"Hyderabad Ke Dini Madaris Mai Sunni Ladkiyon Ki Talim-o-Tarbiyat"
(‘The Education and Training of Sunni Muslim Girls in Hyderabad’s Religious Schools’)
Author: Asma Arif Ali.
unpublished manuscript
Henry Martyn Institute, Hyderabad, 2002.

Reviewed by: Yoginder Sikand

This study documents the history of girls’ madrasas in Hyderabad city. It begins with a brief overview of girls’ religious education in Hyderabad city under the Nizams, showing how the Muslim nobility patronized religious schools located in mosques, Sufi lodges and madrasas. It points out that the institution of girls’ religious schools in Hyderabad is a novel one, the first such school, the Madrasa Aisha ul-Niswan, having been established as recently as 1986. In the pre-1947 period, religious education for girls, generally from economically better-off families, was provided in Sufi lodges and the homes of the nobles, generally by female teachers or ustanis. This sort of education was informal and was largely restricted to basic religious instruction, and did not aim, as is the case today, to train ‘alimas and fazilas, women with an expertise in religious disciplines. Although from the early twentieth century onwards the Nizam and members of Hyderabad’s nobility began establishing some girls’ schools wherein secular as well as religious subjects were taught, they were not, strictly speaking, religious madrasas. Rather, they focused particularly on secular subjects, although Islam was taught as a subject as well.

In Hyderabad today, Ali writes, there are almost 50 girls’ madrasas, some of them being residential. Most of them have been established in the last 20-25 years and are, broadly, of three types. Firstly, those that conform to the traditional dars-i nizami curriculum without any changes. Secondly, those that follow the dars-i nizami but with minor modifications. Thirdly, madrasas that have developed a new curriculum, incorporating English, computers and arts and crafts, in addition to standard religious subjects. A common feature of all these madrasas is the stress on moral training, character building and appropriate Islamic etiquette. Strict pardah is enjoined for all students. Students are also encouraged to participate in some extra-curricular activities, including debates, writing for their madrasa’s magazines, reciting the Qur’an and poems in praise of the Prophet and delivering lectures on religious and social issues. In contrast to other schools, these madrasas, Ali says, do not ‘encourage aggressive competition among the students’. Rather, she contends, they train them to ‘cooperate with and help each other’. As Ali sees it, they madrasas serve a crucial role in protecting and strengthening Muslim identity from the threats of Westernisation, materialism and consumerism.

Ali writes that today in Hyderabad there is a rapidly growing demand for such girls’ madrasas, especially those that also teach some ‘modern’ subjects. Some of these madrasas have adjusted their syllabus in such a way as to enable their students to join regular schools after the tenth grade. Several girls who have graduated from these madrasas have gone on to take admission in regular schools and perform well. Because religious instruction is their primary focus, many Muslims see them as providing an appropriate sort of education for their girls. Yet, Ali says, there is considerable room for improvement. The level of English in madrasas that teach the subject is quite low. None of the madrasas that Ali surveyed teaches Hindi or the state language, Telugu. Ali suggests that the teaching of English be improved, that basic Hindi and Telugu be introduced in the curriculum and that madrasas explore the possibility of working together with open universities to enable their students and teachers to take various other courses as well.