4 - 10 October 2001
Issue No.554
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Al-Ahram Weekly Online 4 - 10 October 2001 Issue No.554 |
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Passionate pedagogy
Khaled Dawoud visits the school that gave birth to the Taliban
Jamia Dar Al-Ulum Al-Haqqaniya (Akora Khattak), a religious school of learning run by the leader of one of Pakistan's most extremist Islamist groups, proudly states in a brochure handed to journalists that "90 per cent of the personnel of Afghanistan's [ruling] Taliban movement were students at Al- Haqqaniya. Almighty God gave Al- Haqqaniya the chance to play a leading role in shattering the Soviet Union."
The voice of resistence: Pakistan fears the outcry that could emerge from pro-Taliban forces should the US-Afghanistan tensions escalate. Above, the famous madrassa at which most of the Taliban leaders studied; right, pro-Taliban demonstraters in Quetta protest Pakistan's decision to cooperate with the US and pledge support to Afghanistan's regime
Al-Haqqaniya has become a crucial stop for the hundreds of foreign journalists who have flooded Pakistan over the past three weeks in order to cover the unfolding US conflict with the Taliban and its infamous "guest," Saudi militant leader Osama Bin Laden. Students at Al-Haqqaniya were among the first to express their readiness to head to Afghanistan and fight alongside the Taliban to confront the expected American "aggression."
Nearly 3,000 students are now enlisted in Al-Haqqaniya, which opened in 1947. They spend an average of nine years before graduating to become preachers and ulamas (learned scholars). Children as young as six years old are allowed into a special programme for children, which teaches Qur'anic recitation in preparation for more complicated studies later on. The complex includes 11 hostels, a seminar hall and a huge mosque.
It was here that most of the leaders of the Taliban movement were indoctrinated with one of the most extreme interpretations of Islam -- teachings that would later be introduced as Shari'a law in Afghanistan. After the ousting of the Soviet occupation, numerous militant groups vied for power, but in an almost miraculous turn of events, the Taliban emerged as the dominant power in Afghanistan in 1996, after taking over the capital, Kabul.
It was at Al-Haqqaniya that many of the strict laws imposed in Afghanistan were born. Students are taught that women should be completely covered, allowing only small holes in order to breathe and a light veil of the eyes that permits limited vision. Men are told to grow beards that are at least one fist long. In Afghanistan, these edicts are enforced ruthlessly, with violators arrested and punished by Taliban soldiers on the spot.
Taliban leaders were all taught that any form of painting, photography, sculpture or art is resolutely forbidden by Islam -- an interpretation that has been questioned by many Islamic scholars. This teaching was also applied mercilessly in Afghanistan when an order to destroy all statues in the country led to the destruction of the famous fifth- century Bamiyan Buddhas in March of this year. The plans to destroy the monuments caused an international outcry, but pleas to save the monuments fell on deaf ears.
Many here in Pakistan regard Al- Haqqaniya with suspicion, claiming that it also offers its students military training alongside the usual Islamic studies. But Mulana Sami-ul-Haq, the 64-year- old instructor who has run the school since the death of his father in 1988, vehemently denies this claim. "We only teach our students the Qu'ran, the hadith (sayings of the Prophet Mohamed) and Islamic jurisdiction," he insists.
Foreigners and non-Muslims are forbidden from entering the school. Last week, a group of students chased away several female reporters who were clearly European and had come to file a story, saying their revealing clothing was offensive. One reporter, who was a Muslim, was still prevented from entering. After a lengthy debate with Rashid, Sami-ul-Haq's son, about whether he could be banned from entering a mosque, a conditional permission was finally granted. "You can go in, but you should not speak to any of the students," Rashid warned. "Students here do not like strangers, and they might beat you up if you insist on talking to them."
After this warning, the frightened reporter entered the school suspicious of what lay inside. A child around 12 years old was sent with him as an escort, making sure no side interviews took place. I myself encountered some curious looks while carrying out the wudu, the ritual of washing before prayer. Nearly a dozen young children stood by watching with clear sings of surprise that a stranger wearing Western clothes could be familiar with Islamic prayer rituals.
At the school's main yard, small groups of students in their twenties were clustered around their teachers. At the main mosque inside the school, Sami-ul-Haq sat on a high chair surrounded by hundreds of young men, all dressed in the traditional Pakistani style -- wide cotton trousers with a long shirt and a headcover or turban. All students and teachers keep their hair and beards long and all have the zabiba, a dark spot on the forehead assumed to be formed from repeated contact with the prayer mat.
Stepping into the courtyard, the scene could be from the time of the prophet more than 1,400 years ago. This is a source of pride for the students and teachers at Al-Haqqaniya. For them, all the trappings of modern life are nothing but Western affectations that violate their traditions, customs and Islamic rules.
Sami-ul-Haq was preaching to his students in Pashto, one of the main local languages in Afghanistan. Reading from an Arabic book and translating the text into Pashto, Sami-ul-Haq held the rapt attention of his students. Although the book dealt with stories about the prophet's life, the instructor ended his lecture by reminding his students of the danger the Muslim nation is now facing. "The Americans now want to attack Afghanistan. Tomorrow, they will attack Pakistan and they are already occupying Saudi Arabia and the Gulf. They want to end Islam, but we will confront them and win the war," he said.
Abdul-Qahar, a 25-year-old Taliban member who was on a visit to the school and was one of the few people who agreed to talk to reporters, accused the "Christians and Jews" of seeking to destroy the Taliban's reputation. "The Taliban is the only ideal Islamic government in the world," he said. "Pakistan, Saudi Arabia and Egypt are not real Islamic states. The whole Islamic world should follow the Taliban and Mulana Amir El-Mu'menin (the leader of the faithful), Mohamed Omar."
Abdul-Qahar has clearly been influenced by the teachings of Sami-ul- Haq, who personally believes that "the Jews are the ones behind the New York and Washington attacks. But the Americans want to attack Osama Bin Laden because they want to attack Islam. Even if Osama was responsible, why should the whole of Afghanistan pay the price and get destroyed by the Americans? Israel and India are also terrorist states. Why isn't America building an international alliance against them?" he asked foreign reporters gathered at the school's entrance for a news conference.
Sami-ul-Haq said that he personally condemned the 11 September attacks, "but we need evidence that [Bin Laden] is involved." Asked whether he was personally calling upon his students to join the war against the United States if it attacks Afghanistan, he answered with a smile: "Do you think they are going to wait for my permission to go? If Afghanistan is attacked, it will be the obligation of every Muslim to wage a war in defence."
Sami-ul-Haq was among a number of Pakistani scholars approached by Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf's government to travel to Kandahar, headquarters of Mullah Omar, to convince him to hand over Osama bin Laden for trial, or at least force him to leave the country. But he refused to go saying; "We will never be agents for the United States. We are not brokers seeking to sell American solutions."
Pakistani officials fear the reaction of the hundreds of similar schools in the country run by extremist political parties should war break out between the United States and the Taliban. Top security officials have warned the leaders of these parties against breaking the law and organising mass demonstrations expressing opposition to Musharraf's decision to cooperate with the United States in its "war against terror." But they have so far ignored this appeal and teachers at Al-Haqqaniya -- among them two Egyptians, according to Rashid-ul-Haq -- continue to teach their students that their primary enemy is the West, and mainly the United States.
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