Neoliberalism and Madrassas: An Unholy Connection

All the while I thought saudi petro-dollars are responsible for madrassa explosion in pakiland... that and the need for cheap supply of foot soldiers for pakis' strategic wet-dreams... No?

Now back to this article. The author is quite myopic, that structural adjustment asks for reduced public expenditure is no secret, but holding that as a cause of "madrassas" is missing the big picture. If this were the case than madrassas would have arisen in every country which deals with the IMF on similar terms (and rest assured Pakistan is not the only one). Now, I am willing to concede that the rise of the madrassa might be related to structural adjustment as a latent consequence but it certainly isn't the cause of that phenomenon. The direct cause of that was long before this new imperialism of the structural adjustment type came into being, it is a consequence of colonization and its exclusion of the population from the mainstream institutions that were designed for the benefit of the colonials. Once excluded the madrassa arose not only as a place of religious education but as a political and economic refuge. This was taken up by the new colonials (the US elite) with huge infrastructure/indoctrination/financial and other help during the Soviet Afghan war: that my friend is the direct cause of the current madrassa phenomenon, they (the US elite) legitimized it, nurtured it, strengthened it indirectly by their policies and now want to fight the Frankenstein of their own creation.

Chowk staff banned me unfairly yet once again because I replied to tahmed's baseless nonsense, this has got to be one of the most atrocious bs here, they ignore a person's contributions and promote ah's like ferozk who just today is condoning the military action in Swat, i.e. the US occupation force, a foreign (though indigeneously staffed) force trying to put their so called "writ of the imperialists" unto an indigeneous folk who have lived off that land and are not foreign to it.....immoral fools like these people similarly support the Israeli occupation of Palestinians, and how do they justify it, using slogans of "statesmanship", and then have tha audacity of talking about "democracy" after pushing for the people's will to be ignored (in favor of the will of the imperialists)

On that note, the best schools in India were Madrassahs. Everybody in those days went to Madrassahs. In face the persian culture and the british culture were taught side by side in a very famous college. Eventually the Madrassah was separated from the regular college-it was a deliberate step to create an upper class elite that mimiced the White in all respects so much so that they saw themselves as White. It was done because the British were racist and believed that their way of life was the best and it was the duty of Jesus's followers to educate the rest of the world into following the righteous and true path. It succeeded particularly well because of the Hindu, Sikh, Muslim divide and the partition in which the Muslim populations were effectively separated as 'others' from the rest of the indigenous population. Hindutva and Islamization policies have also helped in furthering colonialism's agendas. Christainity, not Islam has been the most successful homogenizing force that the world has known. Yes, they were bloody smart, on the other hand it isn't working that well anymore.

the UN is the other trio in the satanic troika which keeps the developing world poor and dependent on the capitalist first world. UN, IMF, World Bank.

Time for a new economic order. I think the Scandinavian socialist economic free market model is closest to the Islamic concept of social equality and justice barring the return of the gold dinar (and no I am not a Murabitoun!).

Excellent article that makes a very valid connection. It isn't a coincidence that the creation of wealth excludes the have nots or those who cannot price themselves according to the requirements of 'the system'.

Generally a good article and very well argued Ahmar Sahib. You should also mention that madrassahs per se are not a bad thing nor a new phenomenon: they have existed as traditional centres of religious and spiritual learning since the inception of Islam and in all parts of the Muslim world. Traditionally--at least until the 19th/20th century parents sent their best and brightest children to the madrassahs. All the great people we talk about in islamic history --from Rumi to Ghazali and Ibn Sina to and all the great fuqaha and awliya are primarily products of the madrassah. Islamic civilisation it can be argued is in itself primarily a product of the madrassah. Now of course the madrassahs receive the worst input and the results are apparent.

Your essay is a powerful argument for developing countries leaving the IMF and World Bank which are just outposts for the neocolonists especially the World Bank.

IMF loans are a form of modern slavery at a state level.