(Press Release: Mumbai/ June – 5)
On Saturday, the 3rd of June, 2023 Markazul Ma’arif Education and Research Center (MMERC), Mumbai organized an international meeting on Google Meet. Around 50 Islamic scholars and intellectuals from India and abroad participated in it. The meeting participants were members of the International MMERC Alumni Network (IMAN) who gathered to discuss and finalize Markaz Online (English Medium) Madrasa (MOM) project, which was conceptualized by MMERC, Mumbai.
At the outset Maulana Muhammad Burhanuddin Qasmi, Director of MMERC and Editor of Eastern Crescent, put forwarded the MOM concept through a presentation and said that the preparation for this project has been going on for the past several years. “The aim of this academic endeavor is to provide with necessary as well as advanced level Islamic theological education to the non-madrasa attending youths and professionals, both males and females, from across the world, in an online mode like that of IGNOU and NIOS in India,” he said. The complete course will consist of 3+2 year duration, upto graduation in Islamic Studies (Alimiyat). That is the course will have total four stages – (1) Certificate Course in Islamic Studies, 1st Year, (2) Diploma in Islamic Studies, 2nd Year, (3) Advanced Diploma in Islamic Studies, 3rd Year and (4) Graduation in Islamic Theology, 4th and 5th year, for above 15 year age group.
Maulana MB Qasmi further detailed that in these courses, students from colleges and universities of India and abroad, and professional men and women who want to gain systematic Islamic education and in-depth Shariah studies through academic means, may enroll. The criteria will be that the candidate should have adequate knowledge of English language because the medium and contents of these courses will be in English. The courses will gradually cover subjects such as Arabic language (reading, writing, speaking), Translation and Tafseer of the Qur’an, Fiqh, Hadith, Aqaid (Beliefs), Seerat (Biography of the Prophet (saws), Islamic History, Islamic Sociology and Comparative Studies of Religions etc.
In the meeting, a 12-member committee of experts, associated with various educational institutions and are experienced in curriculum design, was formed to prepare the MOM syllabus. This committee will present the detailed draft by the end of this June and the course will start in the end of this year 2023 – In-Sha’Allah. Those 50 Islamic scholars and intellectuals who were present in the Digital Meet on 3rd June, 2023 are designated and recorded as the founding members of MOM under MMERC, Mumbai.
All the Islamic scholars and intellectuals who participated in this meeting are former students of the post-madrasa two-year Diploma in English Language & Literature (DELL), course under Markazul Ma’arif Education and Research Center (MMERC) and who are currently working as professionals in India and abroad or are rendering valuable educational services in madrasas, schools, colleges and universities. It is noteworthy that this post-madrasa educational institution – MMERC, was established by Mohsin-e Millat – Maulana Badruddin Ajmal Al-Qasimi, Lok Sabha MP and CEO Ajmal CSR, in 1994.
Some of the scholars who shared their expert opinions in the digital meet on Markaz Online Madrasa (MOM) were – Dr. Mufti Obaidullah Qasmi (Prof. Dr. Zakir Hussain College of Delhi University), Maulana Mohammad Afzal Qasmi (Lecturer, Blackburn College, UK), Mufti Abdur Rasheed Qasmi (Chairman, HERF, Kanpur), Maulana Abdul Aleem Chaudhary (Add. GS, Markazul Ma’arif, Hojai, Assam), Dr. Manzar Imam Qasmi (Delhi), Dr. Razi Ahmad Qasmi (HoD Markaz Academy Group of Schools, Assam), Maulana Muddassir Ahmad Qasmi (Director, GIS, Arria, Bihar), Maulana Tauqeer Ahmad Naqshbandi (HoD. Dept. of English, Darul Uloom, Deoband), Maulana Syed Muhammad Saad Qasmi (Naib-e Mohtamim, Islamia Madrasa, Ittawa, UP), Dr. Hifzur Rahman Qasmi (Director, Eagle Academy, Delhi) Mufti Jaseemuddin Qasmi (Lecturer, MMERC, Mumbai), Maulana Javed Ahmad Qasmi (Lecturer, HERF, Kanpur), Maulana Abdullah Yusuf (Director, Suffah Academy, Malegaon, Maharashtra), Mufti Izharul Haque Qasmi (Basti, UP). Maulana Nazir Anwar Qasmi (HoD DELL, Al-Mahad, Hyderabad), Mufti Abdul Rauf Qasmi (Haridwar) et al.
