313ghazi
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- Mar 14, 2017
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It's clear that in large swathes of our society casual extremism has taken hold. It's unfortunate and unsurprising if you think about it, but the TTP was the thin edge of the wedge. The solution is multi-fold. An improved economy would provide people with jobs, wealth and ambition making them less likely to participate in activities that would threaten their creature comforts. More effective law enforcement and a judicial reform would mean when these situations arise, they could be handled easier and the perpetrators punished. Stricter regulation on imams and madarsa's would help reduce the levels of poison being pumped into society.
I have another idea though - the education system. We need to make the next generation patriots of this state, not patrons of dallah mullahs. I propose we do that, by taking over their Islamic education entirely.
1. The school day should be lengthened and the Quran lessons that kids go to in Madarsas and masjids, should be shifted into schools. Schools should train and hire their own imams, who teach children the Quran, namaz, islamiyat (instead of teaching it during the normal school day), so parents don't feel the need to send their kids to the local molana.
2. These imams should all be government trained and be training children in Islam, especially in the elements of Islam such as fairness, equality, compassion which is missing from the modern madrasa system. These lessons should be compulsory for all Muslim children.
3. We should have a citizenship and ethics class in the time "islamiyat" used to be taught. This should teach kids civic duty, and bang into them loyalty to the state. This class should also teach ethics outside of the scope of Islam, right and wrong, philosophical questions so that children understand that ethics can exist outside of a religious context too. These ethics classes should be mandatory in colleges and university too, so that we can have more challenging ethical debates with young adult minds. A cornerstone to these sessions should be challenging the status quo and their perceptions. Our children must be taught to be inquisitive, not parrots.
4. Schools should make voluntary work mandatory. Each class should have to do some sort of communal voluntary act outside of the school each month for a few hours. We should adapt the Japanese model too, children should be taught to respect their school and their local community.
5. We should introduce national service. Anyone who wants to apply for a government job should first spend a year doing voluntary work for the greater good of the nation, organised by the state. Anyone else who does it should get a discount on their income tax for the first 5 years of salaried work, whether it is in the public or private sector.
6. We should introduce free school meals for all kids up until matric. It doesn't have to be fancy but if poor people know their kid will get a free meal, they will send them to school.
By doing this we will both create generations who are well versed in a more tolerant perspective of Islam, who are raised being dutiful to their community and who are taught to think freely.
Just as importantly, by doing this we'll cut the mullahs off at their knees.
I have another idea though - the education system. We need to make the next generation patriots of this state, not patrons of dallah mullahs. I propose we do that, by taking over their Islamic education entirely.
1. The school day should be lengthened and the Quran lessons that kids go to in Madarsas and masjids, should be shifted into schools. Schools should train and hire their own imams, who teach children the Quran, namaz, islamiyat (instead of teaching it during the normal school day), so parents don't feel the need to send their kids to the local molana.
2. These imams should all be government trained and be training children in Islam, especially in the elements of Islam such as fairness, equality, compassion which is missing from the modern madrasa system. These lessons should be compulsory for all Muslim children.
3. We should have a citizenship and ethics class in the time "islamiyat" used to be taught. This should teach kids civic duty, and bang into them loyalty to the state. This class should also teach ethics outside of the scope of Islam, right and wrong, philosophical questions so that children understand that ethics can exist outside of a religious context too. These ethics classes should be mandatory in colleges and university too, so that we can have more challenging ethical debates with young adult minds. A cornerstone to these sessions should be challenging the status quo and their perceptions. Our children must be taught to be inquisitive, not parrots.
4. Schools should make voluntary work mandatory. Each class should have to do some sort of communal voluntary act outside of the school each month for a few hours. We should adapt the Japanese model too, children should be taught to respect their school and their local community.
5. We should introduce national service. Anyone who wants to apply for a government job should first spend a year doing voluntary work for the greater good of the nation, organised by the state. Anyone else who does it should get a discount on their income tax for the first 5 years of salaried work, whether it is in the public or private sector.
6. We should introduce free school meals for all kids up until matric. It doesn't have to be fancy but if poor people know their kid will get a free meal, they will send them to school.
By doing this we will both create generations who are well versed in a more tolerant perspective of Islam, who are raised being dutiful to their community and who are taught to think freely.
Just as importantly, by doing this we'll cut the mullahs off at their knees.