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Report by ASIF ANSARI.
MUMBAI TIMES: Abu Talha Ansari's joy knew no bounds when he secured 83.40 percent in SSC, results of which were announced on Friday. But there is another reason for him to be overjoyed. He has completed his 'hafiz' course (memorization of the Quran) too.
Ansari is among 22 huffaz (plural of hafiz) or hafiz from Malvani (Malad)-based Jamia Tajveedul Quran Madrassa and Noor Meher Urdu School, run from the same building, who have cleared the SSC exam this year.
"Out of 22 huffaz who took the SSC exam this year, 14 passed with distinction while 8 have got above 60 percent marks. We are glad our students have done so well," says the school-madrassa founder Syed Ali.
Many people use their additional home as "holiday home" or rent out to earn extra money. But Ali, popular as Ali bhai, a businessman, turned his Malad bungalow into an educational institution. Beginning in 2000, the school and madrassa, produced its first batch of SSC pass outs with 13 hafiz in 2011. In the last one decade it has produced 97 hafiz who also cleared SSC and many of whom have gone for higher studies or are working.
A couple of our hafiz are now engineers, doctors and pharmacists. They have joined the mainstream job market and earning respectable salaries," says Ali Bhai.
The debate to modernise madrassa education is old one. Most madrassas are reluctant to introduce modern subjects like science and maths in their curricula as they fear it will dilute the education of religious subjects. However, experiment done by Ali Bhai, with currently by teachers at the school and 9 for the madrassa, shows a way forward. "This can be replicated at many madrassas in the country. Education of religious subjects is not disturbed at all while modern subjects are taught," says career counsellor Shaikh Akhlaq Ahmed who had initially helped the founder with guidance and counselling of students.
This year, says Hafiz Aijaz, a teacher and supervisor at the Malad institution, was really tough. "For eight months, students were taught online due to lockdown. They attended offline classes only for four months but we made them work hard," says Hafiz Aijaz.