LUCKNOW: Darul Uloom Deoband, Asia’s biggest seminary imparting Islamic education, situated in Uttar Pradesh’s Saharanpur district, has barred its students from taking English courses from other institutes.
Students violating the order would be expelled from the campus, reads a circular issued by Maulana Hussain Hardwari, the in-charge of the education department of Deoband. The circular, in Urdu, warns students against learning English or any other language secretly.
Two days ago, Maulana Arshad Madni, head of the seminary, had said that the students’ priority should be to become theologists and not doctors or engineers. The institute sought to clarify that the ban was imposed because students’ education at the seminary is affected when they peruse other courses outside. It noted that it has an English department, which students can make use of.
The circular has been issued for such students who do not attend classes of Urdu, Arabic and Persian languages and instead get themselves enrolled in English courses outside, said Maulana Abdul Qasim Nomani, the rector. He added that the ban also applies to students who carry out businesses, like running a tea stall, outside after taking admission in Darul Uloom Deoband.