Hyderabad madrasas magnets for students from North

Hyderabad: Islamic seminaries, or Madrasas in Urdu, offering religious and basic modern education in the city are attracting thousands of students from north and central India for their quality education.

In all, close to 1.5 lakh students are studying in some  1,200 madrasas in the state, with around 12,000 new enrolments every year. In the city alone, there are around 300 madrasas.

What draws students from hundreds of miles away to the city madrasas? “Quality Islamic education is one of the main factors. The other reason is, the teachers here also come from other states and parents feel the environment is secure,” said Maulana Khalid Saifullah Rahmani, general secretary, Deeni Taleemi Board.

He says only qualified mufti, alim, hafiz from reputed Islamic seminaries, or those who have completed B.A or M.A (Arabic or Urdu) in local universities, are engaged at the institutions. “Guest speakers from reputed institutions offering Islamic education are also invited to interact with the students,” Maulana Rahmani says. A few institutions also conduct classes in modern education as well, he adds.

Interestingly, only boys from Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Jharkhand, Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh study at the institutions here. “It is so because only a few madrasas are open to girls, as their security is always an issue. Also, only locals send their daughters to the madrasas,” said Maulana Mohd. Kaleemuddin Hassan of Madrasa Babul ul Uloom in Falaknuma.    

Mufti Mastan Ali, rector, Jamiat ul Mominath, a madrasa in Moghalpura, says that there is little access for the children to modern or religious education in the backward districts of UP, Bihar, MP, Jharkhand and West Bengal. 

“Here, from food to accommodation, everything is free and parents are not financially burdened. The madrasas run through donations made by the affluent,” he said.