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Islamic Higher Education and Scholarship in the Pakistani Context
Over the last fifty or so years of its independent history, comprehensive Islamic studies curricula have been advised, designed and implemented by the government of Pakistan at all levels of education, both in the public and private sectors. The major public and private universities have also covered a lot of ground in establishing full-fledged Islamic studies departments with Bachelors, Masters and Doctoral programmes being offered much like the higher education systems in the West.
General degrees as well as specializations (for instance in Seerat Studies, Islamic Fiqh, Arabic or Comparative Religion) can also be pursued, not only by graduates of the traditional religious seminaries, i.e. madrassahs, but also by students coming through the regular education stream.
The number of such universities is small yet has grown quite substantially in the last few years, centred in the major urban areas; however, the vast majority of scholars of Islamic studies are products of religious seminaries. This is almost certainly due to the fact that in the vast rural landscape of Pakistan, there has always been insufficient public spending on education for the underprivileged; madrassahs, therefore, which also impart reading and writing skills and are well funded by various private sources across the Muslim world, continue to hold the position that normally schools should occupy.
As of today, there are a number of important institutions in Pakistan, both universities and research institutes, dedicated to Islamic scholarship at the highest levels. Throughout the country, emphasis is largely laid upon the Hanafi orientation, with the exception of the south of Punjab province and parts of Sindh province, where Islamic mysticism (Sufism) has historically held sway. The medium of instruction is mostly Urdu with some exceptions in major public and private universities where English is also used. In recent times, especially in the period during the government of General Zia-ul-Haq in the 1980s, the teaching of Arabic language and history was immensely encouraged. The primary reason behind this was not only Zia-ul-Haq’s ideological attempt to ‘Islamise’ Pakistan to a larger extent, but also a felt political need at the time to identify Pakistan more with the Arabic-speaking Muslim Middle East, instead of with Hindu-majority India, of which it was once a part.
Results of the study
For the purposes of this study, a number of prominent institutions were contacted, among them the University of Punjab, Lahore, the University of Peshawar, International Islamic University, Islamabad, Karachi University, University of Sindh, Jamshoro, Baha-ud-Din Zakria University, Multan and the Lahore University of Management Sciences, Lahore. Islamic scholars and academics from these and other research and non-governmental institutions have been invited to be part of the directory and therefore widen their perspectives and open themselves up to an international audience.
This is surely something which will spark a need to concentrate more on scholarly research, collaboration and publication in influential journals, a Western academic tradition which is now taking root in Pakistan as part of the dynamism of the higher education sector.
Unfortunately, a few of the institutions contacted did not express interest in the project, and a couple, University of Peshawar and Karachi University will, at a later stage, provide additional lists of scholars as and when updated information about them becomes available. In addition to Islamic studies faculties in the universities being contacted, research institutes therein or attached to them have also been approached. Prominent among these is the Sheikh Zayed Islamic Centre, which has chapters in the Universities of Punjab, Peshawar, Karachi and Balochistan. Founded through a direct grant from the ruling family of the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and now operating under the purview of the respective universities in which they are housed, these institutes have done much to promote and sponsor scholarly research and publication. They do however, often come into conflict with their parent universities where both are offering academic degrees of similar description and content.
Another example is the Islamic Research Centre housed in the International Islamic University, Islamabad, which is a fully affiliated partner of the International Islamic University in Malaysia. This institute is devoted to conducting research into aspects of Islamic law, banking and ethics.
Specialisations of the scholars included thus far are extremely varied; these include Islamic Economics, Law, Fiqh and Shariah, Da’wah, Philosophy, Theology, Comparative Religion, Sufism/Mysticism, Hadith, Qur’anic Studies and Arabic Language and History.
Most of the participants hold Ph.Ds, while the rest have either completed MPhils and are working towards doctorates, or are simply MA degree holders. A large number hold more than one MA degree; for many, the first degree(s) being in Arabic and/or Islamic Studies.
Some scholars also hold degrees from major religious seminaries in Pakistan; the government has granted these higher scholarship programmes in Islamic Studies equivalence to Intermediate, BA and MA degrees. In the majority of these cases, however, the scholars have gone on to complete PhDs from full-fledged universities, as a prerequisite for receiving tenure in their teaching careers.
(Imran Zaki)
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