Professionals who spent time in madrasas as children are working to clarify misconceptions about them.

For many years, madrasa education has been criticized. Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma has stated that the term "madrasa" should be abolished and that madrasas should provide "modern education." He further stated that if pupils were told that madrasa students would not be able to become doctors or engineers, they would not attend.

Students who spent their early or formative years in madrasas, on the other hand, disagree with this assertion. Indianexpress.com spoke with a few students who had attended madrasas and are well-established in their chosen professions.

Why do students choose to study in a madrasa?

Many Muslim children choose to attend a madrasa throughout their early years of education. The financial factors, according to Fazal Ilahi, a software developer. "I believe that one of the main reasons why students from financially disadvantaged households choose to study at madrasas is because they provide free education," he stated.

Families also send their children to madrasas to ensure they do not miss out on religious education, according to Arif*, a 30-year-old man who attended a madrasa for 11 years. "In madrasa, I learned about the Quran and how to offer namaz and other things like that. The primary goal is to ensure that we are aware of our faith, community, and culture. I was never informed that I wasn't an Indian, but I was reminded that I needed to remember the values of my culture. My buddies were in the same situation; some came because they were from disadvantaged families, while others came to learn about our culture," he explained.

What about engineers and doctors?

Many people feel that madrasas simply teach youngsters about Islam and that they do not prepare pupils for a successful and stable profession.

"A madrasa in Arabic means 'a school where you go to study,'" explained Khalid MM, a senior linguist with Bengaluru-based Lionbridge Technologies. "So youngsters that attend a madrasa go there to learn, and it is not just about religion, but also about other fundamental principles."

Mohamed Abdullah, a former student of Jamia Khairathul Islam Arabic College in Tamil Nadu, gave an example, saying that after Class 12, he attended the madrasa full-time. "I was pursuing a B Com and eventually an M Com degree at Jamia Khairathul Islam Arabic College during my time there."

My academic degrees were unaffected by my experience in the madrasa. In reality, every Sunday, a professor would come to teach us the university degree syllabus." Abdullah works for a software firm as a project coordinator.

According to Ilahi, full-time madrasas teach religious courses in the morning and secular subjects in the evening after a break. "Mathematics, English, a local language, and two other topics are among them. It is also mandatory for full-time madrasa students to take the Class 10 board exams. After that, it is up to the students to decide whether or not to continue their studies and enroll in higher education," he stated.

He ridiculed the concept that madrasas only teach religious subjects as a hoax. "They have a better understanding of how the world works now, and they understand that we cannot survive in this society without earning money and that everyone requires money." So they educate us on secular courses as well to help us earn a living," he explained.

"Some students may not have the capacity to learn the secular subjects being taught," Mohamed Abdullah, another former madrasa student, remarked when asked why not all madrasa students chose mainstream job alternatives. Some of them, on the other hand, maybe able to grasp Arabic more quickly. Such students go on to become translators and interpreters, working with clients from Dubai, Saudi Arabia, and other countries. So they haven't failed; they've simply picked a vocation that isn't as well-known as a doctor's or engineer's."

Shahid T Kamath, a civil servant, too studied in a madrasa for a significant portion of his academic career. After finishing Class 5, he enrolled in a madrasa and studied there for the following 12 years. While madrasas were not particularly "modern" at the time, he is now pleased to see that many madrasas are now delivering "modern education." He made the decision to show that someone from a madrasa can work in the mainstream. "As a result, I decided to pursue government positions and began studying for the UPSC exam," he explained. In his spare time, he stated, his madrasa urged him to study for entrance examinations.