SUPPLY HOUSE
Another significant benefit of religious madrasas can be described in a single phrase: a “supply house.” To explain what this means, let me provide an example. In India, there is an extensive educational structure in the form of schools, colleges, and universities. This system is supported by substantial government funding.
The reason for this is that these secular educational institutions serve as a major supply house for the country. The nation continuously requires skilled individuals to operate its economic and national machinery, and these institutions fulfill that need. They supply reliable professionals for various sectors—teachers, clerks, officers, managers, doctors, engineers, lawyers, supervisors, editors, pilots, secretaries, administrators, and so on. All these individuals are produced by the secular educational institutions we call schools, colleges, and universities.
The same applies to the vast Muslim community. The nearly 200 million Muslims living in this country constantly need individuals to fulfill their various religious and communal requirements. To meet these needs, religious madrasas function as a continuous “supply house.”
Currently, there are approximately 500,000 mosques in India, and the imams for these mosques come from these religious madrasas. Countless educational institutions also receive their teachers from here. Similarly, administrators for community institutions, authors for writing and publishing departments, and editors for Islamic journalism are supplied by these madrasas. Today, many organizations exist within the Muslim community, and most of their personnel are also sourced from this supply house.
An important lesson to learn here is that negative actions often prove to be futile, while positive actions not only achieve their primary goals but also bring about numerous additional benefits that their initial leaders might never have imagined. For instance, in modern times, a new tool called the computer has emerged. It created a demand for Urdu operators and Arabic operators everywhere.
Even for this new field of computers, the majority of skilled personnel came from the supply house of religious madrasas. Similarly, modern secular universities established departments under the name of “Islamic Studies” or “Muslim History,” where Muslims could academically represent Islam at the university level. The individuals for these departments were also sourced primarily from religious madrasas.
Likewise, there arose a need for Urdu and Arabic-speaking individuals in embassies, radio, foreign affairs, cultural institutions, and export trade. This demand, too, was largely met by the supply house of religious madrasas.
In modern times, following the industrial explosion, general opportunities opened up for people to travel to various countries in large numbers. Among those who migrated, a considerable number were individuals educated in religious madrasas. Their settlement in foreign countries became an additional source of benefit.
One significant advantage of these madrasa-educated individuals residing abroad was that when Urdu-speaking scholars later traveled to these countries for religious purposes, these individuals were already there to act as their helpers and coordinators.
The supply house established in the form of religious madrasas was not confined to any specific limit. This supply house met the religious needs within the country and also those outside it. These individuals established madrasas in India as well as in Europe, America, and Africa. Through them, capable individuals have been and continue to be provided for every field of knowledge.
In this world, there is always room for continuous improvement in every endeavour. Undoubtedly, there are many possibilities to make this supply house even more beneficial. By collective reflection and planning, these possibilities can be realized, and the system of education and training can be made even more effective.
