And... curtains

A historic place of learning will be closing its doors when 2008 ends.

No, I'm not talking about some Nalanda University. Its the Indian Muslim madrasah at Masjid Al Amin, which taught tens of students the rudimentary basics of Islam.

In a mixture of English and Tamil, the religion was made simple to understand for people aged 9 to 23. Although there was no standard methodology or structure/curriculum, the wholly-volunteer run class taught confidence ("reciting in front of class after given a notice time of 20 seconds"), memory skills ("regurgitate the doa's learnt last week in front of the class") and character-building ("You're going to get it for not memorising this doa/you're going to get public shaming for playing in the musollah during asr prayers") for a lot of kids and adolescents.

My younger sister had been learning there since 2000 (I think), since she was in Pri. 4. I was very interested to learn how to recite but due my advanced age of 21 prevented me from joining the class, which consisted mostly of 9 - 17 year olds then. But I put my pride aside for the sake of my learning and started my journey with and link to Masjid Al Amin and the important people whom I've gotten to know through it.

The first very important person is my Ustaz, the very first person who properly taught me how to recite and to recite well. In his own wacky way, he taught me Islam - what it means to be a good Muslim, and what it means to be a good human. Coming from a secular background, he fully appreciated moderation and always told me to balance my life between the religious and the secular, but never to compromise on religion. After I "graduated" from the class, he became and and still is my extremely close friend and mentor.

Then there are the friends whom I made in the class - Raascal and Ali (who doesn't have a blog name and who's in Texas at the moment with a clean-shaven look). On the first day of class which I attended, Raascal was wearing a sarong, making me think he was some really cool dude from India. But alas - he was merely testing out the sarong to see how airy the classroom really was. Both Raascal and Ali were one of my first Indian Muslim friends (can you believe that?) who had similar wavelengths as mine (don't count the bizarre and weird bits).

Then there is the mosque - I became closely associated with the events organised by the madrasah and helped out wherever I can for the masjid. I became a regular face at the mosque.

The latest development is that the administration of the mosque has decided to change the format of teaching at the madrasah into a more holistic one, namely under the A.L.I.V.E. series formulated by MUIS. This a good move, as it has a more interactive and engaging teaching methodology for younger kids. The class will also include non-Indian Muslims, and the medium of instruction will be in English.

However, many parents, themselves from the old school rote-learning method, disapprove of this shift and have decided to perhaps bring their children to other Indian Muslim madrasahs nearby. Whatever the case, there could be less students in the new format, which Insha Allah will start next year.

Which means that the old format which my friends and I are so familiar with will exist no longer at the masjid we live so close to - the madrasah as we know it will become something else. The timings will change, the students will change (and the fees will change). Although this sort of change is probably for the better, I cannot but help have a sense of nostalgia that the madrasah will no longer operate.

My doa's for the smooth operation of the new class next year.