Education

Educating the community: Some inspiring news and some random thoughts

Posted by

0

A group of Ulema from the Indian State of Jharkhand have appealed to Muslims to solemnize marriages with simplicity. They have decided not to officiate marriages with baraat (often the big group of people who accompany bridegroom to the bride’s house for marriage) or unnecessary extravaganza. It is indeed a welcome decision.

Anyway, many were already forced to drastically cut down on marriage related celebrations due to lockdown. Billions of rupees are spent every year on marriages. Not all expenses are unnecessary, but a huge part of the expenses fall in the category of unnecessary.

A similar report about Meerut city in the Indian State of Uttar Pradesh estimates that around 60000 nikah have taken place in Uttar Pradesh alone during lockdown. The report also mentioned about how marriages were done with less than 10 to 15 people from both the sides. The news report also mentions as to how the simplicity in marriage ceremonies is helping families save significant amount of money. In fact, some people have mentioned that if not for the forced simplicity due to lockdown they would have taken loan to perform marriage with all the required extravaganza due to social pressure. I was just making some rough calculations. Imagine each person saving rupees one lakh due to reduced expenses. This is a very conservative estimate. 60000 marriages saving one lakh each amount to massive 600 crore. This is the saving only during the lockdown period and only from one state. Even if we take this as amount saved in a whole year still it is a huge amount. Let us assume that 75% of this saved amount is used by the family and 25% is used on education of the community. That would still be 150 crores. Assuming that it requires around 2 crore rupees to start a new school, this amount of money is enough to open 75 schools every year. It would not take more than 10 years to transform the education map of Muslims in Uttar Pradesh.   It is high time that the community starts thinking along these lines.

It reminded me of a silent movement already going on in the Muslim community on the need to save money on marriage and cut down on multiple umrah and instead use the money on educating the children of the community. A Faizur Rahman of Harmony India and Prof. Aslam Parvaiz, Vice Chancellor of Maulana Azad Urdu University, Hyderabad, India have calculated the amount of money spent by Rich Indian Muslims every year on Umrah. Their rough estimate shows that the money spent on Umrah just for one year can fund the education of 3 lakh kids for 18 years. They are not asking people not to go on Umrah, they are simply asking them not to go every year as many rich Muslims are doing and rather spend the money on the betterment of the community.

I would finish by taking excerpts from an article by Maulana Hafizur Rahman Azami Omeri where he has quoted Imam Ghazali on such practices. “These rich people are very fond of spending their money on the Hajj. They perform the Hajj again and again sometimes even at the cost of their neighbours suffering in hunger”.

For reference and further reading, see:

Aas Mohammad Kaif Twocircles.net (30 May 2020) लॉकडाऊन में इस्लामि कैसे बन गए निकाह के तौर-तरीक़े ! Twocircles.net. Available at: http://twocircles.net/2020may30/437185.html. Accessed on 4 June 2020.

News 18 Urdu (3 June 2020) جھارکھنڈ کے علمائےکرام کا بڑا فیصلہ، شادی میں دھوم دھام اور فضول خرچی

ہوئی تو نکاح نہیں پڑھائیں گے جھارکھنڈ کے علمائےکرام کا اعلان

Available at: https://urdu.news18.com/news/nation/big-decisions-of-religious-leaders-of-jharkhand-for-the-efforts-of-social-reform-nau-ns-305484.html. Accessed on 6 June 2020.

Maulana Hafizur Rahman Azami Omeri (25 May 2012) Multiple Hajj and Umrahs are not a priority in Islam. Twocirlces.net. Available at: http://twocircles.net/2012may25/multiple_hajj_and_umrahs_are_not_priority_islam.html. Accessed on 20 May 2020.

Rasheed Kidwai (24 March 2019) ‘Rich Muslims’ expense on Umrah, marriage can teach 3 lakh poor Muslim kids for 18 yrs’. The Print. Available at: https://theprint.in/opinion/rich-muslims-expense-on-umrah-marriage-can-teach-3-lakh-poor-muslim-kids-for-18-yrs/210834/. Accessed on 27 December 2019.

Most dangerous ways to school

Posted by

6

Author: Mohsin Aziz

While browsing internet one day my wife stumbled upon a documentary series called “Most dangerous ways to school”. It was out of curiosity that we decided to give it a try. We all started a bit apprehensive as documentaries are usually too much detailed and often boring unless one is interested in the topic. Surprisingly, it turned out to be one of the most meaningful and beautiful documentaries that we have seen recently. By the end of the documentary we realized that there is a whole series covering different isolated communities from around the world. So far, we have seen quite a few and to say that the series is amazing and has been a huge learning experience would be an understatement. It exposes one to the different cultures and traditions and the diversity of living conditions from around the world. The series really makes one realize how blessed one is. To see that simple things in life that most of us take for granted are luxuries and beyond the reach of so many around us was a truly humbling experience. While during lockdown many of us are always complaining about the favourite ice cream flavour not being available, the series brings us the stark reality of so many of us around the world who survive on so little and are still happy. Despite their crushing poverty, they have the desire to succeed and are able to celebrate life whenever they can with whatever little they have.  The series gives us a peek into the lives of the people living in remote parts of the world. The series also brings with all force the sacrifices that so many families are making so that their children can study and live a better life than themselves. It also brings to fore the perseverance of the kids, often less than 10 years of age, in the face of adversity. The whole series is a great education for kids to know and learn about different countries and cultures. They are not only fun to watch for kids; they are virtual geography class without the often-boring lectures.

Photo by Francesco Ungaro on Pexels.com

For the kids braving the difficult terrain to reach school, they learn to work as team and help each other on the way. I believe they learn more on the way to school then inside the school. When they grow up most of them would be much better team workers and leaders than their school peers who come from privileged backgrounds. The series highlights what difficulties and adversities families and children are ready to face to get education in the hope of a better future. For most of us, getting to school is boring routine affair. For many it can be life threatening journey. Quintus Media’s series entitles ‘The most dangerous ways to school’ highlights just that.  The series is produced by Maximum Films. It shows the struggle of kids to reach school living in remote communities from around the world. One the one hand is spectacular natural beauty while on the other hand is the life-threatening danger that the environment poses to the kids on their way to school. Still its gratifying to see young children battling all odds to reach school. The way to school lies precariously balanced between the surviving the elements and their hunger and thirst for knowledge. From kids in Nepal and Columbia using zip lines to cross rivers and gorges to kids in Peru navigating snake infested jungles to small kids in Nicaragua crossing river on their own to kids in Siberia going to school on horseback early morning in -50 degree Celsius to kids in Papua New Guinea walking in jungle for 7 days or Ladakh for 4 days in -40 degrees so that they can get admission in school is fabulous. Most of the families are so poor that they cannot even afford shoes for their children. What is striking about these amazing kids is that before walking 2 to 3 hours to reach school every day they also help their parents in fields. It is worth watching. Go watch with your kids. They will learn so much more about life.