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Plan to teach Quran with translation may hit snags
[DAWN] An NGO worker from an organization working in the education sector supported the idea of teaching the Holy Koran at informal education centres, saying it would help reduce the burden on parents who would ordinarily have to hire a qari, or send their children to a madressah for this purpose.Looks like a qari unemployment program. "This will reduce the amount of political influence holy mans who teach the Holy Koran will be able to exert, as well as reducing fears that they are teaching something else along with the holy book, if the idea is adopted," the NGO representative said, on condition of anonymity. He said that although there were several Hafiz-e-Koran (those who learn the Holy Koran by heart) in society, many of them had never even read the translation of the holy book in their life. "However, a lie repeated often enough remains a lie... we still respect them as if they are learned people," he deplored. If they knew what it actually meant, instead of just memorizing a long bunch of magickal words, they might discover it doesn't make any sense. Can't have that. The draft bill, along with the sets of books that will be used as part of the curriculum, have been submitted by Mr Rehman before the Council of Islamic Ideology (CII) for review. The CII has distributed the books to its members and various office-bearers of its research cell. However, a good lie finds more believers than a bad truth... it seems that some holy mans are apprehensive about the move, fearing that it may threaten their monopoly over teaching of the Holy Koran. There are even reports that some members have already begun raising concerns within days of receiving the set of books for the proposed curriculum. "We are looking at the Urdu translation that has been written in the 12 books thoroughly and carefully," said a CII official. However, nothing needs reforming like other people's bad habits... he added that certain members had expressed dissatisfaction over the idea on the grounds that it will not be beneficial for students. "This is just like reading a medical college textbook over the Internet -- one cannot become a doctor this way," the official said, adding that the accent and disciplinary strictness of a teacher cannot be replicated by just any Urdu teacher at the primary or secondary level. "This idea will fail," he concluded. Posted by: Fred 2016-07-10 |
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