Madrassahs
Sufi Islam is usually eclectic and tolerant towards other faiths. Sufi shrines and the countless variations in celebrating the local saints lend a truly Indian color to the Muslim practices in the sub-continent. However, the orthodox Sunni Islam has a strong tendency to build up an "ideological edifice" on the foundation of puritanical and literalist Islam which imposes a uniformity of belief and practice through the extensive network of traditional schools and colleges.
Deobandis in the contemporary Pakistan constitute the most important Muslim segment which exercises enormous control over the religious seminaries (madaris). Around 65 percent of the madaris belong to this school of thought and are the most militant in their demands for the Pakistani state to become truly Islamic -- as they would define it.
Islamic schools known as madrassahs are traditional institutions for Muslims seeking a purely religious education. In recent years many madrassahs have taught extremist doctrine in support of terrorism. In many rural communities, they are the only form of education available. The principal reasons for the phenomenal growth of the madaris (particularly Deobandi) are funnelling of the funds from Persian Gulf monarchies and particularly from Saudi Arabia. They viewed the turn of Pakistan's politics towards the Left in the late 1960s and the early 1970s with alarm, and supported all kinds of Islamic activities with the aim of strengthening Islamic institutions and ideology as a bulwark against the Left.
In an attempt to curb the spread of extremism, the 2002 Madrassah Registration Ordinance required all madrassahs to register with one of the five independent boards (wafaqs), cease accepting foreign financing, and accept foreign students only with the consent of their government. According to the Interior Ministry, 95 percent of foreign madrassah students had departed by President Musharraf's July 2005 deadline. According to the Religious Affairs Ministry, approximately 11,000 of an estimated 13,000 to 15,000 madrassahs had registered by the end of the reporting period. This statistic was disputed by many civil society organizations and education experts.
In December 2005 President Musharraf laid out the framework for cooperative registration of madrassahs with the Government, including provision of financial and educational data and a prohibition on the teaching of sectarian or religious hatred and violence. The Government and the independent madrassah boards agreed to a phased introduction of secular subjects, including math, English, and science, at all madrassahs. The reform initially stalled due to political upheaval and jurisdictional battles within the previous government. The newly elected coalition government listed madrassah reform as a priority.
A March 2007 report indicated that unregulated, extremist madrassahs in Karachi continued to thrive in the sprawling city with a large population of young, unemployed men. International Crisis Group reported that after 5 years of trying to reform madrassahs, the Government's program had not fully succeeded, and that extremist groups were operating mosques and madrassahs in the open in Karachi and elsewhere, due to lack of consistent regulation. Despite the fact that reforms were stalled, the majority of the country's madrassahs have been registered, foreign students are now required to obtain a no-objection certificate before attending madrassah classes, and all madrassahs are required to report their finances. Additionally, the new government announced that there would be a uniform curriculum in the madrassahs, with a more secular tone to be introduced.
All wafaqs mandated the elimination of teaching that promoted religious or sectarian intolerance and terrorist or extremist recruitment at madrassahs. Inspectors mandated that affiliated madrassahs supplement religious studies with secular subjects, including English, math, and science. Wafaqs also restricted foreign private funding of madrassahs. Examination concerns remained under active discussion with the Government. Some unregistered and Deobandi-controlled madrassahs in the FATA, Karachi, and northern Baluchistan continued to teach extremism. Similarly, the Dawa schools run by Jamat-ud-Dawa continued such teaching and recruitment for Lashkar-e-Tayyiba, a designated foreign terrorist organization.
In July 2007 Pakistan Army and security forces launched a military operation against the Red Mosque (Lal Masjid) in Islamabad that resulted in the deaths of 10 security force members and approximately 79 militants, including the mosque's leader. From March through June 2007, militants who took over the mosque and its adjoining girls' madrassah kidnapped brothel owners, policemen, and foreign massage parlor workers. Fighting erupted when militants fired upon security forces attempting to cordon off the mosque. The confrontation prompted the Government to renew its efforts to curb the teaching of extremism in madrassahs across the country. The Supreme Court ordered the mosque to be reopened in October 2007 and appointed new leadership. The Court also ordered the reconstruction of the madrassah on the original land and adjacent property would be used to construct an Islamic research center.
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