ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s landmark move to mainstream madrassas (religious seminaries), meeting a highly pressing demand arising post 9/11 attacks, is being viewed as the “step in the right direction” by all sides.
Pakistan government announced last week to bring 30,000 religious schools under the ministry of education with modernized curriculums after reaching a formal agreement with the leaders of major madrassa systems.
The mainstreaming of thousands of madrassas (religious seminaries) has for years been a delicate subject in the Muslim majority country of 208 million people, where religious schools have often been blamed for the radicalization of youngsters. Repeated attempts to modernize seminaries in the past were stayed due to fears of a religious backlash.
“This agreement is just a step, but a step in the right direction,” said Arshad Mirza, federal secretary at the Ministry of Federal Education and Professional Training, who was closely involved in negotiating the agreement.
“We are introducing technical education for madrassa students including modern IT-based skills and other technology courses,” Mirza told Arab News.
Pakistan’s government has been facing increased global pressure to act against militant groups, with the Paris-based terror financing watchdog, the Financial Action Task Force, scrutinizing the country’s compliance with an internationally agreed action plan, and a timeline until October to improve its counter-terror financing operations or risk being sanctioned.
With some seminaries considered as breeding grounds for militancy, and as pretexts for militant financing, the government revealed in April this year that it planned to bring 30,000 seminaries under the Ministry of Information.
These reforms were on the cards for a long time. In the aftermath of the Al-Qaeda led Sept. 11, 2001 attacks in the US, where almost 3,000 people died in three American cities, the 9/11 Commission Report linked madrassas to militancy. Under US pressure, the then government of President Pervez Musharraf attempted to modernize seminaries but did not have much success against a strong religious lobby.
Now, Mirza said, the government would introduce a single curriculum that applied to seminary classrooms as well, the National Common Curriculum.
“We will introduce common curriculum for the students of class one to five in March 2020 and then take it to the highest level subsequently,” he said.
Eventually, the government wants madrassa students to study under the common curriculum up to class eight.
“These students will study the same syllabus as other children, whether he is a son of a bureaucrat, a businessman or a minister. It is a big challenge but it is a step toward the right direction to unify the nation,” he said.
Professor Sajid Mir, President Wafaq-ul-Madaris Salfia, who is also a signatory in the madrassa agreement with the government, told Arab News that he was optimistic about the move and happy to deal directly with the country’s education ministry.
“It was our long-standing demand that the ministry of education should deal with madrassas (seminaries) as previously, either they put us under Interior Ministry, or others, who had no direct link with us.”
Mir said seminaries had never opposed madrassa reforms and registration, but simply demanded a more convenient process to register themselves.
“We always asked for an easy process, as institutions (involved in registration) demanded a lot of documents and the process was very complicated. I hope now, things will move forward smoothly,” he said.
Pakistan manages to harness madrassas 18 years after 9/11 attacks
Pakistan manages to harness madrassas 18 years after 9/11 attacks
- In 2001, the 9/11 commission report had linked madrassas to militancy and pressured Pakistan to crack down against seminaries
- Seminaries never opposed reforms, only asked for easy registration, says Sajid Mir
Pakistan organizes second phase of Hajj training for 2026 pilgrims in Islamabad
- Training sessions held to inform pilgrims of various stages of Hajj, precautionary measures, obligatory acts, says state media
- Pilgrims told to improve their physical fitness, keep essential travel documents and vaccination cards ready ahead of Hajj 2026
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s Ministry of Religious Affairs organized the second phase of Hajj training for 2026 pilgrims in Islamabad today, Sunday, state media reported.
Pakistan’s religion ministry kicked off the first phase of the mandatory Hajj trainings last Sunday in Islamabad and other cities. The ministry said the trainings were made mandatory to ensure that intending pilgrims are fully aware of Hajj rituals and administrative procedures.
“Ministry of Religious Affairs and Interfaith Harmony organized second phase of Hajj training session for pilgrims in Islamabad today,” state broadcaster Radio Pakistan reported.
It said the primary objective of the program was to provide awareness about the various stages of the pilgrimage, necessary precautionary measures and the obligatory acts of both Hajj and Umrah.
“Pilgrims were advised to improve their physical fitness by walking 2 to 3 kilometers daily and keep essential travel documents including original passport, CNIC, flight ticket, visa copies and vaccination cards ready,” the state media said.
Intending pilgrims were strictly warned against carrying prohibited items such as narcotics, naswar (smokeless tobacco), cigarettes and unverified medicines.
Saudi Arabia has allocated Pakistan a quota of 179,210 pilgrims for Hajj 2026, of which around 118,000 seats have been reserved under the government scheme while the remainder will be allocated to private tour operators.
Under Pakistan’s Hajj scheme, the estimated cost of the government package ranges from Rs1,150,000 to Rs1,250,000 ($4,049.93 to $4,236), subject to final agreements with service providers.
