation as an additional qualification to the students
passing out of senior Madrasahs by the Guwahati and Dibrugarh Universities .This was a
great contribution towards the development of Madrasah education system. This now
enables the Madrasah pass outs to come into the mainstream of education. Nowadays, there
are a number of lecturers in universities, lawyers, engineers and experts in other fields too
who are Madrasah pass outs. This means that people have got an opportunity to get
educated both in Islamic field as well as in the modem field of education. This system has
helped a lot towards the progress of Madrasah education system in Assam as well as in
Barak Valley Region. Later on, the Government took 65 more Madrasahs under the deficit
scheme till 1993. This was the result of the pains taking efforts of the officials of the State
Madrasah Education Board, Assam, who tried their best in all aspects to bring the matter
before the Government. The ex-Deputy Director Mr. S.M.Habibul Haque made efforts to
bring more and more Madrasahs under the deficit grant-in-aid and in 1993, brought 25
Madrasahs under the deficit system
52
.
With the effect from 15 August 1994, under a special Government notification, in
1995, with the initiative of the Government Madrasah Education Board, all the 74

51
MIL: Modem Indian languages.
52
Report of All Assam Tanzim Madaris Qawmiya, Barak Velley, Silchar, 2005.

44

Madrasahs were bought under Provincialization Scheme .This means that the Madrasah
staff under Provincialization Scheme have got a job security. This scheme had a moral
boasting effect on the teachers which resulted in more dedicated service to the Madrasahs.
In 1996, the Government Madrasah Education Board made another attempt to facilitate the
Madrasahs under it by separating Pre-Senior Level Madrasah from the Senior Madrasahs.
In this connection, the Government Madrasah Education Board took a decision to establish
separate Pre-Senior Madrasahs to serve as Feeder Institution for Senior Madrasahs with
effect from 1st January, 116 1996; this means that, now the Senior Madrasahs would be
receiving students well accustomed to the syllabi of the higher level of Madrasah
Education. In 1999, the State Madrasah Education Board, Assam, took another step to
make Madrasahs prosper
53
. It passed a resolution to open a Multimedia Computerized
Calligraphy trading center at Hatigaon, Guwahati-38, to make the Madrasah products well
trained in the field of computer too. In 2005, the Government took a decision to provide
financial assistance to 239 of such Pre-Senior Madrasahs with effect from 1
st
April,
2005.Every year, a lump sum amount is being sanctioned to every pre-senior Madrasah.
However, the Madrasah Board faced a number of problems. One of the important problems
was that there was no separate Directorate of Madrasah Education. This problem was
solved in 2005, with the declaration of separate Directorate of Madrasah Education in the
state cabinet meeting. Now, all the Government Madrasahs are directly under the control
of Director of Madrasah education.

53
Census of Assam, 20011, Ministry of Home Affairs, Govt. of India,

45

The Directorate of Madrasah Education has a systematic administrative set-up
given below:
ADMINISTRATIVE SET UP OF DIRECTORATE OF MADRASAH EDUCATION
DIRECTOR
DEPUTY DIRECTOR OF MADRASAH EDUCATION
Administration
SECRETARY STATE MADRASAH EDUCATION BOARD (Academic)
a) SUPERINTENDENT, b) ACCOUNTANTCLERK, c) ASSISTANCE
RESEARCH OFFICER.
The Directorate of Madrasah Education has a Director as its head. For his assistance
there is a Deputy Director who functions in two capacities. He has to look after both the
administrative as well as the academic work. While he is looking after the administrative
work, he acts as the Deputy Director of Madrasah Education and when he is looking after
the academic work, he acts as Secretary State Madrasah Education Board. The Deputy
Director, is being assisted by a number of official staff like superintendent, accountant,
clerk and assistant research officer. In 2006, a special building grant of rupees 4 lakhs was
provided to every Madrasah from the Chief Ministers special fund. As regards the salary
of the teachers, it is looked after by the Inspector of the schools of the district concerned,
as the Madrasah Board has not yet developed contact with the treasury. Regarding the
teachers training program, the Board is taking steps to introduce the program at the state
level. The Board under takes the inspection of the different Madrasahs in the state. The
inspection team is headed by the Director along with Assistant Research Officers and a
principal or superintendent of any Madrasah chosen at random by the Directorate.The
inspection is done once in a year. The areas of inspection are:

46

1. Inspection of Instructional Work: The usefulness of the methods of teaching in a
Madrasah, the time table enforced to carry out the instructional work, the
distribution of work among the staff and a few other aspects are taken under
inspection.
2. Inspection of the Co-Curricular Activities: As the curricular program is an
important part of education, it comes under inspection program. The various
curricular activities being organized and the mode of students ’discipline is
inspected.
3. The cleanliness of the surroundings: Of the lavatories, beautification of the
campus, proper arrangement of the drinking water outcome under inspection.
4. Inspection of the Official Records: The inspecting team also inspects all the records
and registers maintained by the institution. They make audit of the accounts and
funds to see whether the funds are properly used or not.
5. Inspection of Developmental Aspects: The inspecting team also checks the steps
taken by the institutions to serve the locality where it is situated. The rapport
developed by the Madrasah with the local community, sometimes, also comes
under the inspection.
6. Inspection of Pupil Growth: There is also inspection of the academic, cultural and
physical development of the students. Thus, it can be said that both the government
and private enterprises contributed a lot in the past and are contributing till today
for the development of Madrasah system of education in Assam.
54

54
Bazlur Rahman,2012, Khan Madrasah Education in Assam South, Milli Gazette, P.6

47

CHAPTER-5
ANALYSIS OF DATA
5.1 INTRODUCTION
In this chapter, the study deals with the analysis of data of the present study is based on the
primary and secondary data collected by the researcher from the Madrasah education
institutions in Southern Assam. An attempt has been made to study the functioning of
Government and Non-Government Madrasahs separately. The analysis of data has been
made regarding the following aspects of Madrasah education: Establishment of Madrasah
and its location, Infrastructural Facilities, Curriculum, Medium of Instruction, Annual
Income of Madrasahs, Annual Expenditure of Madrasahs, Madrasah Staff, Administration
of Madrasah and all aspects have been covered by researcher himself.
5.2 GOVERNMENT MADRASAHS
5.2.1 Establishment of Madrasah and Its location
The Government Madrasahs are consisted of 31 Government Senior Madrasahs, 5 Title
Madrasahs and 25 Pre-Senior Madrasahs located in the 3 districts of Barak Valley .Two
Senior Madrasahs were established in the 19 century, 8 were both Senior and Title
Madrasahs. Another 51 Madrasahs were Pre-Senior, Senior and Title Madrasahs which
were established after independence.Out of these31 Senior Madrasahs, 15 are located in
the district of Karimganj, 6 are in the district of Hailakamdi and 10 in Cachar
55
district.
The oldest among all these Senior Madrasahs is the Rabbainia Senior Madrasah established
in 1886, in Karimganj district and is one of the most primitive Madrasah in the whole of
Assam. The latest among all these is the Markazul Uloom Senior Madrasah established in
2000 in Cachar district. Out of the 5 Title Madrasahs, 2 each are Hailakandi and Karimganj
districts and only one is in Cachar district. Among the 25 Pre-Senior Madrasahs, 11 are

55
Cachar: One of the name of districts of Assam.

48

located in the Karimganj district, 6 are located in the Cachar district and 8 are located in
the Hailakandi district. During the last two decades 13 Senior and Title Madrasahs were
established. All the pre-Senior Madrasahs started to function as separate institutions from
1996. The decade 1991-2001 is of special importance as during this period, a good progress
was made in establishing and upliftment of such Madrasahs.
5.2.2 Curriculum
The curriculum composes of learning experiences through classroom teaching as well as
other kind of activities of the educational institutions. It is the instructional and educative
program, by following which the children achieve their goals, ideals and ambitions of life.
It includes the totality of experiences that a child receives through the various activities
that go on in the school, in the classroom, library, laboratory, workshop, playgrounds and
in the plenty of informal contacts between teachers and children. In other words,
curriculum is the sum total of all the learning which are learnt by the children through
various activities of the institutions of education. The core curriculum of the Madrasah
education is being discussed here. The Government Madrasahs follow the syllabi known
as Dars -e-Nizamia, developed by Mulla Nizamuddin in the middle of the 18 century. The
main emphasis of this syllabi is on religious education along with the allied subjects. The
Government Madrasahs follow the modified Dars-e-Nizamia curriculums permitted by
State Madrasah Education Board, Assam.
5.2.3 The syllabi of Pre-Senior Madrasahs included following subjects:
1. Common subjects: Geography, History, General Mathematics, General Science, Work
Experience.
2. Languages: Arabic, M.I.L
56
,Urdu, English and Hindi these languages are not taught in
the first year course.

56
M.I L :.Modern Indian languages.

49

3. Quran and Diniyat.
4. Optional subject: Elementary Assamese.
5.2.4 The syllabi of Senior Madrasah, 1st year to 4 years, (A’lim stage) include the
following subjects:
1. Religious teaching: Teaching of Quran, Hadith, Fiqh Usui, Montique and Faraiz.
2. Teaching of languages: Arabic, M.I.L, English, Hindi (up to 3rd year stage).
3. Common subjects: General Mathematics and Work Experience.
4. Elective subjects: History of Islam, Urdu and Indian History;
5. Optional subjects: Advance Urdu or Advance Hindi.
The 5th year to 7 years (Fadilstage) syllabi of Senior Madrasah includes:
1. Religious Teaching: Tafsir, Hadith, Fiqh, Aquaid and Usool .
2. Languages: Arabic.
3. Common subjects: History of Arabic language and literature, Balagat, Social Studies and
General Science.
Two years course of Title Madrasah, the six books on Hadith,that is Bokhari Sharif,
Muslim Sharif, Tirmizi Sharif, Abu Daud Sharif, Ibn Maja, and Nesai Sharif are
taught.Apart from this, Tafsir,
57
(Kashaf and Baisawi), and
58
Tarikh are also taught. The
pass-outs of the Senior Madrasahs get direct admission to 10+2 stage in Assam. The
secular subjects taught at the Senior Madrasahs are equal to the High school pass-outs in
Southen Assam Besides this, all the Madrasahs are piloting extra-curricular activities like

57
Tafsir :Explanation of the Qur, an,
58
Tarikh :History.

50

discussions, quiz competition as well as weekly religious program. As far as the vocational
education are concerned, except Badarpur Title Madrasah, which is offering training
courses on tailoring and typing, no other Madrasah have any program of vocational
education.
5.2.5 Infrastructural facilities
All Title and Pre-Senior Madrasahs have their own buildings. Most of the buildings are
Pakka and some of them are as muddy house. For the Senior Madrasahs, the land area
varies from 0.56 acres to 4.95 acres. Six Senior Madrasahs have land area below 1 acre.
Only two have land area above 4 acres. Twenty-three Madrasahs have land area between
1-4 acres. The maximum land area is with Senior Madrasah located in Cachar district with
4.95 acres of land. As regards to the Title Madrasahs, it has been found that except one, the
rest of the four Madrasahs have land area below one acre. The Asimia Title Madrasah,
located at Karimganj district, has 0.33 acres of land only. The biggest one is the Badarpur
Title Madrasah which have 1.98 acres of land. Investigation of the Pre-Senior Madrasahs
has resulted that, all the Madrasahs have minimum of 1.65 acres of land. Most of these
Senior Madrasahs have 10-15 rooms. Twenty-three of these Madrasahs have 10-15 room
three of these have less than 10 rooms and 4 have rooms between 16-22. Only one
Madrasah, Idgah Asatul Islam Senior Madrasah, located in Karimganj district is having 30
thirty rooms. The Badarpur Title Madrasah is the biggest one as it has 100 rooms with big
halls. On the other hand, the other Title Madrasahs have 4-6 rooms. The Pre-Senior
Madrasahs have 4-5 rooms under them. These are smaller institutions serving as feeder
institution to Senior Madrasahs. It is very regret to say that most of the Madrasahs do not
have any separate conference hall. They have flexible divider between rooms which they
remove to make a hall when there is a need of it. However, some Madrasahs have separate
rooms for principal and other teaching staff.

51

The facility of hostel, only 4 Senior Madrasahs have residential facility with the
accommodation of 15 to 50 students. One of them is Mgirkazul-Uloom Senior Madrasah
in Cachar district with the maximum number of 50 hostelers. The other 3 are, Asimia Senior
Madrasah, IdgahAsatul Islam Madrasah and Deorail Senior Madrasah in the Karimganj
District. There is no Senior Madrasah in Hailakandi district is having residential facility,
though construction work for the purpose is going on in some of the Madrasahs. Among
the 5 Title Madrasahs, 2 Madrasahs, one each in Hailakandi and Karimganj districts, have
residential facility for the students. But, no Pre-Senior Madrasahs have any hostel facility.
One very surprising aspect of the residential Madrasah is that, though they provide a
suitable hostel facility for the students but they do not have any dining hall facility. The
food is cooked in the kitchen and the students have to make a queue for taking food in a
particular time in front of the window of the kitchen. They take food in their respective
rooms.
The library facilities in the Senior Madrasahs are not satisfactory. The books are
kept in the racks and Amirahs kept in the Principal's room itself. There are no separate
library rooms as well as reading rooms where the students can study the books. They get
the books issued and take it to the classrooms or to their hostels, to study. Three Madrasahs
in the Cachar district do not have even this facility. In the Title Madrasahs, the library
facility is better in comparison to Senior Madrasahs. All the 5 Title Madrasahs in Barak
Valley have separate library rooms to study. The library facilities are not available in Pre-
Senior Madrasahs. Only two Government Madrasahs in Barak Valley have computer
education facilities. One of them is Hailakandi Senior Madrasah in Hailakandi district and
the other is Badarpur Title Madrasahin Karimganj district. However, some other
Madrasahs are making efforts to introduce computer education in near future .As far as
classroom furniture is concerned, it has been found that in all the Senior and Pre-Senior
Madrasahs, there are rare desks and benches in the classroom for the students to sit and

52

study. In the Title Madrasahs, teacher and student both sit on the mats and study as it is
considered to be a basic etiquette to study the Quran and Hadith.
5.2.6 Medium of instruction
Medium of instruction plays a vital role towards attaining the goal of education. The
medium of instruction differs from region to region, depending on the mother tongue. As
it was mentioned, Barak Valley is predominantly a Bengali speaking region, so, instruction
is given in Bengali language other than Arabic, Persian and Urdu in case of religious
subjects, Secular subjects like mathematics, science, social studies are imparted in Bengali
medium. In the Senior and Pre-Senior Madrasahs, the medium of teaching is Urdu and
Bengali and in the Title Madrasahs, apart from these languages, Arabic is also the medium
of instruction.
5.2.7 Total annual income of Madrasahs
Maximum all the Pre-Senior, Senior and Title Madrasahs have no systematic source of
income. There is only one Title Madrasah at Badarpur which is getting some grant from
the Government, This Madrasah get near about 48000 rupees from the admission fee
annually. Some Senior Madrasahs get financial support from Government sources. Besides
this, Markaza Uloom Senior Madrasah in the Cachar district also get almost 30,000 rupees
as admission fees every year. Other Madrasahs, generally, get about 2,000 rupees from
miscellaneous sources.
However, there are 3 Title Madrasahs and 20 Senior Madrasahs, which are getting
staff salary from the Government as they are under Provincialized Madrasah Scheme. Rest
of all the Madrasahs does not pay anything to the staff. All the staff are working on
voluntary basis with a hope that their Madrasahs would be undertaken by the Government
and they would also get salary in the near future from the Government. Since these are
Government Madrasahs, the general public does not provide financial support. These are

53

run on the contributions and donations given by the Trustees of the Madrasahs or by some
wealthy individuals.
5.2.8 Annual expenditures of Madrasahs
The major yearly expenditure of these Madrasahs is being discussed in following:
1. Payment of Staff Salaries: It has already been said that the staff of 23 Madrasahs get
salaries from the Government.
2. Hostel Expenditure: It is also being said that most of the Madrasahs do not have any
hostel facility. Those Madrasahs which have hostel facilities do not have to spend on food
as the local people arrange for the food. The Badarpur Title Madrasah is the only Madrasah
which charges Rs 750 per month from the students for food and lodging .
3. Electricity Expenditure: Out of 31 Senior Madrasahs, 11 Madrasahs have electricity
facilities. The annual expenditure in these Madrasahs ranges from 3500-7000 rupees. A
poor amount of money is charged from the students to meet electricity expenses. The rest
of the electricity payment is made by the Management Committee of the Madrasahs. Out
of 5 Title Madrasahs, 4 Madrasahs have electricity facilities. The electricity, charges of
these Madrasahs range from 1000-10000 rupees yearly. Not a single Pre-Senior
Government Madrasahs have electricity facility.
4. Printing Expenditure: Printing Expenditure in the Senior Madrasahs extents from 500-
3500 rupees annually. This, expenditure is faced by the Management Committee and the
Madrasah staffs. Some persons of the locality also provide financial help to meet the
expenditure. In the Title Madrasahs, the printing charges vary from 100-2000 rupees
annually. They have to manage it as there is no such grant from the Government. Almost
same is the case with the Pre-Senior Madrasahs. Besides the above mentioned expenditures
there are other expenditures like repairing, construction, purchase of teaching aid materials
like chalk, duster, blackboard etc. These miscellaneous expenditure ranges from 1000-

54

4000 rupees annually. The Badarpur Title Madrasah in the Karimganj district has a very
specific expenditure as it holds its annual convocation every year. The convocation
expenditure is more than one lakh rupees. The voluntary organization 'Emarat-e-Shariah
Nadwa-tutTamir'
59
bears the total expenditure of the convocation with the collection from
the public donations.
5.2.9 Madrasah Staffs
Almost all the Senior Madrasahs have 18-19 teaching staff and 2-3 non-teaching staff.
There is one superintendent with essential qualification of F.M Degree, which is equivalent
to graduation and B.A degree.Some of the principals are found to be more qualified who
possesses the Mumtazul Muhaddithin
60
(M.M), which is equivalent to Master’s Degree and
M.A degrees.As there are also secular subjects taught in the Madrasahs, some teachers
areappointed possessing graduate degree to teach these subjects. Generally, high school
pass-outs are appointed as official staff. There is no essential qualification for the
appointment of office attendants. The teaching and non-teaching staff, both are getting
salary from the Government in the provincialized Scheme of Madrasahs. Their salary
ranges from 5500 to 19000 rupees per month. They are getting other facilities like
retirement pension benefit etcas enjoyed by the Government employees.
Almost same is the case of the Title Madrasahs regarding financial assistance. To
be appointed as a teacher in a Title Madrasah, one must have M.M qualification. Except
Badarpur Title Madrasah, the other 4 Title Madrasahs have 5-6 teaching staff and 3-4 non-
teaching staffs. The Badarpur Title Madrasah is a grand one in Barak Valley, excelling in
all fields as compared to other Madrasahs. It has 22 teaching staffs and 4 non-teaching
staffs. There are separate employees who work as librarian, computer demonstrator etc. In
rest of 4 Title Madrasahs, a teacher has to look after the accounts, library work etc .All the

59
Emarat-e-Shariah Nadwa-tut Tamir: An Islamic organization in Southern Assam, India.
60
Mumtazul Muhaddithin (M.M), which is equivalent to Masters Degree.

55

Pre-Senior Madrasahs have 9 teaching staffs and 1 non-teaching staff who work without
any salary as no such Madrasah have been undertaken by the Government.
5.2.10 Administration of Madrasah
All Madrasahs are commonly undertaken by both Outward and Inside Administrative
Bodies. External Administrative Body is accountable for the looking after the financial
matter, development and reconstruction of building. It is also responsible for the
improvement and modification in Madrasah Education System. In External Body, there a
president, chairman, secretary who belong to neighboring locality. They are eminent
personalities’, intellectuals, religious and spiritual leaders. Apart from this, there are some
Madrasah teachers in Management Committee. These members of Management
Committee offer valuable propositions both individually and collectively towards the
Madrasah development. However, the final decision regarding major policies of the
Madrasahs is taken in consultation with Internal Administrative Body.
The Internal Administrative Body includes all the teaching and non-teaching
members of the Madrasah concerned. There is a post of Mohtamin and Naib-e-Mohtamim.
The Internal Administrative Body plays more important and active role for the smooth
functioning of the Madrasahs. It is directly responsible for the achievement of the aims,
objectives and development of the Madrasahs. The class management, allocation of
teaching work, preparation of time-table and cleanliness of the Madrasahs etc are some of
the important functions df the Internal Administrative Body. The decision regarding
academic matters is also taken by this body. However, it has to take academic decisions in
consultation with External Administrative Body.

56

5.3 NON-GOVERNMENT MADRASAHS
5.3.1 Establishment of Madrasah and location
The Non-Government Madrasahs comprised of sixty-five Madrasahs. These kind of
Madrasahs are located in the three districts of Barak Valley. Out of 65 Non-Government
Madrasahs, 9 Madrasahs were established in nineteenth century, another nine were
established between 1900-1946 and the rest of forty-seven were established after
independence of India. Out of the sixty-five Madrasahs, thirty Madrasahs are located in
the present Karimganj district, twenty-one Madrasahs in Hailakandi district and fourteen
in Cachar district. The oldest among all these Madrasahs is the Banga sharif Markazul
Uloom Madrasah in Karimganj district. It was established in 1840. The recent among all
these is the Tanzeemul Uloom Alia and Hafizia Madrasah in Karimganj district which was
established in 2003. The biggest Madrasah in Barak Valley is the Darul Uloom Banskandi
Madrasah, established in 1955. It is the fore-runner Madrasah with better facilities and
better educational environment in comparison to the other Non-Government Madrasahs.
Non-Government Madrasahs flourished specially after independence to a great extent.
People started to donate property and money to the Madrasahs and sent their children to
Madrasahs for studies. This trend of co-operation of the people helped the Madrasah to
increase its enrolment.
5.3.2 Infrastructural Facilities
The Non-Government Madrasahs have their own building. A few of them are found to be
Kacchi, but maximum of them have Pakki buildings. The land area for the Non-
Government Madrasahs varies from 0.33 acres to 21.48 acres.40 Non-Government
Madrasahs have land area below one acre. Only one Madrasah Darul Faiz Raj ghat located
in Bhagabazar area of Cachar district have land area of 21.48 acres. Rest of 24 Madrasahs
have land area between one acre to 21 acres. The number of rooms in these Madrasahs
varies from minimum of 2 rooms to a maximum of 81 rooms. Unlike the Government

57

Madrasahs, there is variation in the infrastructural facilities in the Non-Government
Madrasahs. The most pathetic is the condition of Manikpara Jalilia Qaumi Madrasah in
Karimganj district with only 2 small rooms where 100 students are being taught. The
teacher and the taught both are facing difficulty because of lack of enough building facility.
The biggest Non-Government Madrasah in Barak Valley is the Darul Uloom Baskandi
Madrasah in the Cachar district with maximum of 81 rooms with separate rooms for
teachers, library and conference. It has 35 classrooms, 20 hostel rooms, 11 rooms for
teachers’residence, 4 guest rooms, 2 staff rooms, 1 room for the Principal, 2 office rooms,
3 conference rooms, 1 library and 2 computer rooms. Ashraful Uloom Ratanpur Madrasah
in Hailakandi district has 20 classrooms for about 350 students, 10 rooms for boys’hostel,
2 staff rooms and 5rooms for teacher's residence. There is much variation in the number of
rooms in these Madrasahs. 44 Madrasahs have rooms in between 2 to 10 .Sixteen
Madrasahs have more than 20 rooms.
Out of 65 Madrasahs, 14 Madrasahs have separate rooms for Principal, teachers
and conferences; 37 Madrasahs have residential facility for the students. The number of
residential, students varies from 10 to 1200 according to the locality and status of the
Madrasah. Darul Uloom Baskandi
61
in Cachar district have almost 1200 residential
students. It is the most renowned Madrasah in Barak Valley and large number of students
come to the Madrasah from distant places because of its educational environment and
residential facility which also includes food. There are other Madrasahs which provide
residential facilities to more than 100 students. Madrasah Jamia Islamia Tupkhana provides
hostelfacilities to 200 students, Madrasah Al Jamatul Islamia Khankah-e-Madini to 300
students, Madrasah Ashraful Uloom Ratanpur to 135 students, Madrasah Darul Uloom
Sahabad to 150 students, and Madrasah Al Jamia Mohammadia, Shakalarpar to 109
students. Though the residential facility is being provided to the students, but there is no
separate dining hall facility in the hostels. The students have to take the food from the

61
Darul Uloom Baskandi is one and only private Madrasah which is well funded by Muslims in Southern
Assam.

58

kitchen standing in a row and have to eat in their rooms of residence. Except Drul Uloom
Baskandi in Cachar district and Darul Uloom Sahabad in Hailakandi district, no other
Madrasah has separate library room. These two Madrasahs have reading room in the
library. The rest of the Madrasahs have no separate library. The library books are kept in
the Almiras kept in the staff room or in the principal's room. However, the books are issued
to the teachers and the students for study. The Darul Uloom Baskandi Madrasah has
computer education facility for the students. Other Madrasahs are planning to introduce
computer education which needs sufficient funds. Darul Uloom Baskandi is also providing
vocational training in tailoring and typing to the students. It will enable them for self-
employment. The only other Madrasah in Barak Valley, which is providing vocational
training in tailoring, is the Ashraful Uloom Ratanpur Madrasah in the Hailakandi district.
All the residential Madrasahs have playgrounds for the students. Generally, volley ball and
Football are the favorite games of the Madrasah students. The playing time for the students
is one and half hour before sunset. As regards, classroom sitting arrangement, it has been
found that these Madrasah have both the desk-bench and mat arrangement for the students.
The teaching of Quran and Hadith is done on the mats as done in the Government Title
Madrasahs. There are some Madrasahs which have only mat sitting arrangement for the
students.
5.3.3 Medium of Instruction
The medium of instruction, like the Government Madrasahs is basically the mother tongue,
that is Bengali language, Urdu and Arabic languages are also used as medium of
instruction. The secular subjects like Mathematics and Social Sciences etc., are taught
purely in Bengali language. However, Urdu and Arabic languages are also given much
importance.

59

5.3.4 Annual Income of Madrasahs
There are different cradles of income of all the Non-Government Madrasahs. They do not
get any grant from the Government and have to manage all the income from the locality
and also from outside the locality. During the Id-Ul-Azha, they use to manage some income
out of foregone animal skin. These Madrasahs charge a very nominal amount from the
students as admission fees. There is also some income from rice, vegetables and betel nut
in their respective seasons, generally, termed as Mousumi seasonal collections. Apart from
these incomes, people use to donate some money to the Madrasahs. A huge amount of
income comes from the Zakat
62
given by the people.
5.3.5 Annual Expenditures of Madrasahs
The major annual expenditures of the Madrasahs are being discussed in the following
paragraphs:
A .Payment of Staff Salaries
The staff salary of the Madrasahs has been found to be extending between rupees 350 to
6,000 per month .More than 35 Madrasahs are found to have total staff salary of more than
100000. It crosses 10, 00,000 in some cases. Aljamiatul Islamia Khankah-e-Madani
Madrasah in Cachar district is spending more than 12, 00,000 on the staff salary. Madrasah
Darul Uloom Baskandi is spending more than 2700000 on staff salary.In most of the
Madrasahs, there are paid Safeers
63
. In some Madrasahs, the teachers are given the
responsibility of Safeers but they are not given any remuneration for collecting money. In
some Madrasahs, the Safeers are paid some percentage of money on the total money
collected. These Madrasahs are paying from 1,000 to over 15,000 to the Safeers .The
Baghbari Madrasah is spending over 25,000 rupees on Safeers. Darul Uloom Baskandi

62
Zakat :Bounty, Charity.
63
Safeers: It is an Arabic word which meansMoney collectors.

60

Madrasah has 25 Safeers and they are paid 2,500 rupees. There are certain period and
seasons when the Safeers collect money. It was found that in some Madrasahs the teachers
are not getting salary regularly due to lack of funds. One of such Madrasahs is the Uttar
Narainpur Markazul Uloom Madrasah, in the Hailakandi district, which is not able to pay
the salaries to its staffs regularly. The amount of salaries of such Madrasahs is also very
low.
B. Expenditures of Hostel
All the residential Madrasahs are providing free food and lodging. The Madrasahs are
bearing these expenditures. The expenditure on the food in the Madrasahs vary from 10,000
to 350000per month. Madrasah DarulU loom Baskandi is spending about 350000 per
month on food. Darul Uloom Sahabad in the Hailakandi district is also spendinf about
350000 per month on food expenditure. The range of food expenditure depends on the
enrolment of the students. Hostel expenditure also includes the payment for the expenditure
on drinking water and electricity. Though pond is attached to every Madrasah, some
expenditures are there to make its water suitable for drinking .In some cases, there is
provision for municipality water supply for which payment is made by the Madrasahs.
Nearly 50 %of the total Madrasahs pay for water and electricity charges. Zainul Uloom
Nizamia Madrasah in Karimganj district spends more than 18,000 annually, Aljamiatul
Islamia Khankah-e-Madani Madrasah in Cachar district spends about 15,000 Madinatul
Uloom Baghbari Madrasah spends over 12,000 and Darul Uloom Banskandi Madrasah in
the Cachar district, which is spending about 20,000 on light and water charges yearly.
C. Expenditureof Printing
The printing expenditures of these Madrasahs range from 1 to 10000 rupees annually. The
printing charges of the Darul Uloom Banskandi Madrasah, is almost 100000 annually.
Besides this, these Madrasahs have to spend on teaching aid materials, and maintenance.

61

This expenditure ranges from 4,000 to 70,000rupees annually .Madrasahs have to spend a
lot on the purchase of books as all the books are provided to students by the Madrasahs.
5.3.6 Administration of Madrasahs
As the Government Madrasahs, all the Non-Government Madrasahs are, generally,
administered by both External and Internal Administrative Bodies. External Administrative
Body is generally responsible for looking after the financial matter, provision of
infrastructural facilities and some other important matters. In external body, there are
President, Chairman, and Secretary etc, who belong to neighboring localities, and are
eminent personalities .Some senior teachers of the Madrasah are also member of this body.
The External Administrative Body holds its meeting at least once in a month and make
programs for the development of the Madrasah.The Internal Administrative Body consists
of all the teaching and non-teaching staff. This Body looks after the internal matters of the
Madrasah. The decisions taken by both the Administrative Bodies are implemented by the
Items Administrative Body. The educational environment of the Madrasah depends upon
the functioning of the Internal Body. The preparation of time table, allocation of teaching
work to teachers, conducting admissions and examinations all depends on the Internal
Administrative Body. However, both the Bodies have the right to make discussions on any
major aspect of the Madrasah. The agreement of both the Administrative Bodies is
necessary for taking a final decision on major issues and policies of the Madrasah.
5.3.7 Curriculums
Curriculum is the instructional and educative program, by following which the children
achieve their goals, ideals and aspirations of life. It includes the totality of experiences that
a child receives through the manifold activities that go on in the school, in the classroom,
library, laboratory, workshop, schoolyards and in the numerous informal contacts between
teachers and pupils. The core curriculum of the Non-Government Madrasahs is being
discussed here. The Non-Government Madrasahs in Barak Valley follow the curriculum

62

approved by All Assam Tanzim Madaris Qawmiya and A.D.S.B
64
. In the Darja-e-athfal
65

stage, the curriculum includes, Kalima, Qaidah (acquaintance with letters, joining letters
to form words, pronunciation etc), practice of writing, Diniyat, memorizing last seven
surahs
66
of Quran, addition and subtraction and Bengali language. This stage is the starting
point of the child's education in Non-Government Madrasahs. In first, second and third
year of maktabeducation, practice of reading the whole of Quran correctly, Quranic
phonetics, memorization of some Surahs of Holy Quran, Taleemul Islam, Grammer, Social
Studies, Multiplication tables, Assamese, English, Hindi languages and basic Mathematics
are taught. After Maktab education, there is a two years course known as 'JamaateAdadia' .
Teaching of Persian, history of Islam, Quranic phonetics, grammar, English, Hindi, letter
writing, social studies and mathematics is undertaken this course. After JamaateAdadia,
higher level of Madrasah education starts. It consists of seven years of teaching. At this
stage the major subjects of curriculum includes: life of Prophet (pbuh), different branches
of Islamic education like Tafsir, Hadith, Fiqh, Montique, Aqaid, Balaghat, detailed history
of Islam, history of India till 1947, advance course of Arabic language and its grammar and
composition. Those who pass out the course are given the certificate of Almiat.After
completing the above mentioned curriculum, there is one year course of Daura-e-Hadith.
At this level, the Sehah Sittah
67
that is the Bokhari Sharif, the Tirmizi Sharif
68
, the Abu
Daud Sharif, the Muslim Sharif, the Nesai Sharif and the Ibn-e-Maja Shareef are taught in
detail .It is equal to the Title level in the Government system of Madrasah education.
After completing Daura-e-Hadith, the students can go for seeking specialized course like
Fiqh, Qirat, Tafsir etc .to pioneer Madrasahs like the Daru Uloom Deobond, Nadvat-al-

64
A.D.S.B: Azad Deeni Shiksha Board.
65
Darja-e-athfal: (pre-nursery).
66
Surah: Name of content, the particular part of the Quran.
67
Sehah Sittah: Six authentic books of Hadith.
68
Trimizu sharif: Name of the book of the Prophet’s sayings.

63

Ulama, Lucknow, Mazahirul Uloom Saharanpur etc. The Daura-e-Hadith course is on the
pattern of Darul Uloom Deobond curriculum.
5.3.8 Madrasah Staff
The Non-Government Madrasahs have teachers numbering from three to forty-five. The
number varies in according to the size and importance of the Madrasahs. The students’
enrolment also plays a major role in deciding the number of teachers. Exceptional cases
are there as Madinatul Uloom Baldabaldi Madrasah has 3 teachers for eighty-three
students. These teachers, apart from teaching, have to do all the academic and non-
academic works of the Madrasahs. They are paid to give rupees 1,000 per month as salary.
But it is found that they are never getting regular salary due to financial problems of the
Madrasah. They are though qualified to teach in any good Madrasah, but are striving to
revive their own. They have Fadil degrees alongwith some general education degree
cirtificates.
In Mazahirul Uloom Zakaria Jalnachara Madrasah in Hailakandi district there are
3 teachers against 55 students with a low remuneration of 1, O00 rupees per month. These
Madrasahs are located in the most interior areas which is also responsible for bad condition
of the Madrasahs. On the other hand, Madrasah Aljamiatul Islamia Khankah e-Madani has
29 teachers against the total enrolment of 500 students. They are enjoying a better salary
of almost 4500 rupees per month, the most important thing is that they are getting it
regularly. The teachers have A’lim/A’lima
69
, Fadil, Quari
70
, Hafiz
71
degrees. In this
Madrasah there are 50 female students and for them, there is a provision for female
teachers. This Madrasah also has 6 non-teaching staff some of them have no formal
education. Two of them are also getting 1500 rupees per month as salary. The other good
Madrasah is the Darul Uloom Baskandi Madrasah in Cachar district with 58 teachers to an

69
A’lima: Lady Teacher in Madrasa.
70
Quari: The one who recites the Quran.
71
Hafiz: The one who memorized the Quran.

64

enrolment of about 1500 students. They have A’lim, Fadil, Quari, Hafiz and Mufti
72

degrees .13 of them are also computer operators. They are enjoying their best amount of
salary in the whole of Barak Valley with a maximum amount of 6,000 rupees per month.
There are 27 non-teaching staff who work in office and library. They are paid salaries in
the range of rupees 2,000 to 3000 per month. Some of them are provided residential
facilities too .There are few other good Madrasahs like Madinatul Uloom Baghbari
Madrasah with 20 teachers for 275 students with 3 non-teaching staff. The teachers ’salary
is in the range of 3000 to 4500 whereas the maximum salary of Non-teaching staff is 2500
per month. Ashraful Uloom Ratanpur Madrasah is also good with 22 teaching staff and 6
non-teaching staff against 3 50 students. The non-teaching staff gets the salary in the range
of rupees 1500 to rupees 3000 per month. To teach secular subjects, teachers are appointed
with Senior Secondary School qualification along with A’lim and Fadil degrees. They are
also given residential accommodation in their respective Madrasahs.

72
Mufti: The one who gives the solution of new problems in the light of the Quran.

65

CHAPTER-6
FINDINGS
6.1 INTRODUCTION
In this chapter, the study deals with the few major findings after analyzing primary and
secondary data regarding Madrasah education in Southern Assam. And the findings are
mentioned points wise, displaying the findings from the government Madrasahs and the
non-government Madrasahs .And all the aspects have been covered on the basis of
collected data.
6.2 MAJOR FINDINGS ARE GIVEN BELOW
1. There is no doubt that the history of Madrasah education system is very old. Its origin is
established during the period of Prophet of Islam (pbuh). The system of Islamic education
began with the divine revelation to the Prophet (pbuh).
73
As days passed on, the teaching
of Islamic education started to spread in other parts of Arabia and it has now covered all
over the world.In the beginning of the British rule in India, the system suffered a set-back,
but due to untiring efforts of the Ulema, it maintained its position. Nowadays, the Madrasah
System of Education is among the frontline systems of education in India.
As far as the Barak Valley Region is concerned, the area inwardly the present study
is located in the Southern part of Assam. The history of the Valley is not very old. Before
becoming a separate valley, it was a part of formerly Surma Valley consisting of the
districts of Cachar and Sylhet on both the sides of the river Surma. As the region is
predominantly a Muslim dominated area, there are a number of Madrasahs in and around
this area as mentioned before. The Madrasah Education system in this area started in a
systematic manner in the 19century itself and is continuing in full flow now a day. Different
Madrasahs came into existence from the 19 century in the three districts of Barak Valley.

73
PBUH: Peace be upon him.

66

Therefore, it is found that the history of the of Madrasah Education system in Assam and,
specially, in Southern Assam, is neither a very old nor new .State Madrasah Education
Board, Assam, established in 1934, The A.D.S.B
74
, established in 1937 and The
A.A.M.T.M.Q
75
,established in 1955.These Boards are now governing all the Madrasahs
across Assam.
2. The contribution of different Government and Non-government agencies for the
development of Madrasahs in Assam, specially, in Southern Assam seems to be viewable.
Both the agencies took great interest and had sincere commitment for the better
performance of the Madrasahs. Regarding Non-Movement enterprise, it is found that, both
the Non-Government Madrasah Boards made their best to make the Madrasah Education
System flourish. Though the means and resources required to run the Madrasahs were not
sufficient, they were continuing with their work with full commitment. Generally, people
work for better remuneration and facilities but the personals of the Non-Government
enterprises were working against a very low payment and, sometimes, they worked without
any remuneration. This indicates their sincere efforts towards the development of Madrasah
Education. The Government agency is striving hard for the development of the Madrasah
education system. Many new Madrasahs were coming into existence and were coming
under the jurisdiction of the Government Madrasah Board.The blooming period for the
Government agency started during the 6 decade of the 20 century when the government of
Assam sanctioned deficit grant to 9 Madrasahs being run under the State Madrasah
Education Board, Assam.Some of these Madrasahs were located in the Barak Valley
Region too. Gradually, some more Madrasahs were sanctioned Government grant and the
system started to be stable to a great extent. The students studying in those Madrasahs also
get better future prospects. Thus, it is found that both the Government and the Non-

74
ADSB :Azad Deeni Shiksha Board.
75
AAMTMQ :All Assam Tanzeem-e-Madaris-e Qaumiya.

67

government agencies contributed for the development of Madrasah System of Education
in Assam, specially, Assam South but not as it should be contributed.
3 .There exist the following two types of Madrasahs in Barak Valley Region:
A. Government Madrasahs known as Pre-Senior Madrasahs, Senior Madrasahs and Title
Madrasahs.
B. Non-Government Madrasahs popularly known as Qaumi or Khariji Madrasahs which
are run by public contributions and donations.
The study about these Madrasahs reveals that:
1. The Government and the Non-Government Madrasahs are facing problems of
infrastructural facilities. The buildings of the Madrasahs are not up to the mark. In these
buildings, there is lack of rooms. There are no separate rooms for library, conference hall
and teachers' staff room. It has been, generally, found that the room of the principal is used
as library, staff room as well as conference room. This creates inconvenience in the
functioning of the Madrasahs.
2. The beginning of the Madrasahs in Barak Valley in a systematic manner is traced back
right from the 19 century. But it paced up in the 20 century, specially, after independence.
Maximum number of Madrasahs came into existence after 1947. Out of 61 Government
Madrasahs, 51 Madrasahs were established after 194.47 Non-Government Madrasahs out
of 65Madrasahs were established after independence;
Some of the important points regarding the infrastructural facilities available in the
Government and Non-Government Madrasahs are being mentioned below:
a) Maximum on-Government Madrasahs are located in the rural areas of Southern Assam,
were as the Government Madrasahs which are located in the urban areas.

68

b) The Madrasah buildings do not have proper arrangement for classroom as well. In some
Madrasahs, the number of students is more than the double capacity of the room. This
creates problems to the teachers as well as to the taught. However, the ratio between the
number of rooms and the number of students is better in the case of Government Madrasahs
in comparison to Non-Government Madrasahs.
c) The hostel facilities in the Madrasahs are found below standard. More than half of the
Madrasahs do not have hostel facilities. In hostels, there is no separate dining room and
therefore, the students have to take their food in the rooms where they reside. This creates
problems to the students. Sometimes, the capacity of rooms is not sufficient enough for the
number of students allotted to reside. This indicates the lack of proper educational
environment for the students.
The buildings are not properly maintained. The surroundings of the Madrasah
buildings have been generally found to be very dirty and unoxious. The toilet facility is
also sub-standard. However, in some Madrasahs, there are proper toilet facilities. The
condition becomes worst in the rainy seasons when the excessive rain leads to water
logging. In this situation, even the movement from one building to the other building of the
Madrasah, becomes very difficult.
The study also reveals the following problems of the Madrasahs:
a) There is no arrangement for separate dining hall in any of the residential
Madrasahs;
b) It is found that, no satisfactory library facility exists in the Madrasahs of Barak
Valley, except a very few;
c) Usually, there is no proper arrangement of computer education in the Madrasahs
of Southern Assam. Only 3 Madrasahs out of 126 Madrasahs have undertaken the
program of computer education;

69

3) The syllabi in both type of Madrasahs is based mainly on the Dars-e-Nizamia syllabi.
Apart from this, the syllabi include the teaching of mother-tongue, Bengali languages. The
vocational stream of education has not been paid much attention in the Madrasahs of
Southern Assam. The Madrasah students are satisfied with the old age traditional religious
education which helps them to become Imam in the mosques or a teacher in the low paid
employment of Madrasahs. This lowers down the enthusiasm among the students. Today
is the age of computers and the products of these Madrasahs are unable to get even the
basic knowledge of computers. Except one or two Madrasahs, no Madrasah is providing
training in computer literacy. Madrasahs are not able to introduce computer education
mainly due to lack of sufficient fund. There are also no proper training facilities in other
modern electronic appliances which are much useful for the students. There is also lack of
training in agriculture oriented vocational courses like dairy and poultry farming,
viticulture, floriculture, social forestry, cooperative marketing, administration of local self-
bodies like panchayetsetc .Each of these would have trained Madrasah youths for
meaningful employment. However, some of the Madrasahs are having vocational
programes like tailoring and typing.
As Southern Assam is based on agricultural economy, and most of the Madrasahs
are located in the village areas, there is need for structured training in agriculture oriented
vocational courses in areas like dairy and poultry farming, viticulture, floriculture, social
forestry, co-operative marketing, administration of local self-government bodies like
panchayats etc. Each of these fields can absorb a large number of trained Madrasah youths
for meaningful employment.
4) One special feature of Government Madrasah is that the students passing out of the
Senior Madrasahs are entitled to get admission to senior secondary school. This
opportunity is not available to the students passing out of the Non-Government Madrasahs.

70

5) The medium of instruction in all the Madrasahs in Southern Assam is Bengali language
as the region is dominated by the Bengali people. However, Arabic and Urdu languages
are also taught with due importance.
6) All the Madrasahs, except the Provincialized Government Madrasahs, who are getting
staff salary from the Government, are facing problem of payment of salaries to its staff.
The teaching and the non-teaching staff in the Non-Government Madrasahs are working
on a very low amount of salary which is also not regularly paid. This has adversely affected
commitment and devotion of the teachers to their profession. The staff working in some of
these Pre-Senior, Senior and Title Madrasahs, that do not get any kind of grant-in-aid from
the Government, are working without any remuneration at all. They are simply working in
the hope that these Madrasahs would be undertaken by the Government and they will get
salary in the days to come. The Non-Government Madrasahs are providing food and
lodging free of cost to the resident members which need a large amount to be spent. The
Non-Government Madrasahs are getting income from the public donations which are not
sufficient enough to meet the expenditures of the Madrasahs.
7) Unlike the Non-Government Madrasahs, the Government Madrasahs are found to have
sufficient teaching staff. The Non-Government Madrasahs are suffering in this regard
mainly due to lack of sufficient funds. Lack of financial resources has impinged upon the
quality of Madrasahs, hostels, playgrounds, libraries, teaching materials, teaching and non-
teaching staffs etc .The Madrasahs are found to be always running on deficit budget.
8) In some Madrasahs, there is no electricity facility. Even during these days of
advancement, the students have to use the lamps and candles at night. The students find it
difficult to study under the light of the lamps and candles. The situation worsens during the
summer season.

71

9) There is no proper arrangement for healthcare of the students as very few Madrasahs
have playgrounds and playing kits and first-aid medical Centre for the students.
10) The administrative set up of the Madrasahs in Southern Assam is found to have a
systematic ladder. They have both administrative and academic bodies to administer and
run the Madrasahs in a systematic manner. The External Administrative Body and the
Internal Administrative Body (academic) perform their duties in collaboration to each other
to run the Madrasahs in accordance with the rules framed by these bodies. One of the great
problems of Madrasahs is that they are looked down, criticized and neglected.
One of the major problems in these Madrasahs is the problem of drop-out. A good
number of students are joining the Madrasahs and within a very few days they start to leave.
It is mainly due to the reasons like parents' attitude towards the religious education, making
the child an earning member, lack of enthusiasm in teachers, lack of sympathy on the part
of the parents, inadequate teaching facilities etc. The parents are not conscious about the
importance of religious education of their children. As a result, the students get no
encouragement and in a few days, prefer to get away from the Madrasahs. Besides this, the
socio-economic demands lead the parents to look their children as an earning member of
the family. The teachers are also responsible for a large number of drop-out cases in the
Madrasahs. They themselves are not enthusiastic enough to teach the students. The students
get no encouragement from the teachers which also lead to the increase in the rate of drop-
out cases. The lack of proper methods and techniques of teaching, leads to the
dissatisfaction in students. They get no interest in traditional techniques of teaching and
learning and prefer to keep themselves away from the Madrasahs. Sympathy and co-
operation also play major role towards developing interest and enthusiasm among the
students to take Madrasah education. The parents as well as the teachers need to be
sympathetic enough to the students to keep their momentum going, which seems to be
lacking both on the part of the parents as well as the teachers in the Madrasahs in Barak
Valley, this also leads to a large number of dropout cases.

72

There is a problem of trained teachers in the Madrasahs in Southern Assam. There
are no teachers training program for the Madrasahs education teachers. Training of the
teachers will enhance teachers ’competence because trained teachers are well aware about
the psychology of the students and methods and techniques of teaching .The co-curricular
activities, which play a major role in making the students socially efficient and dynamic,
is almost completely lacking in the Madrasahs of Southern Assam. The activities like
debates, quiz competition, extempore speech, group discussion etc. develop in students the
confidence in life and competitive attitude. The programes which are run by N.S.S
76
are
also helpful to make the students pragmatic in different aspects of life.There is no such
social service scheme undertaken by Madrasahs. Co-curricular activities will provide a
platform to develop the hidden potentialities of students.
11 .There is no proper facility or arrangement for girls, around two or three Madrasahs are
in Southern Assam for example Hafizia Madrasah and small Mktabs. But there is no proper
management and no scope for their forthur study .Muslim Girls and women are lagging
behind their male counterparts and as compared to other religious minorities except those
listed under the census
77
. However, education of Muslim girls and women cannot be seen
in isolation from the overall situation of female lag in education in Southern Assam, the
rural urban, regional and inter group disparities and the poverty of the households.

76
N.S.S :National Service Scheme
77
Census: in the Census 20011.

73

CHAPTER-7
SUGGESTIONS TO ENHANCE MADRASAH EDUCATION
SYSTEMIN SOUTHERN ASSAM
7.1 INTRODUCTION
In this chapter, the study deals with the few suggestions which have been given by
researcher himself to enhance Madrasah education system in Southern Assam. It discusses
on the major suggestions, which should be done by the Madrasahs in Assam and the
Muslims of Assam state for the betterment of Madrasah education system in Southern
Assam .And these solutions or suggestions are given after analyzing and findings the major
problems in Southern Assam Madrasahs.
7.2 NEED TO EMPHASIS ONVOCATIONAL TRAININGS IN SOUTHERN
ASSAM MADRASAHS
For the students of Madrasah, it is crucial to learn vocational courses or have advantages
from vocational trainings. Indeed, a Muslim enters a Madrasah not in seek of a well-paid
job but to become an A’lim or to provide serve his Ummat
78
. However, if we put our eyes
at the lifestyle of our great ancestors, they were brilliant A’lim, leader, and also they were
sovereign businesspersons, for example Numan bin sabit Abuhanifa (r.a) and Imam malik
bin Anas (r.a), they were A’lims and sovereign businesspersons. Like our ancestors, our
generation also must require vocational training to be a sovereign businessperson or
something else.
This is essential because if the students don’t have any jobs other than Imamat
79
in
a mosque or teacher in a small Madrasah under a management, how people will accept
someone`s orders or suggestions who is working under someone and financially not

78
Ummat: followers of Prophet Muhammad (PBUH)
79
Imamat: It means to be a teachers and to lead prayer in the village and towns Mosques.

74

sovereign. In addition, this is very clear thing, which is happening in our society. In other
hand if an A’lim has his own business and earning good money surely, people will respect
and admire that Alim. Hence, an A’lim should be sovereign financially to be so vocational
trainings should be introduced in Madrasahs of Southern Assam.
7.3 NEED TO MODERNISATION OF MADRASAH -CURRICULAMS IN
SOUTHERN ASSAM
No one can deny this, the syllabi of Assam South Madrasahs have not been changed since
3-4 centuries. In this modern age, modern knowledge and information are the main tools
to move forward or to steal people`s attention. In addition, to seek modern knowledge up-
gradation of syllabi which have been teaching in the schools or universities is necessary.
Assam’s universities, secular schools and colleges are upgrading their structure and syllabi
in every 5-7 years. In addition, in the most of the Assam’s Madrasahs they are still teaching
the same thing which their ancestors were used to teach their pupils 3-4 centuries ago.
As other Assamise secular colleges or universities, Madrasahs are also must
upgrade their syllabi to take advantages of modern age. Because the updated syllabi will
help students to understand the updated world which exist outer side of four walls.
Moreover, that will help them to compete with the students who have been studying under
the shadow of updated technologies or modern syllabi. Assam’s Madrasahs should add
subjects which was introduced in Assam by western minds, which is very beneficial to the
students of Madrasahs. Which will help them after they become graduate. Especially social
science, mathematics and English these subjects surely help the students when they will
begin to spread Islam’s teachings and ideology socially.
7.4 TRAINING PROGRAM FOR THE EMPOWERMENT OF TEACHERS
As we know that the teachers play the vital role in the education system this is why teachers
should be trained. Without accurate training, they cannot do anything with the syllabus .In

75

my opinion Kerala is a role-model in this regard. There is a Muallim
80
Training Centre
under Samastha Kerala Islamic Education Board, which runs 9200 Madrasahs and 300
higher Arabic College.In addition to religious subjects, the Muallim Training Course
curriculum includes English, History, Educational Administration, Organizational
Training, Teaching methodology, Madrasah Internship Programme and Personality
Development Training. The course is of 2 years’duration and one who completed
registration along with Madrasah 7th class, can apply. In addition to that, different
teaching-qualification tests are conducting like Muallim Lower and Higher. The Board also
conducts 40 days in-service training course. All the Arabic college students have to
compulsorily undergo 40 days’teachers training. Institutes like these should be constituted
throughout the length and breadth of the country. We could start with establishing a sort of
central Madrasah teachers ’training institute, which could offer short-term courses,
covering such areas as child psychology, pedagogy, and basic modern subjects.
7.5 MADRASAHS SHOULD BE LINKED TO T HE GENERAL STREAM
Unlike all universities of the country or state, the Madrasahs are neither members of the
Association of Indian Universities nor their degrees are recognized and validated by it exact
few Madrasahs. Moreover, each university is an independent body and, hence, decisions
of the Academic Council of a particular university do not have compulsory effects for
others. That is why some universities like Aligarh Muslim University, Jamia Millia Islamia,
New Delhi, etc. Recognize some degrees of a number of Madrasahs while other universities
have no such provision so try to link as Al jamia Al Islamiya Santhapuram
81
is trying to
link.

80
Muallim: Teacher.
81
Al Jamia Al Islamiya Santhapuram is an Islamic university in Kerala state of India.

76

7.6 NEED TO START ODL
82
SYSTEM IN MADRASAHS
As growing of English medium schools reduce the chances of religious studies for a
majority of Muslim students in Assam. In order to have compensate this, the possibilities
of Open, Distant Learning System, and E- Learning should be utilized or implemented.
Each Madrasah has to provide the students of its surroundings. In addition to providing
scientifically and psychologically prepared study materials, weekly or monthly counseling
sessions should be conducted. This will be also help full for those who does not get the
chances for primary religious education. The e- learning will particularly focus the new
generation.
7.7 NEED TO HAVE EAGLE -EYES ON VARIOUS MINORITY SCHEMES OF
GOVERNMENT
Among the Muslims of Assam, this is being a habit to abuse or hopeless to the government.
If the government is takes a positive and socially effective step for the majority of the
Muslims, it seems like a negative and a harmful step. Because of this habit, Muslims are
less aware of the schemes of government for minorities including Muslims .There are
different schemes for Madrasah students, which are presented by M.H.R.DThe
83
.
.Madrasah Modernization Scheme, which was launched in 1993-94, has changed into
S.P.Q.E.M
84
and an amount of Rs325 crores are proposed for the scheme as per budget
provision in the XIth Five Year Plan.There are some schemes in Prime Minister’s new 15
Point Programmer for the Welfare of Minorities. Maulana Azad Foundation has
implemented many programs for the benefit of the minorities. The problem is we are busy
in discussing on the blunders of the government and we do not know these schemes and
all. We should be aware and beneficiary of these all schemes.

82
ODL: Opne Distance Learning.
83
M.H.R.D: Ministry of Human Resources Development.
84
S.P.Q.E.M: Scheme for providing Quality Education in Madrasah.

77

7.8 FUNDS SHOULD BE PAID IN PROPER WAYS
The entire world is well aware of the corruptions and loots, which are going on in all over
the world. But, majority of Muslims in India are less aware about the corruptions, which
are going on in Indian Madrasahs. Even some are consciously ignoring this issue. The
Madrasah managements in India are spending the funds and sacred donations in
unnecessary and unbenefited way like conducting unnecessary traditional functions and
ceremonies in which yearly they spend billions of rupees from the donations. Rather than
this Madrasah, management must focus on the educational aids and must focus to use
modern technologies and opportunities in Madrasahs. The huge wakf property in Southern
Assam should be rightly utilized for the empowerment of Muslims education.
7.9 NEED TO HAVE INNOVATIVE INSTRUCTIONAL STRATEGY
A complete revamp is needed in the instructional strategy for the up-gradation of
Madrasah’s syllabi in Assam. It is necessary to switch from the old strategy of teaching
pattern to an updated and modern pattern of teaching. We are getting benefits of modern
updated educational theories in school and universities like this we should innovate like
these theories and modern educational tools in Assam’s Madrasahs. Like we should use
new audiovisual methods, CDs, presentations, documentaries.
7.10 NEED COUNSELING AND GUIDANCE CENTRES
At least one counseling and guidance Centre for Madrasah students should open in each
district at the initiative of the community and government agencies. Counsellors of these
centers can communicate different options available to Madrasah students. Names of
Madrasah pass-outs should also be maintained in the district level employment exchange.
7.11 FOCUS ON MUSLIMS GIRLS ’EDUCATION

78

Nowadays, women are leading in the various fields and making unforgettable history but
a few Muslim women are leading as other religions women because they are not being as
educated as in other religions women. Women are the half part of our society, without
women education we cannot imagine to develop our society .So they need proper education
specially understanding of Islam.There is no proper facility for girls for their education in
Southern Assam Madrasahs, that is why Muslims of Southern Assam should focus on
girls’education, and should provide them opportunities for their higher education too.

79

CONCLUSION
Educational backwardness of any community is a curse for our nation as well as to our own
community. In fact, a large number of Muslims in Assam are poor and illiterate, and
Madrasahs are cherishing religious, social and educational needs of this community .So
here is given summary of researcher’s study.
The first chapter introduces the work to be undertaken. It includes the objectives,
sources of data, methodology as well as the area for the research work.
The second chapter deals with the history of the development of Madrasah system
of education. The chapter starts with the history of Madrasah education in the early Islamic
period. In this period, the efforts were made by the Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) along with
his Shaba’s
85
towards the development of Madrasah system of education in the Arabia.
After the early Islamic Period, the development of Madrasah system of education during
the Umayyad
86
was not better. The Madrasah Education in Assam covers its history right
from the 13century till date. The type of Madrasah system prevailing in the state as well as
their administrative organizations is discussed.
The third chapter deals with the educational system of Madrasah in Assam, and
discusses with the syllabic structure of Madrasah and their management system. In this
chapter, the study deals with the major syllabi of Madrasahs in Sothern Assam, by
discussing on the historical context about the syllabi of Assam Madrasahs. And it discusses
about the role of Madrasah education in empowerment of Southern Assam Muslims .It
spreads a light on the efforts of the government and scholars to modernize Madrasah
education system, by explaining the schemes and contributions of government and other

85
Sahabas: companions of Prophet Muhammad (pbuh).
86
Umayyad: Name of Dynasty.

80

positive efforts from the scholars. Finally, it describes the current system and strategy of
Madrasah syllabi in Southern Assam.
The fourth chapter, the contribution made by different organizations towards the
development of Madrasah education in Assam is discussed. There are two main
organizations working in Assam to govern and run the Madrasahs. One is the "State
Madrasah Education Board, Assam", which is running all the Government Madrasah and
the other is the "All Assam Tanzim- Madaris Qawmiya which is running all the Non-
Government or Qaumi Madrasahs in Assam. The administrative set up and functions of
both the organizations are discussed in this chapter.
In the fifth chapter, analysis of data has been made. The researcher collected the
data related to various aspects of the Madrasahs especially located in the Barak Valley
Region.Government and Non-Government Madrasahs have been studied separately. The
following aspects have been covered in the analysis of data: a) Establishment of Madrasah
and its location; b) Infrastructural facilities; c) Curriculum; d) Medium of instruction; e)
Annual Income of Madrasahs; f) Annual Expenditure of Madrasahs; g) Madrasah Staff; g)
Administration of Madrasahs. After the analysis, it was found that Assam has a
comprehensive system of Madrasah education. The Madrasah system started since long
time and has been continuing till today. The Government Madrasahs are financially more
stable as compared to private Madrasahs, though the teachers' commitment and devotions
are more in private Madrasahs. However, both are contributing a lot towards the
development of Madrasah education in Southern Assam.
The sixth chapter deals with the findings and the suggestions related to the
Madrasah education in Assam and especially to the Barak Valley Region.
The seventh and final chapter deals with some solutions given by researcher
himself, for example: Introduction of vocational trainings in Indian Madrasahs, need to

81

link Assam Madrasahs to the general stream, and need of innovative instructional strategy
etc.
However, the researcher feels an urgent need to address these issues with long term
planning that must devise syllabi for Madrasah that educate students in the great heritage
of Islam, the modern exegesis of the Qur'an, the modern periods approaches to Islam and
its objective reasons, modern methods of propaganda, media techniques, the biography of
the Prophet (pbuh) and its applications in the modern times along with the scientific and
material developments which is the off shoot of the Islamic study of the signs of God in
the physical world.And the solutions and suggestions which were given by researcher
should be considered to enhance Madrasah education in Southern Assam. In short the
content of Islamic education must be moved in a systematic way from subject to discipline .
Madrasahs students and young generation of Islam do try to look down these all modern
opportunities because some scholars and preachers of Islam admonished them all that
taking advantages of like these tools is enough sin, and that will lead them to hell et. To
drive out this darkness, we have to step forward with the modern world by taking
advantages of new updated syllabi and updated education system in the accepted pattern
of Islam. Especially in Southern Assam Madrasah education need to be reformed. It is the
opinion I hace cultivated after visiting various Madrasahs. The usage of modern updated
syllabi, opportunities and technologies will help Madrasah students to understand the
whole contemporary world and also help them to express their own new thoughts and real
teachings of Islam in front of the world. If modern education will be provided to Madrasah
students, they can easily face contemporary world .And also researcher recommends to
open opportunities for higher education for girls since it is an urgent necessity of today.

82

BIBLIOGRAPHY
Al-Aman A.Q .(2005). Development of Madrasah in Assam. Department of Information
and Public Relation.Government of Assam. Dispur. Volume-II, B.

Arshad Alam. (2015). Modernity and Madrasa. express newspaper.
Assam Report (2017). Markab. Government of Assam.
Akhtarul Wissey. (1979).Islam and The Modem Age. Zakir Hussain Institute of Islamic
Studies. Jamia Nagar. New Delhi. Vol-V. XI.

Attas-Al S.N. (1979). Aims and Objectives of Islamic Education. King Abdul Aziz University.
Jeddah.
Bandyo payday. (2000).Madrasah Education and The Condition of Indian
Muslims.Economic and Political Weekly. Vol.37.

Barua B.K. (1986). Cultural History of Assam. Bina Library. Guwahati.
Baruah Jatin. (1973).Parambhik Shiksha Tatta. Guwahati: Guwahati Lowers Book Stall.

Bazlur Rahman Khan, (2012) Madrasah Education in Assam South, The Milli Gazetee.
Bhuiyan S.K. (1983). History of Assam.K .F Trust. Delhi,

Choudhury.A Q. Suhail Ahmed, (2008). Development of Madrasah Education in Assam
since independence with special reference to Barak valley region. Aligarh Muslim
University.

Devi Renu. (1978).Education in Assam During 19 Century. Bani Prakash, Guwahati.
Dr. Muhammad basheer k (2013). Future of Indian Madrasah in the globalized world
January. D.K.F Trust. Delhi.
Dutta. Promatha Nat. (1986). Glimpses into the History of Assam, Dutta and Sons, Shillong,
Meghalaya.

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Indian Education Report. (1964-66). Government of India. New Delhi.

J.S .Rajput. (2004).Encyclopedia of Indian Education.NCERT. New Delhi. Vol.8.
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Journal of Humanities and Social Science (2014). (IOSR-JHSS) Volume 19. Issue 1. Ver.
XI. PP 96-100 e-ISSN: 2279-0837.

Kaur, Kuldip.Madrasa Education in India.Encyclopedia of Indian Education.2004. Vol-II.
National Council of Educational Research and Training. New Delhi. p. 1035.

MC Henry.E.J .Brill. Encyclopedia of Islam. (1993). Vol.23. Academic Leiden. the Netherland.
Mazumder.A.H.(2005). Madrasa Education; An Overview.New Honzo M Kamaluddin Ahmed.
Humanity Foundation. Silchar.

Maryam Renaud. (2018),What are Madrasahs schools and what skills do they impart. express
newspaper.
Muhammadullah Khalili Qasmi. (2005). Madrasah education problems and Prospects.
Nasrullah Tahir dagar. (2018).Madrasah Reforms problems and Prospects.NDU Journal.
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National Policy on Education. Government of India, Ministry of Human Resource Development.
Department of Education.May 31. 2019. New Delhi.
The New Encyclopaedia Britannica. (1989) Vol.7. Micropaedic. Encyclopedia Britannica In.
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system? My India blogg.

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Saxena.N.C. (1983). Public Employment and Educational Backwardness of Muslims in
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Newspaper. The Hindu. March 3.

85

APPENDIXES
APPENDIX-1
Some glossaries which have been mentioned throughout the thesis
Madrasah : School
Adab : Literature.
A’lim : A Muslim divine, a learned man.
Balagha : Rhetoric.
Fiqh : Jurisprudence.
Hadith :Saying or reported action of the Prophet (pbuh)
Hafiz : One who memorizes the Holy Quran by heart.
Ilm : Knowledge or learning.
Imam : Leader of congregational prayers
Maktab :Elementary school
Majlis-e-Amila :Executive Council
Majlis-e-Muntazima :Administrative Council.
Mantiq :Logic
Maulana :Muslim religious scholar.
Muhtamim : Executive Head of a Madrasah
Mudarris :Teacher
Mufti :A person qualified and authorized to issue an Islamic
Law .
Nisab : Syllabus

86

Nahv : Grammar and Syntax .
Sarf : Analogies
SehahSittah :The Six Canonical Books of Tradition of the Prophet
(pbuh)
Sadquah :Alms giving
Shariat :The laws of Islam comprising rules and regulations
based on the Quran and Hadith.
Tafsir :Exegesis of the Holy Quran.
Zakat :The legal poor tax; the alms tax; one of the five 'pillars'
of Islam.

APPENDIX -2
List of interviewees and questionnaire

S .No NAME DESIGNATION
1. Abul HssainQasim Teacher, Al Mumtaz Badarpur Madrasah
2. Badrul Islam Choudhry Pricipal, JalalpurQawmia Alia Madrasah
3. Ahmed Ali Barbhuiya Ex-president of Jamat-e-Islami Hind, Assam
4. Maulana Shawkat.A Principal, Hailakandi Senior Madrasah
5. Jabir Hussain barbhuiya President SIO AssamSouth, India
6. Maulana Fareed Uddin Muhaddis, Badarpur Title Madrasah
7. BaharUddin Teacher, Badarpur Senior Madrasah
8. DSaifudheen Kunju .S Assistant Professor, GuwahatiUniversity

87

APPENDIX-3
Sructure of the questionnaire
A. General information about the respondent:
B. About the Madrasah:
C. Staff- Teaching/Non-teaching:
D. Infrastructural Facilities:
E. Library:
F. Class Room:
G. Financing Pattern:
H. Modes of Expenditure (in rupees)
I. Objectives:
J. Curriculum:
K. Teaching methodology:
L. Any specific problems of your institution:
M. Your suggestions to eradicate the problems:

APPENDIX-4
Abbreviations
M.I.L : Modern Indian Languages
S.P.Q.E.M : Scheme for Providing Qualitity Education in
Madrasah
A.A..MT.E.A : All Assam Masdrasa Teachers and Empoyees
Association
N.C.E.R.T : Council for Educational Research and Training
F.M : Fazil Marrif

88

M.M. :Mumtazul Muhaddis
N.S.S : Nationation Sevice Scheme

APPENDIX-5
List of visited Madrasahs
S.No. Name of MadrashLocation
1. Darul-Uloom Banskandi Banskandi
2. Medinatul Uloom Baghbari Madrasah Baghbari
3. Jalalpur Qawmiya Aliya Madrasah Jalalpur
4. Kalain Senior Madrasah Kalain
5. Badarpur Title Madrasah Badarpur
6. Badarpur Senior Title Madrasah Badarpur
7. Manikpara Jalilia Quamia Madrasah Patharkandi
8. Asimia Title Madrasah Asimgang
9. M.A. Memorial Pre-Senior Madrasah Tantoo
10. Hilchara Pre-Senior Madrasah Srigauri
11. Zalilia Pre-Senior Madrasah Kalibarivazar
12. Hailakandi Title Madrasah Hailakandi
13. Noorul Uloom Tarapur H.R. Madrasa Tarapur
14. Kotamoni Husainia Quamia Madrasa Kotamoni
15. R.U. Ahamadia Quamia Alia Madrasa Nilambazar

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16. Madrasa Darul Quran Manikpara Patharkandi
17. Baitul Uloom Madrasa Bishwanath

90

Madrasa Education in Southern Assam an Analytical study

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