History and Background of Dars-e-Nizami Curriculum in South Asia

By Kaniz Fatma, New Age Islam 2 May 2023 Madrasas Should Provide Modern Education In Addition To Dars-e-Nizami Main Points 1. Dars-e-Nizami is a 350-year-old curriculum used by Madrasas for Arabic and Islamic studies. 2. Dars-e-Nizami provides students with the knowledge to understand Islamic texts. 3. Mulla Nizamuddin, founder of Dars-e-Nizami, was the third son of Mullah Qutbuddin, an expert in theological and rational sciences. 4. Mulla Nizamuddin Farangi taught, wrote, compiled, preached, and reformed in "Farangi Mahal" for the rest of his life, inspiring thousands of teachers, academics, researchers, writers, preachers, and reformers. 5. The Dars-e-Nizami curriculum had 43 books assigned for 11 disciplines, including 20 books on rational sciences, 14 books on linguistics, and 9 books on purely religious topics. 6. Sectarian disagreements have largely caused changes in the curriculum between Barelvi and Deobandi Madrasas. 7. Madrasas should provide modern education in addition to Dars-e-Nizami. ------ Dars-e-Nizami is a popular term in the religious, academic, teaching and educational systems of South Asia. One must complete this curriculum in order to become an Aalim or Faazil and wear the Dastar, turban, and Jubba of Aalimiyyat and Fazeelat courses. Dars-e-Nizami is reputed to provide a comprehensive education in Arabic and Islamic sciences, including Tafsir, Hadith, Usul-e-Tafsir, Usul-e-Hadith, Arabic rhetoric and literature. Thousands of Madrasas and Islamic colleges in South Asia still use this curriculum as the gold standard today; even though it has been around for 350 years and frequently only minor changes have been made on the basis of sectarian affiliation. Throughout these centuries, notable ulama, nobility, and great thinkers have admired the various branches of this curriculum. Dars-e-Nizami, to put it simply, is a unique system of learning that requires students to begin their studies with a number of books that provide them with the foundational information for every significant religious science and area of study. This curriculum's strength is that, upon completion, students acquire the knowledge necessary to comprehend texts from a wide range of Islamic disciplines, sciences, and subjects. In particular, if systematic learning is maintained with care, there is no need to struggle with the problematic classical nature of Arabic. Formation of Dars-e-Nizami Curriculum It is recognized that Dars-e-Nizami was named so on the name of Allama Nizamuddin Muhammad Farangi Mahalli. But in reality, Mulla Qutbuddin Shaheed, the father of Mulla Nizamuddin, was where this curriculum got its root. Mulla Shaheed developed a unique teaching strategy. He used to assign one book from the best collection on each subject, which encouraged his students to become experts and researchers. Later, his son Mulla Nizamuddin added more books on every subject. He used to educate brilliant students with just one book, while he used to teach common students two books on each subject. Only the books and topics chosen by Mulla Nizamuddin are referred to as "Dars-e-Nizami" in the modern period. Before beginning this curriculum, students had to understand a few fundamentals by the age of 10 or 11. The students used to complete their degrees under Mulla Nizamuddin's tutelage at the Farangi Mahal in five or six years. Thus, a typical student began donning the Fazeelat Dastaar between the ages of 16 and 18. Introducing the founder of Dars-e-Nizami Mulla Nizamuddin, the founder of Dars-e-Nizami, was the third son of Mullah Qutbuddin, an unparalleled scholar of rationality and textual knowledge of his time. He was the third son of Shaheed Sahalvi. Mulla Qutbuddin's academic ability and religious services also impressed the King of India, Aurangzeb Alamgir. Mulla Qutbuddin was once in his native town of Sahali, while imparting the knowledge of Prophetic knowledge to the students, when some miscreants attacked him and killed him brutally and set the house on fire. After this incident, his family migrated from Sahali. Arrival to Farangi Mahal The family of Mullah Shaheed received an unoccupied home in the Lucknow suburb of "Haweli Farangi" from the ruling class of the time. "Farangi Mahal" is another name for this residence. Mulla Nizamuddin arrived in the Haweli Farangi at the age of 14 after leaving his home town. Mulla Nizamuddin got both external and spiritual knowledge of Islam. He received a fundamental religious upbringing from his father. When he got to Haweli, he sought out the eminent and knowledgeable scholars of the time for additional education and read their textbooks. After earning a degree in theology and logic, he was granted the honour of swearing allegiance to the hand of the revered saint and great preceptor of the Qadiri Sufi chain, Syed Abdul Razzaq Banswi (may God have mercy on him). He then explored additional spiritual knowledge while following the Sufi path. Farangi Mahal Madrasa Mulla Nizamuddin Farangi continued to teach, write, compile, preach, and reform in "Farangi Mahal" for the rest of his life after completing the sciences and the arts. He introduced and taught his assigned curriculum here. His teaching was so well accepted that his disciples began to arise all throughout the Indian subcontinent. The majority of the South Asian nations were exposed to the knowledge and instruction that Farangi Mahal provided through him and his students. This one educational institution in India produced thousands of teachers, academics, researchers, writers, preachers, and reformers who made significant contributions to academia throughout history. The Initial Content of the Dars-e-Nizami Curriculum Mulla Nizamuddin included about 11 art books in his curriculum. Since Quran and Hadith are the basis of all religious requirements, learning the Arabic language is mandatory for them. Hanafi law predominated in the nation at the time, and Persian served as both the official language and the court language. In addition to these, the curriculum also included a wide range of other topics, such as philosophy, wisdom, mathematics, logic, and theology. As a result, it was a thorough curriculum that addressed the national and religious requirements of the day. This curriculum had 43 books that were assigned to 11 different disciplines. There were 20 books on the rational sciences, including five books of mathematics, three books of wisdom, four books of theology, and eight books of logic. Seven of the fourteen linguistics books dealt with al-Saraf, five with Arabic grammar, and two with rhetoric. However, out of the nine books that make up Ulum-e-Aaliyya, or exclusively religious topics, only two books on Fiqh, four books on Usul-e-Fiqh, two books on Tafsir, and one book on hadith were included. The curriculum has changed somewhat over the course of several eras. On the Indian subcontinent, this curriculum is largely the same in Barelvi and Deobandi Madrasas. The sectarian disagreements are mostly to blame for any changes that have occurred between the two groups. Given that several Madrasas have begun to update their curricula, they intend to provide secular education in addition to the Dars-e-Nizami. If modern education were to be offered to Madrasa students in addition to the Dars-e-Nizami, this would be to their great advantage. ----- Kaniz Fatma is a classic Islamic scholar and a regular columnist for New Age Islam. URL: https://newageislam.com/islamic-society/history-dars-nizami-curriculum-south-asia/d/129683 New Age Islam, Islam Online, Islamic Website, African Muslim News, Arab World News, South Asia News, Indian Muslim News, World Muslim News, Women in Islam, Islamic Feminism, Arab Women, Women In Arab, Islamophobia in America, Muslim Women in West, Islam Women and Feminism