Bringing up Daughters

Selecting Educational Institutes for our Daughters

Umm Milad Attarriyyah

An educational institute is a place where people of varying ages learn. The purpose of educational institutes is to improve the character of people, make them adhere to good morals and adopt modesty. From amongst educational institutes, those which teach Islamic knowledge are distinguished as they play a role in transmitting sacred knowledge. On the other hand, gaining worldly knowledge is necessary and beneficial from the perspective of it being a means for a person to carry out worldly affairs in the best manner.

Just as it is the job of Islamic institutes to disseminate knowledge, it is also their fundamental responsibility to fulfil the requirements of knowledge and train seekers of knowledge. If knowledge of the noble Quran and sacred Sunnah is taught in an Islamic institute, but the students are not taught to be practicing, sincere and avoid ostentation, then know that such an institute is not fulfilling its responsibilities. Likewise, those institutes that provide worldly knowledge to people, where students are taught social and civil disciplines as well as the natural sciences, it is also their responsibility to make students aware of the basic teachings of the holy Quran and noble Sunnah necessary for a Muslim.

If a person possesses worldly knowledge and Islamic knowledge, but instead of fulfilling the requirements of knowledge, he adopts the wrong path, and falls prey to arrogance, ostentation and vanity, then such an institute cannot be deemed a model institute in any way. Just as it is the responsibility of a model educational institute to impart good character to people, it is also its duty to invite them towards modesty and guide them in this regard. If we study the holy Quran and sacred Sunnah from the angle of modesty and bashfulness, we come to realise that Allah Almighty loves the quality of modesty.

It is not difficult to understand the importance of modesty, but unfortunately, even though education is being provided to some extent in the institutes in our society, many are falling far short in the matter of training. It is necessary to focus on this. In the name of extracurricular activities, immodest acts are occurring in educational institutes; sometimes in the name of music, and fashion, dance parties have ended the difference between teachers and students. In some places, thousands are being spent in the name of music every month and dancing is taking place in the name of talent expos. We label this progress, but a question which arises here is that has an expert ever claimed that organising such concerts will cause your country to advance?

It is of great importance that a good educational institute be selected during a person’s student life, and when it comes to daughters, parents must be even more cautious. This is because a daughter will only be able to raise the next generation in a good manner if she has received such training herself. Childhood is like a blank slate; anything which is written on it will become imprinted on it. If a daughter is given a proper upbringing in the first part of life, she can properly take care of future generations.

Remember, it is an individual obligation (farḍ Ꜥayn) on every sane and mature man and woman to know the rulings relating to their current state. Similarly, it is obligatory upon everyone to learn the rulings regarding the lawful and unlawful. Learning rulings relating to the attributes of the heart and how to acquire them and spiritual diseases and their cures, is also an important obligation on every Muslim. Additionally, it is obligatory to learn necessary knowledge about destructive matters so that one can avoid these sins. (For more details, refer to al-Fatāwā al-Riḍawiyyah, volume 23, pp. 623 – 624).

Unfortunately, there is a large number of Muslims who are unaware of obligatory knowledge. The current system of modern schools, colleges and universities is empty of obligatory Islamic knowledge, and the un-Islamic environment there drives the next generation of Muslims towards corruption rather than reformation. After entering such institutes of modern education, young men and women are losing their Muslims identities. In modern educational institutes it is considered necessary to adopt the clothing of non-Muslims in the name of uniform, as though it is impossible to gain modern education without such uniform.

Similarly, contrary to the Islamic teaching of saying “اَلسَّلَامُ عَلَیْکُمْ”, it is considered a sign of being educated for a person to say hello, bye, good morning, good afternoon, etc. The immodesty and improper dress-code found within well-known institutes of modern education in the name of uniform and refinement, is no fault of modern sciences and disciplines. Rather, it is utter folly that Muslims have gone so far in imitating non-Muslims that they have forgotten the noble Sunnah, considering it a source of pride and good fortune to adopt their fashions and clothing.

Modern sciences and branches of knowledge can still be acquired whilst adorned in Sunnah-inspired Islamic clothing. Just as our great Muslim thinkers and scientists, whilst adhering to Islamic culture, made such significant contributions to various fields that their work is still considered to be the basis of many modern disciplines. Worldly knowledge today is neither bad or defective, in fact, without it, society would face many problems. The disagreement is with the methodology, as abandoning the Islamic way and adopting the way of others whilst considering it a necessary part of this education leads to immodesty spreading in society, rather than education.

Modern learning and teaching are still possible whilst applying the framework of Islamic principles; it is not necessary to imitate others in this regard. This is why parents must consider all of these matters when selecting an educational institute for their daughters, lest improper dress is being promoted under the guise of uniform, and immodesty and indecency is being spread in the name of progress and modernity, for the fame of a chosen institute. This is our responsibility.

Unfortunately, people today are apathetic when it comes to Islamic matters. Dawat-e-Islami is very active in changing this notion. There was a need for an educational institute to provide a beautiful synthesis of Islamic and worldly education that would not only produce honourable Muslims but also provide students with professional education that would allow them to become self-sustained, high-achieving members of society. Under the auspices of the renowned spiritual guide and leader of Ahl al-Sunnah, Mawlana Muhammad Ilyas Attar al-Qadiri دَامَـتْ بَـرَكَـاتُـهُـمُ الْـعَـالِـيَـهْ, a very important department by the name of Dar al-Madinah was established.

The Dar al-Madinah Islamic schooling system was formed to provide basic Islamic education as well as modern learning to the children of the ummah. This is the only school of its type where children of pre-nursery age remain in the company of scholars. The primary goal of Dar al-Madinah is to provide upcoming generations of the ummah with Islamic and worldly education whilst moulding them according to the Sunnah.

The syllabus of Dar al-Madinah:

· A modern and Shariah-compliant syllabus that has been verified by Dar al-Ifta Ahl-e-Sunnat

· A complete course of obligatory knowledge

· Religious and ethical training

· Courses to master Arabic, Urdu and English

· Three-year Dars-e-Nizami course

· Memorisation of the holy Quran

· Islamic finance

· Social studies

· Computer studies

· Information security

· History

· General science

· Physics

· Chemistry

· Biology

· Environmental studies

· Arithmetic

· Arts

· Home economics.

It is the wish of Mawlana Muhammad Ilyas Attar al-Qadiri دَامَـتْ بَـرَكَـاتُـهُـمُ الْـعَـالِـيَـهْ that the teachers of Dar al-Madinah are practicing, Madani scholars. اَلْـحَمْـدُ لـِلّٰـه, alongside capable Madani scholars, reliable teaching staff are also working in Dar al-Madinah.