HYDERABAD: Schools offering mainstream education along with Deeniyat courses — Islamic values — are finding more takers for it among the Muslim community in the city. Parents feel their children should be perfect both in academic and religious values so that they could become good human beings. Deeniyat courses promote kindness, charity and other values of Islam.
“Parents demand Islamic and modern education under one roof. Otherwise, they need to arrange a separate tutor for religious education at home. This is time-consuming and costly,” said Fazl-ur-Rahman Khurram, president of the Telangana Federation of Private School Management. Close to 3,000 schools in Hyderabad are run by the minority community. “Almost 70 per cent of them offer Deeniyat courses. Interestingly, the demand is increasing. The courses vary from class to class and no separate fee is charged,” said Taher Faraz, an academician.
Mr Syed Fayaz, a parent, said that he wanted his children to study both modern and religious education at one place. The courses are designed by religious scholars taking into account the age and needs of students. Basic principles of Islam are taught at the primary-level. Ms Ayesha Rubeena, director of Salar-e-Millat Education Trust, which has introduced the syllabus in its schools, said that their syllabus was designed by a scholar of the Jamia Nizamia seminary.
By the time the students complete the studies, they will be well-versed with the Hadith (sayings of Prophet Muhammad), Arabic language and the Quran,” she said. At the schools, where children from other communities study, Deeniyat students are segregated for one period. “Other students are imparted classes on moral science or are taught other activities of their choice,” said Mohammed Misbahuddin, director of Progress Group of Institutions. “We do not force it on anyone,” he emphasised.
Hifz course is catching on:
A handful of schools in the city are now imparting ‘hifz’ — memorisation of Quran — course that was earlier done by madrasas. The Madina Islamic Mission School is offering the hifz course along with modern education. “It all depends on the learning capacity of the student. Generally, we start the course from the second standard. By the time a student leaves the school, he is already a hafiz,” said Maulana Hassaan Farooqui, director of the school. The school also has a dress code – where boys have to wear a skull cap and girls should wear a scarf. The Minhaj-ul-Quran School also offers this facility. A few schools in Tolichowki, Shaikpet and Mehdipatnam also offer the hifz course along with modern education.
