REMOVE THE DARKNESS OF IGNORANCE BY THE LIGHT OF EDUCATION: SIO

EDUCATIONAL AWARENESS CAMPAIGN – OBSERVED BY STUDENTS ISLAMIC ORGANISATION


BY V.M. KHALEELUR RAHMAN

Chennai : Student Islamic Organisation of India (SIO), Chennai observed a 9 day “Educational Awareness Campaign” from 29th May to 6th June, 2010 with the apt and catchy slogan in the regional Tamil language “Ariyaamai oru iruttu kalvi arivaal athai virattu - “Remove the darkness of ignorance by the light of education” by conducting 20 street corner meetings, making survey on the school going children in Dashamakan and Otteri areas, arranging a massive signature campaign under the theme “Read, Teach, Help to Read” near the Kannagi Statue at the Marina Beach in the evening on the 4th and conducting a public meeting on the final day on Sunday, 6th June after Maghrib prayers at Dashamakan, a predominantly poor Muslim area.

The meeting began with the recitation of Sura Iqra with its English translation by Mr. Sirajul Hasan, Secretary, SIO Chennai city, Mr. I.Jalaludeen, former Zonal Secretary, SIO Tamil Nadu Zone, welcomed the gathering and Mr. Mohammed Umair Siddiqui, City President, SIO Chennai city, delivered inaugural speech emphasizing the need for value based education for all giving importance to ethics and morality and not for just seeking placements. Many dignitaries spoke on the occasion.

Mr. Naseerullah, State Secretary, Jamaat-e-Islami Hind, Tamil Nadu said in his speech quoting the holy Quran and Ahaadees (sayings of Prophet Mohammed (sal-am) that “seeking education is compulsory for men as well as woman and that it should be based on discipline, honesty and morality”. He regretted that many people occupying high posts in different fields of activity including politics are indulging in so many anti people and anti national activities and in amassing wealth by hook or by crook without any care for the people and country. If they had been given proper moral and religious education along with their high modern education, they would not have been like that. He further said that the Jamaat-e-Islami Hind had been giving value based education along with the regular subjects to the students in the institutions founded and managed by it in the country bringing good results in their characters and mindsets.

Mr. Atheequr Rahman, former Zonal President, SIO Tamil Nadu Zone, said: Education is a basic and fundamental right of every person and without education one cannot lead a dignified life particularly in the present world. Islam encourages us to have more and more knowledge. Even Prophets were sent to make the people knowledgeable with a spirit and zeal for the betterment of the humanity. Prophet Mohammed (sal-am) used to say that he was sent as a teacher. It is therefore the bounden duty of parents to give good education to their children and in case they are not able to do so because of poverty, it is the responsibility of the community particularly the rich to help them by scholarships to seek education as they are the future builders of our community and our great country. He further explained that while the students in the Madrasas are mostly ignorant of the present world, those in the modern institutions are unaware of the Islamic values, which is really unfortunate and we must do something necessary to rectify this anomaly. Our ulema (Islamic scholars) should guide us to go in the right direction.

Dr. K.V.S. Habeeb Mohamed, Vice President, Islamic Foundation Trust, said that there is an urgent need to work, not just speak, for the educational and economical development of the Muslim community. There is no alternative to education. Education is more important than any other thing including natural resources. We must remember that once Muslims were great scientists and scholars. But time changed and a time came when the Arabs were not even aware of their own natural resource oil because of their lack of knowledge. It were the educated Americans who told them about oil, entered the Arab world and have been exploiting it for their advantages.

DR. HABEEB MOHAMMED ADDRESSING THE GATHERING

Indian Muslim community which is more backward than schedule castes needs education and our country needs educated communities for development, progress and prosperity. Education and education alone can bring good results for our dignified existence in the world. Why is it that we have forgotten the holy Quranic assertion that an educated and an ignorant person cannot be the same and its exhortations for gaining knowledge? We should note that even a country like Spain is more developed than the oil rich Arab countries because more educated people are engaged in so many developmental works there. It is only education which brings reputation and laurels to a community.

Some Muslims are giving lame excuses for their backwardness in education. They say that they are not getting jobs here. It is not fully correct. There are many companies which require talented people. Meritorious students are able to get placements in our country easily whatever may be their caste or religion. Our students should work hard and prove their mettle. We can earn more in our own country. There are also opportunities for them in some other countries including the Arab countries if they are interested or not able to get the jobs of their choice here. But one should not think that all the jobs available abroad are always good. Quite a large number of Indian people employed abroad are suffering due to some reason or it. We must prefer works in our country for some occupations.

There are also some Muslims who say that ours is a mercantile community and hence our educational backwardness. This is also a wrong notion. Education is not only for earning money. It is for our overall development. We can be in business after getting good education for its better performance.

Education is equally necessary for women also. We cannot keep them who constitute 50% of our community ignorant. Prophet Mohammed (sal-am) said that if one has three daughters and educate and marry them well, he will go to Jannah. Education is also necessary for the present day woman to give good training and education to her children. Parents should sacrifice their luxury, entertainment and wasteful expenditure for the sake of education of their children. The Jamaats of the Mohalla mosques should create cordial atmosphere for education, help poor students and prevent drop-outs which are as high as 20% among Muslims in some areas in Chennai according to the survey conducted by the SIO. Education also helps one in family managements. Parents should take troubles in educating their children and students should work hard to get better education and come out with flying colours without wasting their time in seeing useless TV programmes or films. It is said that “no pain no gain”. Students should work hard to achieve their goals.

Dr. Habeeb Mohamed regretted that the Muslim institutions which are getting advantages from government on the basis of their being “minority institutions” are mostly not helping the poor Muslim students. He asked the activists to maximize enrolments and minimize drop-outs of students. He also said that the government at the centre and in the states should implement the schemes they sanction for the upliftment of the minorities fully and we should do the needful for this for the sake of the community.

AN ACTIVIST OF SIO CONDUCTING A SURVEY

Dr. N.B. Nirmal, founder, Exnora, also spoke. He asked the students and parents to have positive outlooks and approaches and march forward. He said that we can achieve whatever we want with our determination and endeavours. He advised students to work hard and get good education for 20 years to be happy in the rest of their life. It is hard work that pays. There is nothing impossible. He criticized the U.S. and Mr. George Bush for many of the world problems including climate change. He appreciated the communal harmony prevailing here. He mentioned in detail the role played by him and his organization for this. He lauded one of his “disciples” Mr. Abdul Ghani for excellent works and wanted everyone present in the meeting to congratulate him over phone. He said that Mr. Ghani is young and hard working and one day he may even get a Nobel Prize.

Although Dr. Nirmal is a professional and busy with many activities, he announced his desire to teach poor Muslim students to make them self confident, study well and get good marks in exams.

In an interview with this correspondent Mr. Mohammed Umair Siddiqui said that the aim of the 9 day long Educational Awareness Campaign was to create awareness about the importance of education among the people in the city and to propagate the real objective of education, that is to inculcate ethics, morals and a sense of social responsibility in the students so that they can play an effective role in the reconstruction of a society. It also aims at re-admitting those students in the school who left it or were not able to attend due to different reasons.

The campaign started with the survey of Dashamakan and Otteri areas in Central Chennai on 29th and 30th of May, where the data of the students and dropouts was collected. Almost 325 families were covered as part of the survey and data of almost 700-800 students was collected from these areas. Based on this data, SIO will work on the re-admission process for dropouts and scholarships for the needy students.

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