Two words not usually heard together - Progressive Madrasa
SINGAPORE — After starting the day with prayers and songs in honor of the Prophet Muhammad’s birthday, the students at the Madrasa Al Irsyad Al Islamiah here in Singapore turned to the secular. An all-girls chemistry class grappled with compounds and acids while other students focused on English, math and other subjects from the national curriculum.
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Two madrasas in Indonesia have already adopted Al Irsyad’s curriculum and management, attracted to what they say is a progressive model of Islamic education in tune with the modern world. For them, Al Irsyad is the counterpoint to many traditional madrasas that emphasize religious studies at the expense of everything else. Instead of preaching radicalism, the school’s in-house textbooks praise globalization and international organizations like the United Nations.
Of course the change wasn’t entirely voluntary. Apparently madrasa students were doing so poorly on mandatory exams that the government was on the verge of closing them. For some reason they didn’t find Koran quoting suicide bomber a viable career option. Still improvement is improvement and if it decreases some of the radicalism coming out of these school then hurray.
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