Mumbai: As many as 22 huffaz (plural of hafiz) or hafiz from Malvani (Malad)-based Jamia Tajveedul Quran Madrassa and Noor Meher Urdu School passed the Maharashtra Senior Secondary School Board’s Senior Secondary School (SSC) examination this year. The excitement of Abu Talha Ansari, who earned an 83.40 percent on his exam, has no bounds among the successful pupils. Another reason for Ansari’s happiness is that he has completed his ‘hafiz’ (Quran memorization) course.
“14 of the 22 huffaz who sat the SSC exam this year passed with distinction, and 8 received more than 60%. We are pleased with our pupils’ achievements, said Syed Husain Ali (aka Ali Bhai), the founder of the school and madrassa.
So far, 97 kids have completed 10th grade since the school started in 2012.
Jamiya Tajveedul Quran began in 2001 with just two orphan kids. It has now 160 Muslim children (orphans and poor) living in the institution. 150 pupils have memorized the Holy Quran since 2001.
The question of whether or not madrassa education should be upgraded is a longstanding one. Most madrassas are apprehensive about including modern disciplines like science and math in their curricula for fear of diluting religious education. However, Ali Bhai’s initiative suggests a path forward in this direction.
Speaking with Islamic Voice from Chicago (US), Ali Bhai said he established the trust in the name of his father and mother that is “Noor Meher Charitable Trust’ which started first Jamiya Tajveedul Quran and then the Noor Meher School in 2012. The school provides academic studies from Standard 1st to Xth for the resident children, with a 100% success rate.
Many people use their second home as a “holiday home” or rent it out to supplement their income. But Ali, often known as Ali Bhai, a businessman, converted his Malad home into a school.
“A few of our hafiz have become engineers, doctors, and pharmacists. They’ve reintegrated into the workforce and are now earning a decent income, “said Ali Bhai.
The question of whether or not madrassa education should be upgraded is a longstanding one. Most madrassas are apprehensive about including modern disciplines like science and math in their curricula for fear of diluting religious education. However, Ali Bhai’s initiative suggests a path forward in this direction. He said our students could understand, read and write English, Urdu, Hindi, Arabic, and Marathi.
Eight full-time Quran/Islamic studies teachers and 12 full-time academic studies teachers. On-campus, there is only one full-time cook. The institution also supports students who want to continue their education. So far, more than 30 students have received their diplomas in various professions. Some huffaz become engineers, doctors, pathologists, and electronics engineers. They also become Alim. We give full attention to the overall development of students, said Ali Bhai.
In 2013, the first batch of 13 pupils took the SSC examinations and secured 100 percent success. The school did not look back after this success. However, according to Hafiz Aijaz, a teacher and supervisor at the school, this year was challenging. “Due to lockdown, students were taught online for eight months. They only had four months of offline classes, but we had them work hard”, said Hafiz Aijaz.
The trust established “Research: Edited And Published” as a new department in 2015, and in 2020 reconstruction of the school building was completed. The trust also granted permission in 2018 to open the NIOS center.
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